MATTHEW CHARLES SANDERS
A.K.A
M. SHADOWS
Matthew Charles Sanders (born July 31, 1981, age 27 years; better known as M.Shadows) is the lead singer of the band Avenged Sevenfold. In his childhood, Matt is often excluded from school because he repeatedly violent.Before becoming a singer, Matt has played bass. Matt was engaged to Valary DiBenedetto, twin sister of the girlfriend Synyster GatesMichelle DiBenedetto. Valary Matt met while they were in grade 6.
Birth name : Matthew Charles Sanders
Born : July 31, 1981 (age 27) Huntington Beach, California, USA
Genre : Metalcore, Hard rock, Heavy Metal, Hardcore Punk
Jobs : Musician, Songwriter, Vocalist, Guitarist, Pianist
Instrument : Piano, Keyboards, Bass
Years Active : 1999 – present
Record company : Warner Bros. record label., Good Life recording, hopeless record
Associated with : Avenged sevenfold, good charlotte, bleeding through
•M. Shadows said at the Myrtle Beach, SC concert (11-28-2008) that the band had been visiting many of the wounded American Soldiers.
•M. Shadows has one younger sister, Amy. His parent’s names are Gary Charles and Kimberlyann. You can see Gary in the intros on the DVD "Live in the LBC".
•M. Shadows’ vocal coach is Ron Anderson who has coached none other than Axl Rose.
•M. Shadows has said that he spends up to 8 hours a day, seven days a week, writing songs.
•M. Shadows smoked his first cigarette with The REV when he was 12 years old.
•In 2007 M. Shadows along with Synyster Gates was featured on the Good Charlotte video/song "The River".
•M. Shadows' grill cost $8000.00 and it's made of platinum and diamonds. It was made at Eddie's Gold Teeth Atlanta, GA.
•M. Shadows tested to see what kinds of alcohol affect his body so he knows what he can get away with drinking. He drinks Grey Goose with Cranberry Juice.
•Bill Bourroughs, an early member of the "Vicious Circle Gang", later the TSOL is M. Shadows' uncle.
•Riding a motorcycle is an escape for M. Shadows. It allows him to get away and clear his head. He has always wanted a custom chopper. He however has never been able to find time to go get one made.
•M. Shadows has 1 dog. Its name is Bella. Bella is a yellow lab who apparently has a liking for "special" brownies and looking at the ocean after consuming them.
•M. Shadows filled in for Jonathan Davis of Korn in Europe when Jonathan became ill before a performance.
•M. Shadows is allergic to grass.
•M. Shadows is 6'1 and has hazel eyes.
•M. Shadows produced the confessions most recent album Requium unfortunately the band has now broken up.
•At one point M. Shadows liked the song Barbie Doll by Aqua. He drove the Rev so crazy with it that the Rev threw it out the bus window while it was moving. The interesting part is that it was the Revs CD.
•M. Shadows was sitting in a bar in Bangkok, Thailand trying to rap his mind around all of the young men parading past him who have had sex changes in order to become prostitutes when suddenly he gets hit by a something mushy on his leg. Well many girls in Thailand have the ability to use their privates to let’s say launch items like ping pong balls. When he looks down he realized he had been hit by a banana from a girl across the room. He immediately ran to the bathroom trying to remove it from his pants while trying not to touch it. He said it smelled really bad.
•M. Shadows wrote the guitar riffs for The Beast and the Harlot and Critical Acclaim.
•M. Shadows wrote the lyrics for Dear God, Gunslinger, Brompton Cocktail and Seize the Day completely. In reality M. Shadows does the majority of the lyrical writing for the band.
•At the 2005 warped tour, while the guys were doing a meet and greet, Matt was spat upon by a dude who didn't like his music. Synyster Gates slammed the dudes head down on the table and held him there until security came. M. Shadows walked away being the bigger man we all know he is. Val came out and handled the dudes girlfriend.
•M. Shadows had a ruptured blood vessel removed from his vocal cords in 2004. He did not have a ruptured or torn vocal cord. This also has no bearing on why the band no longer screams. The decision not to scream anymore was a group decision to change the direction and sound of the band.
•M. Shadows is a huge supporter of the American troups overseas. Thus the reason why he wrote MIA and Gunslinger. He stresses though that the band is not a political band and they have no intentions of becoming one.
•M. Shadows lists his musical influences as Guns N' Roses, Iron Maiden, Metallica, Megadeth, and Pantera. His screaming influence is Philip Anselmo formerly of Pantera and now the front man for the band Down.
•Before Avenged Sevenfold M. Shadows had a band called Successful Failure. During that time he wrote the song Streets which was added to A7X first album "Sounding the Seventh Trumpet".
•M. Shadows original background is deeply ingrained in the Metalcore of the West Coast.
• M. Shadows made a guest appearance in the 18 Visions video for the song "I Let Go". 18 Visions is no longer together.
• "Use Your Illusion" By Guns and Roses is M. Shadows all time favorite album. He credits his father with introducing him to Guns and Roses. After he heard this album he loved it so much that he went back and ordered all their albums.
• In November 2010, while touring with the USO in Iraq, M. Shadows purchased 24-carat gold pens used by Saddam Hussein. The pens were worth close to $5,000. He wanted to bring something interesting back with him from this very significant trip.
