AFI
Davey Havok, vocals
Jade Puget, guitar
Hunter, bass
Adam Carson, drums
“When you¹re playing a style of music
that doesn¹t really fit anywhere, you run a risk. You¹re challenging people to
leave their niche, to leave their predetermined ideas of what they¹re supposed
to like. Luckily, we have a lot of people who just focus on the music and
appreciate us for what we are. So we get fans from all different genres of
music, the jocks, the spooky kids, skaters, college kids, punk rockers,
hardcore kids, metal kids, all that.” Davey Havok
The origins and history of AFI are as humble as they are passionate, beginning
with the meaning and philosophy behind the acronym now known to an ever growing
legion of fans the world over: A Fire Inside.
Over 10 years on and counting, the same inner flame that fuelled four teenagers
making a primal noise in a Ukiah, California, garage has propelled AFI to
unforeseen musical and professional levels, as evident on Sing The Sorrow
due out March 11th on DreamWorks Records.
“We’ve been doing this for a long time, and we love it more than anything,”
says AFI singer Davey Havok. “To play music you’re passionate about every night
it¹s like a dream. Sometimes you get sick; sometimes you get really tired, but
I can’t imagine doing anything else with my life.”
If Sing The Sorrow is any indication, Havok won’t have to worry about
doing anything else for a long time. Co-produced by Jerry Finn (Rancid, Green
Day, Jawbreaker) and Butch Vig (Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins), the record retains
the Bay Area outfit¹s signature aggression and pathos forging ever forward
into uncharted territory like the virtuoso guitar intro of ‘Leaving Song Part
2’ or the industrial-leaning break and Dead Can Dance-worthy outro of ‘Death Of
Seasons.’
Meanwhile, from its sublime intro through beautifully subdued verses and
infectious choruses, ‘Girl’s Not Grey’ is a standout that both recalls AFI
coming into its own on 2000’s The Art Of Drowning and hints at a myriad
of future directions. And for the purists, ‘Dancing Through Sunday’ and ‘Bleed
Black’ come strapped with generous chant-along opportunities and heavy-as-hell,
bolt-tight riffs and rhythms. And as with virtually every track on Sing The
Sorrow, they¹re imbued with alternately brooding and celebratory lyrical
imagery of rebirth, resurrection, apocalypse, all somehow deeply personal in
other words, classic AFI.
“We’ve always been able to do anything we want,” says guitarist Jade Puget.
“The credit for that goes to both the band and our fans: to us for striving not
to sound like anyone else, and to our fans for embracing those changes and
looking forward to the new directions each new record will take.”
”It also comes from never having any other choice but to do everything ourselves,”
Havok adds. “We never planned or had any expectation of assistance from anyone
else. And thanks to that work ethic, we were able to grow slowly and naturally
so that when others gradually took an interest in what we were doing, whether
it was Nitro [Records] or DreamWorks or whoever, they realized they couldn¹t
change us even if they wanted to.”
Although
AFI first surfaced in 1992, on Dork, a split 7” with fellow Ukiah High School
students Loose Change (featuring future AFI guitarist Jade), it wouldn¹t be
until the band¹s third full-length, 1997’s Shut Your Mouth And Open Your
Eyes, that bassist Hunter (ex-The Force) would enlist. And it would be
later still that the present AFI lineup would coalesce, with the addition of
Jade (by then ex-Redemption 87) on the defining and now-classic fourth album, Black
Sails In The Sunset, and the subsequent All Hallows EP. The latter
would give AFI its first taste of exposure beyond its long cultivated cult
following when the Offspring¹s cover of the EP”s “Totalimmortal” appeared on
the Me, Myself & Irene soundtrack and, in turn, on Modern Rock
playlists nationwide. A year later, “Days Of The Phoenix,” from The Art Of
Drowning, would do the same, albeit with the band playing its own
composition this time.
”I was completely in awe then‹and still am now to hear any of our songs on the
radio,” says Hunter. “The fact that radio would pick up on us based solely on
the quality of the music is still difficult for me to fathom, as is everything
positive that’s happened for us. It all seems to have come naturally from our
efforts, and honestly that¹s really hard for me to comprehend.”
In the meantime, AFI¹s live draw increased exponentially, and with good reason:
To witness the AFI live experience is to understand both that unique internal
chemistry and the undeniable bond between band and audience that has been honed
and strengthened through nearly seven years of non-stop worldwide touring.
Favorites from Black Sails, The Art Of Drowning and the All
Hallow’s and A Fire Inside EPs typically find the band fighting to
be heard over the din of the chanting crowd, every song received with a rabid
enthusiasm that possesses the players, the songs and the audience alike. It’s a
primal, almost tribal experience, one that via word of mouth has tickets for
the band’s already sold-out early 2003 shows eliciting eBay bids of more than
$300 a pair.
”Touring has always been the most important thing for us,” says drummer Adam
Carson, who co-founded the band with Havok in the early 90’s. “We basically
created our fan base by touring non-stop.” “I¹ve been touring since I was 19
years old,” Havok continues. “We were always of the mind that if two people
showed up the first time we played somewhere, we’d go back until there were 10,
then 30, then hundreds or thousands. We would keep coming back until they were
forced to take notice.”
As regaled as their live show has been, however, the members of AFI make it
clear that there was no attempt to replicate it on Sing The Sorrow.
“That’s a big priority for so many other bands,” says Jade, “but it’s never
been a concern for us. If anything, it’s the other way around; at least for me,
it’s about creating the song in the writing and recording process, then hoping
it¹ll translate live, rather than road-testing the new songs then hoping we can
capture the live vibe in the studio.” Instead, the band prioritizes making the
best and most adventurous record possible time and again, this time with the
more than able assistance of the aforementioned Vig and Finn (both of whom Jade
recalls as “so cool and affable from the very beginning,” explaining, “There
was never any kind of star producer’ vibe”).
”I think the progression from The Art Of Drowning to the new record is
similar to the leap between Shut Your Mouth and Black Sails,”
says Havok.”People familiar with our previous records are going to notice a
marked growth. The songs are far more complex, the performances are superior,
there are some ambient and electronic elements, which we¹ve never done before,
and vocally, I pushed myself to extremes I¹d never achieved before, both in
terms of aggression and melancholy.”
”Everybody says, this is our best record yet!” every time they come out with
something new,” Jade concludes. “I know it¹s a total cliché, but in our case,
we¹re always pleased with our latest record because each one is different from
the previous one. The fact is, this time we had more time and put more effort
into writing and recording and I believe that really translates.”