Shy Boys Win

2011-02-13T17:54:00.001-08:00

Lazy Sunday remix #2, in keeping with last week's theme:

Gold and Guns

2011-02-10T08:53:00.000-08:00

Davey is going to be taking over for Billie Joe in the American Idiot play for the first 2 weeks of March. Singing on Broadway is a dream come true for him, it's very cool.

Davey McBroadwayplay

2011-02-01T20:32:00.000-08:00

A lazy Sunday with nothing to do resulted in me doing an impromptu dubby Metric remix, strictly for the wobz.
By the way, if you haven't heard the Fantasies album, get on it.

2010-12-23T16:23:00.001-08:00

Now that I've finished Angry Birds, I can resume my life. If you haven't played it, don't.

2010-12-16T17:31:00.000-08:00

The more time that goes by between posts, the harder it becomes to post. I feel like if I haven't written in 2 months, then I better write something earth-shattering, something that will make up for my lack of upkeep.
But lacking any bombshells to drop, let me see if I can recap the last few months.
AFI finished the Green Day tour, the last tour of the Crash Love record cycle, culminating with this:

No one seemed to be surprised that we were dressed as Santas, I think they thought we were just part of the show.
The tour was lovely, Green Day are fantastic wonderful gents.
A little bit of home time, a little bit of this:

and then switching gears to Blaqk Audio. Right off the bat we had two shows lined up, Spookfest in SF and Underworld in San Diego, so we had to get our electronic chops popping again.
We acquired a new soundguy by the name of Moses, who does sound for Ratatatat, and who sort of looks like the old timey Moses:

but younger...and no...beard...and with tattoos...and no 5 Commandments.
The first shows were great, especially Spookfest, people just want to dance! 10,000 Kevin Bacons.

I got to see some of MSTRKRFT's set, they devastated the place, and some of DJ Shadow.
As I write this, I'm working on our set for the next BA show, January 6th, at Popscene in San Francisco.
So there you have it, it may have seemed deceptively quiet in my world for the last 3 months but I was stupid busy.
I promise to update more now, and come out and dance with us, we'll be popping up all over.
<3

2010-09-03T10:43:00.000-07:00

Blaqk Audio's first show of the new era has been announced:

Subsonic Spookfest
Friday, October 29th
The Cow Palace in San Francisco (what could be spookier than cows?)
16+

The lineup is k.i.l.l.e.r.:

Underworld (one of the best live shows I've ever been to)
DJ Shadow (one of my favorite DJs ever)
MSTRKRFT
Steve Aoki
Booka Shade
and several other DJs and acts.
and several other

2010-08-25T22:23:00.000-07:00

We had a day off in Dallas today, so we went to see our friend's brother pitch for the Texas Rangers. Adam got to throw out the first pitch.

I must apologize for the quality of the video, I had a mouthful of peanuts and my hand was all salty. The pixelated black stick is Adam.

Luckily they had a copy of my favorite magazine in my hotel room, Garden & Gun. I really don't feel safe wandering around a garden without firepower. Everything is gunnier in Texas.

2010-08-22T20:48:00.000-07:00

Just watched this in my hotel room.

Bummer.

I'm a fan of horror movies but you have to be in the right frame of mind. What are some good ones to destroy your sense of comfort and well-being?

Here's some must-see classics:

Prince of Darkness
Texas Chainsaw Massacre
The Thing (80's version)
The Exorcist
The Omen
Blair Witch Project
Poltergeist
Event Horizon
Hellraiser
Suspiria
The Descent
Dawn of the Dead

with an honorable mention to those venerated serials:
Friday the 13th
Halloween
Nightmare on Elm St.

the first films of all 3 of those series were epic.

And then, if you really want to try and test your sanity and reason for living, try watching the Begotten, here's a taste:

2010-08-13T10:43:00.000-07:00

We are in the obscure city of Holmdel, NJ, which apparently isn't close to anything, I don't even think it's close to Holmdel, NJ.

My hotel room is one of those weird Holiday Inn "suites", that consist of a huge, oddly-shaped livingroom/gymnasium, an incongruously tiny bathroom, and a bedroom with no windows, which doubles as a depressing cave. I drug the desk out of the cave into the gymnasium so I can at least have a little light.

Last night's show was entertaining (I've been pleasantly surprised at how fun these have been).

Davey always manages to somehow find a feather boa in the crowd every night, so you know he's in heaven.

Halfway through the set I noticed this guy with long blonde hair and shades rocking out front and center, in between the barrier and the stage, which I thought was odd because not only did he have a Clash shirt on, but security wasn't booting him. then I realized that it was Billie Joe in a wig and it made more sense.

Now, where does one eat in Holmdel, NJ?

2010-08-06T18:20:00.000-07:00

Gahh, blowing it on the blogger front.
I've had an excuse for the last 5 days at least. We started the Green Day tour, which has been quite the experience so far.
We haven't done a legit big support tour since we went out with the Offspring in Europe in the year 2000. That's 10 years of the headlining Affies.
Currently we're in Chicago. Chicago is like the Miami of Canada. Which is a good thing.
Lollapalooza tomorrow. There's actually a ton of bands I'd like to see in the lineup this year, such as:
The Black Keys
Phoenix
The Strokes
Cut Copy
Metric
Grizzly Bear
Dirty Projectors
Frightened Rabbit
Minus the Bear
The Big Pink

SOLID!

I hope they don't put Frightened Rabbit and Grizzly Bear on next to each other. Could get ugly.

In case you were wondering, yes, Lance Herbstrong is playing.

On to other things.

is in full gear-up mode. We haven't made any major announcements because we have to take care of a few important things first.
We do, however, have our first show booked, which is exciting. Should be announced soon.

Soon.

2010-07-03T10:21:00.001-07:00

I just read that Lady Gaga has 10 million fans on Facebook. I think Blaqk Audio can beat that.
If we get 20 million fans, I'll post a picture of Davey and I jumping over a Volkswagen Bug.
By the way, we have 13,283 fans right now, so just tell 19 million of your friends and it's a lock.

Happy 4th, by the way.

