I say, 'It is an honour to meet you, you are one of my biggest inspirations.' And he says 'kneel' and asks for the cane..." What happened when a goth icon had a surprise encounter with a punk rock hero

Peter Murphy on stage and Davey Havok at the Mercy For Animals black carpet event — (Image credit: Getty Images)

In case you missed the memo, AFI have gone full goth. After decades spent weaving the influences of goth masters such as Sisters Of Mercy, Bauhaus and The Cure around their emotionally-charged punk/post-punk/hardcore leanings, it seems the cult Cali icons have finally gone all the way in with new album Silver Bleeds The Black Sun...

If early singles Behind The Clock and Holy Visions are anything to go by, we're in for a none-more-black blast of deliciously 80s-bent gothic melodrama that Bauhaus' own Peter Murphy would be proud of. It's a sentiment you suspect AFI frontman Davey Havok would be particularly pleased with, having once had a delightfully weird encounter with his hero at a show in Los Angeles.

"I was with The King [Hollywood producer/promoter Josh Richmond]," Havok tells the Hard Lore podcast. "For many, many years, The King has carried a cane. It looks like a sceptre. So the King, a longstanding friend of punk, post-punk and rock 'n' roll in HolIywood, goes back with Peter Murphy.

"We go to see Peter Murphy play," Havok continues. "I think it was in LA...it was at the Nokia! So [Josh Richmond] wants to go say hi to Pete backstage, and I'm not trying to do that. I'm trying to not do that, because I love him, I don't wanna punish him, I don't wanna just 'be around.' The King knows him, I don't. Pete's hiding, truly! People are trying to find him, he's hiding in different rooms backstage to avoid the LA scene."

As it turns out, Havok wouldn't need to go hunting for Peter Murphy anyway - the Bauhaus man found him instead.

"Suddenly, from around a corner, there appears the Godfather, there's Peter Murphy!" reveals the singer. "So The King introduces me, gives my 'dossier' to Peter Murphy, and I say, 'Yes, it is an honour to meet you, you are certainly, by far, one of my biggest inspirations. And he says...'Kneel.'

Needless to say, a star-struck but thoroughly confused Havok duly obliged. What happened next initially confused him even more.

"He goes, Josh, can I have that?' and asks for the cane!" Havok laughs. "'I hereby knight thee...' So he knighted me! I wish I could fucking remember [what title he gave me]. It had something to do with 'the culture'. But he knighted me, that happened. Peter Murphy knighted me, I guess 'Sir Davey Havok', he qualified it."

Perhaps it was in the stars that Havok would help lead AFI to fulfil their goth destiny. You can find out just how far they've gone with it when Silver Bleeds The Black Sun... releases tomorrow. Watch the rest of the Hard Lore podcast below.

Davey Havok Part 2: 2003 - 2025 (A HardLore Special) - YouTube

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Merlin was promoted to Executive Editor of Louder in early 2022, following over ten years working at Metal Hammer. While there, he served as Online Editor and Deputy Editor, before being promoted to Editor in 2016. Before joining Metal Hammer, Merlin worked as Associate Editor at Terrorizer Magazine and has written for Classic Rock, Rock Sound, eFestivals and others. Across his career he has interviewed legends including Ozzy Osbourne, Lemmy, Metallica, Iron Maiden (including getting a trip on Ed Force One courtesy of Bruce Dickinson), Guns N' Roses, KISS, Slipknot, System Of A Down and Meat Loaf. He has also presented and produced the Metal Hammer Podcast, presented the Metal Hammer Radio Show and is probably responsible for 90% of all nu metal-related content making it onto the site.

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