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AFI (band)



         


AFI (A Fire Inside) is an American punk rock 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. After doing a few live shows, AFI broke up while its members moved away to different colleges. 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 1996, after which their bassist Geoff Kresge decided to leave the group. Their current bassist, Hunter, filled in for Kresge for the tour in support of Very Proud of Ya and then became their full-time bassist shortly thereafter. Over the course of four following LPs, the band has established a dedicated cult following and is widely respected as one of the better punk 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, who was critical in forming the bands new sound over the following albums. Following on from the new gothic influenced 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) album on which their gothic approach was fully apparent, especially in the lyrics of Davey Havok. 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. However, many fans feel their latest album Sing the Sorrow which was released on the much larger DreamWorks label on May 11, 2003 displays a different musical approach which has lost the punk rock aggression entirely and connected more with its lyrical subject matter. The band continues to drift into ever darker realms, its music being described in a May 1, 2003 concert review, from the Daily Californian (Berkeley, CA) as "half Satanic ritual, half old school moshpit punk."

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, as often happens with lead guitar players and vocalists. 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 Davey nor Jade are homosexual and have stated this several times on the official message board.

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