What AFI have done for you/How you discovered them

[jose36011]

I beleive that everyone has a different experience with bands and music in general, it has a different effect on each of us and we all use it for a different reason. So it is this belief that got me thinking about what AFI means to me and what they have done for me, which in turn got me thinking about all your guys stories about the band and their music. I'm not asking any of you to open up yourselves as i understand some things are personal and some don't feel comfortable sharing, which i completely understand as i was once like that myself.
So i guess to get us started i will share my AFI story so here goes.

It was about mid 2006 when i first heard the sweet sounds of Davey's voice, one of my fellow class mates was listening to a song which i had no idea what it was, i just knew i liked it and had to find out who it was. After some research on iTunes i found the song was Miss Murder, i immediately downloaded it and kept it on repeat. I had no idea the band had a back catalog, so i never heard anything pre DU until much later on.
I loved the band that i had discovered but never thought to look to see if they had any previous releases.
Roughly about 2-3 years ago i fell into a deep depression, where i was questioning my existence, planning my own suicide, deforming my own body through self-harm and isolating myself from my family and friends. I had dreams where i would actual kill myself and wake up crying, i turned to music to distract me and just get me though the day ahead, if i wasn't in the classroom at school i would be alone somewhere with my iPod in and deforming my body, i would deliberately go off alone and remove myself from social situations so i could do this deformation, i had become addicted to cutting myself which did not help me cope with my depression. It was during this time i found one of the most influential and life changing albums of all time which you all know as Sing The Sorrow, i listened to it non-stop, and after about a week of non-stop plays i knew every lyric, riff and spoken word parts to the album.
People ended up noticing what i had been doing to myself and that i had a problem and pretty much forced me to go see someone, which i did not want to do at first, but in the end it did help, i came out of it a much more aware of my mental condition, and how i can cope with it.
Anyways my point to all of this is that i felt (even though it may sound lame, strange, stupid or other insulting words you can think of) but when no-one was there, when i had no-one to depend on, AFI was there, singing to me, and it wasn't just Sing The Sorrow i had on repeat, i discovered all of AFI's work and listened to everything from Dork, ATASF all the way up to DU and now (since 2009) Crash Love, AFI are one of the biggest parts of my life and mean the world to me, they were there when i felt no-one else was and essentially they did save my life. I am forever in their debt, i just wish i could tell them that, i wish they could read this post, just so they would know the influence they have had on me.
At the present time i am still suffering from depression, but whenever i do feel down i put on AFI and sing along, and i now think that AFI has influenced me to do something in the music industry, through AFI i have discovered my passion for music.
So not only have they helped me through one of the most toughest times of my life so far they have helped steer me in the direction career wise.

[DarkRedTears]

That is a very touching story, and you don't know how close it is to many of ours. I sincerely hope that one day truly do feel better.

My story can be simplified thus: I had a very happy childhood, but then one day my entire outlook on the world, myself, humanity was destroyed when I was told that my mother, whom I loved and emulated, was going to prison. I was also told I could tell no one, which in hindsight was a mistake. I went perpetually numb for over a year while she was gone. I loved nothing, I cared for nothing, I cried everytime I saw her. And I could tell no one, save my own family who were just has pain stricken about what I was going threw. I felt I could ask no one for help, and that loneliness was devastating. Then she came home, and I had to face my pain and despair everyday, which I simply wasn't able to do. I wanted it all to end, I devised ways to kill myself that were assured to work no matter the intervention. I never went through with any of them. My brother started watching Fuse religiously, as did I, though I didn't care or retain any of the music I saw. Then this one band popped up. They were interesting and visually appealing and their songs were meaning. I remember asking my brother who the hell Afee was. He thankfully corrected my assumption that AFI was a word. Then this new song premiered, and still to this day I get this eureka euphoria when listening to Silver And Cold. It was so beautiful, it made so much since. I asked my mother to buy me Sing The Sorrow, which she did. I consumed it. I still have that first Cd, but its been abused and over used and no longer plays, but I still have it. I asked my parents if I could see AFI in concert, they tried their best but that show was canceled.

AFI made the loneliness seem less horrible, the pain more tangible and bearable. AFI just made me feel better. They still do, though I don't listen to them as much. My life has taken up those hours I used to devout to listening to their music, a life that for a time, I had no intentions of living. So I am very grateful to them, as silly as it seems to be grateful to someone for doing what they love, for simply..... being AFI.

[hilfyer108]

At the time that AFI came into my life (9th grade), everything was fine. I had some dark moments years before it,but I was well past it. Though I was in good spirits, I didn't know who I was until I re-listened to them.