2010-07-03T08:25:00.000-07:00

Who has the better facial hair? I'd have to go with Smith on this one, it's just so useful.

Fork that!

2010-06-24T17:02:00.000-07:00

In honor of the birthday of one of the greatest humans ever, my brother Smith, I'm reposting some of his fine moments. Happy birthday, Smith.

By the way, speaking of fine humans, I ran into Dave Grohl last night at the frozen yogurt place I go to, and he is one very cool guy. I know him but it's not like we're besties, yet he's the coolest, most down-to-earth, nicest guy. With all the douchey unfriendly tools out there in rock land, it's nice that some people are real human beings.

2010-06-21T16:02:00.000-07:00

I was reading one of my computer/electronic music nerd alert magazines today and I noticed that every one of these acclaimed electronic producers is male.
I realized that the electronic music scene is almost completely male-dominated. While there are some notable exceptions to the rule, there's definitely a shortage of female voices in the various sub-genres of electronic music.
In fact, when I Googled female electronic musician producer, DJ Myshell was the first person that came up:

I'm not denying the strength of the cowboy hat/Juno look, but we need a lady-led revolution in the scene, girls making ill breakbeat hardcore, wobbly dubstep basslines, 20 minute psybient epics.

For that matter, in general, if anyone is doing music they want to share, feel free to post links in this thread.

2010-06-13T10:24:00.000-07:00

Just did an interview with AP about Art of Drowning. They're doing a piece about influential albums and they're covering some great stuff, At the Drive-In, Cursive, Deftones, Boys Sets Fire, Bright Eyes, etc.
Out of curiosity, what are your jams off that album, if any?

2010-06-05T19:23:00.000-07:00

Smithraham Lincoln

Abradavey Lincvok

Alexander Fritch Hamilton.

2010-06-02T10:07:00.000-07:00

Summer. Finally.

Not that I'm necessarily a fan, I've always held an uneasy regard for the sun. I think I prefer the overcast of a Berkeley morning to the unrelentingly cheerful sunny skies of LA.

There's something about summertime that makes you want to just get in the car and ride to something. Maybe it's that residual feeling of freedom from the school year, or those sunny skies I was talking about.

Which brings me to my point: what are your summer jams for 2010?

2010-05-29T19:26:00.000-07:00

Tennessee.
I just Googled Tennessee to find some pertinent information to share, and apparently their Wiki page has been hacked:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tennessee

Keep your head up, Tennessee.

And see you tomorrow.

2010-04-23T01:16:00.000-07:00

Greetings from Antwerp, Belgium, home of diamonds.
I've been a little remiss in my blogging as we traipsed across Europe but things are a bit more mellow now and we're scheduled to fly home in 3 days, that is if this:

allows us.

The UK leg of the tour was killer, it's always pleasant to tour with your friends, and having Sick of it All and the Dear and Departed along was the best. My very first trip to Europe, in 1999, was when Sick of it All took us, so it was nice to return the favor.
On the ferry to France I was able to sit in the very front of the lounge, surrounded by floor to ceiling glass windows and watch Calais materialize out of the dawn fog, one of my favorite Channel trips yet.
The shows on the Continent were fun, back to Milan and Zurich, back to Vienna, and then to a place I hadn't been yet, Warsaw, Poland.
We had a 10-hour drive from Austria to Poland and a 20 hour drive from Poland to Belgium the night of the show, which we were all dreading. But damn, was it ever worth it. What a crazy show, so good, the crowd was so amazing. We played our entire set, including encore, and I was on the bus changing out of my sweaty playing clothes when I heard that the crowd hadn't left the venue, even though the house lights and music were on. They stayed in there chanting for 20 minutes through it all. So I immediately stumbled shirtless and shoeless out into the frigid Eastern European night and made my way back to the stage where we played another encore.
Encores are pretty corny in general, they're something you sort of have to do but they're always slightly embarassing because they're so expected, but this was a legit encore, where the crowd literally won't leave until you play more songs.

All in all, I ate pounds (kilograms) of vegan deli slices and drank gallons (liters) of this:

Via has really revolutionized the art of touring.

2010-04-02T17:47:00.000-07:00

I saw Hot Tub Time Machine last night, I must say I adore the 80's.
Everyone cherishes the decade in which they spent their most impressionable years. Some of you are probably having those years as we speak, and the '10s(?) are your decade. You'll look back on Justin Bieber, Lady Gaga, Jersey Shore, and health care debate with a tear in your eye.
I'm proud to be a product of the 80's and proud that I recognized the guy that played Johnny in the first Karate Kid the second he came on the screen.

2010-03-19T15:24:00.000-07:00

As promised, I did the guitar tab for Torchsong. Here's the link:

Booyah

I would recommend opening it in a Microsoft text file (.txt), to make sure it lines up correctly.
There are some overdubs that I didn't include but all of the main tracks are in there.
Mangia!

2010-03-13T08:38:00.000-08:00

Back from Australia, I now find myself in Charlotte, NC. 7 1/2 hours from the show in Nashville last night. It's nice to be on home soil again, although the Aussies treated us lovely, even if their sun did not.

I looked out the back window of the bus and saw a group of people already lined up at 11 am. It's always great to see you guys in the morning, with your umbrellas and blankets, it always gives us a good feeling about the show.

I guess this information has just went out so I can mention it, we're doing a summer tour with Green Day. I'm excited about it, I've listened to them since I was a kid. My first band, which you may know also included Nick 13 from Tiger Army and Geoff Kresge, used to open occasionally for Green Day when they were still a local band. I think it kicks off around August.

www.blaqkaudio.com

2010-02-25T16:40:00.000-08:00

Here's a few pictures from our shows Down Undah. Jim from Jimmy Eat World took the bottom 3 on his iPhone. If you've ever tried to take a picture on an iPhone you'll know it's quite an achievement capturing the guitar-throwing one.

