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Born from the Northern California punk scene in Ukiah, AFI emerged in November 1991 when high school students Davey Havok, Mark Stopholese, Vic Chalker, and Adam Carson formed a band despite none of them knowing how to play instruments at the time. The band has released twelve studio albums, one live album, and ten EPs since their 1995 debut Answer That and Stay Fashionable. AFI has maintained a stable lineup since 1998, consisting of Havok, Carson, Hunter Burgan, and Jade Puget, with Havok and Carson being the only remaining original members. The band briefly broke up in 1993 when members left for different colleges but reunited after a successful show at the Phoenix Theater in Petaluma, California, prompting them to quit school and pursue music full-time.
AFI first achieved substantial commercial success with their fifth album The Art of Drowning in 2000, which peaked at number 174 on the Billboard 200. Their mainstream breakthrough came with Sing the Sorrow in 2003, which reached number five on the Billboard 200, remained on the chart for 51 weeks, and was certified Platinum by the RIAA in 2006 after selling over 1.26 million copies. The band’s seventh album Decemberunderground debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 in 2006, selling over 182,000 copies in its first week and earning Platinum certification in 2013. The single “Miss Murder” from that album topped the Hot Modern Rock Tracks chart for five weeks, reached number 24 on the Billboard Hot 100, and won the 2006 MTV Video Music Award for Best Rock Video.
AFI also won the MTV2 Award at the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards for “Girl’s Not Grey.” The band’s subsequent albums Crash Love (2009), Burials (2013), and AFI (2017) peaked at numbers twelve, nine, and five respectively on the Billboard 200. After releasing The Missing Man EP in December 2018, AFI released their eleventh album Bodies on June 11, 2021, through Rise Records. Their twelfth studio album Silver Bleeds the Black Sun… was released on October 3, 2025. Throughout their career, AFI has transitioned from hardcore punk to incorporate horror punk, post-hardcore, emo, alternative rock, gothic rock, new wave, and post-punk elements into their sound.
Davey Havok
Davey Havok, born David Paden Passaro on November 20, 1975, in Rochester, New York, co-founded AFI in November 1991 while attending Ukiah High School in California alongside Mark Stopholese and Vic Chalker. After his father died when Havok was three years old, his mother remarried and he took his stepfather’s surname Marchand. Havok moved to Ukiah, California at age six and attended Catholic school through eighth grade before graduating from Ukiah High School in 1993.
Following high school, Havok attended the University of California, Berkeley, where he wrote lyrics that later appeared on AFI’s first two albums. He left after his sophomore year when AFI became a full-time band following their successful reunion show in December 1993. Havok has been AFI’s lead vocalist on all twelve studio albums from Answer That and Stay Fashionable (1995) through Silver Bleeds the Black Sun… (2025). He is the band’s primary lyricist, handling all vocal duties and contributing to the band’s evolving sound across three decades.
On Sing the Sorrow (2003), Havok’s vocals helped propel singles “Girl’s Not Grey” and “Silver and Cold” to number seven on the Hot Modern Rock Tracks chart, while “The Leaving Song Pt. II” reached number sixteen. His performance on Decemberunderground (2006) included the chart-topping single “Miss Murder,” which became AFI’s highest-charting song on the Billboard Hot 100 at number 24. Havok’s vocal range and theatrical delivery have been central to AFI’s evolution from hardcore punk through their later gothic rock and new wave-influenced work on albums like Bodies (2021).
Outside AFI, Havok formed the electronic music duo Blaqk Audio with bandmate Jade Puget in 2007, releasing their debut album CexCells on August 14, 2007. The duo has released six albums: CexCells (2007), Bright Black Heaven (2012), Material (2016), Only Things We Love (2019), Beneath the Black Palms (2020), and Trop d’amour (2022). All three of their first albums debuted atop the Billboard Top Dance/Electronic Albums chart.
Havok and Puget also formed the straight edge hardcore band XTRMST, releasing their self-titled debut album on Dim Mak Records on November 25, 2014. In 2017, Havok joined Dreamcar, a new wave supergroup featuring No Doubt members Tony Kanal, Tom Dumont, and Adrian Young, releasing their self-titled debut album that year with the single “Kill for Candy.” He previously sang lead vocals for the horror punk supergroup Son of Sam, appearing on their album Songs from the Earth released on May 8, 2001, via Nitro Records alongside Todd Youth, Steve Zing, and London May.
