Tweet to Reveal, Pt. 1

On Thursday afternoon, AFireInside.net went blank. Since then, much has happened. We were shown a new song title: “Darling, I Want To Destroy You.” Now we are on the verge of discovering more. What follows is a comprehensive documentation of the crazy past 9 hours. Start at the bottom for the oldest updates; the latest updates will be at the top. All times are Eastern Standard Time.

8/1 2:21 a.m. - The 5th track becomes yet another tweet counter. This time we need 1000 tweets before our next title is revealed. Follow along on the tweet counter above.

8/1 2:17 a.m. - The 4th song title, “I Am Trying Very Hard To Be Here” becomes a link to a YouTube video. As expected, it is a 30-second clip of the Begin Transmission winners singing the backing vocals to the chorus of IATVHTBH in the studio.
8/1 2:05 a.m. - The 4th song title changes from the incorrect “Trying Very Hard To Be Here” to the correct “I Am Trying Very Hard To Be Here.”
7/31 9:43 p.m. - We have reached 2,000 tweets for the 4th song title and we have revealed “Trying Very Hard To Be Here.” This title is different in that there is no “I Am.” Stay tuned for more.
7/31 1:52 p.m. - AFI has made a Twitter update. The link leads to a video still of the Begin Transmission winners singing. Both the tweet and the picture are labeled with a “+” sign, referencing the symbols currently on AFireInside.net.
7/31 11:20 a.m. - The page at AFireInside.net has been updated to show the first three song titles. The fourth title had a “+” symbol representing it and will require 2,000 tweets to unlock. This suggests that it is a new track.

7/31 3:00 a.m. - The 1,000 tweets required for the 3rd song title have been reached. This title is Beautiful Thieves. It’s not a new one. But the background image has changed to reveal something in black and white.


7/31 12:59 a.m. - Theory makes two posts in the thread on the OMB. The first one is “mush mush.” The second one is “What does plus mean to you?” He is referring to the plus symbols that have been added to the site.

7/31 12:50 a.m. - AFireInside.net is updated. We now have a string of + symbols and . symbols running down the area that is presumably the tracklist area for Crash Love.

7/31 12:33 a.m. - The number of tweets required to reveal the 3rd song is lowered from 2,000 to 1,000, undoubtedly due to the massive amount of complaining from the board.

7/31 12:00 a.m. - Below the new song title, we see yet another “Tweet to Reveal” button, and the cycle of tweeting begins all over again to find the 3rd song title. Yet again we must achieve 2,000 tweets.

7/30 11:46 p.m. - After 6 hours of tweeting, we finally achieve our goal of 2,000 tweets. What do we receive? A new song title: “Darling, I Want To Destroy You.” There is a significant backlash from board members complaining that they tweeted for 6 hours to get one song title.

7/30 7:29 p.m. - A line in the identification for the AFI Crash Love Twitter App from theory reads “Tweet to Reveal AFI Crash Love tracklisting and More.” So now we know that we will be getting the tracklisting, as well as something more, for tweeting.
7/30 6:00 p.m. - The people in the OMB thread finally realize that theory’s App will only accept 1 tweet from each account. People start creating extra Twitter accounts to get around this issue, and the number of tweets steadily climbs.

7/30 5:45 p.m. - The AFireInside.net page changes to show this image with the words “Tweet to Reveal.” When you first visit the page, you see a “Login” button below the title Medicate. Clicking that will take you to a Login screen in theory’s AFI Crash Love Twitter App. Once you have logged in using your Twitter username and password, and have granted the app access to your account, you are redirected back to AFireInside.net. You are prompted to click “Tweet to Reveal.” When you click that, you automatically tweet the following update: “Tweeting to reveal @AFI #CrashLove at http://afireinside.net.”

After that, you will see the counter, which tells you how many tweets have been completed out of 2,000 required tweets. At this point it is not known what we will get once we reach 2,000 tweets.

7/30 5:22 p.m. - Theory, AFI’s site webmaster, posts a Twitter update saying “SO MUCH WORK TODAY @AFI kids, get ready to Tweet!”

7/30 5:08 p.m. – The site title changes from “C R A S H” to “A F I / C R A S H” with spaces still in between each letter.

7/30 3:50 p.m. – AFireInside.net is changed from the splash page of Wednesday to a blank, black screen with a very sparse source code. The title is “C R A S H” with spaces between each letter.

Hunter Makes Two Twitter Updates

On Thursday evening, Hunter made two Twitter updates regarding AFI. His first one says, “Sweating in a warehouse in the valley, looking through all the AFI gear. EW&F and Manilow have their gear here too.”

The second update says, “Working on bonus (non-music) material for the AFI record all week, and getting
The first update suggests that the merchandise for the new album is sitting in a warehouse, waiting to be shipped to stores. Are there any thoughts about the second update?

Camille Rose García makes Crash Love art?

According to her website, Camille Rose made a “secret project with AFI” that we’ll be able to find with the release of the album. This most likely means she made the art for Crash Love.

