| Matt Heafy | |
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Matthew Kiichi Heafy |
| Also known as | Matt Heafy |
| Born | January 26, 1986 |
| Origin | Orlando, Florida |
| Genres | Metalcore, thrash metal, death metal, melodic death metal, black metal |
| Occupations | Songwriter, vocalist, guitarist |
| Instruments | Vocals, guitar |
| Years active | 2000 - present |
| Labels | Lifeforce, Roadrunner |
| Associated acts | Trivium, Capharnaum, Mindscar, Roadrunner United, Tomorrow is Monday |
| Website | www.trivium.org |
Matthew Kiichi Heafy (born January 26, 1986 in Iwakuni, Japan[1]), also known as his stage name Matt Heafy, is the lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist for the band Trivium. Heafy is also the vocalist for the band Capharnaum, along with Trivium's old producer Jason Suecof.
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Heafy's influences include bands such as Metallica, Pantera, Megadeth, Slayer, Testament, Iron Maiden and Queen.[citation needed] Heafy stated on his Trivium website biography that he was greatly influenced by The Beatles and that they are one of his favorite bands. He considers the album Abbey Road one of his favorite progressive sounding rock albums.[citation needed]
He attended Lake Brantley High School. He completed his senior year while touring at the same time in Europe, and graduated class 2004. Matt currently plays a 7-string guitar Custom Gibson Model. He used 6-string guitars for Trivium's first two albums, Standard and Drop D tuning on Ember to Inferno and solely Drop D tuning on Ascendancy. On their Third record, The Crusade, he returns to standard tuning on his 6 and 7 string guitars. On Trivium's fourth album, Shogun, Heafy moved to using 7 string guitars in B standard with only two songs in a standard 6 string tuning.
On January 10, 2010, Heafy got married to Ashley Howard[2] in Orlando, Florida. The wedding was attended by close friends and family.
The previous vocalist of Trivium quit the band shortly after Heafy's joining and Matt assumed responsibility for vocals and the majority of the song writing. 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 their Ember to Inferno album and the Ascendancy album.[citation needed]
With the release of Trivium's 4th album, Shogun, Matt greatly expanded his vocal range; from very melodic singing to hardcore screams similar to those found on the first two albums. In Trivium, Matt also shares lead guitar duties with Corey Beaulieu.
After Ember to Inferno, Matt decided to experiment with post-hardcore music, and made a joke band called "Tomorrow Is Monday".[3] They have released 1 song, called "Head on Collision with a Rosebush Catching Fire". As revealed in a recent interview in Rock Sound,[citation needed] they wrote, recorded and edited the song in one hour.
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), Robert Flynn (Machine Head), and Dino Cazares (ex-Fear Factory) as well as Heafy.[4] Heafy also wrote the lyrics and sang the lead vocals to "The End", captained by Dino Cazares. He and fellow band mate / 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.
Heafy won the "Golden God Award" at the Metal Hammer Golden God Awards 2006.[5]
Also in 2006, he handled vocals for the band Korn at the 'Download Festival', when their own lead vocalist fell ill. [6]
Heafy is well known for using a black Gibson Les Paul Custom, fitted with EMG pickups and gold hardware, as seen on the videos for Like Light to the Flies and Pull Harder on the Strings of your Martyr in 2005. Heafy used Gibson guitars until Rita Haney, partner of 20 years to Dimebag Darrell, gave him and Corey Beaulieu each one of Dimebag's famous Razorbacks in the same year, spawning a three year long endorsment with Dean Guitars. NAMM 2008 saw Matt Heafy's first signature guitar with Dean, which featured a Japanese rising sun graphic across a classic Dean ML body. The guitar also featured a Floyd Rose locking tremolo system, a carved neck heel (USA model only) and a 24 fret neck, Trivium logos on the 12th fret and at the headstock, Matt's signature on the truss rod cover and Matt's MKH86 signature bridge pickup, controlled by one volume knob only.[7] As of January 2009, Matt and Corey's contract with Dean had expired and returned to using Gibson and Jackson respectively, first seen in the music video for Throes of Perdition. Matt is now officially signing with Gibson guitars.[8] Matt's custom 7 string Explorer can be seen in photos from Trivium's performances at Mayhem Festival 2009.
Summary
Gibson Guitars
Dean Guitars
Other:
Summary
Current Equipment-
According to Trivium's official website, Matt is currently using Marshall JVM2 Series heads with JCM900BV Cabinets and no longer a Peavey 6505+.
Past Equipment-
Matt's guitar goes straight to the OD pedal, noisegate and then to the amp.
Matt is a fan of the Final Fantasy series of Video Games, stating in Interview's that his favourite Video Games Include Final Fantasy VII and Final Fantasy VI. During a Japanese tour in 2008, he visited the offices of Square-Enix (the creators of the Final Fantasy series). Trivium have also opened numerous gig's with music from Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, including Divinity II and Advent: One Winged Angel.
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   | Trivium's official web site - Welcome to the Trivium portal |
| | Golden God Award citation - Metal Hammer » News |
| | Trivium at myspace - Trivium on MySpace Music - Free Streaming MP3s, Pictures & Music Downloads |
| | Roadrunner United Mini-site - Lynyrd Skynyrd - Still Unbroken |
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