Havok appeared in the 1996 independent film Mary Jane’s Not a Virgin Anymore, in which two AFI songs “Cruise Control” and “Love Is a Many Splendored Thing” were featured. He joined the cast of Green Day’s Broadway musical American Idiot in March 2011, playing the role of St. Jimmy. Havok has also pursued voice acting, voicing characters in the animated film Live Freaky! Die Freaky! (2006) and the series Godkiller (2009). He is an author, publishing the novel Pop Kids through Black Candy Publishing in April 2013 and Love Fast Los Angeles in February 2018. Havok has launched clothing lines including Glitterboy (2007), Zu Boutique (2008), and Eat Your Own Tail (2016). He is a vocal advocate for veganism and the straight edge lifestyle.
Adam Carson
Adam Alexander Carson, born February 5, 1975, and raised in Ukiah, California, became AFI’s drummer in November 1991 when his friend Mark Stopholese suggested he join the newly formed band because he owned a drum set. Carson met future bandmate Davey Havok in fifth grade, but the two did not become close friends until high school. Carson developed an interest in drumming at age three when he began collecting 45-rpm records, and by age eight or nine he was inspired to pursue drumming after purchasing Def Leppard’s Pyromania album. He played drums in his school band during sixth and seventh grade, using hot pink drumsticks.
Carson and the other AFI members briefly split up in 1993 after graduating high school, with Carson attending UC Santa Cruz while Havok attended UC Berkeley and Stopholese attended the University of Southern California. The band reunited in December 1993 for a show at the Phoenix Theater in Petaluma, California, where the enthusiastic response from approximately 200 fans convinced them to quit college and pursue AFI full-time. Carson has been AFI’s drummer and backing vocalist on all twelve studio albums from Answer That and Stay Fashionable (1995) through Silver Bleeds the Black Sun… (2025), making him one of only two original members still in the band alongside Havok.
He conceived the title for AFI’s second album Very Proud of Ya (1996) and wrote the lyrics for the song “Key Lime Pie,” a tribute to one of his favorite foods, while contributing several lines to “Rizzo in the Box.” Carson’s drumming evolved significantly from the fast hardcore punk style of early albums to more complex arrangements on later releases. On The Art of Drowning (2000), his drumming helped the album become AFI’s first to chart on the Billboard 200 at number 174. His technical proficiency has been noted by critics, with his work on AFI (2017) praised for creative drum parts and explosive tones across the album’s fourteen tracks. Carson uses DW drums, Zildjian cymbals, Vater drumsticks, and Remo drumheads.
Carson filled in as drummer for the psychobilly band Tiger Army in 1996, with his drumming featured on Tiger Army’s The Early Years EP and their self-titled debut album Tiger Army released in 1999. He was also a member of Influence 13, a band that included Nick 13 of Tiger Army, Jade Puget, Geoff Kresge, and other friends, though the group never gained significant traction. Carson formed The Reckless Kind in 2011, described as a five-piece heavy soul band, and the group recorded a debut album and played several shows.
Carson is a fan of baseball, particularly the San Francisco Giants and San Diego Padres. He is vegetarian but does not follow the straight edge lifestyle like bandmates Havok and Puget, and he is a smoker. Carson married British model Eirinie Hamil on August 3, 2013, and the couple has two daughters: Luka Lily Carson, born April 22, 2017, and Selah Marigold Carson, born April 17, 2021.
Hunter Burgan
Hunter Lawrence Burgan, born May 14, 1976, in Long Beach, California, and raised in Grass Valley, California, joined AFI in 1997 as a temporary replacement bassist for Geoff Kresge during the Very Proud of Ya tour dates. At the time, Burgan was playing bass in a band called The Force. He was initially meant to fill in only for touring and recording Shut Your Mouth and Open Your Eyes (1997), but his performance convinced the band to invite him to become their full-time bassist in November 1997. The Force broke up in September 1998.
