Although they didn’t reach platinum status until 2003, hardcore punk revivalists AFI originally formed in 1991, when the band’s four founding members — vocalist Davey Havok, guitarist Markus Stopholese, bassist Vic Chalker, and drummer Adam Carson — were attending high school in Ukiah, California. Chalker was replaced by Geoff Kresge after eight months, and the band played several local gigs and released a split 7″, Dork, with fellow Ukiah natives Loose Change (a band that incidentally included future AFI member Jade Puget). An EP titled Behind the Times was released as well. AFI then split up to attend different colleges, with Kresge temporarily moving to New Jersey to join Blanks 77. However, AFI reconvened during a holiday break to play a one-off reunion show, and audience response was so positive that the bandmembers decided to quit school and concentrate on music full-time.

AFI (whose abbreviation stands for “A Fire Inside”) issued several singles before securing a record deal with the Nitro label, which issued the band’s second album, Very Proud of Ya, in 1996. Two LPs followed in 1997 — a re-release of their 1995 debut, Answer That & Stay Fashionable, and Shut Your Mouth & Open Your Eyes — and personnel shifts ensued. Kresge was the first to leave, being replaced by bassist Hunter Burgan, and Stopholese departed in favor of ex-Redemption 87 guitarist Jade Puget, who then shared songwriting duties with Havok. The new lineup recorded an EP titled A Fire Inside in 1998, and issued a noticeably more mature full-length in 1999, Black Sails in the Sunset; 1999 also saw the release of the All Hallow’s EP before The Art of Drowning followed a year later. Though already owning a fiercely loyal core base of fans, the latter album saw the band’s music attracting an even larger audience, due in part to the moderate success of the single “Days of the Phoenix.” Accordingly, it was the first album to chart in the Billboard 200.

AFI is available for corporate events, private shows, milestone celebrations (birthday, anniversary), fundraisers, festivals, and more.