[FEATURED IMAGE: Live photo of NOFX — Photo credit: Raymond Flotat] Category: News Tags: NOFX, Fat Mike, Eric Melvin, Erik Sandin

Eric Melvin wants to set the record straight.

The NOFX guitarist took to Instagram this weekend to push back on the widely reported claim that he had filed a lawsuit against former bandmate Fat Mike, stating that he “never sued” Fat Mike or the band. According to Punknews, Melvin sent a demand for accounting rather than initiating legal proceedings, which was a move in which a member of an LLC requests financial records to review them for potential malfeasance or incorrect reporting. Sending a demand for accounting would not constitute legal service.

The clarification comes directly in response to statements made by drummer Erik Sandin earlier this year at the Punk Rock Museum in Las Vegas, where a NOFX exhibit opened in January. Sandin read a prepared statement at the event explaining Melvin’s absence, saying: “Eric Melvin is not here today with us because of the following reason: at 8 am on Monday morning, after the final NOFX show ever, Eric Melvin’s lawyers served Fat Mike legal papers accusing him of financial malfeasance.” Sandin added that the alleged service came roughly ten hours after the band’s final show, saying the letter “broke my heart, as well as the rest of the band and the crew.”

Sandin also defended Fat Mike at the time. “I’ve known Mike for 43 years. I knew him for a year before NOFX. Mike is a lot of things; we all know that. He’s a complicated person, but he is not a thief. I will go on record saying he is not a thief,” Sandin told the crowd, adding that Melvin had instructed all communication on the matter to go through his counsel.

Melvin’s post disputes this entirely. According to Punknews, the distinction matters because legal service refers specifically to the formal delivery of a legal document in connection with a lawsuit, a step Melvin alleges he never took. The Instagram post is embedded below.

[EMBED: @ericmelvin Instagram post — paste embed code from https://www.instagram.com/p/DV4wYUUEW0-/ here, TEXT tab, delete emojis]

NOFX played their final show on October 6, 2024 at Berth 46 in San Pedro, California after over 40 years together. mxdwn previously covered the legal dispute between Melvin and Fat Mike as well as the band’s final show in San Pedroand their triple album release of rarities and demos.