You can browse through her gallery to get to know her work and probably imagine what the Crash Love art will look like. Her other works include stuff for Deathcab For Cutie and a book of Alice in Wonderland.

This means Alan Forbes, after more than 5 releases, most likely didn’t do the cover for AFI. We are not claiming fact here; this is just a rumor at the moment.

Crash Love Title Revealed: "Darling, I Want To Destroy You"

At 11:46 p.m. on Thursday night, the tweet counter on AFireInside.net reached its goal of 2,000 tweets. A song title from Crash Love, “Darling, I Want To Destroy You,” was revealed. So far, we have Medicate and Darling, I Want To Destroy You as song titles.

Possible Crash Love Cover

You can find a collage of images that appear when run through SWF programs here. This is now the rumored album artwork for Crash Love, or the much-spoken-of limited edition tin box version of Crash Love. I am posting this not because it is officially true, but to provide an explanation of a series of images that will likely cause much confusion among those not closely following the OMB threads on Wednesday night and Thursday morning.

New Splash Page Up At AFireInside.net

A new splash page is now up on AFI’s Official site. It appeared this afternoon and showed a brown square with paint-like lines dripping downward. Instructions appeared telling everybody to “Tweet #Medicate to reveal more.” After an impressive amount of tweeting, the square filled up to reveal the image below.

UPDATE! When you open the splash page, the square appears with the silver image already in place. The top is an orange sort of yellow, and it drips down the screen. To make what looks like an image of the sun.

AFI Sends Email Blast With Ticket Details

AFI has sent out the e-mail blast to everybody on their mailing list. Included in the blast is a link to the new splash page that went up Wednesday night, along with information about the October shows announced yesterday.
Inexplicably, the e-mail also includes the password for the Despair Faction presales that are beginning tomorrow at 10 A.M. The e-mail went to many non-DF members, and there are many DF members who are not signed up for the mailing list.
The DF presales tomorrow will be for the Minneapolis show, the Columbus show, and the Cincinatti show.

Expect AFI Email Blast Soon

Theory has just made a Twitter update telling us that he is building an AFI email blast. It will be sent to those on the AFI mailing list.

Theory Has "AFI Meeting, Excitement Building"

Theory (Lee Martin) has made a Twitter update about AFI. He says “Early AFI meeting, excitement building!” Theory has been spending the last few weeks and months building AFI’s Official Web site. The current version of the site is only a transitional one, so this tweet suggests that we will see a major update soon.

New To DF Presales? Here’s How They Work…

On Thursday morning, there are three pre-sales for Despair Faction members only. These are for the Columbus, Clifton Park, and Sayreville shows. From looking at the Official Message Board, there is some amount of confusion on the part of the newer members as to how the password distribution will work.
At some point this evening, you will receive the pre-sale information in the DF General Discussion forum. It will contain a password that you can use to buy tickets in the DF presale tomorrow morning on Ticketmaster.

Medicate To Be Released On iTunes August 25th

An article from ExploreMusic claims that the single “Medicate” will be digitally released on August 25th.

“The lead single, ‘Medicate,’ will be available on iTunes beginning August 25th, and preorders for the digital edition of Crash Love will be available as well. ‘Medicate’ will hit radio September 1st.

In addition to the standard album version, there will be a deluxe CD and digital edition and a vinyl version available on the street date. Fans will also have the chance to buy a Super Deluxe album package housed in a tin box. Details coming soon. The band is reportedly planning a December tour.”

Davey: NYC Not Until Later

Davey posted an anwser to an Ask AFI question early this morning regarding whether AFI would be playing a NYC show this tour.

Davey’s response was: “Sorry, not this first trip. We will of course, play NYC at least once during Crash Love though. Hopefully soon.”

October 11 Pittsburgh Show Announced (Updated)

AFI’s Official Site and Facebook page have been updated to announce a new show in Pittsburgh, PA on October 11, 2009 at Club Zoo. This tour date joins the existing 8 tour dates on the Crash Love release tour scheduled for October.

Update! The ticketing information for this show is now available. The tickets will go on sale to the public through Ticketmaster on August 8 at 10:00 A.M. EDT. There is a Despair Faction presale on August 6, as well as an AFireInside.net presale on August 7.

2 New York Shows, 1 Baltimore Show Discovered

AFI will be playing at the Town Ballroom in Buffalo, NY on October 7. No further information about the show can be found at this time, but we are working to find any that is available.
The second is at Northern Lights in Clifton Park, NY on October 8. Doors open at 6:30 P.M. Tickets will go on sale August 1 at 10:00 A.M. and will cost $27.50. Tickets will be on sale on MusicNow and on Ticketmaster. UPDATE: The show has finally been added to Ticketmaster, and there will be a DF presale Thursday morning at 10:oo A.M. Click here for the Ticketmaster show page.
And then on October 11, they will play at Rams Head Live in Baltimore, MD. No further information about the show can be found at this time, but we are working to find any that is available. UPDATE: This show seems to have been cancelled. See the Tour Post above for more information.
AFI’s old Web site, the one with the I Heard A Voice design, has been updated with all of the new tour dates.

