CODEFENDANTS UNLEASH NEW SINGLE “What Are We Doing This For?”

October 10, 2025

Codefendants Drop New Single “What Are We Doing This For?”

The Codefendants—Fat Mike (NOFX), Sam King (Get Dead), and Ceschi—have unleashed their new single “What Are We Doing This For?” (CODEF Version). The track produced by Factor Chandelier, a reimagining of a 2023 NOFX song, lands with even more urgency in today’s political climate where freedom of speech is being silenced.

WATCH THE VIDEO FOR “WHAT ARE WE DOING THIS FOR?” HERE

“Since this NOFX song was recorded so early in the process of making the first Codefendants album, the whole experience felt surreal to me,” says Ceschi. “The track had that classic hardcore/crossover energy—it reminded me of Suicidal Tendencies in the ’80s—and there was Fat Mike himself coaching Sam and me through these dense, fast lyrics he’d written about the Trump Q era of disinformation and anti-intellectualism. I believed in the message completely, but what really struck me was how rare and cool the opportunity was. It was one of those life-changing moments in music where I thought: even if nothing ever came from these recordings, just having been there was enough. Now, years later, seeing it finally come out makes it all the more special.”

The Codefendants crashed into the scene like a Molotov cocktail through the glass of an industry built on safe bets. Meet the conspirators: Sam King, a punk-rock lifer with scars and ink to prove it; Julio “Ceschi” Ramos, a poet and ex-con with underground hip-hop roots; and Fat Mike, not quite hardened but once detained in Disneyland jail for 24 hours after causing a scene. Together, they built a sound the feds couldn’t classify—a sonic confession they named Crime Wave.

Their first full statement came with 2023’s This Is Crime Wave—a record that played like a eulogy for the overdose dead, a sermon for the disillusioned, and a howl from the last booth at the diner before the world ends.

By spring 2023, the band hit the road on NOFX’s farewell tour and haven’t slowed since. In 2025, they tore through Punk Rock Holiday and Bay Fest in Europe before storming into Los Angeles’ Rhymefest alongside hip-hop legends Xzibit, Dilated Peoples, and DJ Quik. Each set proved their hybrid of punk grit, hip-hop fire, and unfiltered honesty belongs everywhere and nowhere at once.

The Codefendants aren’t just touring—they’re infiltrating, crossing lines, and rewriting the rules. And with “What Are We Doing This For?” they’ve fired another shot straight through the heart of complacency.