Shy Boys Win

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?