2010-02-18T23:48:00.000-08:00

Greetings from tropical Brisbane, Australia.
What a climate shock, we flew from snowy, winter-gripped Tokyo to humid and hot Australia. Winter to summer in 9 hours. My hair doesn't know how to act.
Basically all the bands on this festival are staying at the same hotel. I walked across the street to Starbucks, saw Davey and Adam eating with Dave Navarro from Jane's Addiction, and while drinking my coffee I ran into Taking Back Sunday and Jimmy Eat World.
The bands sort of took over this block.
Japan was great, seriously the best shows I think we've ever had there, so arigato gozaimasu for that.
Looking forward to these Aussie shows, last time we were here was fantastic and fabulous, let's do it like that again.

Now, as to the guitars, I said I would put them up but then a couple of people on here called into question my selling of them, implying that I was trying to make a buck off of AFI fans.

Let me just say: that's some unequivocal bullshit, pardon my francais. If there's one thing I've never done in this life, it's take advantage of the fans that are the reason I make music.

The reason I posted them on here is because if someone other than me is going to own one of my guitars, I want it to be someone who appreciates AFI music, who loves the music that those guitars were used to create, that would value them as something other than a Les Paul that you could buy down at Guitar Center.
I don't feel I need to explain myself, but I just did anyway.
Anyway, for those that were interested in them, I didn't want to leave you hanging. I don't need to sell those guitars, I can just as easily keep them, I still haven't decided if I'll sell or not. If I do, of course a suitable charity will be involved, that goes without saying.

And now, on to another unrelated note, I noticed that a leak of a new Blaqk Audio song is floating around, I believe it was recorded off the radio. Glad to see some new BA material got out there, albeit in poorly ripped form. Hope you like it. Bit of trivia, I wrote that piano part on the piano that was used to record "Home Sweet Home" by Motley Crue. I think all posts are better if I end them talking about the Crue.

2010-02-10T12:58:00.000-08:00

For my second ever eBay sale, I think I'm going to do my first ever guitar sale.
I have a couple of beauties in mind:

I played the Goldtop on Crash Love and the White Studio on Decemberunderground.

I hate to see them go but I have to make room for new ones!
I'll post the links tomorrow or the next day.
<33

p.s. I was going to sell that killer square of brown carpet but I think I'm gonna have to hang on to that. Sorry.

2010-02-06T10:38:00.001-08:00

Boy, I'm slippin, I should have been the first to post this but here's our new video for Beautiful Thieves, if you haven't seen it yet.
We shot it at this insane Greek Revival mansion in the middle of nowhere. It's owned by a strange sort of recluse woman and her various animals. Nick 13 came to hang out and I have a picture of him petting a horse.

AFI - New Music - More Music Videos

By the way, I just wanted to say that this last leg of touring, Petaluma to Las Vegas, was stellar. You guys really brought the love and made it great for us. Thank you.

2010-01-28T17:24:00.000-08:00

1922-2010

“If those in charge of our society - politicians, corporate executives, and owners of press and television - can dominate our ideas, they will be secure in their power. They will not need soldiers patrolling the streets. We will control ourselves.”

1919-2010

"Boy, when you're dead, they really fix you up. I hope to hell when I do die somebody has sense enough to just dump me in the river or something. Anything except sticking me in a goddam cemetery. People coming and putting a bunch of flowers on your stomach on Sunday, and all that crap. Who wants flowers when you're dead? Nobody."

2010-01-22T23:25:00.000-08:00

Our friend Marc Webb....

....who directed our videos for Days of the Phoenix, Leaving Song pt.II, Miss Murder, and Love Like Winter, is going to direct Spiderman 4

Anyone looking forward to it?

2010-01-17T17:58:00.000-08:00

Just saw this at our signing in Boise. In the pantheon of AFI tattoos, this ranks up there.

2010-01-13T10:24:00.000-08:00

Is it worth wearing goggles on your face for 3 hours? I feel like I'm the last person who hasn't seen it.

2010-01-05T13:55:00.000-08:00

I had no idea what all the congrats were about so I checked the new AP out and lo and behold:

Thanks to any of you guys who voted for me, you're the best <3

p.s. I haven't forgot about doing the guitar tab, I've just had an insane couple of months, so hopefully when we hit the road again in a week or so, I can knock it out.

2010-01-01T16:24:00.000-08:00

Happy frickin' New Years! I know I should have posted this earlier but I was busy nursing injured horses back to health using tasteful shredding solos.

Let's hear some of your resolutions.

2009-12-25T11:46:00.000-08:00

WOW is right.

I stumbled on these gems at CVS. If I wasn't vegetarian I would have had the perfect Christmas present. $10 leather jackets for everyone. You're welcome, Dad!

p.s. merry happy Christmas you guys!

2009-12-15T18:05:00.000-08:00

I have a nice feature in the new Guitar World, here's one of the pages from it. The pictures were shot in what seemed to be an authentic crackhead hotel.

2009-12-07T22:29:00.000-08:00

Bright Black Heaven.

2010.

2009-12-06T16:22:00.000-08:00

John Lennon died 29 years ago today.

p.s. no, he didn't co-write Breaking the Habit.

2009-11-18T19:57:00.000-08:00

OK.
Fist off (typo, keeping it), I was reminded by a very nice person today that I asked you guys to guess the lyrics of Fainting Spells, and then failed to post them.
How cruel. How unusual.
So here they are:

I'm the devout
Praying just to
Get the blood out
bound by this flesh I own
I'm the devout
cutting just to oh
get the blood out
desecrate til we die alone

I don't believe anyone actually guessed them correctly, but some came very close.
Especially this one:

Just give me something!
[Cut the cheese out!]
Bring it to Earl!
[Catch the blood hound!]
Bound by this pension! (Ohohohhhh!)
[Cut the cheese out!]
I need it too! (Ohh!!)
[Catch the blood hound!]
Desecrate til we dye our hair!!!!

Also, I enjoyed "Arm the Tivo!"

So, appropriately, Fainting Spells won the poll as well. On an unrelated note, I want to do a guitar tab for Crash Love, if you'd like to vote for a particular song, do so in the replies.
Now I must sign off to eat my obligatory aftershow vegan hotdog.
Good night.

2009-11-09T09:09:00.001-08:00

Here's my Monday mix, songs from a few punk bands that were important to me as a wide-eyed child.

