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Interview
with AFI Andrew- Introduce yourself Davey- My name is Davey Havok. I sing for AFI. Do you want more? (laughs) Andrew- Yeah, what's your sign? (laughs) Andrew- Tell us a little about "The Art of Drowning." Where you got the title... Davey- Actually, Jade and I came up with the title. It was kind of a combined effort. Andrew- Does it have any relevance or pertinence to the record? Davey- Well, the record, for the most part, is a pretty despondent album. It's very melancholy, hence the title, "The Art of Drowning." Andrew- The songs you played in soundcheck sounded more mellow. Perhaps not mellow as in pure intensity and loud guitars and that sort of thing. Mellow as in not playing straight punk drumbeats. Davey- Have we been playing straight punk? (laughs) Andrew- Drum-wise. Davey- Oh. I don't know. I'm the singer! (laughs) No, we definitely are not playing straight punk. Personally, I don't think we've been playing straight punk for a while. As far as what you heard in soundcheck, 1) not a single song is indicative of the whole album as the whole. A lot of albums are far more homogeneous than this one is. It's a really dynamic album as a whole, as well as each individual song. A lot of them are really dynamic in and of themselves. So for me it's the best thing we've done so far. We worked really hard. We've been working since April, and we finally finished it. Andrew- How long did it take you? Davey- We finished recording it right before we left for Europe, and when we came back we had to re-mix the whole thing, because the original mix was just not acceptable. We had to start re- mixing right when we got back, and didn't finish until a few days before we left for this tour. Andrew- So you spent at least a month on it. Davey- Yeah, over a month. Andrew- Does that mean that it'll sound bigger? The other records were done in a much shorter time span. Davey- A lot of the extra time was due to re-doing stuff. Re-mixing and stuff. Actually, sonically, I think it is the fullest sounding record that we've done. Andrew- Was it different not working at Art of Ears? Davey- It was a cool experience to be able to work in Fantasy Studios. Andrew- Isn't that like a big rock studio? (as his next comment progresses, Davey's voice changes from being normal, to talking like an AM radio disc jockey) Davey- Yeah, rock studio. Big rock. Seventies rock. All the time. Andrew- Awesome! Davey- It was cool working there. However, we took the tapes, and went to Andy (Ernst). Andrew- Does it sound like something he's touched? Davey- Absolutely. Before it sounded like something completely unlike what we were going for. We brought him the tapes, and we all sat down together. It was great working with him- we've been working together so long, and he knew exactly where we were coming from. We've been together for years! (laughs) It was great to have him come and put his final touches on it. Andrew- This is kind of a different question. I heard this in a video a long time ago, and maybe you can verify this. I heard that "Mohawk" about your little brother. Davey- Yeah, it is about my brother. Andrew- Is that the reason that it's the only "silly" song that remains in your set? Davey- I don't know. I think about that every once in a while. Andrew- Because there are other songs on that record that I like too, I guess you could say. Davey- There are some other songs on that record that I wouldn't mind playing. That, along with the rest of the songs on that album are so old, and we've been playing them for so long... Andrew- It's a tired issue Davey- Yeah, you know what I mean? I'd like to play "Rizzo In The Box." I'd like to play "Ny-Quil." But yeah, that one is about my little brother, which makes it a little less painful for me to play. Andrew- Was he really like that as a little kid? Davey- He was very young. With the lyrics, is it "ten years old"? Do you know? Andrew- Yeah. Davey- Well, when it was initially written he was eight years old. I changed it to ten years old two years later to keep up with the times. But now, sixteen doesn't make any sense. Andrew- And now, a lyrics question. I interviewed you a week after "Shut Your Mouth" came out. I just listened to the tape recently, and I noticed that when I made the comment, "Third Season could be a radio song," to which your reply was, "well, yeah, if noone pays attention to the lyrics." I was wondering