Snfu

by Chris Walter

  The summer went by quickly as SNFU rehearsed vigourously in preparation for the main support tour. While they would not be visiting Europe, or even the USA on this outing, they had a long string of dates booked across Canada and were eager to show off the band to fans out east. Reenergized and chomping at the bit, SNFU was ready to take on the world.

  On September 24th, 2004, SNFU held a release party for the new album at the Croatian Cultural Centre in East Vancouver with DOA, Married to Music, and Removal. The show, in which Chi Pig completely soaked his brown, long-sleeved shirt with sweat and Shane puked from the strain of it all, was a smashing success. “I smoked a pack of cigarettes a day and did a lot of coke, so combined with the effort of playing music like that, it was enough to make me barf,” says Shane, who failed to miss a beat. Marc had the misfortune of breaking a string on the first song, but a passing musician fetched him another guitar. Few people noticed, however. The band sounded great and the energy level was fantastic.

  Unfortunately, the new record would not enjoy the widespread distribution that the others had. Without record label support, it was up to the band to do most of the work themselves. They were able to find partial distribution in the USA with Randy Boyd, who now had his own label Cobraside Records. The band also entered into an arrangement with Vancouver-based Scratch Records, but the small independent outfit did not have the resources to distribute the album widely. In Europe, for example, In the Meantime and In Between Time would only be available by mail order. Digital downloads were starting to sell more, but the album could easily be stolen by anyone with a computer. None of this helped Todd Knapek to recoup his investment. “We printed too many copies, so we didn’t make any money on the album,” Marc says disappointedly, but not with surprise. “We also butted heads with Randy Boyd, who thought he had exclusive distribution. That sort of deal is never beneficial to the artist.”

  Distribution problems notwithstanding, Marc finished making the last of the tour arrangements and the band prepared to leave. Since they could only carry guitars, a snare drum, and several amplifier heads, the boys did not have room for extras, and the younger members were encouraged to pack like Ed Dobek, who toured with just a toothbrush and a T-shirt. Unlike the Epitaph days when the band had extra vehicles and a road crew, this tour would be a spartan affair, with no luxuries to cushion them from life on the road.

  Although Muc and Chi Pig could hardly believe they were touring together again, the SNFU principals soon found themselves en route to Toronto with Matt Warhurst and Shane Smith. The band landed at Pearson Airport in late October, where they rented a mini-van and set off for the first engagement. Support act No Warning would supply the backline, and this would allow the band to travel lightly. However, the drawbacks of using unfamiliar equipment were significant, and the guys were packed together too close for comfort. A single fart would take out the entire band.

  The tour, sadly, was not without pressure. Crammed tightly in the tiny vehicle, old beefs soon reared their ugly heads. The close proximity brought all sorts of differences to the forefront, reminding Marc and Chi Pig that they’d been down this road—both literally and metaphorically—many times in the past. The more things changed, the more they stayed the same.

  SNFU sounded fantastic at The Underground in Hamilton on October 27th. Although the new rhythm section was tighter than could be, the problem with the band was not in the way they performed, but in the way they related to each other on a personal level. Like combustible chemicals that should never come into contact with each other, the occupants of the van formed a volatile and explosive brew. To add to this toxic environment, there was plenty of cocaine around, and Chi Pig and Shane Smith indulged at every opportunity. “I was doing too much blow,” Smith admits. “There was a time where I wouldn’t go onstage without half a gram up my nose.” Heavy coke users are not known to be the most relaxed people around, and Shane and Chi were living proof of that.

  While Shane had a few issues, the real conflicts were between Chi and Marc. The pair wanted to put their grievances aside, but neither party could let go of the past. Generally, Chi Pig preferred to soak up the glory backstage rather than lend a helping hand, leaving Marc and Matt to do all the work. Shane wasn’t the centre of attention, but he also liked to party, and thought nothing of pounding a few beers while others moved equipment. Chi and Shane became the bad guys, and Muc and Matt were the killjoys. The two factions were already squabbling, but these minor fights were nothing compared to what was on the way.

