By Elizabeth Leva, August 2008

More than a decade ago, lashing musical and individual personalities sent two budding musicians in two different bands in search of change.

Although quitting would put the aspiring artists back at square one, Joe Simmons and Damien Moyal cut their losses and parted ways from their current bands. Simmons and Moyal, who had previously played in a different band together, joined and found solace in each other’s parallel condition.

Little did they know their commiseration would spark the birth of their long-awaited musical success. 

The result was As Friends Rust - a rock band aptly named after a lyric from a song the guys performed together in their former band.

“It refers to the ebb and flow of friendships,” Simmons said. “It seemed like we were losing more friends at that point than we were gaining them, and the words just stood out to us.”

As Friends Rust, which came to be known as AFR, stood out from the screaming masses by fusing hardcore punk rock with a melodic twist.

“I always looked at this as a rock band really,” Simmons said. “We were a five-piece band that played loud with distortion, and we yelled - a lot.”

AFR went on to tour worldwide and gained substantial, if not more, distinction in Europe than the United States. But countless tracks, tours and turmoil later, high tensions and evolving musical styles among members lead AFR to play their final show.

Or so they thought.

For the first time since 2000, Joe Simmons, Damien Moyal, Kaleb Stewart, Tim Kirkpatrick and James Glayat will kick off an AFR reunion tour with its only U.S. show on the lineup right here in Gainesville.

On Aug. 15 at 8 pm, AFR will take the stage at The Atlantic, 15 N. Main St., and perform fan favorites, classic AFR originals and perhaps even some new material.

Although AFR has not written or produced any new music since their final album in 2002, A Young Trophy Band in the Parlance of Our Times, Simmons said it wouldn’t surprise him if the bustling band members couldn’t help themselves but write a couple new jams once they reunite during the week before their Gainesville show.

Although AFR technically disbanded in 2002, the group performing the reunion tour will be composed of AFR’s longest running lineup of performers, who have not played together since 2000.

“The guys who were in it until 2002 aren’t mad though,” Simmons said. “It only makes sense that we wanted to do the tour with the lineup that performed for the bulk and highlight of AFR’s career.”

Kirkpatrick, AFR’s drummer until 2000, suggested that AFR reunite for a tour after playing a reunion show with another band of his, Argentina, at the Fest in downtown Gainesville last year, Simmons said.

Kirkpatrick’s idea sent nostalgia surging through the other band members and they quickly agreed, Simmons said.

Perhaps members of the AFR lineup in 2000 have not reunited until now because time and distance have prevented it.

With Glayat in California, Kirkpatrick in New York, Moyal in Michigan, and Stewart and Simmons in Gainesville, the once Alachua County based rockers are now scattered from coast to coast.

Yet, however different their lifestyles and locations may be today, the five original AFR stars have come together again for one common purpose- their love and longing for that unique AFR sound.

Simmons, who currently works at The Atlantic, said the tour is long overdue. He said he’s anxious to dip his toe back in the waters of the “good old days” of band life.

After the show in Gainesville, AFR will perform in London, Germany, Austria and Belgium all in one week’s time.

“We chose to play in cities that stand out in our mind as the best shows we ever had,” Simmons said. “Europe treated us really well during the time we were actually a band.”

Europe was the scene of his most significant AFR memories, he said.

One of the fondest times he could recall happened during a music festival AFR played mid-career in Belgium.

A band Simmons highly respected, Earth Crisis, performed before AFR at the festival and left Simmons feeling intimidated and nervous to follow their act in front of the largest crowd they had ever entertained.

“I was standing on the side of the stage wondering, ‘Great, how are we going to top that” Simmons said. 

But when AFR finished the last song of their set, Simmons said the crowd went wild.

“It was mind blowing,” he said. “One of my favorite bands was standing there watching us get the loudest chant for an encore, and they didn’t even get one at all. It was the first time we had ever had a such giant response, and that moment meant so much.”

But not all memories left Simmons with quite as warm and fuzzy a feeling.

Traversing international borders as frequently as AFR did put the band in some dangerous situations. On one occasion, AFR was robbed while performing at a Tibetan freedom benefit show right outside of Paris.

As thieves were fleeing the AFR van they burgled, a member of a fellow band touring with AFR spotted the criminals escaping with AFR members’ passports and backpacks in hand. 

He chased them, yelling and hurling anything and everything he could find, but when he couldn’t catch up, he returned to the scene of the crime to help aggravated AFR members clean shards of broken glass out of their busted van.