AFI Playing Hartford, CT on October 13

AFI will be playing a show in Hartford, CT on October 13th at The Webster at 8:15 P.M. Tickets will go on sale August 1st at Tickets.com. Once again, Gallows is the supporting band.

Gallows Is Supporting Band for US Tour

British hardcore act Gallows is the support for the US Tour for Crash Love. So far, the shows that have been announced where Gallows are supporting are:

Minneapolis, MN
Colimbous, OH
Cincinatti, OH
Sayreville, NJ
Providence, RI

AFI Playing In Rhode Island October 14

AFI is playing at Lupo’s Heartbreak Hotel in Providence, Rhode Island on October 14, 2009 at 8:15 P.M. We found this information on the Hotel’s Web site. Prices are $26.00 for advance purchase, and $28.00 on the day of the show.
Click here for the venue’s page.

Davey Talks Tour: Chicago Will Be Later On

Davey answered an Ask AFI question about the tour dates that have been revealed so far.

“I don’t know what has and hasn’t been announced BUT I’m pretty sure that Chicago won’t come until later in this cycle (don’t think that this means we don’t love Chicago) and very sure that there are more dates than just Cincinnati in the first run. I assure you that you’ll have time to plan.” -Davey

We’ve decided to stop reprinting DF-exclusive material (we’ve never printed content from Under the Rose and we’ve certainly never shared exclusive photos/videos, but there are still concerns being raised by readers), but seeing as this is a quote directly from Davey, it is fair game.

New Show In Minneapolis October 2 (DF Presale)

The dates just keep rolling in. AFI will be playing in Minneapolis, MN at EPIC on October 2, 2009 at 7:00 P.M. The Despair Faction-only pre-sale begins July 30 at 10:00 A.M. Central Time. Tickets go on sale to the public at 10:00 A.M. on August 1. Tickets are about $26.

For a summary of the confirmed US tour dates so far, see the tour date tracker in the top of the left sidebar. We will probably see more dates today, so keep an eye out.

New Jersey and Columbus Shows (DF Presale!)

AFI will be playing on October 10th at the Starland Ballroom in Sayreville, New Jersey. Doors open at 7:00 P.M. Tickets go on sale this Saturday at 10:00 A.M. Tickets will cost $28.50 before the show and $30.00 on the day of the show. There is a Despair Faction-only presale beginning at 10:00 A.M. on July 30. The regular Internet pre-sale begins on July 31st at 10:00 A.M. Tickets will cost $28.00.
AFI will also be playing on Sunday, October 4 at Newport Music Hall in Columbus, OH at 7:00 P.M. Tickets will go onsale to the public starting August 1 at 10:00 A.M. The Internet pre-sale will begin at the same time on July 30.

Hunter Interviewing Himself, Submit Your Questions

Sorry this is 12 hours late. Hunter made a Twitter update on Sunday night regarding his plans to interview himself for a video. He’s asking for people to send him questions, and he’s even teased up about Crash Love. Since then he has made this update. “(Mostly) great questions! Keep ‘em coming!”

To ask Hunter a question, direct your questions “@TranquilMammoth” on Twitter and then follow with your question. Click here to see the questions as they roll in.
Questions already submitted include: “How many basses did you record with? Did you play any other instruments?” and “what song is your personal favorite on the new cd, and why?”
This is not the first time Hunter’s asked for user-submitted questions for him to answer for an interview video. In fact, during late April and March of 2009, he posted a 7-part video interview with himself using questions submitted on his blog.

Davey Answers 4 Crash Love Questions

In a recent Ask AFI question, Davey was asked four things in regard to Crash Love, one of which was not pertinent enough to write about.
The first question was about whether they had recorded a cover song for Crash Love. Davey replied, “Nope, no covers. I don’t believe we’ve put a cover on a full length since 97.” Question the second asked if any songs meant for Blaqk Audio have made it onto the record. Davey said, “No, I doubt that will ever happen again – the inverse though, is quite possible.” The third question asked how many electronic elements there are on the record. Davey replied, “7.”
Take what you will from that last answer. Is it the exact number of synths used on the record? Or is it supposed to satire AFI’s obsession with all things 7?

AFI Schedules First US Tour Date: Cincinnati, OH

AFI is playing a show at Bogarts in Cincinnati, OH on Oct. 5 at 8:15 P.M.
Presales begin on July 31 at 10:00 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time. The public ticket sale begins on August 1 at 10:00 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time.

Exclusive: DJ Corey Describes Sound of Medicate

Through an e-mail with DJ Corey O’Brien of the X96 Alternative radio station in Utah, I have gotten another detailed explanation of Medicate.

“The song has very lo fi sound akin to earlier stuff but still well produced. The vocals are clear and the song is medium-paced. There is a slow guitar solo before the finish. The afi ‘whoas’ are intact in spirit.”