  The boys toured around Southern Ontario, stopping in Burlington, Toronto, London, and Ottawa. “Chi and Marc got into it at Call the Office in London, and the band almost broke up that night,” recalls Matt Warhurst. “But the show was great.” While the dates were uniformly terrific, the atmosphere in the van became increasingly venomous, and it became clear that time had not mellowed the hard feelings that Muc and Chi had for one another. Rather, those issues seemed larger than ever. The new members tried to stay neutral, but that was difficult. “Matt and Marc were the jocks of the band. They wanted to watch football and hockey, but Chi and I wanted to listen to old punk tapes, smoke cigarettes, and do rails,” Shane Smith remembers. The fur continued to fly.

  SNFU landed in Montreal for a show on Halloween, October 31st. This time, however, Foufounes Électriques was not available, so the gig was held at the Mile End Cultural Centre, which, as the name implies, was not located in the city core. As a result, ticket sales were lukewarm, and the people who did show up weren’t the typical rabid SNFU fans who attended shows downtown. While Chi Pig and the boys did their best to please, the crowd was fairly subdued and merch sales were flat. Fights between the bandmembers before the show further eroded any sense of camaraderie they might have had. “At least Jay Bentley and a couple of the other guys from Bad Religion showed up,” remembers Matt Warhurst. But the show was still half empty. Such a thing was almost unheard of in Montreal.

  The situation in Quebec City was no better, but Marc and Chi weren’t expecting much anyway. From Quebec City, SNFU drove all the way to Saint John, New Brunswick, and the long trip was not pleasant. Somehow, they arrived without killing each other, and managed to turn in another good show. “Playing live is the best high I’ve ever had,” says Chi Pig about his lifelong career. While the singer enjoyed himself during the show, the musicians clashed bitterly backstage. From there, the boys played Halifax and Moncton, before moving on to the last show, which was at Bugaboo Creek in Fredericton on November 6th, 2004. By now, the musicians could hardly stand to be in the same venue together, and they barely spoke to each other on the long flight home. Although SNFU made money on the tour, the emotional cost was steep.

  The band did a homecoming show with the DayGlo Abortions in Vancouver, but saw each other only at practice during the next two weeks. They still had the western leg of the tour in front of them, and Marc was busy sorting out the details. While booking agents and managers had once taken care of the arrangements, such things were now up to Muc, which made the guitarist more than a tad resentful. Chi Pig got all the glory, and the rest of them had to slug it out in the trenches.

  Despite the negativity and hard feelings that seeped from the musicians like radiation from a faulty nuclear reactor, the guys climbed into a rented van and hit the road with tour mates Married to Music (later the Invasives), who travelled in a separate vehicle. Chi always enjoyed touring, and this outing was no exception. “People say hello to you. Sometimes you get a hotel, and sometimes you don’t, but you never know what’s going to happen. It’s exciting, and it keeps you vital,” explains the singer. Despite the problems the band was having, Chi Pig never wanted to stop.

  Marc Belke had recently released the second album by Married to Music on his Rake Records label. The guys may have been grateful for the support Marc was showing them, but they were stunned by the way the members of SNFU treated each other. The hatred between Muc and Chi was so ingrained that the younger members accepted their behavi
our and assumed it was normal. SNFU was so deeply dysfunctional that the easygoing members of Married to Music couldn’t understand how they could travel together in the same van.

  Much of the trouble stemmed from Chi and Shane’s reluctance to help with the equipment. In Chi’s case, he simply refused to carry any gear at all. Although SNFU had their own equipment and did not have to rely on Married to Music for a backline, this also meant that they would have to lug it around. From the first show, which was in Kamloops on November 16th, the members of SNFU could see that this part of the tour would be tougher than the first. In order to keep the fights to a minimum, they tried to speak only when necessary. A cold wind blew, and the temperature outside the van was cold as well.

  The shows in Edmonton and Calgary were great, but the level of toxicity was high enough to kill Rasputin. Shane took his sweet time packing his drums, and Chi Pig, of course, wouldn’t lift a finger. “I was already carrying the whole band,” quips the cheeky singer. Chi and Marc quarrelled viciously after the gig in Calgary, making the drive to Banff seem like a very long distance when it wasn’t far at all. The two bands moved on to Saskatoon for a show at Amigos on November 11th, and the guys from Married to Music wondered if their tour mates would slug it out in the parking lot. They somehow survived the show and made the long haul to Regina, where things would get even uglier.

