Davey Havok

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Davey Havok
Havok at the Mélange Fashion Show in 2011
Havok at the Mélange Fashion Show in 2011
Background information
Birth nameDavid Paden Passaro
Born (1975-11-20) November 20, 1975 (age 45)
Rochester, New York, U.S.
OriginUkiah, California, U.S.
Genres
Occupation(s)
  • Singer
  • actor
  • fashion designer
  • author
Instruments
  • Vocals
Years active1991–present
Associated acts

David Paden Marchand (born David Paden Passaro, November 20, 1975), known professionally as Davey Havok, is an American singer and musician who is the lead vocalist of the rock band AFI, the synthpop band Blaqk Audio, the hardcore punk band XTRMST, the new wave band Dreamcar, and in a fictional rock band My Purple Agony from Harvey Girls Forever!.

Havok is an outspoken advocate of the straight edge lifestyle and veganism.[1][2]

Early life[]

Havok was born David Paden Passaro,[3][4][5] in Rochester, New York, on November 20, 1975.[6] He is of Italian ancestry.[3][7]

At the age of five, his father died,[8][9] and he and his mother moved from Rochester to Sacramento, California, to be closer to family.[10] His mother remarried and Havok took on the surname of his stepfather (Marchand),[8][9] and was enrolled in Catholic school through eighth grade.[11] The family moved to Ukiah, California, in the late 1980s,[10] where he graduated from Ukiah High School in 1993.[12][13]

Following high school, Havok attended University of California, Berkeley, as an English and Psychology double major. Following his sophomore year, his career with AFI took off and Havok did not return to the university.[14]

Musical career[]

AFI[]

Havok and his friends, Mark Stopholese and Vic Chalker, decided to start a band in high school, even though they did not own or play any instruments. Stopholese suggested that his friend, Adam Carson, might be able to fill the role of drummer because he owned a drum set.[15] That band became AFI.

After high school, the band broke up when its members left for college. Havok attended UC Berkeley where he took on a double major in English and psychology. There, he began writing lyrics which would later appear on AFI's first two albums.

After gaining some popularity in their absence, AFI played a reunion show at the Phoenix Theater for several hundred fans. Following the positive reception, they decided to reunite and record an album. In 1995, the band's first album, Answer That and Stay Fashionable, was released on Wingnut Records and in 1996, their second album, Very Proud of Ya, was released on Nitro Records. In 1997, the band released their third full-length album, Shut Your Mouth and Open Your Eyes.

The next release was the A Fire Inside EP, which features covers of The Cure's "The Hanging Garden" and "Demonomania" by the Misfits. In 1999, the band released Black Sails in the Sunset, which was the first album to include the current line-up: Havok, Carson, Hunter Burgan and Jade Puget. In the fall of 1999, they released the All Hallows EP.

In 2000, they released The Art of Drowning to fair record sales. The group had toured with another band, Samhain, on their reunion tour; Havok later joined three members of Samhain and recorded an album under the name Son of Sam. In 2000 when Michale Graves had left the Misfits, Havok was approached by Roadrunner Records to be the new lead singer of Misfits. However, Havok told an interviewer that he would never leave AFI as it was his own band.[16]

AFI continued to tour for a few years and released a few EPs along the way. In 2003, the band's first major label release, Sing the Sorrow, was released, achieving Platinum status in the US and Canada and Gold in Australia. On June 6, 2006, Decemberunderground was released on Interscope Records, again achieving Platinum status in the US and Canada and Gold in Australia. Havok, along with AFI, toured around the world.

Along with this concert series, AFI's first DVD, I Heard a Voice – Live from Long Beach Arena was released on December 12, 2006, containing the live concert from Long Beach Arena from September 15, 2006. This DVD was released as a CD-version in November 2007. Decemberunderground achieved Double Platinum status in 2013, having sold more than 2,000,000 copies worldwide. AFI's eighth studio album Crash Love was released on September 29, 2009, and their ninth studio album, Burials, was released on October 22, 2013.

In late 2016, AFI released a series of teaser videos featuring song clips and backwards audio, eventually revealed to be promotion for the band's tenth album, AFI (also known as The Blood Album), which was released on January 20, 2017 via Concord Music Group.[17]

Blaqk Audio[]

On August 14, 2007, Havok's electronic side project with AFI guitarist Jade Puget, Blaqk Audio, released their first album, entitled CexCells. Blaqk Audio went on a two-month-long American/Canadian tour following the release. Blaqk Audio's second album, Bright Black Heaven was released in September 2012, and a brief American tour followed. Since, Material was released on April 15, 2016; Only Things We Love was released on March 15, 2019; Beneath the Black Palms was released August 21, 2020.

XTRMST[]

A number of cassette tapes appeared around some California record stores in early 2014, bearing the band name XTRMST. Listeners soon noted that the band's vocalist sounded like Havok, and rumors began spreading that he was the group's singer. On March 17, 2014, Jade Puget confirmed via Twitter that XTRMST was his and Havok's new project.[18] The band, a straight edge metalcore act, released its self-titled album via Dim Mak Records in late 2014.