2009-11-05T17:09:00.000-08:00

Kansas City!
Don't let it fool you, it's not actually in Kansas.
Just did a signing, met some lovely people. During an intermission we went up the street to a coffeeshop where Davey, Hunter, and Smith bought like 10 paintings off the wall, which they then had to lug around.

2009-10-22T08:31:00.000-07:00

Someone always has to be the floating head in the back, I'm taking one for the team this time.

2009-10-21T09:22:00.000-07:00

So here we are in Scranton, and it is an auspicious occasion because we're cancelling a show in the middle of a tour for the first time in the 11 years I've been in AFI (the end of the Sing the Sorrow run doesn't count, for those of you with detail-oriented minds).
Davey is extremely ill and so we want to give our sincerest regrets that we won't be playing tonight.
Special shout out to Creed, Meredith, Oscar, Andy, Jim, Kevin, Stanley, Pam, Dwight, Phyllis, Angela and Michael Scott.
I also wanted to thank everyone who came to our signing last night, even though Davey wasn't there. You guys are the best.
It's been fantastic being on tour again, getting to play to you after so long off the road.
Have you been enjoying the shows? Have you been enjoying Gallows?
I've been making some short videos, showing little pieces of the road, they're on afireinside.net:

I've got 2 new ones done that will be posted, and I promise I'm going to start including more of Smith.

2009-10-07T14:07:00.000-07:00

Okay, I have an excuse this time, I'm on tour.

Speaking of which, it's been some kind of spectacular so far, playing in these smaller cities is refreshing, up close and personal, so you can smell the ripeness of our sweaty shirts.

I have to talk about the apple pie I ate last night, it looked like this:

and it was hands down the best apple pie I've ever ate. Who would have thought I'd find it at a Hyatt in Buffalo.

Anyway, moving on.

Another occurence that took place in my hotel room:
The lamp was casting a shadow off of the fire sprinkler on the ceiling that looked exactly like a little cannon, so I drew a little cannonball coming out of it. Now when people stay in that room they'll notice a disembodied cannonball on the ceiling all day until they turn on the lamp at night and a shadow cannon appears. It'll be magical.

Our video for Medicate is done, which you're probably aware of, and it looks like this:

I'll have you know that I got several blisters shooting that.

We did a signing a few days ago and a guy had the Crash Love logo tattoed on the palm of his hand:

So, the tour goes swimmingly, onwards we go.

2009-09-14T23:40:00.000-07:00

Just read the first review of Crash Love:

Very nice.

FILE UNDER: Arena rock of the future
AFI - Crash Love
Scott Heisel on 9/14/09 @ 7:00 AM

[4.5/5]

Many of today's bands like to describe their new records as "bigger sounding," simply because they convinced their labels to pay the massive fees for their dicking around in the studio. Most acts could learn more than a few lessons from AFI, a unit who are well aware that sounding big is all about having a vision in the songwriting phase. Which is why Crash Love's dozen tracks are packed with as much exuberance, mystery and drama one can handle.

Overseen by producers Joe McGrath (Alkaline Trio) and Jacknife Lee (Bloc Party, REM), the album is ambitious in its execution. AFI are a dynamic rock band at their core: The rhythm section of Adam Carson (drums) and Hunter Burgan (bass) has matured into a tighter, precise unit; guitarist Jade Puget's sense of the appropriate remains crystal clear; and frontman Davey Havok's cartwheeling down the pretentiousness tightrope puts a sweat-and-blood face to his ruminations on everything from celebrity culture to personal loss. But it's their detail to arrangements and atmospheres that separate AFI from the legion of subcultures who carry battered crosses under a "-punk" suffix. From the 15 seconds of '40s horror-movie ambiance that opens the gothmo "Torch Song," to the '90s-tinged, melancholy-and-menace of "It Was Mine," Crash Love reveals more treasures with repeated listens.

The brisk tempo and Johnny Marr-ish guitar jangle of "Veronica Sawyer Smokes" makes it the best single of 1986. Likewise, "OK, I Feel Better Now" would've been a jewel had it appeared on that Ross Robinson-produced Cure album: Here, it's just greatness as usual, offering a production girth so big, you have to use movie metaphors like "Technicolor," "widescreen" and "IMAX" to convey the vision. It's immediately followed by "Medicate," a pulsing rocker that's the more sophisticated, cosmopolitan cousin to Decemberunderground's "Kill Caustic." Reminding listeners that My Chemical Romance do not have the franchise in the simultaneously anthemic-yet-cocky department, there's "Sacrilege," driven by Puget's '70s guitar histrionics and Havok's loud 'n' proud vocal prowess. This year's model's power ballad, "Darling, I Want To Destroy You," is too animated for slow dances or placement on Grey's Anatomy, but still offers a somewhat dialed-down respite.

What does all this mean in the mythology of AFI? In no uncertain terms, Crash Love is an accomplishment that raises the bar for them as musicians and writers. In many aspects, AFI seem to be exiled on a psychic island of their own. Think about it: The hellfire-and-brimstone punk purists from the scene the band came up in aren't going to be lining up in front of the merch table anytime soon, and much of the spoon-fed American mainstream aren't going to readily embrace their stylistic inversions. Although the members of AFI can't go home anymore, they're exploring more sonic vistas than any random group of smelly dudes in a van plastered with hardcore stickers or Clear Channel-sanctioned modern-rock dullards kicking back in $8K-a-week coaches, combined. Fortunately for music fans, AFI are embracing the spirit of adventure in an age of indifference. (DGC/INTERSCOPE) Jason Pettigrew
GO DOWNLOAD: "It Was Mine"

2009-09-13T23:10:00.000-07:00

Kanye? What?

2009-09-13T12:19:00.000-07:00

As you know, the lyrics to the chorus of Fainting Spells are pretty difficult to figure out. I even had to email Davey the other day to ask what they were.
So let's have a contest to see who can come the closest to figuring them out (just the chorus lyrics). I've already given you one line.
This contest will be great because I don't have any prizes and someone from the our camp will probably post the actual lyrics before everyone can guess, but REGARDLESS....take a stab at it.

