10 Things You Didn’t Know About Matt Heafy
Matt Heafy is an American musician and lead vocalist for Trivium, an American heavy metal band. He is also a well-known guitarist. Heafy also practices Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, and he is an avid gamer. Here are 10 things that you didn’t know about Matt Heafy.
1. Early life
Matt’s real name is Matthew Kichii Heafy. He was born in Japan on January 26, 1986. His mother is Japanese, and the father is an American. Although he was born in Japan, Heafy only lived there for one year, and he is therefore not a fluent Japanese speaker but uses some Japanese phrases wherever he is performing in Japan. From Iwakuni, Japan, Heafy’s family moved to Orlando, Florida, where he has lived to date. He studied at Lake Brantley High School and graduated the year 2004. He completed his senior years as he toured Europe, performing music. Heafy has a younger sister, Michelle Heavy, who uses her YouTube channel to cover video game music.
2. He learned to play the saxophone at a tender age
Heafy learned to play the saxophone at a tender age. This paved the way for having an interest in playing guitar. Heafy became serious with guitar when he was eleven years old, and he had not received any formal training. He, however, enrolled for formal guitar training in 2015. During his tender age, Heavy enjoyed listening to pop-punk bands. He auditioned for a local band known as Freshly Squeezed, where he played the Dammit song, Blink-182.
3. Matt’s Music career
According to People Pile, the original singer of Trivium Band, Brad Lewter, requested Heafy to join Trivium after performing a guitar performance at a talent show in his school. The band accepted him as a lead guitarist even though he was only 12 years old. After Heafy joined the band, Lewter took less than a month to leave the band because he did not agree with the band’s members concerning the band’s creative future musical directions. The drummer then persuaded Matt to do vocals. At first, Heafy was not sure about his singing voice, but later, he accepted to become a full-time lead singer for Trivium after the band had tried to look for an external person to fill the position to no avail. He also retained the position of lead guitarist.
4. At Trivium
Heafy taught himself to scream and growl and used the techniques in the band. However, he admitted that he used these techniques inappropriately, which caused severe harm to his vocal cords, especially in the years that lead to Trivium’s performance at the Rock on the Range. In 2014, M. Shadow advised him to improve these techniques by taking vocal classes, which he agreed to. His coach was Ron Anderson. As a result, Heafy returned to his level before his vocal cords were damaged through the vocal training. He was generous with his lead guitarist positions, and he at times shared it with other singers. In addition, he was in charge of recording the rhythm tracks of different albums. He has toured many places as a member of the Trivium band. In 2007, the band toured the United Kingdom and Ireland with supporting acts Gojira, Sanctity, and Annihilator.
5. Age, weight, and height
According to Md daily record, research done on 23rd June 23, 2021, showed that Heafy is 35 years old. He is 191 centimeters tall, which is 6’ feet 4” inches. His weight is 72kgs which is about 158 lbs.
6. Personal life
Matt got married to Ashley on January 10, 2010, in Orlando, Florida. Ashley shares her husband’s passion and love for metal. The couple got married in a wedding ceremony where only close friends and family were invited. They stayed for eight years without kids for reasons well known to themselves. According to Famous People Today, the couple announced that they were expecting twins on 15th September 2018. On 11th November 2018, the couple welcomed the twins, Akira Hiro and Mia Kiyomi.
7. His style was influenced by various bands
Since his tender age, Matt has liked listening to popular bands. Some bands that influenced his style include Poison the Well, Dimmu Borgir, Dark Funeral, Opeth, Arch Enemy, In Flames, Black Sabbath, Pantera, Children Bodom, Judas Priest, Anorexia Nervosa, Slayer, Metallica, Iron Maiden, Megadeth, and Dark Tranquillity. James Hetfield also greatly influenced the musical performance of Matt.
8. His compositions
As aforementioned, Heafy joined Trivium at the age of 12, and the band accepted him as the lead guitarist even though most of the band members were older than him. Some of his compositions include; sworn, the storm, demon, fugue, and requiem.
9. Heafy’s Net Worth
Matt has earned most of his wealth from Trivium. The fact that he streams on Twitch daily has also played a part in his wealth accumulation. He also has about 2,800 subscribers on his platform, which earns him around $7,000 in revenue every month. His YouTube channel subscribers are more than 178,000. He also has more than 250,000 followers on Instagram. His current net worth is $6 Million.
10. Awards and Achievements
Musicians and fellow peers have acknowledged Heafy for his energy to project and the smooth flow in his performances. In 2006, he was awarded the “Golden God” award. In the same year, Heafy sang the “Blind” song for Korn Band at the Download Festival since Jonathan Davis (the lead vocalist) could not perform due to illness. He also performed backing vocals in the sixth album of DragonForce. Starting his career journey at the age of 12 was not easy. Heafy has experienced a bumpy ride to get to where he is today. Despite the challenges in life, he never gave up and decided to press on. He chose to hold his position as a lead vocalist and a guitarist even with many adversaries. He started small in the USA, but today he can reach millions of people globally. He firmly chooses to remain in the music industry.