Burgan has been AFI’s bassist, backing vocalist, and keyboardist since joining, appearing on all albums from Shut Your Mouth and Open Your Eyes (1997) through Silver Bleeds the Black Sun… (2025). Shut Your Mouth and Open Your Eyes was also notable for featuring background vocals from future AFI guitarist Jade Puget, making it the first album to include all four current members of the band. Burgan’s bass work has been integral to AFI’s sound across multiple albums and genres.
On Black Sails in the Sunset (1999), his bass lines contributed to the band’s darker, horror punk-influenced sound on tracks like “Medicate” and “Narrative of Soul Against Soul.” His playing on Sing the Sorrow (2003) featured prominent bass lines in hits “Girl’s Not Grey” and “The Leaving Song Pt. II.” On Decemberunderground (2006), Burgan expanded his role to include programming and additional instrumentation alongside bass and vocals. His multi-instrumental abilities allowed him to contribute keyboards, synthesizers, and programming on later albums, helping shape AFI’s incorporation of electronic and new wave elements. Burgan plays Fender American Jazz Basses and uses Ampeg amplifiers. He is a talented multi-instrumentalist capable of playing drums, bass, guitar, saxophone, clarinet, and piano.
Burgan was the drummer and founding member of The Frisk, a Berkeley-based punk rock band formed in early 2000 with former members of The Criminals, including vocalist Jesse Luscious, bassist Mike Sexxx, and guitarist Zach Attack. The Frisk released two albums on Adeline Records: Rank Restraint (2001) and Audio Ransom Note (2003), with Burgan serving as primary songwriter alongside Luscious. The band played their final show in December 2005.
Burgan created a solo side project called Hunter Revenge in 2001, dedicated to early 1980s-style R&B and funk inspired by Prince’s Minneapolis sound, where he wrote, produced, sang, and played all instruments. In May 2011, Burgan stated he stopped recording with Hunter Revenge because he wanted to write in different styles beyond that specific genre. He joined Alkaline Trio’s Matt Skiba and My Chemical Romance’s Jarrod Alexander to form Matt Skiba and the Sekrets, which released their debut album Babylon on May 8, 2012.
Burgan was featured on Tegan and Sara’s 2007 album The Con, playing bass on songs written by Tegan, and appeared with them on Late Night with Conan O’Brien playing shakers on “Back in Your Head.” He contributed lyrics to three songs on Tegan and Sara’s 2009 album Sainthood. Burgan was the drummer for the Nevada City, California band Badical Turbo Radness in the mid-1990s and has played drums for The Eyeliners, Gardening Not Architecture, F-Minus, and the Halo Friendlies on tour. In 2019, Burgan signed with Waldman Management to develop his career as a music producer, focusing on engineering, mixing, and mastering across punk, post-punk, and metal genres. Burgan is vegan, sharing this lifestyle choice with bandmate Davey Havok.
Jade Puget
Jade Errol Puget, born November 28, 1973, in Santa Rosa, California, joined AFI as lead guitarist on November 2, 1998, replacing Mark Stopholese after the recording of the A Fire Inside EP. Puget had previously provided background vocals on Shut Your Mouth and Open Your Eyes (1997) while still outside the band, making that album the first to feature all four current members. Before joining AFI, Puget played in several bands including Loose Change, which recorded a split seven-inch EP titled Dork with AFI in 1993 when both bands were first starting.
He also played in Redemption 87, an East Bay hardcore band that released their eponymous debut LP in 1997 and their final LP All Guns Poolside in 1999. Puget was a member of Influence 13 with Nick 13 of Tiger Army, Geoff Kresge, Adam Carson, and other friends. Puget dropped out of high school at age seventeen but gained admission to the University of California, Berkeley, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in sociology in 1996, becoming the only member of AFI to complete college. After graduating, he joined AFI.
Puget has been AFI’s lead guitarist, backing vocalist, keyboardist, and primary songwriter on all albums from Black Sails in the Sunset (1999) through Silver Bleeds the Black Sun… (2025). His first album with AFI was Black Sails in the Sunset (1999), and the first song he wrote for the band was “Malleus Maleficarum.” Puget’s influence dramatically shifted AFI’s sound from the straightforward hardcore punk of Shut Your Mouth and Open Your Eyes (1997) to the darker, more atmospheric horror punk style of Black Sails in the Sunset (1999), which introduced romantic and gothic elements.
