Adam Carson - Career

Career

Between 1993 and 1995 AFI released several vinyl EPs (Behind the Times; Eddie Picnic's All Wet; This Is Berkeley, Not West Bay; AFI/Heckle; Bombing the Bay; Fly in the Ointment) independently.

Their first full-length, Answer That and Stay Fashionable was released August 11, 1995 on Wingnut Records, and was produced by Tim Armstrong. AFI were soon after signed on to Nitro Records, Dexter Holland of the Offspring's label, and released Very Proud of Ya, their second album. Adam Carson is the one who conceived the album title, "Very Proud of Ya" and has written the lyrics for the song "Key Lime Pie," (a tribute to one of his favorite foods) and contributed a several lines to "Rizzo in the Box.".

After several tours in support of the album Very Proud of Ya, Kresge decided to leave the group. His spot was filled by Hunter Burgan for the remaining Very Proud of Ya tour dates. Burgan went on to help AFI record Shut Your Mouth and Open Your Eyes (1997) and was invited to become the full-time bassist.

After recording the A Fire Inside EP (1998), Stopholese left the band and was replaced by Jade Puget, former member of Influence 13 and vocalist Havok's close friend. The band then recorded Black Sails in the Sunset (1999), a musical turning point which introduced AFI fans to a much darker sound, mixing the band's original hardcore roots with dark romantic influences.

The All Hallows EP (October 5, 1999) explored the horror punk genre touched upon on Black Sails, featuring artwork and lyrics containing Halloween themes. The EP spawned the single "Totalimmortal", a track later covered by The Offspring for the Me, Myself and Irene soundtrack. It received a fair amount of radio play and exposed AFI to larger audiences.

Carson played drums on the psychobilly band Tiger Army's debut album Tiger Army. Bandmate Davey Havok and Rancid's Tim Armstrong also contributed backing vocals to the album. The album was released on October 26, 1999.

On September 19, 2000, AFI released The Art of Drowning, which debuted on the Billboard Charts at number 174, and peaked at number 9 on the Heatseekers chart. It continued to touch base with the horror punk genre, but expanded into styles that were a departure from previous works. The album brought the band unprecedented success in the underground scene, selling in excess of 100,000 copies. "The Days of the Phoenix" was released as a single and video and had some moderate mainstream success, garnering the band more TV and radio airplay.

In 2002, AFI left Nitro Records. A&R Luke Wood signed them to DreamWorks Records. Their first album for the label, Sing the Sorrow, was released in 2003. The songs "Girl's Not Grey", "The Leaving Song Pt. II", and "Silver and Cold" had some Billboard chart success and exposed the band to even larger audiences. They were nominated in the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards for the MTV2 award category for the "Girl's Not Grey" video, which came to be their first VMA.

In June 2006, AFI's seventh studio album, Decemberunderground, was released on Interscope Records. The album's first single "Miss Murder" reached #1 on the Billboard Modern Rock Charts. The release reflected the continually changing and growing fan base of the band, and the album debuted as No. 1 on the Billboard 200. The album has been certified Gold by the RIAA for sales of over 500,000 copies of the album.

AFI's eighth album, Crash Love, was released on September 29, 2009. The first single from the album, "Medicate", was released on August 25, 2009 and reached #7 on the Billboard Alternative Songs Chart. The album yielded a second single, "Beautiful Thieves", which peaked at #23. The album was very well received by critics.

Carson is involved in a new band called The Reckless Kind (formed in 2011), described as "A 5 piece, heavy soul band." They recently finished recording their debut album, and have played several shows.