When AFI's latest release Decemberunderground debuted at #1 on the Billboard Top 200 Charts, it was the latest in a positive run for the band. In the past few years the band landed a deal with Dreamworks Records, saw the single "Miss Murder" go to #1 on the Modern Music Charts, and has been up for various MTV Video Music Awards. With all the accolades, it's probably AFI's (vocalist Davey Havok, guitarist Jade Puget, bassist Hunter, and drummer Adam Carson) legion of fans called the Despair Faction that have been one of the most significant ingredients to the band's success.
Hunter (who goes by one name only) recently talked with
Ultimate Guitar about the most dedicated fans in the music biz, the ever-changing sound of AFI, and his own personal devotion to 1962 Fender basses.
Ultimate-Guitar: Congratulations on being up for a few MTV Video Music Awards for "Miss Murder." That video has a very interesting section where Davey appears to be dictator-ish.
Hunter: We basically wanted it to be very cinematic and sort of conjure up imagery from like "Evita" type movies. So we had Davey play the role of the orator above the crowd.
The bass line is what gets "Miss Murder" going in the beginning. Did you kind of get the songwriting process started with that bass line?
Actually, Jade came up with the music and he brought it to the rest of us. It was very undeveloped. At the time, it was kind of halfway between a shuffle, which is what it is now, and just like a straight 4/4. Adam and I took that bass line, which was a lot simpler, and we kind of stepped it up into a shuffle and further developed it. The way that we write songs is somebody will come up with the seed and we as a group sort of nurture it and watch it sort of evolve.
Does one member of the group usually comes up with the first ideas?
Nine times out of then, Jade and Davey will sit together and come up with the initial ideas of the song.
 |
| "I think we fitted in the Warped Tour, in that we were just representing one of many styles." |
How did the Warped Tour dates go?
We played 12 of the Warped shows. They were great. It's sort of a weird thing for us to be in the middle of a tour and playing our own shows, which is what we were doing, and then every other show have to play outdoors in the day. It's sort of a strange juxtaposition. But it was cool because, as is always the case, we have a lot of friends in other bands on the tour and it's just a lot of fun.
Were there any bands that you had not seen perform live and were excited to see at the Warped Tour?
I was excited to see Joan Jett. I actually only got to see part of her set once. We were still pretty busy. Valient Thorr was another really cool band that I hadn't seen before.
How do you think that AFI fit in with the rest of the lineup?
I'm not sure. Warped Tour has always been a wide variety of different styles. So I think we fit in, in that we were just representing one of many styles.
Your fan club, the Despair Faction, has almost had as much press as the band has. How did that originally get started and what kind of feedback have you gotten through it?
A number of years ago we decided that we were gonna do a fan club like so many other bands' fan clubs sort of come about. We wanted it to be much more based on giving something back to our fans than a lot of bands will do with their fan clubs. We wanted basically much more than just a fan club. We wanted it to be just an extension of our interaction with the fans. It's kind of taken a life of its own because within the greater whole that is the Despair Faction, there are several chapters. Members are encouraged to sort of take it and make it something more than just a small part of a fan club, if you will. They're very proactive and they do a lot of things on their own that have nothing to do with us. So it's really cool.
But in terms of what we are trying to give back to them, we have contests. Like the Despair Faction named themselves. We had Despair Faction members in the studio singing some background on "Miss Murder" and "Prelude." That was a sweepstakes, technically. About a year ago, we had between 20 and 30 Despair Faction members come into the studio. We played them a couple of songs that we finished already and then gave them an opportunity to do the "heys" on "Miss Murder." Then we had them all record sort of disembodied stomps and claps that later I sort of shaped and edited into the "Prelude."
Aside from that, they can get merchandise items that they can buy and we'll do meet-and-greets. We used to have more time on our hands and we'd actually let them watch the sound check. Then that became sort of a problem because it was like a little mini-performance and we wouldn't actually get to do the sound check part of the sound check. It's great to see the sort of shape that it's taken on its own. It's kind of amazing because I feel like it's a little baby that we've created and it's grown up into a fine young citizen.
 |
| "We're not trying to be something we're not. It's truly what we are and it's honest." |
What do you think it is about AFI that has appealed to so many people? Your fans seem pretty devoted.
Logically, as a person of reason, the only thing that I can think of that makes sense to me is that people sort of respond to our music because it comes from our hearts. It's really who we are and what we represent. We're not trying to be something we're not. It's truly what we are and it's honest. It's very emotional and I think that people naturally want to empathize with that.
Your sound has changed over the years. When you start writing a new record, do you usually have the intent to explore new sounds?
I don't think there's anything that we keep in mind when we're writing. It's all really subconscious. It's really below the surface. As songwriters, we don't want to write the same thing twice. So there's something that each of us feel we're doing within a song or just a song as a whole is coming too close to something we've done previously, it's in your natural tendency to do it a little bit different. But it's not something we think about, it just sort of happens. There might be a song that has a similar chord progression to one that we've done in the past, but I'll approach the bass line to that differently. I'll say, "Okay, we've done this. What else can I do?" I think that applies to each of us as individual musicians, but also as a band and as songwriters.