Last night we reported that DJ Corey O’Brien had heard Medicate and “can’t wait” to play it for us. In an e-mail with Drewface, one of our readers, he said:

“The label would only let me listen on an iPod and would not leave me a copy. However I am working on attaining a clip to break the song much the way I did with ‘Miss Murder.’ My insiders assure me they are working on gettin this for me. By the time I get it everyone will be able to get it.”

This last line probably means that this station won’t be playing Medicate until it comes out as a single (if indeed it is a single).

Raine Describes Medicate’s Sound In Detail

Raine, one of the Begin Transmission winners, had this discussion on the AFI last.fm page regarding the song the winners sang on, as well as the sound of Medicate.

NoHavenNow: This Medicate song better be good.

XRaineofFireX: NoHavenNow – I guarantee that 99% of you will dig Medicate more than Miss Murder.

NoHavenNow: Nice! Is that the song you guys sung on?

XRaineofFireX: No, we did background vox on the chorus of I Am Trying Very Hard to Be Here. After that, we were treated to a second song. We weren’t told the title of the second one, but I recall the word “medicate” being in there, as does Mark (panasonicyouth on the OMB and Buzznet). Therefore, I’m almost positive that the second song was Medicate. Even though they supposedly haven’t settled on a lead single, all signs point to Medicate, which surprises me because IATVHTBH (the “flash flash car crash” song) has much more of a lead single vibe. Both the main riff and chorus are catchy and to-the-point. Medicate on the other hand, is a little heavier and more intricate. My brother describes it as a faster “The Missing Frame.” I think it sounds somewhat like Affliction, minus the screaming, with a Prayer Position-ish bridge. Both songs are more straight-forward rock than DU. They both sound new and fresh, but if I had to choose an existing album that they most closely resemble, it would be STS.

To summarize for the lazy… The winners sang on I Am Trying Very Hard To Be Here, IATVTBH’s chorus and main riff are catchy and to-the-point, Medicate is heavier and more intricate, sounding like Affliction without screaming, with a Prayer Position-like bridge, the songs are more rock than Decemberunderground, and the songs sound the most like Sing the Sorrow.

X96 Radio DJ "Can’t Wait" To Play Medicate

Corey O’Brien, a DJ at X96 Alternative radio station in Utah, posted the following Facebook update on Thursday afternoon. “Heard the new AFI song ‘Medicate.’ It is awesome. Can’t wait to play it for you.”
If radio DJs have already heard Medicate, it is sure to hit the airwaves soon. For those of you who may not know, Medicate is the likely first single off of Crash Love. It will be appearing in Guitar Hero 5 on September 1.

Thanks to Mark Kent for the tip!
On a side note, to clarify about “OK, I Feel Better Now” being eleveted to Confirmed Title status… I’ve decided (admittedly long overdue) that since it was mentioned as a “song” by Davey in an interview, and no such song by any other band exists today, the title must be from Crash Love.

2 New Song Titles Revealed in Interview

Davey was recently interviewed by Rock Sound, where he talks about the new single and reveals two more song titles. The titles are “I Am Trying Very Hard To Be Here” (the infamous IATVHTBH), and “It Was Mine.”

Apparently, they haven’t even decided what the first single will be, but “Medicate” has a good chance as it’s going to be on Guitar Hero 5. Said Davey:

“People have been trying to figure it out for a few weeks. I just don’t know, there are so many songs in contention and they’re each so different. The first single is so important these days, because more often than not you don’t get more than one look. I love all the songs on the record so it doesn’t really matter to me which song gets showcased, watch this space.”

According to the interview, there will be more information about Crash Love in the forthcoming issue of Rock Sound. The interview can be found here.

Hunter and Jade Interview With EQ Magazine

Hunter made a Twitter update Wednesday evening about an interview he just did with EQ Magazine.

"I just did an interview with EQ magazine...and had trouble remembering what effects I used on Crash Love. Has it really been that long?"

The interview is not available yet, but as soon as it is, we will post a link here.
Jade also made a Twitter update about the interview with EQ.

"Interview with EQ magazine. Nerd alert."

It’s official – Medicate to be on GH5!

It’s official, guys. The remaining songs were announced on Imagine Games Network, and Medicate was confirmed to be on Guitar Hero 5!

On July 8th, we announced the rumor of the song being on GH5, as it was leaked on a Joystiq list.

Guitar Hero 5 will be out September 1st, 2009. We will provide the vocals, guitar, bass, drums and instrumental tracks in due time, so check back!

Help these 6 AFI songs into Rock Band!

You might remember reading about how to vote. Well, the results are in! The songs that made it are:

Dancing Through Sunday
This Celluloid Dream
Paper Airplanes (Makeshift Wings)
Kill Caustic
Kiss and Control
Rabbits Are Roadkill on Rt. 37

Now, go to Rock Band’s Request Page, and start voting! We highly recommend copying/pasting the song titles, so everyone votes for, let’s say, “Rabbits Are Roadkill on Rt. 37″ instead of one for “RRR37″ and the other person for “Rabbits are Roadkill”. The titles mentioned above are the legal titles!

