XTRMST

Formed in 2012, the straight-edge hardcore outfit XTRMST came together through the partnership of AFI frontman Davey Havok and guitarist Jade Puget. Both artists had embraced the straight-edge scene and its ethos during their teenage years, maintaining the movement’s uncompromising commitment to sobriety and vegan principles across their subsequent careers. Recording sessions for the project began that same year inside Puget’s personal studio in Los Angeles, leading the pair to adopt the moniker XTRMST—pronounced Extremist—as a reflection of the strict doctrines and lyrical themes they were exploring. Their debut, self-titled album arrived in November 2014 via Dim Mak Records, the label founded by Steve Aoki under the This Machine Kills imprint.