Matt Heafy

Matt Heafy
Heafy performing at Rock im Park in 2014.
Background information
Birth name	Matthew Kiichi Heafy
Also known as	Matt Heafy
Born	(1986-01-26) January 26, 1986 Iwakuni, Yamaguchi, Japan
Origin	Orlando, Florida, United States
Genres	Heavy metal, metalcore, thrash metal, death metal, black metal[1]
Occupation(s)	Guitarist, vocalist, musician, songwriter
Instruments	Guitar, vocals, bass, drums, saxophone, banjo
Years active	2000–present
Labels	Lifeforce, Roadrunner
Associated acts	Trivium, Capharnaum, Mindscar, DragonForce, Caliban
Website	www.trivium.org

Matthew "Matt" Kiichi Heafy (born January 26, 1986)^[2] is a Japanese American musician, best known as the guitarist and lead vocalist^[3] for the American heavy metal band Trivium. Heafy is also the lead vocalist for the band Capharnaum, along with Trivium's former producer Jason Suecof.

Biography

Heafy was born in Iwakuni, Japan to an American father and a Japanese mother. His father is half-Irish and half-German.^[4] Although Heafy was born in Japan, he lived there for only one year. He does not speak Japanese fluently, however, he has mastered some of the basic phrases and uses them when it comes to performing in Japan. So he does with German as well.^[5] His family then moved to Orlando, Florida, where it currently resides. Heafy attended Lake Brantley High School. He completed his senior year while also touring in Europe, and graduated in 2004.^[6][7]

Heafy learned to play the saxophone in years leading up to becoming more serious on guitar at the age of twelve. At that period he was mostly listening to pop punk bands and even auditioned for a local one by playing Blink-182 song Dammit. He, however, was not accepted for the unspecified reason. He also cites being introduced to heavy metal by his classmate David who gave him a copy of Metallica's self-titled album.^[8][9]

Heafy does not know formal music theory, and was almost completely self-taught. He does know how to read sheet music, but can only apply it on the saxophone and banjo. However, in 2015 he started taking formal training for the guitar.^[10]

"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."^[9]

He currently plays a custom Gibson 7-string guitar.^[11] 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.^[12] 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 In Waves, Heafy returned to using solely 6-string guitars and used drop C# tuning similar to the drop D as seen on Ascendancy.^[13] For Vengeance Falls, Trivium's 6th effort, Heafy continued to solely use 6 string guitars tuned to Drop C#. However, for the recording of Trivium's seventh studio album "Silence In The Snow", Heafy used both 6 and 7-string guitars, tuned to Drop C#, B Flat Standard and Drop A Flat.

On January 10, 2010, Heafy married Ashley Howard^[14] 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.^[15]

Trivium

Matt Heafy at Nova Rock Festival 2014

Matt Heafy, following his guitar performance at the school's talent show, was asked to join Trivium by the band's original singer Brad Lewter. Originally, he was accepted as a guitar player, despite being only 13 years old (other members were 16-17 at that time). Lewter, however, quit the band in less than a month. The drummer Travis Smith persuaded Heafy to do vocals, even though his singing skills was considered poor by the band and Heafy himself. Eventually, Heafy took the position by performing growling and screaming, the only vocal techniques he was capable of at that time. He, however, expressed the desire of developing a decent singing gradually. In 2016, Heafy stated that he had been using the incorrect self-taught unclean vocals for the last 15 years, what led to the vocal chords damage by his late 20s.^[16]

With the release of Trivium's 4th album, Shogun, Heafy greatly expanded his vocal range; from very melodic singing to hardcore screams. In 2011 Trivium's fifth studio album In Waves was released with a 'greater emphasis on songs rather than skill' with the album featuring the full range of Heafy's vocal talents with some songs being entirely composed of screaming and others with no screaming at all, and many songs that fused the two as with previous records.

In Trivium, Matt shares lead guitar duties with Corey Beaulieu, although he is responsible for recording the rhythm tracks on the albums.

Matt Heafy performing live.

After Ember to Inferno, Trivium experimented with post-hardcore music, releasing one song titled "Head on Collision with a Rosebush Catching Fire" under the name "Tomorrow is Monday. As revealed in a 2008 interview in Rock Sound, they wrote, recorded and edited the song in one hour while intoxicated.^[17]

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, Scar The Martyr), Robert Flynn (Machine Head), and Dino Cazares (Fear Factory) as well as Heafy.^[18] Heafy also wrote the lyrics and sang the lead vocals to "The End", captained by Dino Cazares. He and 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.^[19]

Also in 2006, he handled vocals for the band Korn, one of his favourite bands, (singing one song) at the Download Festival when Korn's lead vocalist Jonathan Davis fell ill.^[20]

Heafy—along with several other metal artists—makes guest appearances in the music videos for "Aesthetics of Hate" by Machine Head, released March 27, 2007 and "All I Want" by A Day to Remember, released January 7, 2011.

In 2015 Heafy contributed to the metal supergroup album "Metal Allegiance". He provided lead vocals and additional guitars on the track "Destination: Nowhere". He also contributed on guitar for the track "Triangulum I. Creation II. Evolution III. Destruction".

Musical influences

Matt Heafy cites musicians James Hetfield, John Petrucci, Yngwie Malmsteen, and Ihsahn as his primary influences. His style was mostly influenced by bands such as Metallica, Iron Maiden, Megadeth, Slayer, Pantera, Korn, Dream Theater, Death, Burzum, Down, Judas Priest, Black Sabbath, Poison the Well, and later on In Flames, Children of Bodom, Arch Enemy, Dark Tranquillity, Opeth, Dimmu Borgir, Fozzy, Dark Funeral, Emperor and Anorexia Nervosa.^[13]

Equipment

Guitars

Matt Heafy performing in 2008.

Matt 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 right-handed models.

In 2013, Epiphone released his artist signature model Les Paul in both 6 and 7 string versions. He had previously been seen playing his signature models on the Dream Theater "A Dramatic Turn of Events Tour".^[21]

• Les Paul Black 6 String and 7 String ^[21]
• Les Paul In Black, White and Silverburst
• Explorer 7 string in White and Black.
• Hummingbird Acoustic when needed.
• Dean Razorback, (still used on occasion).

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: Marshall Amplification JVM410H heads, or Peavey 5150 block-letters with Mesa cabinets.
• Live: Kemper Profiler Multi Effects unit with distortion patches based off the EVH 5150 III direct to the PA system.

Accessories

• Dunlop Jazz III Max Grip picks
• Dunlop .10-.52 strings (And a .63 on 7 strings.)
• Dunlop straps

Pedalboard

• Behringer FCB1010 Midi foot controller connected to the Kemper.

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)
• Vengeance Falls (2013)
• Silence in the Snow (2015)

Capharnaum

• Fractured (2004)

MindScar

• MindScar EP (2001)

Tomorrow Is Monday

• Lush Like an Antpile (2004)

1. "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)
• Caliban Falling Downwards (Bonus Track) (2014)
• DragonForce guest vocals on "Defenders, "No More," and "The Game" (Maximum Overload) (2014)
• Upon a Burning Body guest vocals on "Blood, Sweat and Tears" (The World Is My Enemy Now) (2014)
• Asking Alexandria Moving On (Music video cameo) (2014)
• Beach House additional guitar on "Depression Cherry" album (2015)
• Metal Allegiance lead vocals and additional guitar on "Destination: Nowhere", additional guitars on "Triangulum I. Creation II. Evolution III. Destruction" (Metal Allegiance) (2015)

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Matt Heafy.

• Trivium's official web site
• Heafy's blog