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From Skratch Magazine, Issue #59 Born some nine years ago from a deep love for music and just plain old boredom, AFI sprang from the sleepy town of Ukiah, California located two hours outside of Northern California's Bay Area. As any band can tell you, the road to success is a long and arduous struggle with the end goal being the sole recognition of the music they so ernestly created. For AFI this journey has not been made in vain. Through their meager beginnings, AFI has endured a lot of changes in the line-up and the growth of the band's sound from one solely hard edged to a now more melancholy and moody flavor chock full of dark imagery that still retains their hard edged sound. Along the way they have gained a die-hard fanbase built solidly on a foundation of strong releases, thousands of miles of touring, performances brimming with raw energy and a relentless fervor for their music. This foursome has reached a plateau that none of them thought even remotely attainable. Now on the heels of their fifth full-length recording for Nitro Records, AFI is poised to explode into the mainstream. Recently the spotlight has been shined upon AFI by the cover of their song "Totalimmortal" by the Offspring for the "Me, Myself and Irene" soundtrack. (Awesome movie by the way - Alex C.) The release of that single garnered major commercial radio airplay and won the band the attention of alternative radio stations across the country. Combine that with the overwhelming success of "The Art of Drowning", which broke into the Billboard Albums Top 200 chart for record sales and slated for a headlining spot on the 2001 Warped Tour line up, the sky is the limit. Despite all the attention and success that the band has managed to achieve, they remain humble and grounded. I recently had a chance to chat with Davey Havoc (Yeah, I know they spelled it wrong, they do it through-out the entire interview, so I'm gonna correct it- Alex C.) backstage at the Hollywood Palladium in Hollywood, California while on tour with Rancid and the Distillers. AFI is Davey Havok (Vocals) Jade Puget (Guitar), Hunter (Bass), Adam Carson (Drums). Skratch Magazine: You grew up in a relatively small town, what was it like growing up? What was high school like for you? Davey Havok: It was the typical small town atmosphere. High school was the same for me as it was for anybody into the same music and scene that we were into pre-1993, everyone thought we were freaks. They hated us! What was worse was living in this small town that had a really conservative group of people living there. It was hard, but we didn't care. We skateboarded, there was a group of us that skated and we just got stuck together. Eventually, though we got out of there and moved to Berkeley (laughs). SM: (Laughing) Were your folks always tolerant with you and the things you were into? DH: My parents were as understanding as I could possibly want them to be. My father helped with the band from day one, he got our first stickers printed for us. They let us practice in their living room because we were going to record after that and my dad was singing along with us at practice! So they've been really, really great! My mom, as many moms are, didn't understand a lot of it, a lot of tears. She was worried about me, "Are you on drugs?" "No Mom, I'm not! I never have been and never will be!" SM: Now you dropped out of college at UC Berkeley to persue AFI full time, what was your parent's reaction to that? DH: It was very hard for them. It was really hard on my mom, she always dreamt that I would go to college, graduate and do something that I didn't want to do. It was hard for her and it was frightening for me because it was all very risky for me, for all of us to give up everything just to do the band. Now after years and years it has really paid pff and has been great. I'd do it again no matter what. All that mattered to me was that this is what I wanted to do and nothing else was going to make me happy like this and my parents understood that. SM: You think you'll ever go back to school? DH: No. There is nothing there for me. There is no end that could reach from going to school that would satisfy me at all. SM: Since AFI first formed there have been a few changes in the band. Do you feel that this has had a direct impact on the progression of the band's sound? DH: Oh the changes in the band have had a direct effect, definitely! Anytime you get new players in a band there is a new song writing that takes place. The addition of Jade (Puget) has helped the band immeasurably, since he joined I have not been happier! Everyone who is in the band right now, wants to be in the band, loves being in the band, loves touring, loves playing, loves writing. There is also an energy that is just really perfect. SM: I noticed while listening to "The Art of Drowning" that the imagery