You can vote as many times as you want, but you’ll have to wait a couple of minutes. The “Why they rock” part is not mandatory.

We would suggest voting for them all, many times, so they can put out an AFI download package! If only one of them is the one that gets votes, we might just get a single instead of a pack.

Also, as we said, if these songs make it to Rock Band, we’ll be able to deliver the instrumental track, the vox track, guitar track, bass track and drum track!

So vote away!

Download an instrumental version of Miss Murder!

We in AFI Crash Love are happy to announce we’re offering an exclusive download of Miss Murder – but without voice. You can download it here!

This was possible by ripping each instrument track out of Guitar Hero: Smash Hits and mixing them in Audacity. As we said this is an exclusive for AFI Crash Love and sould not be posted anywhere else. If you want your friend to download it, link him to this blog.

2nd Crash Love Press Pic!

A brand new pic from the same photo session as the one we posted a couple of days ago appeared on the net!

Although there’s not a hi-res pic, the size is big enough to enjoy it! Click here to view it.

Amsterdam and Berlin Dates Announced

Fresh news! AFI will be playing at Melkweg, in Amsterdam, Netherlands on August 26th!

The announcement was made on AFI’s Twitter through an update. Click here for the Berlin show page and click here for the Amsterdam show page.

Crash Love Promo Pic!

Remember when in early 2006 we got a pic from AFI’s MySpace named “Hey. We’re back” and showed us Davey’s new hairstyle?

A Crash Love press pic has been made public! There are two sizes. Shown is the medium size, and linked is the “insanely huge” one.

Click here for the bigger version

Crash Love Press Release Reveals New Song Titles

Nasty Little Man, AFI’s PR Company, has just posted the following press release. It includes 3 previously unknown song titles: “Veronica Sawyer Smokes”, “End Transmission” and “Beautiful Thieves.”

Veronica Sawyer was a character played by Winona Ryder on the 1998 film “Heathers”. It’s not unknown Davey admires (and has/had a crush on) Winona Ryder (He recited a verse of Beetlejuice on “The Despair Factor” that she said on “Beetlejuice”).

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AFI: CRASH LOVE OUT SEPTEMBER 29

Davey Havok, Jade Puget, Hunter Burgan and Adam Carson, collectively known as AFI, will be releasing their eighth studio album, CRASH LOVE, September 29 on DGC/Interscope Records.

Produced by Joe McGrath and Jacknife Lee and two years in the making, CRASH LOVE is possibly AFI’s most focused, direct and ambitious effort to date. On standout tracks including “Medicate,” “Veronica Sawyer Smokes,” “End Transmission,” “Beautiful Thieves” and more, Puget, Burgan and Carson’s inimitable chemistry shines more brightly than ever while Havok’s lyrics reach beyond his trademark abstract introspection, delving into examination and dissection of celebrity culture from within and without.

“Honestly I’ve never been more proud of an AFI record,” said Havok. “We are thrilled to hear it come to life.”

During CRASH LOVE’s recording, the members of AFI were joined at Los Angeles’ Conway Studios by the winners of the band’s Begin Transmission contest, in which the band members personally went through thousands of fan-made video submissions and chose a handful of entrants to contribute backing vocals to the new album. Honorable Mentions also chosen by the band each received a handmade Valentines Day card by the member of AFI who chose him or her.

CRASH LOVE follows up two consecutive platinum AFI albums, 2006’s DECEMBERUNDERGROUND which entered the U.S. chart at #1 and 2003’s SING THE SORROW. AFI’s discography also includes the full lengths THE ART OF DROWNING (2000), BLACK SAILS IN THE SUNSET (1999), SHUT YOUR MOUTH & OPEN YOUR EYES (1997), VERY PROUD OF YA (1996) and ANSWER THAT AND STAY FASHIONABLE (1995).

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Help AFI songs into Rock Band!

The Frisk from the OMB came up with an amazing idea: Vote to get AFI Downloadable Content for the Rock Band series!

Here’s the deal: He made two polls on the Official Message Board for us to vote. One is for Sing The Sorrow and the other one is for Decemberunderground. These albums were chosen as they’re on Intercope, and thus have bigger chances than getting Nitro Records songs.

The polls will stay open for one week. After the week is over there will be two “winners” of each poll. A thread will be created containing the final 4 songs, and a link to the Rock Band Request page. The goal is to vote many times for each song so they include them as a future AFI pack! You can vote many times. Come on guys, we’ve done it for the VMA’s, we can do it for Rock Band!

Keep in mind that RB is a music simulator. Some songs like The Leaving Song are amazing, but they would not fit RB as they don’t have drums/bass/other instrument.

The STS poll is here and the poll for Decemberunderground is here, so vote away and stay tuned!

p.s. if we manage to get those songs in Rock Band I promise to deliver the instrumental version, the guitar track, the bass track, the drum track and the vocal track for each song ;) I already have them for Girl’s Not Grey and will soon for Miss Murder

Another clip of Davey with Rise Against

ninjamaster62 posted a better video of Davey Havok singing with Rise Against a cover of Minor Threat’s “Minor Threat” at the Oracle Arena in Oakland, CA on July 9th 2009. Although the video/sound/camera work is better, the video is incomplete as it only lasts 43 seconds, but it’s definitely worth to see!