if you could expand on that thought. Davey- I think, for the most part, most of the songs that are played on the radio have very light lyrical content. If they have any meaning at all it's really not abrasive or "dark" by any means. Andrew- "Boy meets girl". That sort of thing. Davey- Right. They're love songs, or they're funny. My lyrics- at least since the second album- they're not light, they're not funny. (enter Adam and Jade) Adam- Enter Adam Davey- So, songs of that nature tend to frighten people. Andrew- Most people that listen to the radio don't pay attention to lyrics anyway. Davey- But people that play the songs on the radio do. Andrew- Programmers, that sort of thing? Davey- Yeah, they'll listen to it, and if it says something crazy, they'll say, "Oh, we can't play this. This is too much for the people to handle." There are some exceptions to the rule. There are bands like Tool, or Smashing Pumpkins. Rage Against the Machine. Nine Inch Nails. What other bands have valid things to say? Adam- Slipknot Davey- Slipknot??? I don't know what the hell they're saying! (laughs) Adam- They want to take over the world. Andrew- (sarcastically) Oh, there's nothing wrong with that. Davey- Yeah, that's great. Andrew- This is another rumor I've heard. So level with me. Is it true...that you're dating a model? (Adam and Jade begin laughing hysterically) Davey- Oh shit. (Adam continues laughing like a hyena) Davey- At this point, no, it's not true. Andrew- Did just open a can of worms that I perhaps shouldn't have? Davey- No, it's fine.
Jade- I am. Davey- He is. Andrew- You are? Davey- Yes, I did at one point date a model. Sort of. She wasn't like anyone that anyone would know. (laughs) She used to model overseas. Andrew- The rumor I heard is that she modeled for Calvin Klein. Davey- I am. Andrew- Are you? Davey- Yeah, I just did a couple of shoots with him. Not him personally, but with Calvin Klein. Jade- That was Calvin and Hobbes. (laughs) Davey- Never mind, it was Calvin and Hobbes. The tiger was peeing on me or something. (laughs) Andrew- Alright, brace yourself. Make-up tips. Davey- Make-up tips??? Andrew- How do you keep your pores from getting clogged? You wear make-up every night! Davey- Look at my skin! My skin is fucked up. I've got bad skin. That's not from the make-up, though. You know what it's from? I just bleached my hair the other day, and whenever I bleach my hair my skin breaks out immediately. But I have horrible skin. I don't have very good skin. Ask Jade, he has good skin, and he wears make-up every night. But most of my make-up is sweated off in the first two or three songs. Jade- Awwwww, man!!! Shit! I just dropped my favorite eyeliner! Davey- But I don't use much heavy stuff. I don't use the pancake stuff. I use powders. Jade- I just dropped my favorite earplugs on the floor, too. Andrew- You have favorites? Jade- Yeah, I just started using them like an hour ago, and I really liked them, so now they're my favorites. Kris- How do feel about the Offspring doing your song? Davey- I think it's cool. They're our friends, and they asked if they could cover it, since they liked it so much. I was flattered. We were like, "Yeah." Andrew- Do you like it? Davey- Yeah. It's cool. ( Jade begins speaking in a Jeff Spicoli voice) Jade- They were like, "Dudes, that's a badass jam." We were like, "Fuck it." They were like, "We're gonna cover that motherfucker." (laughs) Davey- Basically. Andrew- Has it helped you economically? You receive residuals from it, don't you? Davey- Supposedly, that's the case, but we haven't seen that yet. Those happen every, what, quarter? Adam- Half a year. I can't imagine it making much money. Andrew- I hear it on the radio every now and then. Every so often. Adam- But you're only dealing with pennies. And the station that the song is played on has to be included in a random sample that the publishing company takes, so they can sample the different stations. That's pretty much it. Nevertheless, it's not having that big of an effect. Andrew- Will you be playing any new stuff? Davey- Yeah, we'll play a few songs off of "The Art of Drowning." Andrew- When is it coming out? Davey- It's suppose to come out September 26th. Adam- It might be October 3rd now. They're not sure. Andrew- Final comments? Davey- Thank you. (Jade now speaks like Apu from "The Simpsons.") Jade- Thank you. Come again. (Adam waves)
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