• In a 2006 interview for Kerrang, M. Shadows said his parents kicked him out of home when he was in high school not because of any fault of theirs but because he was impossible to deal with. He went on to explain that it was good that the band came along when it did or its possible he would have ended up in jail. He feels very lucky it didn't end up that way.
• In 2007, M. Shadows shared his then favorite country music performers. The list included the following: Big & Rich, Toby Keith, Trace Adkins, Willie Nelson, and Johnny Cash.
• In 2007, M. Shadows shared that he was a member of The Freestyle Fight School or The MMA Academy and that when he came off tour he always gets his ass beat there.
• M. Shadows was chosen 7th best vocalist by Japan's Burn Magazine's 2011 readers poll.
• In 2010, before the band started touring M. Shadows broke his thumb playing basketball on the street.
• September 2009 Kerrang Magazine readers poll named M. Shadows as the #14 scariest person in rock.
•M. Shadows has one younger sister, Amy. His parent’s names are Gary Charles and Kimberlyann. You can see Gary in the intros on the DVD "Live in the LBC".
•M. Shadows’ vocal coach is Ron Anderson who has coached none other than Axl Rose.
•M. Shadows has said that he spends up to 8 hours a day, seven days a week, writing songs.
•M. Shadows smoked his first cigarette with The REV when he was 12 years old.
•In 2007 M. Shadows along with Synyster Gates was featured on the Good Charlotte video/song "The River".
•M. Shadows' grill cost $8000.00 and it's made of platinum and diamonds. It was made at Eddie's Gold Teeth Atlanta, GA.
•M. Shadows tested to see what kinds of alcohol affect his body so he knows what he can get away with drinking. He drinks Grey Goose with Cranberry Juice.
•Bill Bourroughs, an early member of the "Vicious Circle Gang", later the TSOL is M. Shadows' uncle.
•Riding a motorcycle is an escape for M. Shadows. It allows him to get away and clear his head. He has always wanted a custom chopper. He however has never been able to find time to go get one made.
•M. Shadows has 1 dog. Its name is Bella. Bella is a yellow lab who apparently has a liking for "special" brownies and looking at the ocean after consuming them.
•M. Shadows filled in for Jonathan Davis of Korn in Europe when Jonathan became ill before a performance.
•M. Shadows is allergic to grass.
•M. Shadows is 6'1 and has hazel eyes.
•M. Shadows produced the confessions most recent album Requium unfortunately the band has now broken up.
•At one point M. Shadows liked the song Barbie Doll by Aqua. He drove the Rev so crazy with it that the Rev threw it out the bus window while it was moving. The interesting part is that it was the Revs CD.
•M. Shadows was sitting in a bar in Bangkok, Thailand trying to rap his mind around all of the young men parading past him who have had sex changes in order to become prostitutes when suddenly he gets hit by a something mushy on his leg. Well many girls in Thailand have the ability to use their privates to let’s say launch items like ping pong balls. When he looks down he realized he had been hit by a banana from a girl across the room. He immediately ran to the bathroom trying to remove it from his pants while trying not to touch it. He said it smelled really bad.
•M. Shadows wrote the guitar riffs for The Beast and the Harlot and Critical Acclaim.
•M. Shadows wrote the lyrics for Dear God, Gunslinger, Brompton Cocktail and Seize the Day completely. In reality M. Shadows does the majority of the lyrical writing for the band.
•At the 2005 warped tour, while the guys were doing a meet and greet, Matt was spat upon by a dude who didn't like his music. Synyster Gates slammed the dudes head down on the table and held him there until security came. M. Shadows walked away being the bigger man we all know he is. Val came out and handled the dudes girlfriend.
•M. Shadows had a ruptured blood vessel removed from his vocal cords in 2004. He did not have a ruptured or torn vocal cord. This also has no bearing on why the band no longer screams. The decision not to scream anymore was a group decision to change the direction and sound of the band.
•M. Shadows is a huge supporter of the American troups overseas. Thus the reason why he wrote MIA and Gunslinger. He stresses though that the band is not a political band and they have no intentions of becoming one.
•M. Shadows lists his musical influences as Guns N' Roses, Iron Maiden, Metallica, Megadeth, and Pantera. His screaming influence is Philip Anselmo formerly of Pantera and now the front man for the band Down.
•Before Avenged Sevenfold M. Shadows had a band called Successful Failure. During that time he wrote the song Streets which was added to A7X first album "Sounding the Seventh Trumpet".
•M. Shadows original background is deeply ingrained in the Metalcore of the West Coast.
• M. Shadows made a guest appearance in the 18 Visions video for the song "I Let Go". 18 Visions is no longer together.
• "Use Your Illusion" By Guns and Roses is M. Shadows all time favorite album. He credits his father with introducing him to Guns and Roses. After he heard this album he loved it so much that he went back and ordered all their albums.
• In November 2010, while touring with the USO in Iraq, M. Shadows purchased 24-carat gold pens used by Saddam Hussein. The pens were worth close to $5,000. He wanted to bring something interesting back with him from this very significant trip.
• In a 2006 interview for Kerrang, M. Shadows said his parents kicked him out of home when he was in high school not because of any fault of theirs but because he was impossible to deal with. He went on to explain that it was good that the band came along when it did or its possible he would have ended up in jail. He feels very lucky it didn't end up that way.