The video can be found here

Davey Havok On Stage With Rise Against

On Thursday night, Davey Havok made a special appearance during Rise Against’s relatively small show at the Oracle Arena in Oakland, California. The song he sang on was reportedly a cover version of a Minor Threat song called Minor Threat.

You can view it here.

Jade Puget Changes Twitter Username

Jade has changed his Twitter username from ShyBoysWin to JadePuget. Until now, JadePuget was being used by somebody else. He has made two tweets under the new account so far.

Click here to go to twitter.com/jadepuget

Correction: Jade will be using both accounts, according to his blog.

Mark Describes Song "Medicate" In Detail

Mark, one of the winners of the Begin Transmission contest, wrote today about Medicate, the rumored song from Crash Love. (Learn more about Medicate in this collection of posts) He said that of the two songs the winners heard, Medicate was “much better.” The other song is the one that the winners sang on.

Mark also described the sound of Medicate as being “Affliction meets A Story At Three,” both musically and vocally. He said “there wasn’t any screaming at all in either song we heard. Tons of ‘whoas’ though.”

Story Summary:

• Medicate is a much better song than the one the winners sang on
• Medicate sounds like Affliction mixed with A Story At Three
• No screaming, many whoas

Mark Provides Evidence About "Medicate"

Panasonic Youth (Mark), one of the winners of the Begin Transmission contest, made a post on the Official Message Board regarding the rumors that “Medicate” is the name of a song from Crash Love.

“Um. So I can confirm that the word “medicate” was featured pretty heavily in one of the songs we got a preview of during the Begin Transmission thing. eek!”

Mark is speaking of the chance he and the other five winners had to hear two unmixed songs from the upcoming album. This just about seals the deal that “Medicate” is on Crash Love, and furthers its case for being the first single. There is a question pending in Ask AFI regarding the potential title.
UPDATE: Natacia, another winner, has confirmed this as well.

UPDATE 2: Raine, yet another winner, has confirmed this as well.

New AFI Song "Medicate" Rumored For GH5

Joystiq, a gaming Web site, has posted an alleged leak of the track list for Guitar Hero 5, slated for release later this year on September 1, 2009. AFI is on the track list with the song “Medicate.” There is no previously released song called Medicate. If this leak holds true, Medicate is a song from Crash Love, which is slated for release on September 29, 2009.

The article says “we toiled six days a week and pulled together previously announced artists and trusted sources to obtain the complete (though not officially confirmed) set of tracks, soon to be transformed into rapidly approaching note charts.”

Update: It must also be noted that for the music games Rock Band 2 and Guitar Hero: World Tour, Joystiq.com leaked the correct track list in its entirety.

Crash Love Mastering Is Complete

Jade Puget made the completion of Crash Love’s mastering official yesterday with a blog post on his blog, Shy Boys Win. He wrote:

“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.”

Later on he wrote this about the picture he posted. (Picture is below, of two cars crashing with a heart between them)

“By the way, that’s not the album art above, but it’s very apt.”

Crash Love "To The World" September 29th

In his announcement on Tuesday night, Davey wrote “on Sept 29th [Crash Love] will be released to the world.” This may mean that it will be released simultaneously around the world, unlike Decemberunderground.

Back in 2006, Decemberunderground was released on May 29th in the UK, June 6th in the United States, and on June 16th in Mexico. Will Crash Love be different?

Crash Love Release Date: September 29, 2009

This time it’s for real. Davey Havok made a post on the Official Message Board at 6:47 p.m. this evening. Here is the thread. Here is the post:

“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! -DXH, AFI”

At 6:03 p.m. this evening, Hunter also posted a Twitter update:

The possible release date of September 29th was first reported here on AFI News Headquarters nearly two months ago.

UPDATE: In addition, AFI has sent an e-mail to those on their e-mail list. Here is the e-mail on the AFI Official site. (Click here)

"Most Exclusive Yet" Zu Boutique Shirts (Updated)

Yes, AFI News Headquarters is branching out into coverage of Davey Havok’s clothing and jewelry line, Zu Boutique. For more information about the line, visit their Web site or Wikipedia page.
Recent Twitter updates from Danny, Davey’s business partner, gives Zu fans a tease about the upcoming shirts design. Danny calls it “our most exclusive tee yet.” Teaser pictures can be found here, here, and here. A countdown clock on the official Zu Boutique Web site is showing approximately two days until the shirts go up for sale.

UPDATE: Here is the e-mail Danny sent to Zu Boutique members:

Hi Friends,

Just wanted to say hello and give everyone a heads up that a countdown has begun on the site. This release is special in many ways, and will likely be frustrating to many of you as well, so let me preemptively apologize. Sorry.