2009-09-09T16:08:00.000-07:00

Btw, if you haven't heard it yet, here's one of the b-sides that will be on the special packaging:

Mierde, I missed Freddie Mercury's posthumous b-day. Here's a top-notch Queen jam in sad celebration.

So I'm back from Europe, but things just get busier and busier. A whole slew of tour dates have went up, and we have several other slews up our sleeves.

We're off to Japan in a couple of weeks to play a concert at Yokohama Stadium for the WaterAid charity. That's about a 14-hour flight, during which I'll probably read 2 entire novels and eat 2 pounds of warm nuts (no jokes please).

Then we're off for some shows in the good ole USA, which I've missed desperately. I haven't toured here since the Blaqk Audio tour.

We're playing that fest in DC as well, the MTV thing. Please come and make it fun. Kid Cudi is playing, his new album excels, check it out.

I took some really poor pictures in Europe which I'll post later, I need to step up my video and photo game on tour, there's plenty of Smith antics that need documenting.
I'm thinking of doing a documentary on his beard.

2009-09-05T15:10:00.000-07:00

Over 1,000 friends on here now, finally we have enough people to start an army.

The first thing we're going to do is invade Fritch.

2009-08-30T07:47:00.000-07:00

Last day of European tour....!
Well, last show anyway. Had a fab show last night in Leeds, thanks to all who came out and made it amazing.
Currently sitting on the bus in Reading, across from Fritch, who's telling me a story but I stopped listening so I could type. Sorry Fritch.
Played some big rock festivals in Germany, got to play and hang with our friends in Rise Against, which is always good times. Got to see some other old friends as well, Thursday, Anti-Flag, and the Deftones.
Our first single came out on Tueday, which is exciting, we finally get to play a song off the new record live.
Spent 2 weeks on these Euro tour buses where you hit your head an average of 17 times a day on the low doorways.
Spending time on show days working on new Blaqk Audio material.
Going back to the States later this week to make a video.
These are my random and disjointed thoughts for today.

2009-08-14T16:24:00.000-07:00

Ahh, it's a beautiful thing to be done.
Now comes the road. It's strange to be going out on tour again, it's been 2 damn years!
Any of you coming to see us in Europe?
Europe: pockets bulging with coins, trying desperately to find somewhere to eat, blowing up all my American appliances, diabetes-inducing chocolate, great coffee, amazing shows.

And our first U.S. tour. We're starting with small cities (Scranton anyone? I better see Michael Scott in the crowd).

We're taking these guys:

Good thangs.

Our dear but not departed friend Dan Smith:

from the Dear and Departed, and many AFI and Blaqk Audio backing vocal sessions, is on that tv show L.A. Ink now. He's been working at the shop for a while but he's part of the show now, too. Watch and support, or better yet, go get a tattoo from him.

On a strangely recurring sad note, the legendary Les Paul passed away.
He made these things:

Without them I might have had a decidedly less interesting life.

2009-08-06T15:32:00.000-07:00

John Hughes died today, dammit.
Let's have a moment of silence and enjoy the ending of Sixteen Candles.

Remember our Hughes movies discussion on here a while ago? Good stuff.
Those movies were an integral part of my childhood, along with breakdancing, mousse, Adidas cologne, pegged pants, and nuclear war. Sort of got me thinking about all the fads/trends we had in junior high, like wearing multiple Swatch watches on both arms, girls wearing neon clothes (judging from Warped Tour, I guess that one came back), paint pens, leg warmers, talking like a Valley girl, clip-on earrings with feathers, etc. What kinds of wacky trends are happening now, or happened when you were in school?

2009-07-22T15:26:00.000-07:00

Damn. I hate when my blog gets all dusty and cobweb-covered.

Yeah, the latest poll only adds up to 98%. Blogspot gets a C- in math.

Marc Webb, our friend who directed the Days of the Phoenix, Leaving Song II, Miss Murder, and Love Like Winter videos, has a new movie out:

It's his first feature length film. I went to see it, just because it's Marc, but I ended up enjoying it immensely. If you enjoy stuff, you should see it.
Marc also directed the mysterious, unreleased Stiff Kittens video.

On an unrelated note, what's the general feeling on internet memes? I have to admit I'm a fan of some of the more obscure ones:

But I have this sinking feeling that this is increasingly becoming the dominant expression of creativity

And our culture will eventually end up as one big failgull

2009-07-07T23:09:00.000-07:00

The new AFI album comes out Sept. 29th.
I'm an impatient person so I wish that was tomorrow.
We just finished mastering today and it's an incredibly fantastic feeling to have our 8th album completed.
Can't wait for you to hear it.

On an unrelated note, when I originally signed up for Twitter, I tried to get twitter.com/jadepuget but it was taken. Turns out someone got it for me so now I have it. I'll be doing my spotty twittering there as well, so go check it out. Hopefully when we start touring on this record I'll get my twittering act together so I can report on Smith setting his head on fire.

By the way, that's not the album art above, but it's very apt.

crash<3

someone should make an emoticon that comes up when you type "crash<3".

p.s. in case you haven't seen it, here's Davey's announcement from today:

After two years of focused writing and recording we have finished Crash Love in it's entirety and and are thrilled to hear it come to life - personally, I've never been more proud of an AFI record. We are writing to announce that on Sept 29th it will be released to the world. We wanted you to know first and do hope that you enjoy it!

2009-07-04T14:25:00.000-07:00

Malibu 4th of July. I'm the only person on the beach wearing pants.

2009-06-30T21:33:00.000-07:00

I was looking at what's coming out next week, here are some of the bigger releases.------->

Anyone buying any of these or have any thoughts on these jams?

Boo yah.

2009-06-30T17:29:00.000-07:00

So I was looking for a certain picture of Smith, which I googled, which led me to Buzznet, where I discovered a huge trove of pictures. Now you may not believe me when I say this, but I have never in the history of the internet Googled myself or searched my own name, so it was very interesting to see all these pictures of old hairstyles, clothing, shows, things that I had totally forgotten about. Like this:

We were on Warped tour in like 2004(?) and this guitar magazine wanted to do a shot with me and Tim and Lars from Rancid, which we did in a dirt field with the sun shining in our eyes. Totally forgot about it.

