- Matt Heafy
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Matt Heafy 
Matt Heafy performing in Virginia Beach during the 2009 Mayhem FestivalBackground information Birth name Matthew Kiichi Heafy Also known as Matt Heafy Born January 26, 1986 Iwakuni, Japan Origin Orlando, Florida, United States Genres Metalcore, thrash metal, black metal, death metal, post-hardcore Occupations Vocalist, musician, songwriter Instruments Vocals, guitar, bass, saxophone Years active 1999–present Labels Lifeforce, Roadrunner Associated acts Trivium, Capharnaum, Mindscar Website trivium.org Matthew Kiichi "Matt" Heafy (born January 26, 1986)[1] is a Japanese-American musician, best known as the lead vocalist and lead guitarist for the American Metal band Trivium. Heafy is also the vocalist for the band Capharnaum, along with Trivium's former producer Jason Suecof.
Contents
Biography
Matt Heafy performing live
Heafy is Japanese from his mother and Irish-American from his father. As stated in an interview, he was born in Iwakuni, Japan, and only lived there for one year. His family then moved to Orlando, Florida, where he currently resides.[2]
Heafy learned to play the saxophone in years leading up to becoming more serious on guitar at the age of twelve.[3]
Heafy attended Lake Brantley High School. He completed his senior year while also touring in Europe, and graduated in 2004.[4] He currently plays a custom Gibson 7-string guitar.[5] He used 6-string guitars for Trivium's first two albums, utilizing standard tuning and Drop D tuning on Ember to Inferno, and solely drop D tuning on Ascendancy.[6] On Trivium's third record, The Crusade, he returned to standard tuning and performed some songs on 7-string guitars. On Shogun, Heafy used 7-string guitars almost exclusively, with only two songs using a 6-string. For Trivium's fifth studio album, Heafy returned to using solely 6-string guitars and used drop C# tuning similar to the drop D as seen on Ascendancy.[7]
Heafy does not know formal music theory, and was almost completely self-taught. However, he does know how to read sheet music, but can only apply it on the saxophone. "Self taught for quite a bit of it, did lessons on and off for maybe two or three years, but I do not know anything formal music on guitar. I do on saxophone though…but that doesn’t help me on guitar."[3]
On January 10, 2010, Heafy married Ashley Howard[8] in Orlando, Florida. The wedding was attended by close friends and family.
Matt still often uses the same first Gibson Les Paul he got from his father, in both a live and studio setting.[9]
Recently in an interview Heafy stated, "A lot of people have been asking about the hair. I cut it off and donated it to Locks of Love, which is a foundation for kids with cancer and leukemia. So they make wigs out of real hair. This is the first time I had short hair I guess since I was like 17 or so. So it feels good, I've been sweating a lot less than I used to."[7]
Trivium
Matt Heafy unofficially joined Trivium at the age of twelve, but became the official frontman after Brad Lewter, the previous vocalist of Trivium, quit the band shortly after Heafy joined. Heafy assumed responsibility for vocals and the majority of the songwriting. Matt's debut with Trivium included his compositions of "Fugue", "Demon", "Requiem", "Sworn", and "The Storm". He has also composed the songs and lyrics for Ember to Inferno and Ascendancy.[citation needed]
With the release of Trivium's 4th album, Shogun, Heafy greatly expanded his vocal range; from very melodic singing to hardcore screams similar to those on the first two albums. In Trivium, Matt also shares lead guitar duties with Corey Beaulieu.
Tomorrow Is Monday
After Ember to Inferno, Heafy experimented with post-hardcore music, and made a joke band called Tomorrow Is Monday.[10] They have released a song titled "Head on Collision with a Rosebush Catching Fire". As revealed in a recent[when?] interview in Rock Sound,[citation needed] they wrote, recorded and edited the song in one hour.
Roadrunner United
In 2005, Roadrunner Records released Roadrunner United: The All-Star Sessions to celebrate the label's 25th birthday. Four "team captains" were chosen: Joey Jordison (Slipknot, Murderdolls), Robert Flynn (Machine Head), and Dino Cazares (Fear Factory) as well as Heafy.[11] Heafy also wrote the lyrics and sang the lead vocals to "The End", captained by Dino Cazares. He and fellow bandmate/guitarist Corey Beaulieu recorded the song "In the Fire" as well, featuring singer King Diamond, bassist Mike D'Antonio, and drummer Dave Chavarri. He also wrote and played guitar on the tracks "Dawn of a Golden Age", "I Don't Wanna Be (A Superhero)" and "Blood and Flames", also contributing vocals to the latter.
Other appearances
Heafy won the Metal Hammer Golden God award in 2006.[12]
Also in 2006, he handled vocals for the band Korn (singing one song) at the Download Festival when Korn's lead vocalist Jonathan Davis fell ill.[13]
Heafy—along with several other metal artists—makes a guest appearance in the music video for "All I Want" by A Day to Remember, released January 7, 2011.
Musical influences
Matt Heafy cites musicians James Hetfield, John Petrucci, Yngwie Malmsteen, and many others as his primary influences. His style was mostly influenced by bands such as Metallica, Iron Maiden, Megadeth, Slayer, Pantera, Dream Theater, Judas Priest, Black Sabbath, Poison the Well, and later on In Flames, Children of Bodom, Arch Enemy, Dark Tranquillity, Opeth, Dimmu Borgir, Dark Funeral and Anorexia Nervosa.[7]
Equipment
Guitars
Heafy has been endorsed by Gibson since Summer 2009, but before he was endorsed by Dean after he and Corey Beaulieu were both given Dean Razorback prototypes in 2006. In summer 2009 Gibson made him a custom 7 string Explorer, which is now a production model but only available in black. He has been seen playing an artist signature model on the Dream Theater "A Dramatic Turn of Events Tour", which is a Epiphone Les Paul in both 6 and 7 string versions.
