Alfie Agnew

Alfie Agnew
Agnew performing live at The Observatory, in 2014
Background information
Birth name	Alfonso F. Agnew
Born	(1969-01-24) January 24, 1969 (age 48)
Origin	Fullerton, California, U.S.
Genres	Punk rock hardcore punk
Occupation(s)	Singer songwriter musician professor
Instruments	Vocals guitar
Associated acts	Adolescents D.I. Crash Kills Four

Alfonso F. "Alfie" Agnew, Ph.D (born January 24, 1969) is an American mathematician, singer, musician and songwriter. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Agnew is best known for being a member of the punk bands the Adolescents and D.I.. Alfie's brothers Rikk Agnew and Frank Agnew are also former Adolescents guitarists.

Alfonso F. Agnew was born on January 24, 1969, into a musical family, half Irish-American and half Mexican-American. In 1972, his parents moved from La Puente to Fullerton, California. In an interview with By the Barricade he recalled, "I was the youngest brother in a sequence of brother musicians so when I arrived on the scene, drumsticks were put in my hand and I was "required" to be a musician. That is how I got into it."

Agnew settled on physics and mathematics as a career and put his musical activities on hold to attend college immediately after high school. He graduated from Cal State Fullerton, completed a PhD in Mathematical Physics at Oregon State University and did post doctoral work at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas. Afterward, he became a full professor in mathematics at Cal State Fullerton, and also a faculty member in the Gravitational Wave Physics and Astronomy Center (GWPAC). As part of his research activities, Agnew has published a number of technical papers in the fields of Analysis, Differential Geometry, Cosmology, and the History of Mathematics.

Agnew began playing in bands at about the age of 11. His first band was called the Attack, where he played drums and wrote all their lyrics and music. He started Almost 21 in his first year of high school with Jay McCarty on vocals, himself on guitar and vocals, Hal Hughes on guitar, Tom Hughes on bass guitar, and John Knight on drums. Almost 21 released a demo as a 7" vinyl on Gummopunx.

When Agnew was about 15, his band Almost 21 was breaking up, while D.I. was going through line-up changes. Agnew, John Knight and John "Bosco" Calabro from Almost 21 joined D.I. in 1983, "Ancient Artifacts", "Horse Bites Dog Cries", Team Goon, and "Live at a Dive" were released while Agnew was in the band.