• In 2007, M. Shadows shared his then favorite country music performers. The list included the following: Big & Rich, Toby Keith, Trace Adkins, Willie Nelson, and Johnny Cash.
• In 2007, M. Shadows shared that he was a member of The Freestyle Fight School or The MMA Academy and that when he came off tour he always gets his ass beat there.
• M. Shadows was chosen 7th best vocalist by Japan's Burn Magazine's 2011 readers poll.
• In 2010, before the band started touring M. Shadows broke his thumb playing basketball on the street.
• September 2009 Kerrang Magazine readers poll named M. Shadows as the #14 scariest person in rock.
•Bat country is M. Shadows favorite video.
•M. Shadows likes the snake tongues that were added to the Bat country video.
•M. Shadows thinks Seize the day is a sophisticated video.
•Synysters step mother, Suzie Haner, will pause the seize the day video on M. Shadows bare ass and tells him about it.
•Up until 2007, M. Shadows had a lip ring located on the right side of his bottom lip. Although there were several rumors floating about in regards to why he took it out including an incident of him almost swallowing it in his sleep he has not said anything official about his reason. He also has said he regrets gauging his ears so large now. His largest gauge was 7/16. He has downsized them considerably now.
•M. Shadows stopped a show in Scotland because 1 girl was hurt badly in the pit where he could see. They resumed where they left off after she was removed for medical attention. He also stopped a show during the Uproar tour in 2010 in the North Eastern United States when a boy fell while they were playing and they again resumed after he was taken to get medical attention.
•M. Shadows is a very fit individual as everyone can see. As part of his work out routine he runs, practices jujitsu, plays golf, and does core performance training. He eats healthy too.
•M. Shadows has an endearing quality of occasionally forgetting/rewriting song lyrics while performing. He looks to Zacky for assistance sometimes and even the fans others.
•M. Shadows has many tattoos.
•M. Shadows is a fan of the Lakers and enjoys playing basketball on the street with friends when he is at home.
•M. Shadows likes the snake tongues that were added to the Bat country video.
•M. Shadows thinks Seize the day is a sophisticated video.
•Synysters step mother, Suzie Haner, will pause the seize the day video on M. Shadows bare ass and tells him about it.
•Up until 2007, M. Shadows had a lip ring located on the right side of his bottom lip. Although there were several rumors floating about in regards to why he took it out including an incident of him almost swallowing it in his sleep he has not said anything official about his reason. He also has said he regrets gauging his ears so large now. His largest gauge was 7/16. He has downsized them considerably now.
•M. Shadows stopped a show in Scotland because 1 girl was hurt badly in the pit where he could see. They resumed where they left off after she was removed for medical attention. He also stopped a show during the Uproar tour in 2010 in the North Eastern United States when a boy fell while they were playing and they again resumed after he was taken to get medical attention.
•M. Shadows is a very fit individual as everyone can see. As part of his work out routine he runs, practices jujitsu, plays golf, and does core performance training. He eats healthy too.
•M. Shadows has an endearing quality of occasionally forgetting/rewriting song lyrics while performing. He looks to Zacky for assistance sometimes and even the fans others.
•M. Shadows has many tattoos.
•M. Shadows is a fan of the Lakers and enjoys playing basketball on the street with friends when he is at home.
•M. Shadows favorite munchie food is Pop Tarts.
•M. Shadows prefers extra crispy over original
•M. Shadows says Bangkok, Thialand is a true City of Evil.
•M. Shadows Says Iron Maiden puts on the most elaborate shows.
•M. Shadowsfavorite actress is Angelina Jolie because shes hot.
•M. Shadows favorite tv show is South Park.
•M. Shadows prefers jagermister over taquila.
•M. Shadows admits to shoplifting in the past.
•The first real concert M. Shadows ever attended was Rancid when "Lets Go" came out.
• Rock One's 2010 Readers Poll M. Shadows was chose #4 Best Singer in the industry.
• When M. Shadows became interested in music his dad gave him many tapes which included Guns N Roses and Nirvana but the first actually CD he purchased for himself was Pearl Jam's Ten. He purchased it just after CD's became popular.
• M. Shadows loves very strong coffee. He is a huge fan of Starbucks and he also likes Coffee Bean. He said in an interview in 2011 that he loves coffee so much that he drinks a cup of decaf before bed.
• He said in a 2011 interview, that probably his all time favorite movie was "Shawshank Redemption". When he chooses movies he prefers something with content or something he can invest in not necessarily an action film and he shared that he liked the movie "Black Swan".
•M. Shadows prefers extra crispy over original
•M. Shadows says Bangkok, Thialand is a true City of Evil.
•M. Shadows Says Iron Maiden puts on the most elaborate shows.
•M. Shadowsfavorite actress is Angelina Jolie because shes hot.
•M. Shadows favorite tv show is South Park.
•M. Shadows prefers jagermister over taquila.
•M. Shadows admits to shoplifting in the past.
•The first real concert M. Shadows ever attended was Rancid when "Lets Go" came out.
• Rock One's 2010 Readers Poll M. Shadows was chose #4 Best Singer in the industry.
• When M. Shadows became interested in music his dad gave him many tapes which included Guns N Roses and Nirvana but the first actually CD he purchased for himself was Pearl Jam's Ten. He purchased it just after CD's became popular.
• M. Shadows loves very strong coffee. He is a huge fan of Starbucks and he also likes Coffee Bean. He said in an interview in 2011 that he loves coffee so much that he drinks a cup of decaf before bed.