On The Art of Drowning (2000), Puget expanded his role to include keyboards alongside guitar and backing vocals, incorporating more melodic elements. His songwriting partnership with Havok has been central to AFI’s success, with Puget composing the music while Havok handles lyrics. Puget’s guitar and keyboard work on Sing the Sorrow (2003) helped create the album’s post-hardcore and emo sound, contributing to its platinum certification. On Decemberunderground (2006), which debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, Puget’s guitar riffs on “Miss Murder” helped make it AFI’s biggest hit. Puget assumed production duties starting with Sing the Sorrow (2003), co-producing subsequent AFI albums.
He plays Gibson Les Paul guitars, particularly the Les Paul Studio model in black and white, along with Gibson SG and Fender Telecaster guitars, using Mesa Boogie dual rectifier amplifier heads with Marshall cabinets. Puget and Davey Havok formed the electronic music duo Blaqk Audio in 2007, releasing their debut album CexCells on August 14, 2007, which reached number eighteen on the Billboard 200. The duo has released six albums: CexCells (2007), Bright Black Heaven (2012), Material (2016), Only Things We Love (2019), Beneath the Black Palms (2020), and Trop d’amour (2022). In 2014, Puget and Havok formed XTRMST, a straight edge hardcore band, releasing their self-titled debut album on November 25, 2014, through Dim Mak Records.
Puget has worked as a remix artist and producer for numerous bands, including remixing Marilyn Manson’s “Heart-Shaped Glasses (When the Heart Guides the Hand)” in 2007, The Cure’s “Freakshow” from their album 4:13 Dream, Tiger Army’s “Where the Moss Slowly Grows” from Music From Regions Beyond, and Tokio Hotel’s UK single “Ready, Set, Go!” from their album Scream. He provided additional production on The Dear & Departed’s debut album Something Quite Peculiar and produced Scarlet Grey’s song “Fancy Blood.” Puget is vegetarian and straight edge, sharing the latter lifestyle with Havok. He married his girlfriend of six years, Marissa Festa, on September 22, 2012, in Malibu, California, after becoming engaged in July 2011. Their son Ryder Day Puget was born on February 15, 2023. Puget has a younger brother named Smith who serves as AFI’s tour manager.
Geoff Kresge
Geoff Kresge, born Geoff Tilander, replaced original bassist Vic Chalker in 1992 and served as AFI’s bassist and backing vocalist from 1992 through 1997. Kresge co-wrote the majority of AFI’s early material alongside Davey Havok during this period. When AFI briefly broke up in 1993 after members left for different colleges, Kresge moved to New York and joined the street punk band Blanks 77 for a six-month tenure from 1993 to 1994. During this time, he replaced the band’s previous bassist Brendan and participated in intense East Coast touring before returning to California to rejoin AFI when the band reunited.
Kresge appeared on AFI’s first two studio albums Answer That and Stay Fashionable (1995) and Very Proud of Ya (1996), as well as several early EPs including Dork (1993), Behind the Times, Eddie Picnic’s All Wet, This Is Berkeley Not West Bay, AFI/Heckle, Bombing the Bay, and Fly in the Ointment, which were released between 1993 and 1995. Some of these early releases came out on his own label, Key Lime Pie Records, which he founded in 1993. Kresge’s bass playing and songwriting were integral to establishing AFI’s early hardcore punk sound.
On Answer That and Stay Fashionable (1995), recorded in just ten days at Art of Ears studio in Hayward, California, and produced by Tim Armstrong of Rancid, Kresge’s bass work helped define the band’s raw, energetic style. After several tours supporting Very Proud of Ya (1996), Kresge decided to leave AFI in 1997. Hunter Burgan initially filled in for Kresge on the remaining Very Proud of Ya tour dates before becoming the permanent bassist. Despite leaving the band, Kresge later contributed background vocals to AFI’s platinum breakthrough album Sing the Sorrow (2003).
