AFI (band)
| AFI | |
|---|---|
 |
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 AFI live |
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| General information | |
| Genre (s) | Early phase: punk rock , melodic hardcore , dark rock , hardcore punk ; later: post-hardcore , alternative rock , punk rock , rock , power pop , horror punk |
| founding | 1991 |
| Website | www.afireinside.net |
| Founding members | |
| Davey Havok | |
Guitar , vocals |
Markus Stopholese (until 1998) |
Bass , vocals |
Vic Chalker (until 1992) |
Drums , vocals |
Adam Carson |
| Current occupation | |
Lead vocals |
Davey Havok |
Drums, backing vocals
|
Adam Carson |
Bass, keyboard , backing vocals |
Hunter Burgan (since 1996) |
Guitar, keyboard, backing vocals |
Jade Puget (since 1998) |
| former members | |
bass |
Geoff Kresge (1992-1997) ( Tiger Army , horror pops ) |
AFI (A Fire Inside) is an American rock band that was formed in Ukiah , California in the early 1990s and has its roots in hardcore punk .
history
AFI (A Fire Inside) was founded in 1991 by Mark Stopholese, Vic Chalker and Davey Havok. All three were in Ukiah, California high school at the time. With Adam Carson the position of the drummer was filled. After the end of high school, the band split, as three members then studied at different colleges. However, when they met again for a reunion gig and were surprised by the enthusiasm of the local crowd, they decided to quit their studies and make music professionally. AFI gained a growing fan base through extensive touring and a large number of EP and compilation releases. They reached a large audience especially on a tour as the opening act for The Offspring , the band of their musical sponsor and founder of their label Nitro Records, Dexter Holland . They also toured with Rancid , The Distillers and Sick of It All . This is how the major label Dreamworks became aware of them, and with a large budget, the album Sing the Sorrow (2003) was recorded together with the star producers Butch Vig and Jerry Finn , which gave them their first notable commercial success inside and outside the USA brought in. In 2004, it was certified platinum in the US for one million units sold . The album Decemberunderground , released in 2006, immediately shot to number 1 in the US album charts, and the single Miss Murder made AFI heard in the German mainstream for the first time.
On September 1, 2006, they received the MTV Video Music Award 2006 in the Best Rock Video category for their song Miss Murder .
style
AFI's music has changed a lot over the years. In the beginning they played rough punk rock with hardcore punk influences, as could be heard on their first releases up to 1996. They covered Misfits and Negative Approach , among other things , the songs were short, simple and the lyrics silly to pseudo-political.
This changed with the third album Shut your mouth and open your eyes , which was a consistently aggressive but melodic hardcore punk album with personal, partly socio-political texts, mostly in a gloomy, metaphorical guise.
At the latest from the album Black Sails in the Sunset , the melody became particularly popular after a new guitarist and songwriter joined the band in Jade Puget. The band's dark image, which began with Shut your mouth and open your eyes, intensified, the lyrics were even more melancholy, more personal and more aggressive. The result was a melancholy and at the same time angry hardcore album that occasionally slows down the pace for ballads. On the soon to follow All Hallows EP, they lived out their soft spot for horror punk brand Misfits . However, through Jade Puget you could hear a more sophisticated sound, there were also quieter breaks, atmosphere became more and more important, post-punk bands like Joy Division and The Cure suddenly played a bigger role in the list of influences of the band.
This development continued on The Art of Drowning 2000. The punky, fast pace stayed, the lyrics resembled more and more poetry, ballads and melancholy moments increased. In 2003 AFI released Sing the Sorrow, their musically most demanding and epic album up to that point, which despite the audible roots of punk rock allowed for smaller electronic experiments, pop and even more melody. Experimentation became even more important with Decemberunderground . Punk tempo and heaviness are rarely heard ( kill caustic and afflicition ), instead more electronics, epic choirs, pop and melodies join the sound. This is also due to a vocal cord operation on the singer, as the scream passages contained in many songs that are often played live had ruined his vocal cords and he then had to learn a completely new singing style. The 1980s ( The Cure , New Order , U2 , Depeche Mode ) are clearly recognizable as influences.
AFI see themselves today as an alternative rock band, singer Davey Havok assures that he has understood AFI as a rock band since 1998 and does not want to create any stylistic chains in the form of rigidification on hardcore and punk rock. Values from the hardcore scene like straight edge and vegetarianism still play a big role for the band, and punk and hardcore bands like Ceremony, Gallows , Sick of It All and Ignite AFI still support their bigger shows in the USA.
Discography
Studio albums
| year | title |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 DE
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 UK
|
 US
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| 1995 | Answer That and Stay Fashionable | - | - | - |
First published: August 1, 1995
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| 1996 | Very proud of ya | - | - | - |
First published: June 18, 1996
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| 1997 | Shut Your Mouth and Open Your Eyes | - | - | - |
First published: November 11, 1997
|
| 1999 | Black Sails in the Sunset | - | - | - |
First published: May 18, 1999
|
| 2000 | The Art of Drowning | - | - |
US174 (1 week) US |
First published: September 19, 2000
|
| 2003 | Sing the Sorrow | - |
UK52  (1 week)UK |
US5  (51 weeks)US |
First published: March 11, 2003
Sales: + 1,200,000 |
| 2006 | Decemberunderground |
DE58 (1 week) DE |
UK16 (4 weeks)UK |
US1 (38 weeks)US |
First published: June 6, 2006
Sales: +993,000 |
| 2009 | Crash love |
DE95 (1 week) DE |
UK73 (1 week) UK |
US12 (7 weeks) US |
First published: September 29, 2009
Sales: + 52,000 |
| 2013 | Burials | - |
UK59 (1 week) UK |
US9 (3 weeks) US |
First published: September 18, 2013
|
| 2017 | The Blood Album | - |
UK69 (1 week) UK |
US5 (1 week) US |
First published: January 20, 2017
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Awards
-
MTV Video Music Awards
- 2003 : MTV2 Award (Girl's Not Gray)
- 2006 : for "Best Rock Video" (Miss Murder)
Web links
- Official website (English)
- AFI at Discogs (English)
- AFI at laut.de