• He said in a 2011 interview, that probably his all time favorite movie was "Shawshank Redemption". When he chooses movies he prefers something with content or something he can invest in not necessarily an action film and he shared that he liked the movie "Black Swan".
· In 2007, Matt became engaged to long time girlfriend Valary DiBenedetto.
· They were married October 17, 2009 in Palm Springs, California. Matt's bachelor party was held October 3, 2009 at the Palms in Las Vegas, Nevada. The couple honeymooned in Africa.
· Valary was the bands original tour manager and merch dealer.
· Valary helped progress the bands success by promoting the band at Warped tour spending hours in the hot sun giving out tapes and posters to anyone who seemed to like similar bands. She also would steal money from her parents when the guys needed it. Valary appears in the bands video "Dear God". (Scene from video above)
· Valary is also seen in the video for "Seize the Day" as Matt's pregnant girlfriend who dies in the video. She is also interviewed in the "All Excess" DVD.
· M. Shadows has a love for classic car and owns a 1972 Chevelle Convertible. He has totally pimped it out with a killer sound system, deathbat inlayed headrests, among other upgrades. In an interview, he stated that the car was no longer red and I believe he said it was now painted purple. I have misplaced the interview and when I find it I will make sure that is exactly what he said. In the 2010 making of "Nightmare" video, M. Shadows drove up in a 2010 tan Dodge Charger. In the "All Excess" DVD he was driving a black Chevrolet Yukon.
· While doing the interveiw for Max on Set, M. Shadows shared that he averages a handicap of about 10 on the golf course and continued to say that he could call his pro who could get him into pretty much anywhere to play. He jokingly said he had put Jimmy's deathbat on his right hand so he didn't have to cover it up with his golf glove. He discribed himself as a polo wearing class act, looking very stylish on the golf course.
In a 2011 interview, M. Shadows shared that on his rider that he requires 12 Pro V1 Golf Balls so he can go golfing the next day.
In a 2011 interview, M. Shadows shared that on his rider that he requires 12 Pro V1 Golf Balls so he can go golfing the next day.
· M. Shadows' favorite game on Xbox is "Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2". He also likes to play "Black Ops". He plays as much as he can when he has free time and before shows. He also has played with fans of the band. He has a special group (clan) he plays with on a regular basis. The clan includes friends and friend of friends. M. Shadows has also mentioned in many interviews about how just following Jimmy's passing he became even more into Modern Warfare. He said it was much better than turning to drugs or alcohol for an escape from the emensely unbearable pain and loss he was/is enduring.
In a 2011 interview, he shared that on his person rider he requires a room with an internet connection. He also shared that he travels with a specially made road box for his xbox known as "Fort Knox". "Fort Knox" not only includes his xbox but a 50 inch plasma screen and a speaker system. He went on to share at the time of the interiew he had logged 16 days on "Black Ops" and 35 on "Modern Warfare 2".
In a 2011 interview, he shared that on his person rider he requires a room with an internet connection. He also shared that he travels with a specially made road box for his xbox known as "Fort Knox". "Fort Knox" not only includes his xbox but a 50 inch plasma screen and a speaker system. He went on to share at the time of the interiew he had logged 16 days on "Black Ops" and 35 on "Modern Warfare 2".
"I got my girlfriend a nice ring to show her my dedication. I know that made her excited." -2002 M. Shadows response to the question What's the best gift you've ever given someone that you were more excited to give than anything you've ever received.
"We don't really try, we just do it and look at it later and say, "That sounds good.". M. Shadows on their song writing habits. Interview 2008
"These people, well...it reminds me of when I was thirteen years old and used to call bands sell outs. And to me...we just write what's in our hearts and do the best thing possible. We're not Microsoft, we're not trying to make Ipods and cater to every person. We're gonna write what's in our hearts in our souls for people to listen to and just enjoy it. That's what we're here for . We're just a band, we're just five kids having a good time and putting our hearts on the line. And we would never, in a million years, put something out there that didn't come from our hearts, just to put it out there. When kids call us "sell outs", they're usually young or they're confused or just mad because it doesn't sound like the record before. Maybe one day they'll get older and think, "Wow, this is actually a band that's the farthest thing from a sell out that I could possibly imagine." We've always done what we wanted and the label's never going to tell us what to put on an album. So, maybe one day they'll grow up and realize they didn't like the album but they don't need to call us "sell outs". I guess being called "sell outs" is a normal everyday thing. People are going to call you "sell outs", regardless of what you do." 2008 interview
"I just want to say we support the troops and we love every one of them. Even if they...I know a lot of my friends that are in the military that they don't agree with...Some of them are total, total liberals or this or that, whatever they are and I just want to say that we love all the troops. We don't care what they believe in, they're defending our country and we love them for that. And they're the biggest bad assses...in the world and we just want to thank you. We hope they enjoy the music and we'll keep pumping it out and just keep staying bad asses!" -M. Shadows message to the troups in 2008-
"I don't think what I say is important. We're a metal band. We're not going to say the things that are always politically correct, we're going to say what we really feel." 2006 Kerrang issue # 51
"I think we are always going to get that. I sorta like it. When people stop talking about us and start talking shit, then it kinda takes the fun out of it. But I think if we put out a record with a completely different name a lot of those people would probably give us a chance. It think the problem is that most of the metal crowd don't like our fans. They are so passionate about the band. I mean, I love our fans. They are the best in the world but it's one of those things. If you get a certain amount of popularity, people will start ot hate you." Referencing why A7X isn't accepted so readily by the "metal fans" 2010 Big Cheese
"I feel guilty moving on you know? Jimmy started this band with us. Why do we have the right to move on without him? Then I think he wouldn't want us to stop. He'd want us to go on and rock out." 2010 Big Cheese
"Axl Rose is a genius. He can piss off everybody and storm off stage in the middle of a concert, but they're still his fans." - 2006
"I've always seen us as a metal band but alot of punk attitude involved. That's from growing up in a punk environment." - 2006 -
"We have alot of friends in metalcore bands, but I think sometimes we get upset and say stuff, and it gets taken really seriously. When you write an album like "City of Evil" and people say you're a metalcore band you're like fuck you." - 2006 -
"I don't like that term [Republican] because I like to make decisions based on the actual subject." In 2006, M.Shadows was attacked as well as other members of the band based on their party affiliations. An article published in a popular magazine made them out to have improper views and their party affiliation ruling their decisions and support of certain unpopular views.
