Published on June 10th, 2021 | by Darren Paltrowitz

AFI’s Davey Havok On The New “Bodies” Album, Writing With Billy Corgan, Hobbies, KISS & More

AFI — as comprised of frontman Davey Havok, guitarist Jade Puget, bassist Hunter Burgan and adam Carson — never stepped into the mainstream, rather, the masses came to them. The platinum success of Sing The Sorrow blazed a path for a generation of hardcore-punk weaned bands to similarly crossover. 2006’s Decemberunderground upended expectations again and earned AFI a second platinum plaque. Crash Love was another adventurous turn, with expansive and almost optimistic-sounding melodies, glistening with emotion. Burials arrived 4 years later, debuting in the Top 10 of the Billboard 200. The self-titled follow-up became AFI’s second-highest charting album since their inception, debuting at #5 in 2017. AFI would release another highly-praised addition to its discography via 2018’s The Missing Man EP, the first EP by AFI since 2002’s 336 EP/Now The World Picture Disk.

The latest studio effort by AFI is 2021’s Bodies — due out on June 11, 2021 via Rise Records — from which several tracks have already been released to digital and video outlets. One of those tracks, “Dulcería,” was interestingly co-written with The Smashing Pumpkins’ Billy Corgan and is reportedly the first time Havok has ever written with an outside collaborator for AFI music. Bodies was produced by the band’s own Jade Puget and mixed by Tony Hoffer (M83, Phoenix, Silversun Pickups, OK Go).

The aforementioned Davey Havok is not only the lead singer of AFI, but also the vocalist for Blaqk Audio, XTRMST and Dreamcar. In turn, Havok has released over 16 records, beyond acting on-screen and performing on Broadway. He is also a published author (Pop Kids, Love Fast Los Angeles) and a weekly co-host on SiriusXM’s Volume West With Lÿndsey Parker. Born in New York, raised east of the San Francisco Bay by vegan non-believers, Havok currently resides amidst watchful livestock and diaphanous garments in a Southern Californian institution of higher learning.

On June 4, 2021, I had the pleasure of speaking with Davey Havok via Zoom, as embedded below. Beyond Bodies, we spoke about his numerous hobbies and projects outside of AFI, musical influences and plenty more. Additional information on Havok and AFI can be found here, here, here and here.

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Tags: AFI, California, Davey Havok, Jade Puget, KISS, Rise Records, smashing pumpkins, Vegans

About the Author

Darren Paltrowitz Darren Paltrowitz is a New York resident with over 20 years of entertainment industry experience. He began working around the music business as a teenager, interning for the manager of his then-favorite band Superdrag. Since then, he has worked with a wide array of artists including OK Go, They Might Be Giants, Mike Viola, Tracy Bonham, Loudness, Rachael Yamagata, and Amanda Palmer. Darren's writing has appeared in dozens of outlets including the New York Daily News, Inquisitr, The Daily Meal, The Hype Magazine, All Music Guide, Guitar World, TheStreet.com, Businessweek, Chicago Tribune, L.A. Times, and the Jewish Journal.Beyond being "Editor At Large" for The Hype Magazine, Darren is also the host of weekly "Paltrocast With Darren Paltrowitz" series, which airs on dozens on television and digital networks. He has also co-authored 2 published books, 2018's "Pocket Change: Your Happy Money" (Book Web Publishing) and 2019's "Good Advice From Professional Wrestling" (6623 Press), and co-hosts the world's only known podcast about David Lee Roth, "The DLR Cast."