Kresge joined the psychobilly band Tiger Army in 1999 as upright bassist, shortly after the release of their self-titled debut album. He appeared on Tiger Army’s next two full-length albums, Tiger Army II: Power of Moonlite (2002) and Tiger Army III: Ghost Tigers Rise (2004), and in the music videos for “Never Die,” “Incorporeal,” “Cupid’s Victim,” and “Rose of the Devil’s Garden.” Kresge left Tiger Army in September 2004 for personal reasons.
He then formed the band Viva Hate in late summer 2004 and joined the psychobilly band HorrorPops on guitar, co-writing and performing on their second album Bring it On! (2005), produced by Brett Gurewitz of Bad Religion for Epitaph Records. Kresge toured North America, Europe, Australia, and parts of Asia with HorrorPops and appeared prominently in the music video for “Where You Can’t Follow.” In January 2008, Kresge rejoined Tiger Army following the departure of bassist Jeff Roffredo, adding backing vocals to Music from Regions Beyond (2007) and a cover of “Oogie Boogie’s Song” for Disney’s Nightmare Revisited compilation.
Kresge spent all of 2008 on the road with Tiger Army but announced his second and final departure from the band in February 2014, stating that Tiger Army had been off the road since the end of 2008 without releasing new music, prompting him to move on as a full-time musician. From 2018 to 2023, Kresge played bass for the California hardcore punk band Fear. He was also part-owner of Dead Body Records and founded Key Lime Pie Records. Kresge has worked as a producer for bands including Nekromantix, 12 Step Rebels, and Graveyard Shift.
Mark Stopholese
Mark Stopholese co-founded AFI in November 1991 alongside Davey Havok and Vic Chalker while attending Ukiah High School in California. At the time of the band’s formation, none of the members knew how to play instruments. Stopholese suggested that his friend Adam Carson join as drummer because Carson owned a drum set, and Stopholese himself learned to play guitar. Stopholese served as AFI’s guitarist and backing vocalist from the band’s formation in 1991 until 1998.
He appeared on AFI’s first three studio albums: Answer That and Stay Fashionable (1995), Very Proud of Ya (1996), and Shut Your Mouth and Open Your Eyes (1997), as well as numerous early EPs released between 1993 and 1998. When AFI broke up in 1993 so members could attend different colleges, Stopholese attended the University of Southern California while Carson went to UC Santa Cruz and Havok attended UC Berkeley. The band reunited during their Christmas break to play a show at the Phoenix Theater, and the enthusiastic response from fans convinced them to quit school and pursue AFI full-time.
Stopholese’s guitar work defined AFI’s early hardcore punk sound across their first three albums. On Answer That and Stay Fashionable (1995), produced by Tim Armstrong and released on Wingnut Records, Stopholese’s guitar helped establish the band’s raw, aggressive style. His playing on Very Proud of Ya (1996), released on Nitro Records, contributed to songs “Cruise Control” and “Love Is a Many Splendored Thing,” which were featured in the 1996 independent film Mary Jane’s Not a Virgin Anymore.
After recording the A Fire Inside EP in 1998, Stopholese left AFI and was replaced by his close friend Jade Puget, who had previously provided background vocals on Shut Your Mouth and Open Your Eyes (1997). Stopholese’s departure marked a significant turning point for AFI, as Puget’s arrival brought a dramatic shift in the band’s musical direction from straightforward hardcore punk to the darker, more atmospheric sound of Black Sails in the Sunset (1999). No significant information about Stopholese’s career after leaving AFI is publicly available.
Vic Chalker
Vic Chalker was one of the four founding members of AFI, joining Davey Havok and Mark Stopholese when the band formed in November 1991 while they were attending Ukiah High School in California. Chalker was the band’s original bassist, though he had to learn to play the instrument after joining since none of the founding members initially knew how to play their instruments. Chalker’s tenure with AFI was extremely brief, lasting only approximately eight months before he was replaced by Geoff Kresge in 1992.
Chalker appeared on AFI’s earliest recordings and performances but left before the band recorded any of their official EPs or studio albums. By the time AFI recorded their first EP Dork in 1993, Geoff Kresge had already taken over bass duties. No significant information about Chalker’s career in music after leaving AFI is publicly available, and his brief time with the band occurred during their formative period before they began releasing recorded material.
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