In "Prelude 12/21," is that chiming intro from a synthesizer?
The initial chiming is a sine wave from an old synthesizer. Then it's joined with a bunch of other things. I even ran just a tone generator through my tuner and just recorded different tones. So it's dead-on tune-wise. Like if you need to tune your guitar to it, it's perfect! Then there's just a bunch of synthesizer bits in there. There are a couple different guitar things that Jaded did. All the bass in that track is synth bass, too.
So do you work a lot with synthesizers yourself?
Jade and I are heavily into programming and synthesizers.
What bass models do you work these days?
On the road, I have a small fleet of 1962 Fender Reissues or Jazz P-basses. Just because that is sort of a less-expensive - it's not cheap - but it's a less expensive alternative to bringing actual basses from 1962, which is mostly what I use on the record. But '62 is the magic number!
 |
| "I feel like the Despair Faction is a little baby that we've created and it's grown up into a fine young citizen." |
Is it a certain tone you like that only the 1962 has?
It is. 1962 was before Fender was sold to CBS, so it before they started mass manufacturing these things. Also '62 was the last year that having a slab board neck was still an option. They changed to more of a laminated neck. The wood on a fretboard was a solid slab of wood that was just pressed into the neck board, as opposed to a piece of wood that was laid on top of a neck. It was like a bigger piece of wood. The '62 Reissues don't have that slab board neck. I think they found that a lot of them would warp. So if you find a basses from Fender from '62 or before, a lot of them will be warped. But usually the ones that are still around are in decent shape are not warped. Probably a lot of the ones that were warped never even made it out of the factory. The tone is just really great.
Did someone turn you onto the 1962 Fenders or did you discover them yourself?
My educator and mentor is Jerry Finn, our producer, who actually owns most of the basses that I used on the record. It occurred to me to own as many of these basses as well. I've actually gone out and tried to find as many basses from those early days as possible. He has an amazing collection of guitars, basses, and amps. Other than being a great producer, when you get to work with Jerry, you get to work with all of his equipment. It's amazing.
What other kind of gear did Jerry introduce you to?
A lot of effects pedals. I used quite a few of those on different songs. Usually it's press subtle, but it's nice to have a little chorus or flange or compression. Everyday in the studio was kind of like, what I call, a tone Odyssey. You'd start, "Okay, I want these kinds of sounds. Oh, it's not quite right." So you go through a couple different pedals. If you wanted flange, he's got like 5 different flange pedals, so you'd like have to pick one. They're all old. You turn them on and think, "Okay, maybe these two." And then, "Oh, you know, let's change the amp." So you change the amp and then, "Okay, well this is not quite right. Let's maybe try a different bass. Okay, hold on. Go back to this bass, but a different amp." There are so many different permutations and you usually end up back where you started! He seriously has so many pedals and a lot of them are like boutique pedals that only 100 are made and they're all hand-made. There was one compressor - it was like a Keeley compressor that I used quite a bit. There were a couple different MXR pedals. But most of the tone comes from the amps and we use Ampeg amps pretty much.
Are you starting to write any new music?
There's not really a lot of time to write. But I think typically what we do is we all sort of compile ideas at all times. We've been off for a week and I've recorded a couple little things at home on my computer, not whole songs, but just little ideas. Really when we stop touring on an album, we really have a chance to sort of come together with fresh minds. That's the time when we really start working on songs.
What bass players or musicians in general influenced you when you were learning to play?
I didn't really try to play bass until like 12 years ago. I didn't consider myself a bass player. I played piano and I played guitar. But as a bass player now, I'm really heavily influenced and just amazed by players like James Jamerson (Motown), who's kind of like the ultimate bass player. But I like to think that I approach songs in a way that is like a combination between James Jamerson and Eric Avery of Jane's Addiction. That's my combo!
When you listen to your own music, can you hear those influences come out?
It's so hard to be objective. I hear what I'm trying to do. Sometimes I'll listen to a demo of the song that never really went anywhere. It's not a song that I thought about past just the couple weeks that I worked on it and recorded it, and I'll usually be disgusted or amazed by it. Like, "Oh, wow, that's a really cool bass line that I made up there!" Or, "What was I trying to do there? That's awful!"
There have been comments that there is more of a New Wave sound to your music now? Have you been influenced by the genre in the past?
I love a lot of New Wave bands, and to say that there's not some influence would be wrong. But I mean, in the same way I love The Beatles. It's not something that's really conscious. It's just one genre of music that we all listened to growing up. I don't hear it so much. That just because when I hear a song, I just hear a song.
Ultimate-Guitar.Com © 2006
and I like the old and new AFI too... they still being the same amazing band ever
