This is a list of musicians who played in the Canadian punk rock group SNFU . [1] [2] The band formed in 1981 in Edmonton, relocated to Vancouver a decade later, and became inactive in 2018. Thirty-one musicians played in the various lineups of SNFU, counting four guest members, with only singer Ken Chinn (credited as 'Mr. Chi Pig') remaining constant. Chinn died in 2020, [3] ending the group. Among twenty-seven official members, these lineups included one singer, six guitarists, ten bassists (twice counting Ken Fleming, who served at different times as the band's bassist and guitarist), and eleven drummers. The lineups also included one guest bassist and three guest drummers.
After Chinn, founding guitarists Marc and Brent Belke served the longest tenures, at 22 and 15 years respectively (not counting the band's inactive time). Bassist Rob Johnson played with the group for nine years, while Fleming and bassist Dave Bacon each spread two stints in the group over nearly eight years. The longest-standing consistent lineup lasted from late 1992 to early 1998 and featured Chinn, both Belkes, Johnson, and drummer Dave Rees.
Chinn twice revamped the group's entire lineup, once each in 2007 and 2014. Six members left the group and later returned, with Bacon's 27-year hiatus between 1987 and 2014 the longest. Only Chinn and drummer Jon Card played in all three eras of the band's career, divided by their 1989 and 2005 breakups. (Bassist Curtis Creager also had been slated to do so in a 2014 tour, but the tour was canceled.) [4]
Vocalist Ken Chinn co-founded the band in Edmonton with Brent and Marc Belke, guitar-playing twin brothers who served as members of the group until 1998 and 2005 respectively. [1] The period between their formation and first breakup, spanning from 1981 to 1989, included membership from four bassists and three drummers. Bassist Warren Bidlock and drummer Evan C. Jones completed their initial lineup. After Bidlock's 1982 departure, Scott Juskiw filled in for the band's demo recording before Jimmy Schmitz joined. This incarnation continued into 1985, when Dave Bacon and Jon Card replaced Schmitz and Jones, respectively. Ted Simm spelled Card in 1986, while Bacon was replaced by Curtis Creager the following year.
For their 1991 reunion tour, Chinn and the Belke brothers reenlisted Creager and Card. When they returned to full-time activity in their new home of Vancouver several months later, Ken Fleming replaced Creager, while Dave Rees replaced Card shortly thereafter. Rob Johnson began a nine-year tenure as the band's bassist late in 1992, which completed their classic, best-selling, [2] and most prolific lineup. [1]
Brent Belke and Rees both departed early in 1998, and with drummer Sean Stubbs, SNFU became a four-piece band. Chris Thompson replaced Stubbs the following year, while Johnson was replaced by Matt Warhurst in 2001. The band went on hiatus shortly thereafter, however, with Thompson then departing. [2] Chinn, Marc Belke, and Warhurst employed studio drummer Trevor MacGregor and finished recordings for a new record in 2003, and returned to activity later that year with new drummer Shane Smith. This era of the group ended in 2005, when they again disbanded.
Two years later, Chinn and Fleming (now playing guitar) began a new incarnation that would eventually involve three bassists, three drummers, and one second guitarist. The new lineup was completed by bassist Bryan McCallum and drummer Chad Mareels, although McCallum was soon replaced by Denis Nowoselski. Smith returned as the group's drummer late in 2008, and was replaced two years later by Card. In mid-2010, rhythm guitarist Sean Colig joined, completing the group's first five-member lineup in 12 years. Kerry Cyr replaced Nowoselski in 2012, and Junior Kittlitz spelled Card for touring in late 2013. [1] [5]
In February 2014, the band announced an entirely new lineup based around Chinn, the returning Bacon, guitarists Kurt Robertson and Randy Steffes, and drummer Adrian White. Jamie Oliver replaced White in July (and guest drummer Txutxo Krueger filled in for three shows in August). Although the band planned to tour with Creager and Simm returning to the lineup in November, the tour was canceled, and Bacon and Oliver remained with the group. Basque drummer Batikão Est joined in 2016. [6] The band announced a hiatus in March 2018, and Chinn died on July 16, 2020.
Note: lighter colors denote periods of inactivity in which the band was not officially disbanded.
Period | Members | Releases |
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Late 1981–November 1982 [1] [2] |
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November 1982 (Demo recording only) |
with:
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Late 1982–May 1985 [7] |
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May 1985–June 1986 [8] |
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July 1986–March 1987 |
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March 1987–September 1989 [9] |
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Group disbanded October 1989–September 1991 | ||
September 1991–January 1992 [2] (Wrong Trip Down Memory Lane reunion tour) |
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February–June 1992 Band on hiatus |
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July–September 1992 |
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October–December 1992 |
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December 1992–March 1998 [10] [11] [12] |
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March 1998–August 1999 |
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August 1999–June 2001 [A] |
with:
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June 2001 |
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June 2001–mid-2003 Band on hiatus |
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Mid–late 2003 (Studio sessions only) |
with:
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December 2003–September 2005 |
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Group disbanded September 2005–July 2007 | ||
July 2007–March 2008 |
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March–December 2008 |
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December 2008–March 2010 |
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March–June 2010 [13] |
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June 2010–June 2012 |
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June 2012–June 2013 |
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June–November 2013 |
with:
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November 2013–February 2014 Band on hiatus |
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February–July 2014 |
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July 2014–April 2016 [B] |
with:
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April 2016–March 2018 [6] |
with:
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March 2018–July 2020 Band on hiatus |
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Death of Ken Chinn, 16 July 2020 | ||
SNFU was a Canadian hardcore punk band formed in Edmonton in 1981, relocated to Vancouver in 1992, and disbanded in 2018. They released eight albums, two live records, and one compilation amid many lineup changes and several temporary breakups. Vocalist Ken Chinn led the group, which included twin-brother guitarists Brent and Marc Belke for much of its career.