"Censorship, telling people how to live their lives I completely disagree with." - 2006 -
"We stand for musical individuality. That's all we stand for." - 2006 -
"We might not be as bad as people make us out to be but we do still like to have fun." - 2006 -
"We definitely learned a lot about living every day to the fullest and loving the ones you have because you never know when you're going to leave this place. No matter what you do in life that's the most important thing because it could end just like that." Referencing what Jimmy's loss has taught the band about life.
"We don't consider being on TRL an accomplishment. We want to be selling out stadiums and selling millions of records."
"When other bands tour with us they usually say, wow! I learned a lot from A7X because they have their shit together."
"No matter how I word this it's gonna sound bad. We changed because we wanted to play the kind of music we liked but we were smart enough to want to be listenable to more people. We knew the metal core thing had a cap on it. There's only so far you can go doing that."
"I'll play hold'em if I'm sober and blackjack if I'm drunk."
"The first Metallica record I ever got was "And Justice For All". The video for one was my dad’s favorite. He got me the tape and I just flipped out. I went out and bought the entire back catalog."
"To do this tour let alone sing onstage with Metallica in Berlin it's something you can't even imagine when you’re just starting out in a garage. It's insane, it's a dream come true. You can't even put it into words."
"We have come to a spot where we have confidence in our own musical judgment and we are going to write a record that's truly us. “Referencing the album Avenged Sevenfold
"Yeah we're cocky, because we have confidence in what we do. We believe in what we do, and we've been successful at it."
"I want this to be a mature record, one where everyone can listen to it and get something out of It." referencing Avenged Sevenfold the album
"We want to do something that's completely original and completely us and not worry about trying to emulate someone else’s record. I think that's what being mature is-- doing your own thing and not worrying about what sounds cool at the time or what you used to listen to."
"I really like guns, but everyone thinks I shouldn't get one because of my temper and they’re probably right. I've had people come to my house before to fuck with me and I'd have shot them for sure if I had a gun. I just wouldn't be able to control myself. I know because I've tried to stab a guy before, and I've beat the shit out of people. It just wouldn't be a good idea."
"You explain these things to kids and they think you have gone off the deep end. Maybe we have."
"This album is way less indulgent than "City of Evil". It's all about making good music and making ourselves happy."
"We have always been about pissing people off and getting a reaction and we don't back down".
"Controversy has always followed us".
When asked about cancelling the UK dates in 2007 his reply was: "We were at each other’s throats. If we'd had come over for those dates there might not have been a band anymore. We'd have been out on tour for 16 months. It had gotten to the point where we just didn't want to be around each other."
"We grew the fuck up"
"When you meet fans you want to be in a good mood because they pick up on that. You want them to have a positive experience when they meet you. When I have met bands that I love and they didn't give me the time of day it totally sucked".
"It's the record we've always wanted to make so we called it Avenged Sevenfold".
