AFI Crew

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David Marchand (born David Lee Passaro on November 20, 1975, in Rochester, New York) more commonly known by the stage name Davey Havok, is the lead vocalist of the band AFI.

Life

When he was five years old, he and his family moved from Rochester to Ukiah, California, where Havok attended Catholic school in Ukiah through eighth grade. During high school, his friends Markus Stopholese and Vic Chalker wanted to start a band, though the trio had no musical training. Stopholese learned guitar and Chalker learned bass.

Shortly after high school, the band broke up and Havok moved to Berkeley, California, where he attended the University of California, Berkeley, planning to double major in English and Psychology. He began constantly writing lyrics to songs that would eventually appear on AFI's Answer That and Stay Fashionable and Very Proud of Ya.The band reunited at the Phoenix Theater for a gig put together by one of their classmates. They decided to reunite and record an album.

Answer That and Stay Fashionable (1995) was released on Wingnut Records. Geoff Kresge left during a tour for Very Proud of Ya and was replaced by Hunter Burgan. On the band's third full-length, Shut Your Mouth and Open Your Eyes, Havok's lyrics began to include themes of religion, humanity and other more serious issues.

Afterwards, Stopholese was asked to leave the band. His replacement was Jade Puget, the band's old friend from high school who said he would join after he graduated college. AFI then released their first full length release with Hunter and Jade, Black Sails In The Sunset. In fall of that year, they released the All Hallows EP. In 2000, they released The Art of Drowning to fair record sales, but great acclaim by fans of the band. In 2000, Havok was invited to write lyrics and record vocals for the album, "Songs From The Earth" by Son of Sam. The band recorded one album, which features members of Samhain, Danzig, and Tiger Army, among others. AFI then toured for a few years releasing a few EPs along the way. In 2003, the band's first major label release, Sing the Sorrow , came out, gaining great record sales. The band's seventh album Decemberunderground was released in 2006.

In 2005, Havok was a part of a short-lived fashion line, Glitterboy Clothing, a collaboration with designers of the Serious clothing line. It was partly inspired by the '70s glam music scene. The line was canceled due to creative differences between Havok and Serious. However, on a side note, Havok has said that he is planning another clothing line for the future, but it will be done through a different company. According to Havok, the new line of clothing will be out in 2007.

Early years

While still in high school, Davey Havok (vocals), Mark Stopholese (guitar) and Vic Chalker (bass) formed a hardcore punk outfit called AFI in 1991. At the time, the band had no drummer and didn't know how to play any instruments. Stopholese suggested his friend Adam Carson, as he had a drumkit. Stopholese learned guitar, Chalker learned bass and AFI made their first foray in recording with the split-EP Dork (1993) with the now defunct Loose Change, which included future AFI guitarist Jade Puget. Chalker soon lost interest and was replaced by songwriter-bassist Geoff Kresge.

AFI disbanded when its members attended different colleges, including the University of California, Berkeley and the University of California, Santa Cruz. Kresge moved to New York where he played with Blanks 77. After reuniting to perform a live show, the other members decided to drop out of college to play full-time with AFI.

Between 1993 and 1995 they released several vinyl EPs (Behind the Times; Eddie's Picnic All Wet; Fly in the Ointment; This is Berkeley, Not West Bay; AFI/Heckle) independently. Their first two full lengths, Answer That and Stay Fashionable (1995) and Very Proud of Ya (1996) soon followed.

After several tours in support of the album, Kresge decided to leave the group. His spot was filled by Burgan for the remaining Very Proud of Ya tour dates. Burgan went on to help AFI record Shut Your Mouth and Open Your Eyes and was invited to become the full-time bassist. Eyes introduced AFI fans to a much more aggressive sound that included much more shouting as opposed to singing. The album is generally considered the first step in the band's progression away from their original, generally poppy, sound.

Black Sails and Art of Drowning era

After recording the A Fire Inside EP (1998), Stopholese left the band and was replaced by Puget, his close friend. Following the new approach they had taken on the A Fire Inside EP, the band recorded Black Sails in the Sunset (1999), a musical turning point in the band's career. On this album, their original hardcore roots were still the base of their sound, but more of the Dark Romantic influences of the Deathrock & Horror Punk scenes were apparent (a poem by French Dark Romantic Charles Baudelaire, entitled "De profundis clamavi," is present in the hidden track "The Midnight Sun").

All Hallows EP (1999) spawned the single "Totalimmortal," a track later covered by The Offspring for the Me, Myself and Irene soundtrack. It got a fair amount of radio play and exposed AFI to larger audiences. Offspring frontman Dexter Holland was featured as a backing vocalist on a number of Black Sails in the Sunset tracks.

In 2000, AFI released The Art of Drowning which debuted on the Billboard Charts at number 174. The Days of the Phoenix was released as a single and video in order to promote the album. The Days of the Phoenix, like "Totalimmortal", had some moderate mainstream success, garnering the band both TV and radio airplay.

Mainstream success

AFI's new logo as of April 11, 2006In 2002, AFI left Nitro Records and released Sing the Sorrow (2003) on DreamWorks Records. The songs Girl's Not Grey, The Leaving Song Pt. 2 and Silver and Cold had some Billboard chart success and exposed the band to even larger audiences. They were nominated in the MTV Video Music Awards 2003 in the MTV2 award category for the video Girl's Not Grey, which came to be the first VMA they won. On October 7, 2005, AFI went on KROQ for an interview on the radio. They aired an unreleased song from the Sing the Sorrow sessions, entitled Rabbits are Roadkill on Route 37. This can somewhat explain the picture of a rabbit on the second to last page of the Sing the Sorrow lyric booklet. Rabbits are Roadkill on Route 37 would later be released as a UK & Australian bonus track for the group's seventh album Decemberunderground.

AFI's seventh album, Decemberunderground, was released on May 29, 2006 in the UK and June 6, 2006 (06/06/06) in the U.S. Reviewers have noted an even greater progression in sound for AFI in this album, featuring many more electronic, ColdPop, and New Wave elements. The Album's first single Miss Murder reached #1 on the Billboard Modern Rock Charts. The release reflects the continually changing and growing fan base of the band, and the album debuted as #1 on the Billboard charts. The album has also been certified Gold by the RIAA for sales of over 500,000 copies of the album. In August of 2006, AFI's video for Miss Murder won Best Rock Video at the MTV Video Music Awards.