AFI is an American Hardcore punk band formed in 1991 by Davey Havok(vocals), Markus Stopholese (guitar), Vic Chalker (bass) and Adam Carson (drums) in Ukiah, California. Bassist Vic was later replaced by Geoff Kresge. Geoff was replaced by Hunter Burgan. Formerly a street punk band with slight pop undertones, they recently have been
embracing a more subtle horror goth rock/punk sound.
AFI formed when the members got bored at lunch, apparently. Adam and Davey played school soccer together, and Adam used his
brother's drum kit. Havok was in the school's choir. After doing a few live shows in parks and such, AFI broke up while its
members moved away to different colleges, including University of California at Berkeley (where Havok began a double major of
English and Psychology) and University of California at Santa Barbara. After reuniting to perform a very successful live show,
the members decided to drop out of college and play in the band full-time. They released a few independently made vinyl EP's, and
eventually released their debut full-length album Answer That and Stay Fashionable in 1995. Their second album, Very Proud of Ya, was released in 1995 (later re-released in 1996 by
the Niro Label), after which their bassist Geoff Kresge decided to leave the group for personal reasons. Their current bassist,
Hunter Burgan, formerly of The Force (and currently, also doing the side
projects of The Frisk and Hunter Revenge) filled in for Kresge for the tour in support of Very Proud of Ya Hunter perfers to go by the single name Hunter and he helped afi record their
album, Shut Your Mouth and Open Your Eyes. Shortly after, he became their full-time bassist. Over the course of four following
LPs, the band has established a dedicated cult following and is widely respected as one of the better rock bands of the 1990s.
After the recording of the A Fire Inside EP in 1998, Mark left the band to be replaced by guitarist Jade Puget, formerly of Redemption 87 and Loose Change, who was critical in forming the
band's new sound over the following albums. Following on from the new approach they had taken on the aforementioned A Fire
Inside EP (released on Adeline records) the band recorded their Black Sails in the Sunset (Nitro 1998) a musical turning point. On this album, and the
following All Hallow's EP (Nitro 1999), other EPs and the seminal The Art of Drowning album (Nitro 2000) their original punk roots were still quite apparent in their
musical approach, but more 80s goth seemed to appear in the lyrics. However, many fans feel their latest album Sing the Sorrow which was released on the much larger DreamWorks label on March 11, 2003 displays a different musical approach which
has lost the punk rock aggression entirely and connected more with its lyrical (and angsty) subject matter.
They are followed by a devoted fan base called the Despair Faction. Consisting of fans old and young, male and female, the
Despair Faction attends every AFI show in its areas.
The term "Javey" (the combination of names Davey and Jade) is generally used to describe the physical closeness of AFI band
members Jade Puget and Davey Havok. While performing the two seem to work more closely than the other band members. Javey is
generally looked down upon by hardcore fans of the band, but played up on sites such as Fandomination. Fanfics, or fictional stories made up using the band members as characters, often involve Javey. Neither Jade
nor Davey is homosexual and it has been stated several times on the official message board, not to mention the vocalist of
Bleeding Through commenting that Davey "loves the women". Davey has stated that he doesn't mind fanfiction. Jade's sexuality has
never been particularly asserted in either direction, although he said he wished for the fan fictions to remain respectful.
Hunter, who replaced Geoff (who went on to join Tiger Army), is from Grass Valley in
Northern California. He was in a number of bands, including The Force. Currently
he has a solo band Hunter Revenge and is in The Frisk, as well as being in AFI full-time.
Davey has also pursued several side projects. One of those was his position as lead vocalist of the punk/metal super group
"Son of Sam" which was made up of members of Danzig, Samhain, and Tiger Army as well as Davey. Another project, known as "Blaqk
Audio" is Davey and Jade's electronic side project, which not much is known about at this time. The website for Blaqk Audio,
however is www.blaqkaudio.com.
The meaning of the initials AFI is somewhat unclear. It is rumored that initially the name was a random selection of
letters as they thought it was a pretty rad idea at the time, taking ques from bands like NOFX. They eventually came up with a
number of possible meanings, ranging from Abuncha Fucking Idiots, Asking For It, A Fire Inside, and
Anthems for Insubordinates (the latter being officially incorporated as the company that holds their songwriting and
lyrics copyrights). After the release of 1997's Shut Your Mouth and Open Your Eyes, however, the band has consistently
used "A Fire Inside" as the "official" meaning of AFI. Contrary to these rumors, though, Davey Havok claims that the
meaning of AFI has always been "A Fire Inside."
In 2004, AFI covered Nine Inch Nails' "Head Like A Hole" for the
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas soundtrack.
Out of the two soundtracks that were released, AFI's cover appeared only on the 2-disc set.
Discography
- Dork EP released in 1993 on 7" vinyl
- Behind The Times EP released in 1993 on 7" vinyl
- Eddie Picnic's All Wet Live EP released in 1994 on 7" vinyl
- Fly In The Ointment EP released in 1995 on 7" vinyl
- Answer That and Stay
Fashionable Album released in 1995, rereleased in 1997
- Very Proud of Ya Album released in 1996
- "He Who Laughs Last..." 1996 Video-Single (only)
- Shut Your Mouth and Open Your Eyes Album released in 1997
- "Third Season" 1997 Video-Single (only)
- A Fire Inside EP released in 1998
- Black Sails EP released in 1999
- Black Sails in the Sunset Album
released in 1999
- All Hallow's EP released in 1999
- "Totalimmortal" 1999 Video-Single (only)
- The Art of Drowning Album released in 2000
- "The Days Of The Phoenix" 2000 Video-Single (only)
- The Days Of The Phoenix EP released in 2001
- 336/Now The World EP released in 2002 on 10" vinyl
- Sing the Sorrow Album released in 2003
- Sing the Sorrow Special Edition. Book, CD, and DVD- Clandestine
- "Girl's Not Grey" 2003 CD/Video Single
- "The Leaving Song Pt. 2" 2003 CD/Video Single
- "Silver And Cold" 2003 Video-Single (only)
- AFI, Retrospective released on November 2, 2004
External links
Alabama