- Les Paul Black 6 String and 7 String
- Les Paul In Black and Silverburst
- Explorer 7 string in White.
- Hummingbird Acoustic when needed.
Pickups
- EMG 81/85 with Chrome and Gold covers. (Used on all his 6 Strings)
- 81-7/707 with standard Black covers. (used on all his 7 Strings)
Amplifiers
- Studio: Heafy uses either Marshall Amplification JVM410H heads, or Peavey 5150 block-letters with Marshall cabs.
- Live: Heafy uses his Fractal Audio Axe-Fx Ultra through the PA System, but he is on the waiting list for the Axe-Fx II
Accessories
Heafy uses Dunlop Jazz III picks and Ernie Ball 11-48 strings Ernie Ball Power Slinkys
Pedalboard
- Fractal Multi-FX MFC-101 switcher to go back and forth between effects on his Axe-FX Ultra
Discography
- Trivium
- Trivium EP (also known as The Blue Demo) (2003)
- Ember to Inferno (2003)
- Ascendancy (2005)
- The Crusade (2006)
- Shogun (2008)
- In Waves (2011)
- Capharnaum
- Fractured (2004)
- MindScar
- MindScar EP (2001)
- Tomorrow Is Monday
- Lush Like an Antpile (2004)
- "Head on Collision with a Rosebush Catching Fire"
- Other
- Roadrunner United (2005)
- Master of Puppets: Remastered (2006)
- Machine Head Aesthetics of Hate (Music video cameo) (2007)
- Maiden Heaven: A Tribute to Iron Maiden (2008)
- A Day to Remember All I Want (Music video cameo) (2011)
References
- ^ Matt Heafy biography @Trivium.org[dead link]
- ^ "Guitar Messenger – Matt Heafy Interview (Trivium)". Guitarmessenger.com. http://www.guitarmessenger.com/interviews/matt-heafy-interview-trivium/. Retrieved 2011-10-20.
- ^ a b "Gear Nerd- Guitars With Matt Heafy (Trivium) - Roadrunner Records Uk". Roadrunnerrecords.co.uk. 2010-03-25. http://www.roadrunnerrecords.co.uk/page/News?news_id=91663. Retrieved 2011-10-20.
- ^ Perez, Omar (2004-12-08). "Music: Collapsing The Masses". Orlandoweekly.com. http://www2.orlandoweekly.com/news/Story.asp?ID=4530. Retrieved 2011-11-04.
- ^ "The Great Explorers: The Top 10 Masters of the Gibson Explorer". Gibson.com. 2008-06-24. http://www.gibson.com/en-us/Lifestyle/Features/great-explorers-0303-2011/. Retrieved 2011-10-20.
- ^ "Trivium: In the Studio". Guitar World. 2011-01-18. http://www.guitarworld.com/trivium-studio. Retrieved 2011-10-20.
- ^ a b c "Trivium: 'We're A Great Live Band' | Interviews @". Ultimate-guitar.com. http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/interviews/interviews/trivium_were_a_great_live_band.html. Retrieved 2011-10-20.
- ^ "Matt Heafy Gets Married". http://www.metalhammer.co.uk/news/matt-heafy-gets-married/#more-19340.
- ^ "Gear Nerd:Trivium's Matt Heafy Part 1". Roadrunnerrecords.com. http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/news/Gear-NerdTriviums-Matt-Heafy-Part-1-21357.aspx. Retrieved 2011-10-20.
- ^ "Trivium Official MySpace blog". Myspace.com. http://myspace.com/trivium. Retrieved 2011-11-04.
- ^ "Roadrunner United Mini-site". Roadrun.com. http://roadrun.com/rrunited/. Retrieved 2011-11-04.
- ^ "Golden God Award citation". Metalhammer.co.uk. http://www.metalhammer.co.uk/news/article/?id=44410. Retrieved 2011-11-04.
- ^ "Heavy Metal News, lyrics, ringtones, wallpaper, photos, bios, pictures, metal radio, setlists". The Gauntlet. http://www.thegauntlet.com/quiz/quiz2.php. Retrieved 2011-10-20.
External links
Matt Heafy · Corey Beaulieu · Paolo Gregoletto · Nick Augusto
Brent Young · Brad Lewter · Travis SmithStudio albums Extended plays TriviumSingles "Like Light to the Flies" · "Pull Harder on the Strings of Your Martyr" · "A Gunshot to the Head of Trepidation" · "Rain" · "Dying in Your Arms" · "Anthem (We Are the Fire)" · "Entrance of the Conflagration" · " To the Rats" · Becoming the Dragon" · "The Rising" · "Kirisute Gomen" · "Into the Mouth of Hell We March" · "Down from the Sky" · "Throes of Perdition" · "In Waves" · "Built to Fall"Related articles Categories:- Trivium members
- 1986 births
- Living people
- American male singers
- American heavy metal singers
- American heavy metal guitarists
- American musicians of Japanese descent
- American musicians of Irish descent
- Lead guitarists
- Rhythm guitarists
- Seven-string guitarists
- Japanese heavy metal singers
- Japanese rock singers
- Japanese emigrants to the United States
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