If You Swear, You'll Catch No Fish is the second full-length album by the Canadian hardcore punk band SNFU. It was recorded in April 1986 at Power Zone Studio in Edmonton, Alberta—although the album's liner notes claim the studio is located in Istanbul, Turkey—and was released on BYO Records in 1986. More diverse than their debut album, If You Swear, You'll Catch No Fish helped solidify SNFU's status in the North American hardcore punk community and influenced the formation of the skate punk subgenre.
...And No One Else Wanted to Play is the first full-length album from Canadian punk band SNFU. The album was engineered by David Ferguson, recorded at Track Record Studios in Hollywood, California, US in December 1984, and released by BYO Records in 1985.
Something Green and Leafy This Way Comes is the fourth studio album by Canadian hardcore punk band SNFU. It was released in 1993 on Epitaph Records, the first of three SNFU releases on this label. Despite being released during the height of the third wave of punk rock by the revival's best-selling independent label and selling modestly well, the album was not commercially successful.
The Last of the Big Time Suspenders is a compilation album by the Canadian hardcore punk band SNFU. The album is composed of live recordings, demos, compilation and EP tracks, and studio outtakes. It was released in 1991, two years after SNFU's first breakup, to satisfy the band's two-album contract with Cargo Records. The group reformed to tour behind the album, leading to a full reunion.
Better Than a Stick in the Eye is the third album by Canadian hardcore punk band SNFU. The album was released in 1988 by Cargo Records. It marked a return to a direct and unadorned sound following its comparatively experimental predecessor, If You Swear, You'll Catch No Fish. It would also be the group's last studio album for five years, as they disbanded months after the record's release before again reforming in 1991.
The Ping Pong EP is an EP by Canadian punk rock band SNFU. Its tracks were taken from the 1996 recording sessions for the band's FYULABA album. It was released in 2000 on Alternative Tentacles.
Let's Get It Right the First Time is a live album by Vancouver, British Columbia hardcore punk band SNFU. The album was released in 1998. Although the record was billed as a live album and reportedly recorded at The Starfish Room in Vancouver in late 1997, SNFU biographer Chris Walter notes that the album was tracked almost entirely in the recording studio.
In the Meantime and In Between Time is the seventh studio album by Canadian hardcore punk band SNFU, released in 2004. The record was the band's first full-length studio album since FYULABA in 1996, and would be the last to feature founding guitarist Marc Belke. The band released the album on Belke's own Rake Records imprint.
Kendall Steven Chinn, known under the stage name Mr. Chi Pig, was a Canadian punk rock vocalist and artist born in Edmonton and long residing in Vancouver. He fronted the hardcore punk band SNFU from 1981 until their hiatus in 2018. Other, short-lived groups that he led included The Wongs, Little Joe, and Slaveco.
The Wheat Chiefs were a Canadian rock band with punk rock influence formed in 1990 in Edmonton and later relocated to Vancouver. They included members of SNFU and one from Jr. Gone Wild. They released their only album, Redeemer, in 1996, before disbanding two years later.
Brent Belke is a Canadian guitarist and composer. After playing in the punk and alternative rock bands SNFU and The Wheat Chiefs between 1981 and 1998, Belke began a career composing music for film and television.
Marc Belke is a Canadian musician and former radio personality. He played guitar in the punk and alternative rock bands SNFU and The Wheat Chiefs, and sang lead vocals in the latter. He was later an on-air personality with Rogers based in Victoria, British Columbia.
David Rees is an American-Canadian musician and television editor currently based in Montreal, Quebec. Rees played drums in the punk rock band SNFU and the alternative rock band Wheat Chiefs, and served for a time as the touring drum tech for Bad Religion.
Matt Warhurst is a Canadian musician and record producer. He has played bass guitar in the punk rock group SNFU and the industrial rock band Jakalope.
Shane Smith is a Canadian drummer. He has performed with the punk rock bands SNFU and Slaveco., and the alternative industrial rock bands Neurosonic and Jakalope.
Curtis Creager is an American-Canadian bass guitarist, best known as a former member of the punk rock band SNFU and alternative rock band the Wheat Chiefs.
Slaveco. was a Canadian alternative rock band active from 2002 to 2003. The group was composed of three former members of the group OCEAN3, joined by Ken Chinn, the lead singer of the influential skate punk band SNFU.
She's Not on the Menu is an EP by Edmonton, Alberta-based punk rock band SNFU. It was self-released by the band in 1986. The EP contains a 1986 studio re-recording of a song from the band's debut album on Side A and two demo tracks originally recorded in 1982 on Side B.
Never Trouble Trouble Until Trouble Troubles You is the eighth and final studio album by Vancouver hardcore punk band SNFU. It was released in 2013 by Cruzar Media.