Also found many, many comics and drawings, the majority of which feature Davey and I.

I like this one because it looks like I'm playing a harmonica.

By the way, the picture of Smith I'm looking for is the one where he's in a van make a ridiculously surprised expression with a mouth that looks like you could fit a bowling ball in it. Anyone have it?

2009-06-25T15:28:00.000-07:00

How can Michael Jackson be dead?
Very sad day.
When I was 7, I used to jump on my bed and listen to the Thriller album front to back.
Anyone have any Michael Jackson stories/fond rememberances?

RIP

2009-06-19T10:23:00.001-07:00

Davey decided to make an impromptu appearance on Conan last night.

I was having lunch yesterday and at the restaurant were Stanley from the Office and Long Duck Dong from 16 Candles. They weren't eating together but I'm hoping they're roommates in some wacky apartment.

Sketchy Faces

I found some footage of us rehearsing for this record.

2009-06-14T09:38:00.000-07:00

Glad to see some healthy debate on the topic. Let me note that I have no problem with covering a song, there's a long tradition of covering other people's songs, it's an integral part of the music world. However, taking parts of a song, lyrics, melodies, chord changes, and putting them in your own "original" song and not calling it a cover no es bueno. Also, Flo Rida stole the name of our orangiest state. My new rap name is going to be Ida Ho.

I got rid of some of the flair on the page so maybe it won't load like it's on AOL dial-up. Remember that mess?
"Hold on, let me me disconnect my phone so I can go online. I'll be downloading this Promise Ring song for the next 35 minutes."
Let's all take a minute to remember the internet of the late 90's. Napster, chat rooms, Makeout Club, eternal pageloading. What am I forgetting?

Let me also take a moment to rant. I flipping through radio stations yesterday in my car and I thought I heard "You Spin Me Right Round" by Dead or Alive, so I stopped, only to discover that it was, in fact, not the classic 80's band Dead or Alive but Flo Rida.

The song has basically the same melody, chord changes, and some of the same lyrics...

...and I might be mistaken but I don't think it's considered a cover, I think it's considered a Flo Rida original.
There are some other egregious examples of this (and I won't even get into Puff Daddy's offenses in this area).
Namely, Hilary Duff pwning Depeche Mode's "Personal Jesus":

and Rihanna "borrowing" from Soft Cell's "Tainted Love":

I hope that the original artists are getting paid some serious royalties at least, I think Pete Burns from Dead or Alive would like to own a watch the size of a dinner plate too.

Thoughts on old timey Internetz or "covering" the classics?

2009-06-04T10:30:00.000-07:00

I'm sitting amidst guitars, caressing vinyl, and talking Jawbreaker in the current AP

Just got back from New York. Stayed on the Lower East Side, ate great meals, and mugged people in the subway.

If you're a fan of words:

I don't think I've ever recommended a fantasy epic, so here you go. This series is so good it had me running frantically around Berlin on tour, trying to find an English language version of the next book.

This one is stellar, creepy, strange, and eruditely complex, especially if you're a fan of my oft-recommended "The House of Leaves".

Since we're still in the middle of mixing, I can't put up any music yet, but here's some footage of me tracking a song in the studio, sans audio. If you're a guitar player, maybe you can figure out the song.

Or you can just dub in your own audio, like this genius piece of amazing.

Here's mine

or....

This one's probably going to be the theme for the next Twilight movie.

2009-05-28T11:18:00.000-07:00

Here's a little Thursday mix to brighten up your week. <3

2009-05-21T17:56:00.000-07:00

Should I see it tonight? I heard it's pretty boss.

2009-05-20T10:20:00.000-07:00

Traveled up to the Bay Area this weekend to record vocals for a cover song Blaqk Audio is doing for a Love and Rockets tribute album. Adam was nice enough to come over and join us for backing vocals.

Then spent 7 hours in my hotel room editing and mixing.
Also had tofu and brown rice with Smith.

Has anyone noticed that when you start up a Macbook it plays the first chord of "Nothing Compares 2 U" by Sinead O'Connor?

2009-05-14T16:12:00.000-07:00

From my DF post:

I thought an update might be appreciated on what we’ve been up to the last month, and what we’ll be up to for the next few weeks.

We spent April at Henson Studios (yes, the one with the huge statue of Kermit the Frog on the roof) finishing up the last batch of songs for the record with the talented and witty Irish producer Jacknife Lee. He’s done tons of great work, from Regina Spektor and Bloc Party to U2 and R.E.M., plus he lets his daughters draw on him and then gets the drawings tattoed on. We came out of that session with some unique stuff and I think it really rounded out the record in a spectacular way.

Tomorrow, we start mixing with Rich Costey, who is also a prodigious mixer and producer. We actually worked with him years ago when we did that Nine Inch Nails cover, Head Like a Hole. He’s done great records as well, he mixed and produced the last 2 Muse albums, he’s done Mars Volta, Brand New, Interpol, Foo Fighters, Mastodon, and he can benchpress probably 105 pounds minimum, so we’re very much looking forward to how the mixes turn out.

As you know, we’ll be playing in Toronto at the end of June and doing festivals in Europe at the end of summer, but we’re starting to put together a slew of new tour dates, here and overseas, and we’ll keep you updated as we start confirming them.We know it’s been a few minutes since our last record and tours but we appreciate you waiting patiently and not patiently for the 8th album to be completed.
It’ll be worth the wait.

<3

2009-05-13T11:03:00.000-07:00

Tokio Hotel for the win.

That text website is hilarious, what is the funniest/winningest text you've ever sent or recieved?

2009-05-09T10:28:00.000-07:00

I proclaimed Picture Wednesday and then sort of failed....

....the last couple of weeks, so here's algo para ti:

Was anyone at this show? 2002. The palindrome year, folks.

I don't go see movies, I just wait for the book to come out.

Davey and I have pretty stellar faces in this one

Davey and I playing ping-pong during the recording of Art of Drowning. Check my devastating backhand. Whenever I unleash it, all bikes are blown into the rafters.