  After fighting all day while travelling across the frozen tundra, Chi and Marc were in horrible moods by the time SNFU took the stage. Luckily, the dumpy bar was only half-full, so at least the number of fans who witnessed the embarrassing incident was limited. While the two did not actually swing at each other, they swapped insults and nasty looks. Finally, during a break in the music, Chi pointed to each member and asked the crowd if they knew who that person was. Sadly, no one recognized Marc Belke, even though he co-formed the band with Chi Pig in 1982. Clean-shaven Muc looked much younger than Chi did, so perhaps the crowd assumed that he was one of the new members. The guests all knew who the singer was, of course, and while the stunt was successful in Regina, it wouldn’t have worked in Edmonton, Calgary, Vancouver, or even Montreal. Chi Pig knew when and where to pick his fights.

  Eating lunch in a restaurant outside Regina the next day, the singer and the guitarist got into their worst fight yet. “The guys in Married to Music were sitting at the next table, and they were totally horrified,” recalls Matt Warhurst. “Marc and I were equally frustrated that Shane and Chi wouldn’t help load out. Shane is a motivated guy, but he got caught up in partying, and people would have to move his shit around. He’s a good friend, but he’s not my ideal touring buddy.” Shane, four years younger than Matt, later stopped doing coke and cut back on his drinking. “Still, even at fifteen, Shane was an awesome drummer,” adds Matt, unwilling to besmirch his ex-band mate’s reputation too much.

  Again, Shane Smith’s behaviour was not nearly as harmful as the antagonism between Muc and Chi was. Before the Brandon show on November 28th, in a run-down and cockroach-infested hotel room, Chi and Matt got into a massive fight. “Chi, Marc, and myself are all passive/aggressive types, so shit would fester and fester until it completely blew up,” says Matt. “We almost broke up in Brandon,” confirms Chi Pig. During the show, which was fairly well-attended considering the remote location, the merch guy, who travelled in his own van, was arrested for enticing an underage girl to show him her breasts in exchange for a reduced price on a T-shirt. “They took him away, but he got released the next day on his own recognizance,” recalls Chi Pig, shaking his head. “We called him Merch the Lurch.” Not to put too fine a point on it, but the venue was licensed so Lurch must have assumed that the girl was of legal age. Rather than offer the shirt at a reduced rate, the DayGlo Abortions probably would have given her the garment.

  The tour moved on to Winnipeg. For the most part, fans were unaware of the problems within the band, and Chi was taking it easy with the cough syrup and still wasn’t drinking alcohol. The performances were uniformly solid, and there wasn’t much blow around, not like there was on the eastern leg of the tour. Marc was having issues with his allergies again, and was starting to realize that diet was a large part of the problem. Nevertheless, the guitarist stocked up on bandages and played for all he was worth. While Muc and Chi were not spring chickens any more, the shows were energetic enough to keep the fans happy. SNFU wasn’t ready for retirement just yet.

  The guys tried hard to bury the hostilities for two dates at The Collective in Winnipeg. In fact, Matt Warhurst remembers the first night as being one of the most enjoyable shows he ever played. The all-ages gig the next night was much smaller, and the band was tired. “Shane and I were the outcasts because we were doing all the partying,” says Chi Pig. They rolled out that night, blazing through Lethbridge and Red Deer (barely worthwhile) before finally reaching Nelson for the last show on November 29th. Although the boys made it back to Vancouver in one piece, this tour, like the last one, had taken a lot out of them, and they were exhausted both emotionally and physically.

  Completely spent, Muc returned to work for House of Blues, and at this point he must have been questioning his judgment. He kept doing the same things but expecting different results, which is the definition of insanity. Still he could not give up on SNFU completely. Even with all the fighting on the previous tour, there were magical moments onstage when everything was perfect. Those glorious times never lasted, but they were enough to make him crave more. Marc wasn’t married to music; he was downright addicted.

