That SEASONUNDERGROUND

To say that the making of DECEMBERUNDERGROUND wasn’t fun would be a grave understatement. I’m not over it… clearly. :) I doubt I’ll ever be healed, but the details of such scarring times are simply too bleak to Stack. Many of the beloved who saw me through those sulfuric days now wear a silver rabbit about their necks. At my request, Rusty Pistachio forged a small batch of precious pendants. On 6/6/06 I gifted a cabal of resilient friends souvenirs to commemorate their survival of my ’05 lugubriosity. To Stacy Fass, who housed me both physically and emotionally during that time, I gave a golden hare covered in diamonds. My lawyer-cum-life consigliere is not reading this, but some of you who were at my side then are… and I love you so.

As it turns 20, I’ve contemplated DU; given the grind of its creation, I’m shocked that record is as good as it is. Of course, it’s neither my nor AFI’s best work, but hey — it was so in ’06. I’m ever grateful that so many great songs came out of that miserable period. These days, I still enjoy the DU moments of our set list — yes, on the right night, even Miss Murder (Albuquerque, these lashes are battin’ at you)! In ‘05 however, it was December every day. With damaged cords, I was echolocating my way through a vertiginous rabbit hole that jagged toward, away, or more often straight through desperate songs. Thankfully the path ended in an eternal triskele, though as I was rasping my way out, I thought I’d never see the light at the end of that icy tunnel. In ’05, I sought that light nightly.

While recording DU, if Jerry Finn didn’t have me booked for the vocal booth the next day, I’d hit the town. The club kids, door guys, street rats and 3:00 AM soyrizo servers of ’05 Los Angeles knew me well. I’ve plans of Stacking up some of the Hollywood hysteria that delivered me from the pressures of AFI’s first Interscope release later this year. For now, I will detail escape I found in a different land — a land oft-derided that offered me much joy amidst the misery. Stackers, grab your SPF, we’re going to Orange County!