2009-05-01T15:36:00.000-07:00

For anyone in the Los Angeles area, Davey and I are going to be hosting Loveline tonight with Dr. Drew. Totally forgot about it til this second.

Does anyone have swine flu yet?

If you're home sick with the swine flu, you can pass the time watching the news, shortayy.

2009-04-26T10:19:00.000-07:00

Groggy. Just woke up. Grog blog. My dog is hiding behind a lemon tree.
Just read on some website that David Slade, the guy who directed the Girls Not Grey video, is directing the 3rd Twilight movie. Expect rabbits emerging from crotches instead of vampires in that one.
Interesting that the majority came out against Twitter. It's obviously a silly development in our slowly devolving culture but I guess it can be entertaining, I just read in the news that Oprah tweeted "My hair is not a weave".
That's crucial information.
A few people have been saying this site is running slowly/strangely. It loads fine for me but the html probably looks like calculus homework because my page is so bedazzled with flair. I'll investigate.
Saw Mick Jagger in the hallway of the studio yesterday. He suspiciously showed up at the same time as this beat bike that was leaned up against the lightpost outside. I'm convinced he rides to the studio on a ten-speed.
Someone asked if that last song I posted was sung by Stephen Hawking. Win.

Someone pointed out that the poll ended up being 50% to 49%. Very mysterious. The other 1% voted for the Makeout Club.

2009-04-14T18:16:00.000-07:00

So so much going on, haven't had a chance to post.
Putting the final touches on the AFI album.
Writing new Blaqk Audio songs.
Trying to eat good thai and mexican food.
Trying to make it to Coachella (I see Moz is the clear winner).
Trying to decide who to take on tour with us.

Any thoughts on any of the above?

2009-04-05T17:43:00.001-07:00

I was thinking about musical tastes, and how they change over time, about all the styles of music I've enjoyed since I first discovered music on my own. It surprises me that I still love them all. I can put on the songs that excited me as a kid and still feel that dopamine surge that put me on this path.

What are the things you'll always love, no matter how far your musical tastes navigate away from your first discoveries?

...you guys aren't scared to be truthful about music you loved/love even if it's not "cool". I like it.

iPods won. Congratulations to iPods. Like they need it.

2009-04-03T20:33:00.000-07:00

I like this new profile, it's inky, it makes me think of this song:

2009-03-28T18:02:00.000-07:00

We all remember Smith flipping off babies on the streets of Paris:

I'm happy to report that those babies finally got their revenge.

2009-03-27T00:00:00.000-07:00

Picture Wednesday

wow. this new template is fug. i need to learn some damn html.

Some Blurry Dudes

The LACMA

Blaqk Audio

NYC, the Spotted Pig

2009-03-23T00:27:00.000-07:00

2009-03-15T13:50:00.000-07:00

This week was the 6 year anniversary of the release of Sing the Sorrow. That was an important record for us, and in commemoration here is a recording of some of my phone messages when I got back from the first tour on Sing the Sorrow, as well as a snippet of Davey's vocal from But Home Is Nowhere.

also, when I image searched for the Sing the Sorrow cover, the first thing that comes up is this:

2009-03-09T19:00:00.000-07:00

A few months ago I put up the instrumental of "Endlessly, She Said". Here's a Blaqk Audio instrumental.

p.s. in case you're new here, the flash player I use has a curious phenomenon. Before something plays, Linkin Park always comes up for some reason, I guess whoever made the player loves "Breaking the Habit".

2009-03-05T17:18:00.000-08:00

There's 3 rooms at this studio, today the other two are being used by KISS and Queen Latifah.

I was wondering what a cross between KISS and Queen Latifah would be so I image searched the 2 names together and this guy came up:

So now you know.

2009-03-01T17:00:00.001-08:00

Ok, let's do a little Q & A.
Give me some Q's and I'll do my best to handle the A's.
Last time we did this there was well over 1,000 questions so I'll just try to maybe do the first 5 or so, and then more in a couple days, etc.

Ok, so I'm gonna answer a handful more and then we'll pick up the Q&A in a different post. If I didn't answer your question just remember it for next time because trying to figure out how to juggle the posting of answers is making my blog go all wonky like Paris Hilton's eye. <3

2009-02-25T18:19:00.000-08:00

After a lengthy absence I answered a bucket of questions on the DF board, if you're into that kind of thing.
We should do the Q&A on here again as well, that was fun times.
Anyone excited for the Watchmen movie?
Friday the 13th?
Hotel For Dogs?

If you're finding that you're not awesome, here's some tips:

p.s. I didn't write that list haha

Btw, the poll to the right is more about which festival matches your personality or taste, not which one you plan on attending.

2009-02-22T11:42:00.001-08:00

So yesterday the Begin Transmission winners (and their entourages) came to the studio and sang on our new album.
It was great, everyone was so sweet and brought us gifts and were just all around good eggs.
I would post pictures but there were plenty of pictures and videos being taken so I think that's covered.
Thanks again to everyone who participated in Begin Transmission, watching your videos was so heartwarming and inspiring.
To see we have such great fans really makes it all worthwhile.

2009-02-16T12:03:00.000-08:00

Lunchbreak at the studio yesterday.

2009-02-14T11:56:00.000-08:00

Happy Valentine's Day!
(yes, it's fake.)

2009-02-11T11:15:00.000-08:00

Someone posted this in the comments.
I knew I had seen Basement Horse before!

2009-02-08T23:58:00.000-08:00

Did anyone watch the Grammy's?

I sort of watched pieces of it, due to the fact that I have a DVR. I watched most of it on fast-forward so the whole thing only took about 15 minutes.
Blink 182 announced they were getting back together and Green Day revealed the title of their new album.
Rihanna and Chris Brown were supposed to perform but apparently he did a Mike Tyson on her last night.
No excuse for that, fella....ella ella.
I'm going to be doing some major guitars tomorrow, I'm excited.

2009-02-04T10:08:00.000-08:00

While the picture of the girl in the foreground is amazing, there's only one thing you should be focusing on.