We will be dropping only one design at 12am Thursday morning. It will be our most exclusive tee yet, with only 20 in existence. This, along with the fact that each tee is hand numbered and signed by DxH himself and is the first V neck we are putting out is going to make Thursday morning quite the spectacle.The upcoming design is very near and dear to us, we think it will be to you as well. Have no fear though, those of you following our twitter know that we have more designs ready to go (3 more to be exact) and these shall be released soon, to hopefully help quench your thirst for new Zu. I hope everyone survived the 4th with all their digits intact!

Update On "No New Tales To Tell" Release Date

In case you haven’t heard yet, the release date for the Love and Rockets tribute album, No New Tales To Tell, will be July 28. Blaqk Audio contributed a song to the album, called “No New Tale To Tell.”
For previous articles on this story, including information on where to hear the song, click here.

In Their Words: The Unreleased EP

There is some amount of confusion on the Board of Despair lately about the state of the unreleased EP from late 2007 and early 2008. Some sit firmly in the camp of “The EP’s not coming out. This is going to be like that Nitro Live DVD.” Other believe Jade and Hunter’s promises that the songs will be released at some point after Crash Love. One thing we can all agree on is facts.
“In other news, yes, the EP still isn’t out, but there’s a reason, and it’s a positive one. At this rate maybe the new AFI album will be out before the EP.” -Jade, Shy Boys Win, September 2, 2008

“The EP. There was indeed much talk of an EP but we decided to release [Crash Love] first, since it’s much more important. Those songs still exist and will hopefully see the light of day at some point after the new record comes out, they’re just too good to keep in the dark. But the new record is better so we want to concentrate on that first and foremost. Good?” -Jade, Ask AFI, March 1, 2009

“You don’t know anything about what happened behind the scenes of trying to release our EP. If we had it our way, the EP would have been released 12-06. The label owns the recordings and didn’t want to release it. Then they did. Then they didn’t. By the time they did again, we decided that it was more important to focus all of our attention and money on a new record that represents where we are right now. If you are patient, we will surely do something with these old songs when we are unable to record new music (once we begin touring) but for now, you’ll have to wait.” -Hunter, Tranquil Mammoth, March 8, 2009

“Hunter is ‘bummed out’ about the unreleased EP, but the songs are ‘still there,’ and it ‘will happen’ once everybody is ‘on the same page.’” -DarkFlame337, Quoting Hunter’s Interview With DJ Rossstar, March 11, 2009

“The only tracks that we recorded during those sessions — or even before that — that have not been released are slated to be released on the EP when that is released, so those songs will get out there eventually.” -Hunter, Tranquil Mammoth, April 5, 2009
Take what you want from this. It is a collection of the major statements made by Jade and Hunter about the EP. I wanted to throw this out there for you all to see, so that we’re all on the same page about what has been said and what hasn’t.

Expect New AFI Site Soon(ish)

Lee Martin (Theory), AFI’s site manager, has made a new Twitter update saying that he is working on something related to AFI.

He is most likely working on AFI’s official Web site, because in the last few days, he has been actively working on the Beck site. So to mention them in the same list means he is working on both bands’ Web sites.

"No New Tale To Tell" Full Song Available

The Blaqk Audio contribution to the Love and Rockets covers album, “No New Tales To Tell,” is now available in full on the album’s MySpace Music page. The song is 3:17 long. For more information about this album, see the post archive for this album.

In other Blaqk Audio news, see this post about Davey and Jade co-writing a song with Bobby Alt of Street Drum Corps.

Update On Davey and Jade Song "Black Romance"

On July 1, we reported about a rumor that Davey had co-written a song with a drumming band called Street Drum Corps. We have now confirmed this with a member of the band, singer Bobby Alt. According to him:

“It’s called Black Romance. I wrote the music with Jade and the Lyrics with Davey.”

Update: This is not going to be a Blaqk Audio song. It is a Street Drum Corps song.

Hunter Tweets Regarding Crash Love Release Date

Responding to rumors of a September 29th release date for Crash Love, Hunter has posted the following two Twitter messages:

Here is the ChaCha.com Hunter was referring to. It is a text messaging question and answer site. On another note, the September 29th release date rumor originated right here.

Hunter Hosting Macbeth Party With Vegan Chili

On Friday, July 3, Hunter Burgan of AFI is hosting a Macbeth party. Macbeth is a shoe company, for which Hunter is the vegan spokesman. The party will be from 7:00 to 8:30 for all ages, and after 8:30 it is 21 and up. There will be vegan chili, and Hunter may be DJ-ing.

The event takes place at 850 Tamarack Avenue in Carlsbad, California. Click here to see the advertisement, featuring Hunter holding a sledgehammer.

