No Use for a Name is an American punk rock band from San Jose, California. Formed in 1986 by Rory Koff (drums), Chris Dodge (guitar), Steve Papoutsis (bass) and John Meyer (vocals), the band has grown considerably since Tony Sly joined the band on guitar and vocals in 1989 Fans often use the abbreviation NUFAN or No Use . They are one of the leading groups of punk skateboarding of the 1990s. The band died with the death of Tony Sly in August 2012.
No Use for a Name is formed in 1986 in San Jose, California >>>. Originally, as heard on their first album, Incognito, the sound of No Use for a Name was close to hardcore and very influenced by metal. It was in the early 1990s and more significantly after their signature with Fat Wreck Chords in 1993 that the band turned more towards punk skateboarding, which dominated the next decade.
The transition from New Red Archives to Fat is paying off as their first EP finds their audience and No Use converts the essay the following years by releasing two albums considered by the fans of the first hour as their masterpieces: Leche con Carne! in 1995 and Making Friends in 1997.
Making Friends marks a turning point in the band's history: it has finally stabilized after seeing multiple bassists and guitarists in its ranks to accompany Sly and Koff. Matt Riddle (ex-Face to Face and ex-Pulley) on bass and Chris Shiflett (who occasionally uses the pseudonym Jake Jackson - see the notes from the Making Friends booklet) on guitar joined NUFAN in 1996. Chris is quickly considered one of the best guitarists of the punk rock scene and it is not a coincidence that he participates alongside the Me First and the Gimme Gimmes with Fat Mike and Joey Cape among others.
