September 13, 2002 — After two years away from the recording studio, AFI have begun work on the follow up to 2000's The Art of Drowning. The Berkeley, Calif.-based quartet is currently in a Hollywood studio with producers Butch Vig (Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins, Garbage) and Jerry Finn (Blink 182, Rancid, Green Day). "I haven't seen a band since Nirvana with this sort of intense chemistry among its members and with their fans," says Vig.

Despite patchy distribution and limited commercial airplay, The Art Of Drowning (released in September 2000) has sold more than 130,000 copies to date, thanks to AFI's explosive live shows and tireless commitment to touring. The band has shared stages with everyone from Rancid to Jane's Addiction. AFI was also a huge hit on the 2001 Warped Tour.

"Touring has always been the most important thing for us," Carson affirms. "We basically created our fan base by touring non-stop."

AFI -- the name stands for A Fire Inside -- have a flair for combining high-volume aggression with melancholy melodies and it has won them a surprisingly diverse following.

"When you're playing a style of music that doesn't really fit anywhere, you have the risk of appealing to no one," says singer Davey Havok. "Luckily, we have a lot of people who just focus on the music and appreciate us for what we are. Because of that, we get people from all different genres of music; we get the jocks, we get the spooky kids, the skaters, college kids, punk rockers, hardcore kids, metal kids, all that."

AFI's album-in-progress, as yet untitled, is due in 2003 and is their Dreamworks Records debut. "We've never taken this much time between albums," Havok points out. "We probably wrote somewhere between 35 and 40 songs. 20 made it to pre-production, of which 17 are going to be tracked, and I'm sure we're going to have a very difficult time deciding which of the 17 are going to make it onto the album."

"I think the way this happened is going to translate to a better album," adds guitarist Jade, who, with bassist Hunter, rounds out the AFI lineup. "We had that much more time to write songs and throw away the ones that weren't as good. Obviously, we're biased, but I think it's going to be a solidly good album, without any filler."