has traveled down a darker path, very moody imagery. When did you start to see that change emerge? DH: It was really slow that it started appearing in the band. It has always been there for us, I have always found the darker aesthetic appealing. I have always found dark music appealing. As we grew as song writers and became more and more comfortable writing with each other, that part of us started to become more evident and started to be pushed more into the forefront. SM: Has this sound always been an eventual goal or was it something that you just found along the way? DH: It's definitely something that I always have been into and we have always been into. It was a matter of becoming more solidified that allowed us to do it. I mean when we first started playing, we couldn't play. There is this sort of artistic element in the darker music that we just couldn't achieve because we didn't know how to play our instruments. It was four of us sitting around at lunch in high school , I was 15, "Hey guys let's start a band!" "OK! I'm gonna be the guitarist!" "I'm gonna be the singer!" It wasn't until after, years and years, that we could truly evolve into what we are. SM: Tell me a bit about the "Art Of Drowning", what does this album mean to you? DH: To me, "The Art of Drowning" is the most complete album that we have created, it's our most complete piece of work. I think it flows very well. It's my favorite thing that we've done and I think it's very representative of our band as a whole. The rising and falling of the album really reflects what AFI is, both musically and lyrically. If anyone has never heard of us before I would say check out this album. SM: What sparks you creatively? Where do you derive your inspiration? DH: All sorts of things. I'll get inspiration in flashes and write down notes. The moment before sleep I'll get inspiration and I have to force myself to get up and write it down. Most of my lyrics are very introspective, it's a kind of reflection on myself and my feelings towards others or situations or my perception of what's going on around me. I get inspired by everything, I know it sounds cliche. I get inspired by literature, whether it be novels or comic books, art, films, music, bands I love, bands I hate, the weather, all sorts of things. SM: Now I know AFI has enjoyed a fairly solid fan base from it's inception... DH: (laughs) Well... SM: (laughing) Ok, well maybe not always, but as with any band, they come to gain a core following of people that have been around since day one and it grows and grows. Now due to the release of the cover of "Totallimortal" by the Offspring that pushed you out into the mainstream spotlight, how did the Offspring approach you about doing this and why? DH: Well first of all, the Offspring are very good friends of ours, Dexter owns our record label, we've toured with them many times. They were offered to do a song for the soundtrack to that Jim Carrey movie and they asked if they could do a cover. When they got the okay for that they came over to us and said "we're going to do a cover for this soundtrack, and we want to cover Totalimmortal." Of course we were really flattered! When anyone wants to cover one of your songs, let alone a band you respect, covers your song, it's totally flattering! So we said, "Yeah, go ahead" and that was it. Neither of us expected at the time that it was going to get any airplay. It was extremely weird to hear our song played by someone else over the radio, in the sense that we felt, "Well damn, why don't you play our songs?" since Nitro sent our songs out too, but the radio stations were like, "Ehhh, nah." (laughs) Then the Offspring covers it and suddenly, "Oh this is the greatest song! Who is it by? Nevermind, here's the new Offspring!" Now there have always been a few radio stations that have always represented for us. I know up in San Francisco really supported us on that one! But overall it was really neat to hear it and it was really awesome of them to cover it. SM: Do you think this commercial acknowledgement has affected your hardcore fan-base in any way? DH: Honestly I don't really think so. I really haven't seen too much in the effect of that at all to tell you the truth. The only thing I think that has come out of it is there are a few (radio) stations playing cuts off of "The Art of Drowning". I think that definitely helped with that because radio stations had become familiar with our name because of the Offspring and we're grateful for that. Other than that I don't think it's had too much of an effect. Altough, every once in a while somebody will make the mistake of saying, "Oh yeah, it's really cool that you covered that Offspring song tonight!" around the rest of the kids, who then point and laugh at them, and that's only happened three times at most. SM: How has the tour in support of "The Art of Drowning" been so far? DH: This tour has