Summary of Events – 7/1

It’s been a very busy five weeks since the last Summary of Events. Here is a list of the action along with links to the respective articles. This summary is current to 6:00 PM on July 1, 2009:

• Crash Love Is Complete Story
• Davey Interviewed by Joshua Katcher Stories
• Davey Answers Ask AFI Question Story
• Crash Love In Process Of Being Mastered Story
• Davey: Crash Love Out At End Of September Story
• AFI Edgefest ’09: Photos, Videos, Setlist Story
• Jade Posts Crash Love Rehearsal Footage Story
• Fall Tour Confirmed Story
• Jade Posts Guitar Tracking Video On His Blog Story
• Christy’s “Day In The Life” Video Posted Story
• “Cold” Is Part Of A Crash Love Song Title Story
• Jade Talks Jawbreaker In New Alt Press Issue Story
• On The Arrow Available On iTunes Story

Tweet To Reveal, Pt. 2

8/6 7:36 a.m. - More than 16 hours after it was opened for tweeting, the eleventh title has been revealed to be “End Transmission.” As usual, it required 2,000 tweets. There is one song title remaining to be revealed. It will be a title we have not heard before, and it is represented by “+++.” This means we will receive three extras along with the title.

8/5 3:00 p.m. – Exactly 12 hours after the tenth song title was revealed, the tweet counter for the eleventh song title has been posted. This title will either be “End Transmission” or another title we do not know yet.
8/5 2:59 a.m. - The tenth track in the Tweet to Reveal campaign is revealed to be “Cold Hands.” This is a title that was previously suspected, but never confirmed until now. There are two titles left to reveal, and as of 7:00 a.m. there is no new tweet counter.

8/4 1:51 p.m. - The tweet counter for the tenth song title is up. It is yet another “one more” counter. Go!

8/4 2:30 a.m. – After 2000 more tweets, the ninth track on Crash Love has been revealed to be “Too Shy To Scream.”

8/3 2:04 p.m. - Nearly 12 hours after we found “Ok, I Feel Better Now”, we finally have our extras. They were indeed two extras, as shown by the “++”. To access the picture extra, click on “OK.” For the text extra, click on “I Feel Better Now.” Here is one extra, most likely lyrics for the song:

“I died for the last lie, and the heartbreak for the first time. I could not take til I made you cry. This is what you taught me. This is what you taught – and I learned well – to recognize that feeling easily can be dispelled. Show me your wounds I’m bored with mine. Nothing is new.”
The other extra is a picture of Davey lying on a couch. The tweet counter for the next song is up. Have fun.

8/3 2:26 a.m. - New song is “Ok, I Feel Better Now,” the first confirmed song of Crash Love. This track was labeled with a “++” so we are expecting more to come soon. No video/new tweet counter as of 12:12 p.m.
8/2 4:08 p.m. - The tweet counter for the eighth song title has started, nearly 12 hours after the seventh song title was revealed. This eigth track was labeled with a “++” meaning that we are likely to get both a song title and an extra reward. The last “+” track revealed a 30 second video of the Begin Transmission winners singing.

8/2 5:22 a.m. – The seventh song title, “Sacrilege,” is revealed after 2,000 tweets. As of 12:03 p.m. no tweet count has begun for the eighth track. This was a previously unknown song title.

8/1 6:40 p.m. – We’re past 1001/1002 now and nothing happened. Guess it’s until 2000 again.

8/1 3:45 p.m. - Theory posted a Twitter update with a link to a Twitcam Feed. This is a way to stream live video over Twitter. As of 4:02 p.m. he is online here. He was last seen writing “Top Secret LOL” on a paper and playing with action figures. See the comments on this post for instant updates on what’s going on.

8/1 3:12 p.m. – The seventh track is now up for tweeting on afireinside.net. As of 3:45 p.m., the tweet counter for the seventh track is glitching. It is showing 221/222, then 222/223 indefinitely. There is a chance, however, that this is not a glitch. Stay tuned.

8/1 2:49 p.m. - The sixth track, “It Was Mine,” is revealed!


8/1, 11:26 a.m. – The fifth track is revealed. It’s “Veronica Sawyer Smokes”, a title we already knew before. The tweet counter for the 6th song has already begun, this time it’s up to 1000, so tweet away!

Good Housekeeping

I will be away for the next three weeks starting Sunday morning. I will not have Internet access, ever.

This time, I’ve got three people — count ‘em, three! — waiting in the wings to keep you all updated on AFI happenings. Just like last time, Michelle (AscendWithIvy) will be posting. We also have Pablo, a long-time fan who had an important role in keeping AFI Series updated. And then we have Mary (talk2much1602) who is almost always online.

I hope the next three weeks will be interesting ones, and I hope to find some big news when I return!

-Jason (DarkFlame337)

Davey Co-Writes Song With Street Drum Corps

In a recent Twitter update from Street Drum Corps member Bobby Alt, the singer claims that the band co-wrote a song with Davey Havok of AFI called “Black Romance.” The song will likely be for their forthcoming 2009 album, which is currently being recorded.

This has not been confirmed by Davey or anybody else. At the moment, the veracity of this is uncertain. The band is a percussion and drumming band. However, Street Drum Corps is based in Los Angeles, has toured with bands such as Linkin Park and Bad Religion, and is signed with Interscope records, the same label that AFI is signed with. More updates on this later.

UPDATE: This has now been confirmed as true. Click here.