AFI's Evolution Hasn't Alienated Open-Minded Fans

AFI have been doing their darndest to keep their upcoming album, Decemberunderground, shrouded in mystery. The band are reluctant to discuss specific details, but want to make it clear that they have nothing to prove.

"I just don't really care how people think, and people are not gonna like something," says guitarist and chief songwriter Jade Puget.

"There's certainly moments where you go, 'Well, this song is kinda crazy, it's kinda poppy, it's kinda this or that. How are people going to react to it?' And it's always those songs that are the ones that people like the most.

"I know on Black Sails In The Sunset, the first album I wrote with AFI, there was a song called 'God Called In Sick Today,' and we almost left the song off there because we were like, 'This song is so poppy.' In retrospect, of course, it's not. Same thing on The Art Of Drowning with 'Morningstar.' We always write these songs where we're worried what people think, but they always end up being these crowd fan favourites."

The experimental routes the band are known for taking have inevitably alienated their old hardcore punk fans, but Puget doesn't regret those creative choices.

"I don't ever regret that for a second because, if you regret that, then you start regretting the songs that you've written and you regret the direction you've taken. And I don't regret that. I know none of us do.

"A fan that only wants to hear one kind of song, and a kind of song that was written when people in the band were 15 years old, what band is really going to do that? That's kind of a pipe dream. And if you want to do that, then you can listen to the same record all day."

The guitarist has faith in the band's core fans, however, as the majority of them understand AFI's tendency to go beyond what's expected of them.

"I think that group of fans who have been around for a long time, if they're still around with us after Sing The Sorrow, then they kind of accepted that we were going to change on every record and they embrace that and expect that. I think that's why those fans are so cool. I mean, any fans that have been around for a while and they just want straight-up punk, they want to hear shit like on Answer That And Stay Fashionable, then I'm sure that they would have left long ago. The people that have stayed with us are the ones that I think are really open to what we try to do and are open for us to experiment and progress."

Acceptance from fans has continued to allow the band to progress on their own terms, Puget believes.

"Basically, for every record, we just try to write a record that we think is good. And hopefully, if this also resonates with people out there, especially our fans, of course, and people that haven't heard us, then so much the better. But I think we start off by writing a record that we think is good. That's all we can really do."

AFI will headline their own shows and play select dates on the Warped Tour. Here's their Canadian itinerary:

June 13 Montreal, QC @ Le Medley
June 15 Toronto, ON @ Kool Haus
July 18 Vancouver, BC @ Thunderbird Stadium
July 20 Calgary, AB @ Race City Speedway