Raison D’ être
Raison D’ être
By Tom Lanham photos by Jiro Schneider
D
22 illinoisentertainer. com january 2017
avey Havok would like to take a vacation. He really would. But at this point – as the AFI bandleader and latter-day Renaissance man grapples with one of the busiest schedules in show business – he very well might have forgotten how. Rest and recreation are for other rockers – not him.
“ Two months off would be incredible,” the Los Angeles native purrs, trying to envision an exotic, stress-free retreat. But it’ s a pipe dream.“ And I wouldn’ t know what to do. My friend has this place in the desert that we stay at during Coachella sometimes, and I may go out there next weekend. So that’ s kind of my only getaway – for only two days, unfortunately. I don’ t have the time to take a vacation, because I have so much that I want to do. And because I’ m fortunate enough to have the ability to do these things, I feel like I have to take those opportunities when they present themselves.” He sighs, with forlorn detachment.“ But don’ t get me wrong – I really do wish that I can take a break. Some day.”
Sure, Havok, 41, is preparing to head out on tour with his group( which includes longtime members Jade Puget on guitar, drummer Adam Carson, and bassist Hunter Burgan), backing their new tenth effort, AFI( The Blood Album), which Puget also produced. It picks up where the previous disc, 2013’ s grim Burials, left off, opening on the sinister military march“ Dark Snow,” then tapping into Mission-and- Sisters-of-Mercy-vintage basslines and even heavier philosophical musings on“ Aurelia,”” Get Hurt,”“ Snow Cats,” and a Bauhaus-evocative“ Feed From the Floor,” with Havok’ s voice hovering over the proceedings like a cloak-fluttering Max Schreck in F. W. Murnau’ s silent classic Nosferatu. Puget also mikes the singer’ s voice differently, as more of a sleek metallic snarl, on the more propulsive punk cuts“ Dumb Kids” and“ So Beneath You,” so the album – like AFI itself is never easy to pigeonhole.
But that’ s merely the first item on the artist’ s cluttered roster. He’ s also been doing a bit of acting, starring alongside Rob Lowe in the 2012 film Knife Fight, and he’ s also done voice work in recent features like Dacryphilia. At the request of Green Day’ s Billie Joe Armstrong, he appeared on Broadway in that band’ s musical American Idiot, for several 2011 appearances as the character St. Jimmy. And now he’ s got a taste for treading the boards – Havok has fingers crossed to someday get the nod to join the cast of the long-running show Hedwig and the Angry Inch, maybe even a turn in some future Rocky Horror revival. Having always lived a compassionate, straight-edge lifestyle, it’ s no surprise that, in addition, he oversaw a hip line of vegan clothing and footwear called Zu Boutique, plus cool collaborations with PNUT Jewelry. And after Zu ended in 2012, he’ s jumped back into the fashion fray with a new company, Eat Your Own Tail, revolving around stark, message-heavy black T-shirts.
And oh yes – Havok is a published novelist now, with one 2013 book to his credit, Pop Kids, and another, as-yet-untitled followup on the way, its plotline centering on a secondary character from its predecessor. Additionally, he’ s just appeared nude in a racy ad for one of his pet causes, PETA, his giant heart-and-dagger chest tattoos clearly visible, under the watchwords“ I’ d rather go naked than wear leather – rock the skin you were born in. Let animals keep theirs.” And there’ s more music barreling down the pipeline, too. Havok and Puget formed a hardcore offshoot called XTRMST, but mainly they keep occupied via another, more electronic-minded project, Blaqk Audio, which just finished recording more than 50 songs for its upcoming fourth salvo. And – believe it or not – there’ s actually more on the docket: Dreamcar, a hush-hush supergroup Havok formed in 2016 with sans-Gwen-Stefani No Doubt members Tony Kanal, Adrian Young and Tom Dumont. They, too, are putting the finishing touches on a fulllength debut; It’ s a sound the vocalist is loathe to discuss at this early date, but he swears that it will sonically surprise fans of both outfits. Again, he says, stay tuned to his Twitter feed, faithful guys and ghouls – he’ ll be announcing further details shortly.
No wonder that Havok – in photos of late – always seems to have a toothpick hanging out of his mouth. He’ s got so much nervous energy, he’ s been gnawing through dams of them like a beaver.“ They’ re flavored chewing sticks, usually soaked in cinnamon, and they come from Australia – I really enjoy them,” he explains. As an ardent animal lover, he would love to own a pet or two.“ But I actually don’ t have the ability to even consider something like that, given my hectic life,” he sighs.“ The pet would end up being neglected. But I love cats – I really do. I always take the opportunity to go and visit my friends’ cats, whenever I’ m given the chance.”
All good devils need a familiar. But over his band’ s 25-year career, Havok has transformed into something almost angelic. In the early days of AFI( for A Fire Inside), the rocker originally known as David Paden Marchand had left his native Ukiah, CA for Berkeley, where he was living with fellow bandmates in a spooky old off-campus house after studying English and Psychology at UC there. He was rail thin at the time, with long luxurious hair, and sort of resembled Jack Skellington if he’ d adopted a swashbuckling D’ Artagnan look. He was a huge collector of all things Gothic and kitschy, and he could often be found on eBay, bidding on something macabre. At one point, though, he decided to: expand his wardrobe from traditional black; Sell off most of his truly remarkable arsenal of toys, dolls, and action figures; And take his vegan lifestyle to the next level by regularly working out in a gym. He still had the flowing black locks, but suddenly he became beefy enough to beat you up if you made any snarky comments about it. Not that Havok would – he’ s one of the calmest, soft-spoken performers on the planet. But he carried himself with a new confidence, a self assurance that led to his current look – a short-haired, designersuited George Raft look straight out of some film noir classic, like Detour or The Big Sleep. The guy had found his Maltese Falcon – there was no reason to keep searching through bogus-bird identities.
And AFI grew, matured as a result. They shook the Goth-punk tag with broader breakthrough efforts like 1999’ s Black Sails in the Sunset and 2000’ s The Art of Drowning. Havok loved a vast array of artists, from all genres, and would say, fly
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