AFS started off as an idea and an urge by Danny Mayhem to get back into playing fast, in your face punk rock. Upon moving back to the Johnstown Pa area, from Florida, Danny noticed that a once great punk scene he had left, about 5 years previously, had dwindled down to almost nothing. All of the venues he had grown up in, were no longer around and many of the bands had broken up, or moved elsewhere. So after a year and a half of figuring out what to do and searching for where the remainder of the scene resided, it was time to set a plan of action. Long time friend Jason (a.k.a. Whitey Sledgehammers) had agreed to come on board as a bassist. Being that this is his first encounter with playing punk rock, and basically the scene in whole, it’s a new ball game for him. But everyone’s got to start somewhere, right? Danny had decided to switch from the guitarist position, that he had grown accustomed, to drums. One, out of necessity… And two, to get back to his roots as a drummer, that he hadn’t done in quite some time. The name for the band came about when Danny was looking for obscure horror movies and came across an Italian short film made in 1904 of the same name. Thinking that it was a brilliant name, Danny threw the idea around with Whitey. Thinking the same, they decided the name would stay. Now having the band name figured out, they hoped it would be easier to land some guitarists, and maybe even a lead vocalist. That proved to be a lot harder than it used to be. After about 6-7 months of talking with some area musicians, they happened on Chuxema, from the nearby Altoona area, which was looking to start the same kind of project. It had started off as trying to help find musicians to start each other’s bands, and eventually worked its way into starting one together in January of 2009. With the core members set in place, the search for a vocalist and guitarist had bore absolutely no fruit, hoping to have at least a vocalist before they had an albums worth of material written. Every week that passed proved disheartening. No calls, no e-mails, nothing… Thankfully, Chuxema had a knack for writing lyrics, and took the initiative of doing vocals until we could secure a vocalist. Along came Booger… Who, after a bit of persuading due to the fact he was already in another band, had agreed to fill the other guitarist position we had been looking for. Booger has helped take some of the pressure off of Chuxema by writing lyrics and doing vocals as well. AFS is now complete, leaving behind the thought of a vocalist and sticking with the four piece set-up. They are hard at work coming up with material for a debut album and looking into setting up shows, in hopes of reviving a scene that now might be almost non-existent, but by no means is forgotten… Anti-Working Class Punk... Our Definition... Ok, we get asked this a lot, so here is our explanation... First and foremost, we are not against people that are considered "working-class"... It's quite the opposite. We are against the branding of the working class title and power that corporations have over us because of it. We are against a system and a mentality, where due to outsourcing and mass layoffs, welfare and unemployment are our new minimum wages, while big business continues to prosper... Just because they have a better title than we do. So we say stand up to the corporations, as workers and consumers... shed the titles that give them power over us and make them remember why they need US!!! Not the other way around. Make them realize without US they are nothing!!! So basically, we're a more extreme side of the working class movement. The next step, if you would... So join us... Let's take back our pride and dignity... |