The first time I ever heard of them was in 6th grade and "Miss Murder" played on MTV almost everyday. I remember watching it climb the charts and listening to it all the time. I thought I was so cool listening to something dark and screamy at 12 yrs old (lol). Well, I stopped listening as any mainstream audience would when it got old.

In 7th grade, I decided to give them a try since I could still remember the name of the band and the song MM. I heard LLW and hated it immediantly. I thought the band was terrible and Davey looked like a woman. I didn't understand then so it took another try years later to like them.

I was a facebook addict my 9th grade yr and noticed random advertisments for AFI and Crash Love. Little did I know at the time that the album was coming out in 2 days. I did a little research and finally fell in love with them. Because of this, I am able to remember when I became a fan and that moment--September 29, 2009 listening to GCiST. I COULDN'T stop listening! I read about everything about the band until I ran into something I read before. Then the songs were a masterpeice itself and started finding music of my own that I love. I had no idea what I was missing--The Cure, Tiger Army, Depeche Mode, etc.. I took the next step by joining the DF on 12/21/09 and no, I wasn't aware of the date.

They are responsible for making me who I am today. I was lost in so much radio crap to realize what I was overlooking the entire time. The End.

[SnC]

My relationship with the guys is similar to the original poster. I also discovered them in 2006 with Miss Murder. I was in 8th grade at that time, and I was extremely lonely. A girl that I shared a table with in my math class had on a DU shirt, and I asked what 'AFI' was, and she told me it was this great band she liked. So I looked them up, and instantly liked them. I started talking to the same girl about them, and eventually grew a friendship out of it. She introduced me to more people, and I came out of my shell. It was the best thing that could have happened to me at that point in my life. So anyway, I was constantly listening to Decemberunderground that entire year, but I believe I truly fell in love with their music when I heard Sing The Sorrow. The main track that hooked me was the spoken word. I realized after listening to that for the first time how amazing and beautiful music can be, and that's what got me to just fall in love with music. I've now just finished my first year of college, and I'm majoring in music performance and education, and I couldn't be happier. I owe it all to AFI.

I'm always writing new music and try to share it with as many people as I can. A few of you know that already. This place has changed my life in so many different ways. I've met amazing people (a lot of them are gone, however, which is seriously sad), I've been introduced to SO many amazing bands and musicians who have in turn had an affect on me in some way, and there's always so much support here- even now in the deserted state that it's in.

[ITSNOTME]

I heard i wanna mowhawk in 2002 that was when i discovered the band.

i gurantee i aint the typical AFI fan, i live in the country, i hunt, fish, ride fourwheelers, dip tabacco and really like older country music and bluegrass...AFI is a really talented band and ive enjoyed their music for years, even seen them live in Nashville in 2006

[jose36011]

Wow, thank you for the responses guys! Nothing I enjoy better than finding out more about my fellow AFI fans

[drawakangaroo]

I discovered them in my freshman year of high school. My only good friend was going to another school, and I barely saw him anymore. I was just really lonely. I was contemplating suicide at the time, but that wasn't when AFI's music actually helped, at least directly. Though, it could have been making me feel better in the background of my life. I just liked them for their great music and poetic lyrics. After the big suicidal era was passed, what followed was even worse: just numbness. I couldn't feel anything, I couldn't care about anything, all I could feel was no hope, no warmth, just a giant pit inside me. One night, I was laying in bed at 2am, unable to sleep because I was thinking about how I would never be happy, would never have anyone who cared about me. I decided to listen to my ipod, and my fingers just gravitated to Sing the Sorrow. I listened to it, and, while bawling my eyes out, I derived an entirely new meaning from it, something that related perfectly with my life. And it made me calm, yet emotional, yet comforted - it's hard to describe. It was like I suddenly understood everything. Nothing like that has happened since then, but I will never forget that instance where Sing the Sorrow connected with me like nothing else had in my life.

And in case you care, my life has gotten much better since then. Not perfect, but much better. I also just realized how cheesy and stupid this whole thing sounds.

[jose36011]

thank you once again to every that has replied! it has been great to read your stories!
i would like to ask if any of you would be interested in compiling our stories together and trying to get them to AFI themselves so they can see just how much we appreciate them?

[DarkCloud]

I found them in early high school, quite a few years ago now. They were SUCH a big part of my life as well. And now, it's gradually slipping away, which is sad really, I'm so thankful for them being in my life for so long, but I've grown up, I suppose. And moved on, as it seems they're starting too as well.

Best part of my life was finally seeing them in 2010. I'll always remember that.

[nyllet]

AFI is the band that made me listen to music. And that´s pretty big.