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Matt Heafy
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Matt Heafy
Matthew Kiichi Heafy (/ˈheɪfi/ HAY-fee; born January 26, 1986) is a Japanese-American musician best known as the frontman of heavy metal band Trivium. He was also the lead vocalist for the band Capharnaum, along with Trivium's former producer Jason Suecof. In 2017, Heafy was voted sixth on the Ultimate Guitar list "Top 25 Greatest Modern Frontmen". In 2023, Jake Richardson of Loudwire included him in his list of the "10 Best Clean Singers in Metalcore".
Heafy was born in Iwakuni, Japan, on January 26, 1986, to a Japanese mother and an American father. His father, formerly a member of the United States Marine Corps, is half-Irish and half-German. Heafy has a younger sister, Michelle, who is a YouTuber. Although Heafy was born in Japan, he lived there for only one year and does not speak Japanese fluently; however, he uses some basic phrases when he performs in Japan. His family then moved to Orlando, Florida, where he currently resides. Heafy attended Lake Brantley High School. He completed his senior year while also touring in Europe and graduated in 2004. During those years, Heafy lived a straight edge lifestyle.
Heafy learned to play the tenor saxophone while practicing guitar, becoming more serious about the latter instrument at the age of eleven. During this period, he mostly listened to pop-punk and auditioned for a local band, "Freshly Squeezed", by playing the Blink-182 song "Dammit." However, he never got a follow-up call back. Heafy cites being introduced to heavy metal by his classmate, David, who gave him a copy of Metallica's self-titled album.
Heafy is self-taught; he has not studied formal music theory. He can read sheet music, but can only apply it when playing the saxophone. In 2015, he began formal guitar training. "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."
Following his guitar performance at the school's talent show, Heafy was asked to try out for Trivium by the band's original singer, Brad Lewter. Originally, Heafy was accepted as lead guitarist, despite being only 12 years old (other members were 15–16 at that time). Lewter, however, quit the band in less than a month due to creative differences over the band's future musical direction. Drummer Travis Smith persuaded Heafy to do vocals, even though Heafy himself was unsure of his singing voice at the time. The band started looking for an external singer to fill the position but had trouble finding a suitable candidate. Eventually, Heafy agreed to become a full-time lead singer for Trivium while keeping the position of lead guitarist for the band. He taught himself growling and screaming, especially doing so during the band's early years. However, he admitted that using improper technique caused severe damage to his vocal chords in the years leading up to the band's performance at Rock on the Range in 2014, where he lost his voice on stage. That same year, he started taking vocal lessons from coach Ron Anderson, following advice from M. Shadows of Avenged Sevenfold. In 2016, Heafy returned to performing live unclean vocals with the same frequency as he did prior to his injury, citing Anderson's lessons as a source of help and improvement.[failed verification] He claims that the new technique is actually easier than normal talking.
With the release of Trivium's fourth album, Shogun, Heafy greatly expanded his vocal range, going from 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, others with no screaming at all, and many songs that fused the two, like previous releases.
In Trivium, Heafy occasionally shares lead guitar duties with Corey Beaulieu, although he is responsible for recording the rhythm tracks on the albums.
After Ember to Inferno, Heafy jokingly played in the post-hardcore genre, releasing one song titled "Head on Collision with a Rosebush Catching Fire" under the name Tomorrow Is Monday.
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Matt Heafy
Matthew Kiichi Heafy (/ˈheɪfi/ HAY-fee; born January 26, 1986) is a Japanese-American musician best known as the frontman of heavy metal band Trivium. He was also the lead vocalist for the band Capharnaum, along with Trivium's former producer Jason Suecof. In 2017, Heafy was voted sixth on the Ultimate Guitar list "Top 25 Greatest Modern Frontmen". In 2023, Jake Richardson of Loudwire included him in his list of the "10 Best Clean Singers in Metalcore".
Heafy was born in Iwakuni, Japan, on January 26, 1986, to a Japanese mother and an American father. His father, formerly a member of the United States Marine Corps, is half-Irish and half-German. Heafy has a younger sister, Michelle, who is a YouTuber. Although Heafy was born in Japan, he lived there for only one year and does not speak Japanese fluently; however, he uses some basic phrases when he performs in Japan. His family then moved to Orlando, Florida, where he currently resides. Heafy attended Lake Brantley High School. He completed his senior year while also touring in Europe and graduated in 2004. During those years, Heafy lived a straight edge lifestyle.
Heafy learned to play the tenor saxophone while practicing guitar, becoming more serious about the latter instrument at the age of eleven. During this period, he mostly listened to pop-punk and auditioned for a local band, "Freshly Squeezed", by playing the Blink-182 song "Dammit." However, he never got a follow-up call back. Heafy cites being introduced to heavy metal by his classmate, David, who gave him a copy of Metallica's self-titled album.
Heafy is self-taught; he has not studied formal music theory. He can read sheet music, but can only apply it when playing the saxophone. In 2015, he began formal guitar training. "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."
Following his guitar performance at the school's talent show, Heafy was asked to try out for Trivium by the band's original singer, Brad Lewter. Originally, Heafy was accepted as lead guitarist, despite being only 12 years old (other members were 15–16 at that time). Lewter, however, quit the band in less than a month due to creative differences over the band's future musical direction. Drummer Travis Smith persuaded Heafy to do vocals, even though Heafy himself was unsure of his singing voice at the time. The band started looking for an external singer to fill the position but had trouble finding a suitable candidate. Eventually, Heafy agreed to become a full-time lead singer for Trivium while keeping the position of lead guitarist for the band. He taught himself growling and screaming, especially doing so during the band's early years. However, he admitted that using improper technique caused severe damage to his vocal chords in the years leading up to the band's performance at Rock on the Range in 2014, where he lost his voice on stage. That same year, he started taking vocal lessons from coach Ron Anderson, following advice from M. Shadows of Avenged Sevenfold. In 2016, Heafy returned to performing live unclean vocals with the same frequency as he did prior to his injury, citing Anderson's lessons as a source of help and improvement.[failed verification] He claims that the new technique is actually easier than normal talking.
With the release of Trivium's fourth album, Shogun, Heafy greatly expanded his vocal range, going from 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, others with no screaming at all, and many songs that fused the two, like previous releases.
In Trivium, Heafy occasionally shares lead guitar duties with Corey Beaulieu, although he is responsible for recording the rhythm tracks on the albums.
After Ember to Inferno, Heafy jokingly played in the post-hardcore genre, releasing one song titled "Head on Collision with a Rosebush Catching Fire" under the name Tomorrow Is Monday.
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