been amazing! This has to be one of the most fun tours I have ever been on. We've toured with Rancid, who have looked after us like we were their brothers. The Distillers are great, an amazing band, a true punk band, which is rare these days. Rancid definitely is, we're not! (laughs) Who knows what we are! But it has been going really great touring with them, it's been so smooth, and the response has been just great! We couldn't ask for more! All the shows have been sold out, and I think a lot of our fans enjoy Rancid as well, and so they are totally happy to come to the show and then we get to play in front of all of Rancid's fans. SM: I know you've had some pretty interesting experiences on this tour. How is your head? I heard you got clipped in the head. DH: I have a small scar (points to a small mark on his forehead) not too bad, right? SM: Oh no, you can barely see it. DH: (laughs) Yeah... it wasn't too fun. In Connecticut, Hunter put his tuning peg through my forehead during the first song. I then proceeded to play. (At this point Kevin Lymon, the creator of the Warped Tour comes into the dressing room to say hello and after which he turns to me and speaks into my recorder.) Kevin Lymon: Here's an exclusive for ya! AFI, Warped Tour 2001, (laughs, jokingly) sponsored by Coppertone. (we all laugh and Kevin leaves) DH: Where were we? Oh yeah, so I played the whole set with blood running down my face and after the set they rushed me to the emergency room afterwards and they kind of glued it together. So now I have this scar, which kind of sucks, but it comes with the job. (laughs) It's one of those risks. SM: (laughing) I also heard you got harassed by some cops in Kansas? DH: Kansas? Oh yeah! How did you hear about that? (laughing) SM: (laughing) I do my homework! DH: (laughing) Man you have good sources! It was ridiculous! I'm on the phone talking to Nick13 (Tiger Army) in the parking lot while we're getting our van fixed, because it broke down. We had no place to stay to go so they told us to drop our trailer in this parking lot of this kind of outdoor supply, tractors and mulch and all that kind of stuff. I'm looking through the window of this store and this cop rolls up. I mean we're just sitting there. Cop rolls up, a second car rolls up, a third, three cop cars! I am laughing The Distillers are just standing there smoking. I guess the cops were pretty embarassed. Someone inside the store called the Police on us because they were afraid of us! (laughing) I guess we looked a little different! They took everyone's ID and ran a check and luckily everyone was clean. It was lame! It's quite a culture shock to leave a metropolis like Los Angeles or San Francisco, these culture centers of our nation, because you really get desensitized as to how convservative the rest of the United States is! I think I look completely normal, and then, suddenly you realize you don't. You realize that people freak out as you pull into the gas stations of Kansas, the south and middle America. It's a shock! SM: Do you run into as many people that actually know who you guys are, as opposed to maybe people that are just staring at you wondering who the hell you are? DH: Yeah it's weird! Every once in a while we will run into people who recognize us, which is a little strange! Especially when we're not in major cities. We had just done a show in Salt Lake City and we were about two and a half hours out in some small town in Utah and stopped to have something to eat at this little diner. The waitress asked us if we were in a band, told her and she totally freaked out! She was all, "Oh my God! You guys played in Salt Lake and I totally wanted to come!" She was so nice, we gave her a CD and signed it for her. SM: So what's next for AFI? DH: Well, tomorrow night is the last night of this tour. We have a couple shows in Jacksonhole, Wyoming and then we're off to Europe with the Offspring after New Year's. We are supposed to be on this tour called Snow Jam, that takes place in Canada, and as you heard we'll be doing the Warped Tour this summer. (laughs) And yes we will be wearing a lot of sun block, as Kevin noted earlier! SM: Kind of an introspecitve question here. If there was only one thing you could tell your fans, what would it be? DH: Thank you! I sound like I'm gushing, but really, we have some of the most loyal and dedicated fans that a band could ever ask for. I mean, there are a lot of bands I have seen that have a thousand kids at their shows, two thousand kids, that don't even compare to a group of 500 of our fans. It makes us feel so good! They really pay attention to us, they know the lyrics, they sing every word and most of them really understand. It's awesome! SM: Well I would really like to thank you for your time and I wish you continued success. DH: Thank you.
From Skratch Magazine, Issue #59
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