  Consequently, the boys did a homecoming show that was as great as could be. Even the tinnitus Muc had developed didn’t spoil the show for him. The high-pitched ringing would bother him nightly when he was trying to sleep. Just six days later, SNFU played an all-ages show at the Mesa Luna with STREETS and Daggermouth, which also went off without a hitch. Afterwards, the weary band-members simply divided the money and went their separate ways. If only things could always be so easy.

  Marc and Jennifer repaired to Edmonton for Christmas, but this time they flew. The couple had an enjoyable holiday and arrived back in Vancouver just before New Year’s. At home, Muc did his best to forget about the last tour. When the boys finally talked things out amongst themselves, they agreed not to spend more than two weeks on the road together. For Chi and Marc, the days of epic four-or-five month-long tours were gone, and they were revising the game plan. “We went back to our day jobs, and played shows on weekends,” recalls Matt Warhurst. “We couldn’t spend too much time together, but at least the band sounded good.”

  In April, SNFU flew to Toronto for a handful of shows in Ontario and Quebec. Unwilling to go without coke for any length of time, Shane and Chi packed an eightball into one of Chi’s stage props. While they weren’t leaving the country or crossing any borders, it was risky to bring drugs to an airport, and they were lucky to avoid arrest. At the time, however, the risk seemed perfectly acceptable. Despite the cocaine blizzard, the gigs were energetic (unsurprisingly), and the bandmembers managed to refrain from open warfare. The show at Foufounes Électriques in Montreal was great, and the boys couldn’t have sounded better. In the end, drugs will bring down any band, but the harmful effects weren’t always immediately apparent.

  Nonetheless, the big chill was on between Marc and Chi, and that ice was inches thick. While the frigid silence was slightly better than the screaming matches of yore, the effort it took the pair to be civil to one another could not have been healthy. “There was tension—a lot of tension,” recalls Chi Pig. Not just that, but the band also ran into problems with the borrowed backline, and while the shows were still decent, some could have been better. With stomach ulcers bubbling, the band finished the dates and flew home without exchanging more than a few terse monosyllables. Matt and Shane could see the writing on the wall.

  Home again, the members of SNFU, with the exception of Chi Pig, returned to the drudgery of work, punctuated by the occasional crowded show. Chi had too much time on his hands between gigs and not enou
gh money. “The down time wasn’t good for him,” Matt reflects. On May 19th, SNFU toured Vancouver Island with Married to Music, where they visited Nanaimo and Victoria. The first show was only half full, but the second was jam-packed.

  On June 25th, SNFU did a show at Seylynn Hall in North Vancouver with the Winks and You Say Party! We Say Die! The pairing was a fairly unusual one, as You Say Party! We Say Die! was a poppy dance/punk act not given to full-on punk gigs. The Winks are a “baroque punk” unit with a mandolin and cello. Still, the show was all right, even if some of the kids were a bit frightened of crusty old Chi Pig. After the set, Chi and Muc exchanged a few pleasantries, but the anger lay buried just below the surface like an iceberg in a shipping lane.

  Back in Vancouver, Chi Pig continued to struggle with addiction, but managed to show up for rehearsal most of the time. He lived a hand-to-mouth existence and rarely had any money. SNFU returned to Vancouver Island for a show in Victoria on August 12th. They moved out the next day with a friend of Muc’s named Jake Braun from Toronto, who would be filming the rest of the tour for posterity. He had no idea that this excursion would be Marc’s last with the band. “I know Chi and Marc had a lot of issues with each other,” says Jake. “I don’t recall seeing them actually having a conversation together, and I can’t really speculate on how Marc was feeling. It seemed like he had a lot going on.”

  SNFU arrived at the Boot Pub in Whistler for a show that was crowded and energetic, but the members knew this would be the last time they toured together, and the atmosphere in the van was somber. “Chi was very upset,” Matt Warhurst remembers. All the same, the band put as much energy into these final performances as they ever did, and fans had no inkling that they would never see Marc Belke with SNFU again.

  After a relatively uneventful show in Jasper, the tour reached Calgary. The gig at The Warehouse on August 18th was only about a quarter full, which was disappointing because the band had done so well there in previous years. “That show was a bummer,” recalls Marc, who already distancing himself emotionally from SNFU. The guitarist can’t even remember the gig in High River the next night. He was at the end of his rope.