Basement Horse.

You can't see it but he's obviously shredding a saxophone solo right there.

p.s. yes I know I posted crude pencil drawing of a horse playing a saxophone before but that was before the existence of Basement Horse became known

2009-01-29T13:28:00.000-08:00

So over the course of the last year or so our economy went from Mr. T:

To Urkel:

Everyone is cutting back on everything, getting frugal, which is actually a good thing, but how does this affect your exposure to music?
Do you still buy albums? Go to shows? Buy t-shirts?

What's the first thing to go?

p.s. to Jackie, who said Munch should post on here because she'd have a lot to say, here's what she typed when I put her on the computer:

'';y6 y7hy6b cfr546cx[pcx[p

I think it's the square root of her chew bone.

2009-01-27T10:15:00.000-08:00

It's tuesday!

Let's have a misheard AFI or Blaqk Audio lyrics thread.

For instance, in the chorus of "6 to 8", it sounds like Davey says "Sean Paul makes it all worth while".

Also, someone made this fab video about the apparent need for a lyric sheet when listening to my old hardcore band, Redemption 87.

2009-01-22T12:59:00.000-08:00

I'm declaring today Jawbreaker Day.

If you're not familiar with them, they were a San Francisco punk/post-punk band that were seminally important to me, both musically and as a young buck comin up back in the day.
Here's a few choice jams to get your wednesday going just right.
p.s. i meant thursday
p.p.s. i could have just changed it to thursday but no, nothing easy for me

2009-01-14T23:43:00.000-08:00

Fun with guitars.

p.s. don't mess with Mark Gormley. He can shred a majestic solo with one hand and gently do your taxes with the other

2009-01-09T10:39:00.000-08:00

When you make a mix for someone, it's usually a friend who might listen to many of the same bands as you, so it's hard to come up with the perfect songs because you don't want to include tracks that the person already has/knows, but you don't want to put a slew of mediocre b-sides on it and wind up with a boring mix either.
If you were making a mix of 10 songs for a person that had never heard....anything, what would they be?

.....interesting choices. For the people that replied in spanish, I did my best to translate but my 4 years of high school espanol have left me muy rusty.

2009-01-06T09:43:00.000-08:00

Well I'm glad to see people are optimistic about the musical landscape of 2009.
It has already given us Jaydiohead, a mash-up of Jay-Z and Radiohead.
I hope 2008 treated everyone well, I hope everyone stayed out of jail and off the crackpipe.
Does anyone have any earth-shattering, life-changing New Year's resolutions for Oh Nine?

p.s. Thanks to everyone who made a video for Begin Transmission, it was a great turnout and we'll be watching them like mad this week.

2008-12-29T17:13:00.000-08:00

I was thinking of something. When I was in junior high/high school, we had all these amazing teen movies that were a huge part of the pop culture of the time and had definite impact on us growing up. I'm talking about movies like Breakfast Club, Sixteen Candles, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Weird Science, Pretty in Pink, etc.
For any of you who had those formative teen years in the 90's, or are having them now, what are those movies for you?
I feel like somehow you've been ripped off, that your teen movies couldn't have been as good as ours. How can you compare a Can't Hardly Wait or a She's All That or an American Pie, to any of the classic John Hughes movies?
And for anyone in junior high or high school now, what are your movies? High School Musical?
What is the movie that defines your generation?
---In keeping with the theme of this post I thought I'd put up a quick mix of songs from scenes of some of these movies.

2008-12-26T11:30:00.001-08:00

Christmas is officially over.
Everyone got what they wanted?
Mine was pretty swell, check the tree:

As you may or may not know, we have an event called Begin Transmission happening on the AFI site. I hope all of you make videos, even if you don't want to come sing on the album, because I'm enjoying seeing everyone's submissions.

Also, I finished reading all my birthday cards, thank you to everyone who sent me one, they were extremely sweet and touching. Lena from Poland made this shirt:

aaaand, you guys made this donation to the animal rescue in my name, which was a stellar thing to do:

2008-12-22T21:30:00.000-08:00

Bored? Spend a moment with the Best Roller Coaster Souvenir Pictures Ever

2008-12-20T14:45:00.000-08:00

I have a week off from the studio, what to do with myself?
Has everyone finished their shopping? WHAT'D YOU GET ME!?
I'm expecting another stocking full of coal this year.
Looks like Festivus beat Hanukkah in the poll, not sure what that means for the world.
By the way, Davey bought me this shirt for my birthday, I think it's spot-on.

2008-12-17T19:26:00.000-08:00

Coconut Records- West Coast

I haven't posted any jams for a while, so here's one that's been on my playlist lately. It's Jason Schwartzman's solo project. Nice guy, good song.

2008-12-14T19:32:00.000-08:00

So we played the KROQ show last night, nothing caught on fire and no one was gravely injured, except for Hunter's knee, it caught on fire.

We had fun, even though the sets were all short, Warped Tour-style. We played "Love is a Many Splendored Thing", which is an extremely old AFI song we haven't played for years and years.

Then it was off to see the Cure's secret show at the Troubadour. Then I finished it all off with a bowl of Lucky Charms.

All in all, a top-notch night.

2008-12-12T19:56:00.000-08:00

Yes, I decorated that cookie. That's about the best I could do. I'm getting the Christmas spirit though.

Everyone is gonna get a sad christmas tree from me as a gift this year.

2008-12-10T17:16:00.000-08:00

p.s. before anyone gets all up in arms, I was at the track for someone's birthday party and didn't actually do any gambling <3

At the track, betting on the ponies...

2008-12-07T16:51:00.001-08:00

p.s. I have the comments on the moderation setting for the time being, just in case you thought Blogger was being a punkass and not adding your comments. It'll just take a bit for them to show up. <3

2008-12-07T13:06:00.000-08:00

Munch has crazy eyes, she's ready to tear my throat out right there.

My management sent this picture over to the studio but none of the other things for some reason, so I'll get them tomorrow.
It's very sweet of all of you to send me gifts and cards on my birthday, and Munch obviously appreciates her drawing seeing as how she's guarding it with her homicidal eyes.