“Then all of a sudden we noticed about 30 people walking back toward our van, equipped with dogs and lead pipes,” Simmons said.

Suffice it to say, AFR quickly learned of the intense gang problem plaguing the town and darted into the building where they had just performed for refuge.

But an AFR friend joining the tour, Jon, was too late.

“The gang pistol whipped Jon across the face and threatened to shoot anybody who came outside of the building and was unable to speak French,” Simmons said.

First attempts to seek help from the French police were unsuccessful, and AFR remained hostage inside a building for hours that seemed like an eternity, he added.

“Thankfully the cops finally came and escorted us out of the building,” he said. “It was the worst experience we had ever had.”

While performing and touring across Europe for months at a time was generally a major perk of the lifestyle, Simmons said experiences like that reminded the band that there really is no place like home- and home was Gainesville.

“Times in Gainesville were good,” Simmons said. “Our experiences there inspired a lot of our music.”

According to AFR’s MySpace page, the band’s influences were “girls, friends, enemies, family, each other, open roads, empty pockets, growling stomachs, cheap red wine.”

“Yep, that pretty much sums it up,” Simmons said with a laugh. “Whenever we had nothing to do in Gainesville, we just sat around, drank cheap red wine and listened to music.”

Although some of AFR’s fondest memories of fun and friendship spurred from their time in Gainesville, the opposite was true for their fan base.

The members all moved to Gainesville straight out of high school in search of a fertile environment for a burgeoning band.

“There was such a booming scene in Gainesville,” Simmons said. “There was cheap rent, everybody could get a house together and you could afford to go on tour because you were splitting bills. It seemed like a good spot to be if you were a new upcoming band.”

But the more AFR played and produced music, the more they learned it was time to hit the road.

“We played in Gainesville the least out of anywhere really,” Simmons said. “Back then I would have said it was because people didn’t like us, but I think maybe Gainesville had a sound and that we really weren’t fitting into. We found it more comfortable to be on the road in places where we were accepted a little better.”

Simmons said AFR gained a well-received reputation in New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, New Jersey, California and Oregon.

“In between the coasts people didn’t seem to get us,” Simmons said. “Whatever. It’s part of the experience.”

But like many of the bands the guys were in before, AFR eventually came to an end.

“The entire life of this band has been one freaking, giant emotional roller coaster,” Simmons said. “Everybody’s pretty set in their opinions and some of us are notoriously stubborn. We’ll put it that way.”

In the beginning, the members were young, fresh out of high school and playing for pure love of the music. But as AFR turned into something bigger, members began to differ in opinions of how the band should function.

Some, like Simmons, wanted to make a career out of music and pushed for more touring and an aggressive approach to promoting AFR. Others disagreed.

There was never one big explosion, but a series of small quarrels that eventually killed the band, Simmons said. Moyal was the first to walk away.

“Unfortunately things do turn into business,” Simmons said. “We started taking it a little too seriously, and it choked the life out of it.”

Now turmoil and 10 years are in the past, and it is time for AFR to reunite for what they came together for in the first place—the music.

Although Simmons and the rest of the band are thrilled to perform, the fans might be more excited than AFR themselves.

And AFR fans are a proactive bunch.

While there are only a handful of shows planned for the reunion tour, distance certainly won’t hinder AFR fans’ drive to satisfy a craving for the dynamic tunes and atmosphere of their favorite band’s shows.

This has never been more apparent than on the band’s MySpace page, which holds comments from avid fans, chomping at the bit to send AFR their best cyberspace wishes, sincere gratitude and travel plans for the upcoming tour.

One fervent fan said, “I’ve gone to work in London for this summer only to see AFR. I’m waiting for the best show I’ve ever could see in my life.”

Another asked, “Anyone else from the Northeast Coast (maybe like NYC/PHILLY area) trying to get together a road trip to Gainesville in August for the show?”

An AFR devotee said, “You guys should play NYC just so I don’t have to go to Florida… even though I will anyway.”

After such an absence from the band scene in Gainesville, Simmons said he was touched to know how much people still care.

“I won’t lie,” he said. “It’s a good feeling.”

The encouraging words and solid support from AFR fans have made Simmons’ experience in the band unforgettable, and he said he only hopes AFR can please their expectations of the tour.

“Mosh pits are a possibility and crowd surfing is likely, but what’s for sure is total energy and happiness,” Simmons said. “We are going to have a good time.”