"We're gonna fuckin' do the things that need to be done to bring rock and roll back. Even if you don't fuckin' believe in rock and roll anymore, you can fuckin' believe in us." - 2005 –
"We don't really try, we just do it and look at it later and say, "That sounds good.". M. Shadows on their song writing habits. Interview 2008
"These people, well...it reminds me of when I was thirteen years old and used to call bands sell outs. And to me...we just write what's in our hearts and do the best thing possible. We're not Microsoft, we're not trying to make Ipods and cater to every person. We're gonna write what's in our hearts in our souls for people to listen to and just enjoy it. That's what we're here for . We're just a band, we're just five kids having a good time and putting our hearts on the line. And we would never, in a million years, put something out there that didn't come from our hearts, just to put it out there. When kids call us "sell outs", they're usually young or they're confused or just mad because it doesn't sound like the record before. Maybe one day they'll get older and think, "Wow, this is actually a band that's the farthest thing from a sell out that I could possibly imagine." We've always done what we wanted and the label's never going to tell us what to put on an album. So, maybe one day they'll grow up and realize they didn't like the album but they don't need to call us "sell outs". I guess being called "sell outs" is a normal everyday thing. People are going to call you "sell outs", regardless of what you do." 2008 interview
"I just want to say we support the troops and we love every one of them. Even if they...I know a lot of my friends that are in the military that they don't agree with...Some of them are total, total liberals or this or that, whatever they are and I just want to say that we love all the troops. We don't care what they believe in, they're defending our country and we love them for that. And they're the biggest bad assses...in the world and we just want to thank you. We hope they enjoy the music and we'll keep pumping it out and just keep staying bad asses!" -M. Shadows message to the troups in 2008-
"I don't think what I say is important. We're a metal band. We're not going to say the things that are always politically correct, we're going to say what we really feel." 2006 Kerrang issue # 51
"I think we are always going to get that. I sorta like it. When people stop talking about us and start talking shit, then it kinda takes the fun out of it. But I think if we put out a record with a completely different name a lot of those people would probably give us a chance. It think the problem is that most of the metal crowd don't like our fans. They are so passionate about the band. I mean, I love our fans. They are the best in the world but it's one of those things. If you get a certain amount of popularity, people will start ot hate you." Referencing why A7X isn't accepted so readily by the "metal fans" 2010 Big Cheese
"I feel guilty moving on you know? Jimmy started this band with us. Why do we have the right to move on without him? Then I think he wouldn't want us to stop. He'd want us to go on and rock out." 2010 Big Cheese
"Axl Rose is a genius. He can piss off everybody and storm off stage in the middle of a concert, but they're still his fans." - 2006
"I've always seen us as a metal band but alot of punk attitude involved. That's from growing up in a punk environment." - 2006 -
"We have alot of friends in metalcore bands, but I think sometimes we get upset and say stuff, and it gets taken really seriously. When you write an album like "City of Evil" and people say you're a metalcore band you're like fuck you." - 2006 -
"I don't like that term [Republican] because I like to make decisions based on the actual subject." In 2006, M.Shadows was attacked as well as other members of the band based on their party affiliations. An article published in a popular magazine made them out to have improper views and their party affiliation ruling their decisions and support of certain unpopular views.
"Censorship, telling people how to live their lives I completely disagree with." - 2006 -
"We stand for musical individuality. That's all we stand for." - 2006 -
"We might not be as bad as people make us out to be but we do still like to have fun." - 2006 -
"We definitely learned a lot about living every day to the fullest and loving the ones you have because you never know when you're going to leave this place. No matter what you do in life that's the most important thing because it could end just like that." Referencing what Jimmy's loss has taught the band about life.
"We don't consider being on TRL an accomplishment. We want to be selling out stadiums and selling millions of records."
"When other bands tour with us they usually say, wow! I learned a lot from A7X because they have their shit together."
"No matter how I word this it's gonna sound bad. We changed because we wanted to play the kind of music we liked but we were smart enough to want to be listenable to more people. We knew the metal core thing had a cap on it. There's only so far you can go doing that."
"I'll play hold'em if I'm sober and blackjack if I'm drunk."
"The first Metallica record I ever got was "And Justice For All". The video for one was my dad’s favorite. He got me the tape and I just flipped out. I went out and bought the entire back catalog."
"To do this tour let alone sing onstage with Metallica in Berlin it's something you can't even imagine when you’re just starting out in a garage. It's insane, it's a dream come true. You can't even put it into words."
"We have come to a spot where we have confidence in our own musical judgment and we are going to write a record that's truly us. “Referencing the album Avenged Sevenfold
"Yeah we're cocky, because we have confidence in what we do. We believe in what we do, and we've been successful at it."
"I want this to be a mature record, one where everyone can listen to it and get something out of It." referencing Avenged Sevenfold the album
"We want to do something that's completely original and completely us and not worry about trying to emulate someone else’s record. I think that's what being mature is-- doing your own thing and not worrying about what sounds cool at the time or what you used to listen to."
"I really like guns, but everyone thinks I shouldn't get one because of my temper and they’re probably right. I've had people come to my house before to fuck with me and I'd have shot them for sure if I had a gun. I just wouldn't be able to control myself. I know because I've tried to stab a guy before, and I've beat the shit out of people. It just wouldn't be a good idea."
"You explain these things to kids and they think you have gone off the deep end. Maybe we have."
"This album is way less indulgent than "City of Evil". It's all about making good music and making ourselves happy."
"We have always been about pissing people off and getting a reaction and we don't back down".
"Controversy has always followed us".
When asked about cancelling the UK dates in 2007 his reply was: "We were at each other’s throats. If we'd had come over for those dates there might not have been a band anymore. We'd have been out on tour for 16 months. It had gotten to the point where we just didn't want to be around each other."
"We grew the fuck up"
"When you meet fans you want to be in a good mood because they pick up on that. You want them to have a positive experience when they meet you. When I have met bands that I love and they didn't give me the time of day it totally sucked".
"It's the record we've always wanted to make so we called it Avenged Sevenfold".