Dreamcar[]

In 2016, it was revealed that Havok had formed a new band with No Doubt members Tom Dumont, Tony Kanal and Adrian Young. The band, Dreamcar, revealed their name via their social media channels on November 16, 2016, along with a teaser reading "coming 2017".[19] It was revealed on the band's official Instagram that their debut single "Kill for Candy" would be released on March 2, 2017. The band performed at Coachella 2017 on April 15 and 22 and also performed at Austin City Limits 2017 on October 7 and 14.

Other ventures[]

Fashion and modeling[]

Havok and Jeffree Star modeled for Tarina Tarantino's jewelry line, Tokyo Hardcore in 2007.[20] Havok was a presenter at the Mélange Fashion Show on August 6, 2011 in San Francisco.[21] He was featured in the June 2012 issue of VAR Magazine [22] and in Herring & Herring: Framed in 2014.[23]

Acting[]

Havok played a supporting role in Sarah Jacobson's 1997 film Mary Jane's Not a Virgin Anymore.[24] In 2009, Havok joined the cast of the "illustrated film" series Godkiller. Havok voices the antagonist role, a fallen god named Dragos.[25] For March 2011, Havok joined the cast of Green Day's American Idiot on Broadway, playing the role of St. Jimmy.[26] Havok is featured in at least one episode of Tim Armstrong's musical web series "Tim Timebomb's RockNRoll Theatre".[27] He had a small acting role in the 2012 film Knife Fight.

Books[]

On February 21, 2013, Havok announced that he had written his first book, Pop Kids, and published it through Black Candy Publishing. The novel was released April 2013.[28]

Havok released his second book, Love Fast Los Angeles, in February 2018.[29]

Clothing lines[]

Glitterboy was a short-lived fashion line created by Havok. It was partly inspired by the 70s glam music scene, among other things.[30] Clothing line Paden was released in 2007 and was available exclusively through Fred Segal clothing stores in California.[31]

Havok's second line, Zu Boutique, was launched in August 2008. The line was vegan[1] and featured T-shirts with a limited pressing of 100 shirts per design.[32] The line "pays homage to pop culture, forward thinking, and hedonism". A jewelry line was released in March 2009 in collaboration with PNUT Jewelry, the side project of Rusty Pistachio of punk band H2O fame. The jewelry was also limited, with only 10 to 90 pieces of each design made.[33] In August 2009, in collaboration with Macbeth Footwear, Zu released a line of limited-edition shoes.[34] Plagued by legal trouble, Zu Boutique vanished in 2012.[35] Havok continues to collaborate with PNUT Jewelry.

Personal life[]

Havok is a vegan and was voted the winner of peta2's annual World's Sexiest Vegetarian contest in 2007.[36] Havok appeared on the cover of Vegan Health and Fitness magazine for their March/April 2015 issue.[37] He has said reading Diet for a New America by John Robbins caused him to adopt a vegan diet.[38]

In more recent years, Havok had some of his tattoos "blacked out", saying, "I'm constantly changing, and it's an attempt to cover up bad decisions with worse decisions. That's how I live life."[39]

Discography[]

Davey Havok performing live in 2009

with AFI[]

Main article: AFI discography

with Son of Sam[]

with Blaqk Audio[]

With XTRMST[]

with DREAMCAR[]

Guest appearances[]

Havok has appeared as a guest vocalist on releases from various other bands, including:

Acting roles[]

Year Title Role Notes
1997 Mary Jane's Not a Virgin Anymore George
2003 Clandestine himself
2006 Live Freaky! Die Freaky! Hay Voice acting
2009 Godkiller: Walk Among Us Dragos Voice acting
New Brow: The Rise of Underground Art himself
2011 American Idiot St. Jimmy Musical
Tim Timebomb's RockNRoll Theater Devil
2012 Knife Fight Jimmy McSorley
2015 Talking Marriage with Ryan Bailey himself special guest
Darknet Delivery: A Silk Road Story The Pop Philosopher
Dacryphilia Pablo Voice acting
2019 Harvey Street Kids Victor Lavender Voice acting

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b Patricia Trostle. "Davey Havok's DIY Vegan Testimonial". peta2.
  2. ^ Nick Moncrieff-Hill (February 2, 2010). "Body on the line". Southern Courier. p. 30. Archived from the original on April 11, 2011. Retrieved January 14, 2012.
  3. ^ Jump up to: a b Yeung, Neil Z. "Davey Havok | Biography & History". AllMusic. Retrieved August 29, 2021.
  4. ^ "BMI Repertoire Search". Repertoire.bmi.com. Archived from the original on January 18, 2013. Retrieved May 23, 2010.
  5. ^ "Interview with Adam Carson". YouTube. 3:50. Retrieved May 23, 2010. People don't know my middle name? /--/ Dave's is Paden.
  6. ^ @AFI (November 20, 2019). "Happy Birthday, @DaveyHavok.