"We're gonna fuckin' do the things that need to be done to bring rock and roll back. Even if you don't fuckin' believe in rock and roll anymore, you can fuckin' believe in us." - 2005 –
"I love Batman because hes just a human with cool toys and I'd have to do with the Joker for villain." M. Shadows favorite super hero--2003-
"Do what you love or die unhappy."--2003 M. Shadows Motto-
"I like creating music, live is great but sitting down and recording and writing songs is amazing to me. You get to be more creative and it's never repetitive."--2003-
"All the slim, bald old men that think they know whats "hip" for the kids." referencing what M. Shadows would change about the music industry--2003-
"Do what you love or die unhappy."--2003 M. Shadows Motto-
"I like creating music, live is great but sitting down and recording and writing songs is amazing to me. You get to be more creative and it's never repetitive."--2003-
"All the slim, bald old men that think they know whats "hip" for the kids." referencing what M. Shadows would change about the music industry--2003-
"Most memorible would be driving 24 hours out of the way to play with Blind Guardian in NYC at The World... then getting there and everyone being sick and then we drove all the way back to cali." Referencing M. Shadows most Memorible gig to that date--2003-
"Any animal with a bad temper unfotunatly." M. Shadows kindred animal spirit--2003-
"Any animal with a bad temper unfotunatly." M. Shadows kindred animal spirit--2003-
"I think people have a weird misconception about us. They think we are trying to be a super-heavy band, but we really like our songs to have a certain pop element to them; If something we write isn't super-catchy, we try to get it to that point. Kids think we do it to sell records, but really we just like it. We like pop music."
"Oh yeah we sold out again." Matt says sarcastically about the Avenged Sevenfold album. "I think kids will like it--they will just have to get used to it."
"The whole records is about definitely trying to be a better person." referencing the Avenged Sevenfold Album
"Not to sound hippie or anything but there are way more important things on this earth than money, or how big your band is. To go out there and make a difference in kid’s lives, to make them happy for one night and get to interact with them...it's a very special thing."
"We are not a bunch of drugged out friggin' wannabes that don't give a shit about their music or their fans."
"Every band no matter how big they get started at the bottom."
"The whole records is about definitely trying to be a better person." referencing the Avenged Sevenfold Album
"Not to sound hippie or anything but there are way more important things on this earth than money, or how big your band is. To go out there and make a difference in kid’s lives, to make them happy for one night and get to interact with them...it's a very special thing."
"We are not a bunch of drugged out friggin' wannabes that don't give a shit about their music or their fans."
"Every band no matter how big they get started at the bottom."
"He's a buff guy. He's a fearless leader and the best fuckin front man ever. Great singer--as creative as they come. Huge horse cock. God I love that horse cock. He's made grown men cry."--Brian Haner in reference to Matt
"We may not be as bad as people make us out to be but we still like to have fun."
"I had this batman outfit that my mom bought me. I'd ride on my skateboard wearing it with Guns N'Roses "Lies" playing. I'd play "One in a Million" over and over again because it had shitty words in it. Everyone would throw shit at me because I was a complete nerd but I didn't care. I was listening to metal."
"It just kind of morphed into "hey lets rock out together". -Matt speaking about how the band began-
"No one knows what I think, they don't know me and they never will. You can't be in a band like this and be a reclusive, sit-in-the-corner guy. If you are like that you'll never dominate."
"We want to be the band that everyone has to go and see."
"Our fans like our honesty. They know they'll get the truth from us. That's why they become fanatic. It's like a life style, a look and a vibe. You might not agree with what we say but you know where not bullshitting. We don't smell of corporate shit."
"This is what we are either love it or hate it."
"That's part of who we are. If people have a problem then it's obviously jealousy."
"The reality is we get up at 6 in the morning and work our asses off. We make sure every show is the best show possible. Then we cut loose."
"I hate to see bands who are down to Earth." Matt's answer when asked what he thinks about elaborate shows verses the very plain ones.
"I still think we have a black album in us. Our very best album is yet to come."
"Dear God was an experiment but we loved it so much we thought how can we not put it on the record".
"My manager and my mom and dad hate when I ride motorcycles, but I just go ahead and do the opposite of what they say."
"We had this mack daddy tour with tons of production, pyro, and videos. We wanted to be able to offer it to kids who couldn't make it."-Referencing the DVD "Live in the LBC and Diamond in the rough"-
"Musically I want people to never know what to expect."
"The press was all like they want to be Guns N' Roses; all they care about is partying all they care about is girls. We all got steady girlfriends; I've got a fiancée. I'm not out there banging every groupie and getting hammered every night. I drank 2 times during the entire Asian tour."
"I don’t know what age exactly, but the week that Appetite For Destruction came out my Dad bought me that tape. I listened to Nirvana and stuff like that, but then I started getting into older punk like Black Flag and our drummer started getting me into Pantera, Metallica and those types of metal bands." Matt's answer when asked at what age did he get into music.
"I don’t know, I just love everything about it. It’s just catchy and I can really get into it; the guitar solos are amazing. Everything about it is just amazing to me. It’s the first thing that I got into so it’ll always be special. It’s just the perfect album." Matt's answer when asked what he likes so much about appetite for distruction.
"I think we considered ourselves a punk and hardcore hybrid band at first. We had some hardcore metal with a lot of punk rock influence and I think the hardcore scene embraced us at first, but we weren’t really looking to be embraced by that scene."
"Other bands started coming out as metalcore and they sounded so horrible that we didn’t want to have anything to do with it. It was one of those things where we don’t listen to metalcore, we don’t own any metalcore CDs and we don’t necessarily like those bands."
"We wanted to write something that we could call a creative metal record. We took a lot of different things musically and combined them into one record and that’s all we wanted to do."Matt referencing "City of Evil"
"Everything you read and heard about, you just know he’s one of the nicest guys. He’s always laughing, always good hearted, always having a good time drinking it up. You can tell he’s a great guy. That’s why he’s touched so many people.Dimebag was just a guitar God to us, so when I got the call that he had died, I couldn’t believe it; my heart totally stopped. I’d never met the guy, but I’d been listening to him my whole life and I knew every note on every song on every record. I just couldn’t believe it; we had always hoped for a reunion tour to happen."
Matt referencing Dimebag Darrell
Matt referencing Dimebag Darrell
The English press; they blow things way out of proportion, to the point where it’s not even funny.
"We recently met Metallica, and Rex [Brown] from Pantera came to our shows, and they're just like, "You guys are waving the flag now. Run with it and be proud." And those are the biggest compliments in the world, hearing stuff from Metallica and Pantera. Those are our idols, gods among men, and they've all been so supportive. ... When we hear people talking down to us in our own scene, that's just jealousy. But when you hear the big dogs talking to you, it's very, very inspiring."- 2006 interview-
"Joel from Good Charlotte, and he's like,"The art ends in the studio," and that kind of rang true. He's like,"You make the CD you wanna make, you give it to your label and whatever happens happens. When MTV comes to you and gives you an opportunity like, 'Hey we wanna put you on "TRL,"it's like just another video show, just go on there and see what happens." And we knew there would be a backlash, but the CD's a CD, it's not gonna change 'cause it got on "TRL," the video's not gonna change 'cause it's on "TRL," the band's not gonna change, there's nothing to change. It's there already, it was made months before this ever happened, so it came to us and it was like, "Let's just do it." There's already a million things going on where kids are stealing music, there's a million bands, so any way you can get it out there and sell some records and get some new fans." -Referencing the popularity of Bat Country and Seize the Day on MTV"s former show TRL and their appearance on that show.-
"Joel from Good Charlotte, and he's like,"The art ends in the studio," and that kind of rang true. He's like,"You make the CD you wanna make, you give it to your label and whatever happens happens. When MTV comes to you and gives you an opportunity like, 'Hey we wanna put you on "TRL,"it's like just another video show, just go on there and see what happens." And we knew there would be a backlash, but the CD's a CD, it's not gonna change 'cause it got on "TRL," the video's not gonna change 'cause it's on "TRL," the band's not gonna change, there's nothing to change. It's there already, it was made months before this ever happened, so it came to us and it was like, "Let's just do it." There's already a million things going on where kids are stealing music, there's a million bands, so any way you can get it out there and sell some records and get some new fans." -Referencing the popularity of Bat Country and Seize the Day on MTV"s former show TRL and their appearance on that show.-
"We wanna go out there and we wanna destroy other bands — not physically, just onstage. [He laughs.] Maybe physically too, but we wanna go out there and that's what we're here to do. Every time we walk onstage, we give ourselves the world-domination sign, like we're trying to be the best band possible and play the best shows possible, 'cause if we don't we're furious at ourselves. And people take that as being like cocky or ego, but really it's just that we take what we do really seriously."
"The last [Warped Tour] we got on we heard rumors that people thought we had big egos and were stuck-up, but really it was just that mentally, we were just on a level of, "We wanna go out here and dominate every day. We wanna get fans."
"You gotta look like Flavor Flav if you're gonna be Axl Rose." -Matt Referencing his grill-
"The last [Warped Tour] we got on we heard rumors that people thought we had big egos and were stuck-up, but really it was just that mentally, we were just on a level of, "We wanna go out here and dominate every day. We wanna get fans."
"You gotta look like Flavor Flav if you're gonna be Axl Rose." -Matt Referencing his grill-
-M. Shadows hated school so much his parents would make him go and drive him there themselves. He would wait for them to leave and then he would hop a city bus back home. His mother was so upset and stressed out about his behavior that she considered sending him to military school and sent out for literature. But thanks to his wonderful sister Amy who would hurry home after school and remove any literature from the mail before her parents would see them. Note: I just wonder if they had succeeded would we have M. Shadows or even An A7X? Sad thought!!
-M. Shadows and undisclosed others broke into a school and started small fires-it got out of control-"We were like shit!" "We got to go now!" "As we were leaving we heard all these fire engines. We got on top of one of my friends roof and watched the whole school burn to the ground."
-M. Shadows got into a brawl with guys from a rival neighborhood and ended up spending the night in jail for assaulting a cop. These dudes were throwing bottles at us and then their car got caught in a cul-de-sac. So I ran up with a whole can full of bottles and smashed in their front window. Then I threw brass knuckles through the back window. The neighbors thought the sound was gunshots and called the police. So we ran through the park. These cops on motorcycles pulled up with guns out and yelled "get down!" and me being an antagonistic fuck said what the fucks the problem officer? So a cop kicks me in the back of the leg and shoves me down. I got up and hit him. Then he hit me. So I grabbed him by the throat. Finally all the cops with guns put me in fucking hand cuffs and one of them cracks me in the back of the head with a maglite. That's the reason I didn't spend time in jail because he hit me and I had proof.
-M. Shadows was known at one time as the "kid that killed the principal" when the principal at his school had a heart attack after Matt had vandalized the school.
-M. Shadows was kicked out of elementary christian school.
-M. Shadows was kicked out of elementary christian school.
omg. your article rock! I love Matt.. reading this makes me love him more! thank you man! looking forward for the rest of the band's profile.. Good luck! :D
BalasHapus