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"Syn"Brian Elwin Haner Jr.
D. O. B 07/07/1981Lead Guitarist, Pianist, and Backup Vocalist
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| "Nightmare" Video 2010 |
“If I had to do anything else in this world I would be a failure.” –Synyster Gates-
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| "Afterlife" Video |
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| Synyster Gates is sponsored by Schecter Guitars. Some of his designs are pictured above. |
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For Several years Syn had his own clothing line called Syn Gates Clothing. Due to legal issues he has now shut it down. He has said though that he hopes to get it back up and running again. In his clothing line he sold hoodies, Tee shirts, Gloves, Beanies and more. You will sometimes see M. Shadows wear a tee from his bordello line on stage. The skull with the hat as you see below was his logo for his clothing line.  Facts:
•Syn joined A7X in 1999, before the release of Sounding the Seventh trumpet. He was originally in a gobblin metal band called Pinkly Smooth with A7X Drummer Jimmy "The Rev" Sullivan. Pinkly Smooth was disbanded because Brian and Jimmy wanted to devote all their time to A7X. In a recent interview, Syn said he was hoping to possibly remaster the old Pinkly Smooth demo type album and possibly release some material that has never been heard by the public.
•Syn has written two songs with James Hart of Burn Halo. The titles are "Dirty Lil Girl" and "anejo".•Syns’s grandpa rode from Arizona on a personally made custom bike to California and joined the Air Force. Brian is very close to his grandfather. Syn's Grandfather has now passed away.
•Syn’s custom chopper was created by Lucky 7 Choppers.
•Susie Haner is not Syn’s mother. His mom and dad are divorced. He has one brother, Brent, a half sister, McKenna, (father) and a half brother, Johnny (mother). Syn’s real mothers name is Jan Gera.
•Syn has an allergy to Bee Stings.
•Syn’s favorite color is Purple. He decided he liked the color in elementary school.
•Syn’s guitar tech is Kevin "Za" Zazzara.
•At last count, Syn reported having in excess of 268 total assorted hats. The guys joke about having to wait to check the hats on airplanes and that his hat collection has to have its own seat during travel. Jimmy claimed the hat box often took his seat.
•Syn married Michelle Dibennedetto (Twin to Val Sanders) in Mexico on May 7th, 2010. He had his bachelor party in Las Vegas.
•A few years ago Syn developed an infection of the pericardium also known as pericarditis (The sac around his heart). He had all the classic symptoms of a heart attack but, did not actually have one, and he was very sick. He of course made a full recovery.
•Syn has a dog that goes by Pinkly. Pinkly can be seen on the MVI that was sold with the Avenged Sevenfold CD.
•Syn is sponsored by Schecter Guitars and has his own line of guitars including the Syn Custom which looks identical to the black and white one he plays regularly on stage.
•Syn hates to restring his guitars and this fact has delayed production on their albums in the past. He says he would rather they be put on right so he sends them back to Schecter Guitars for restringing.
•Syn stands 5'10 and has brown eyes.
•Syn would like to make a song with Trevor Roy Dunn, Paul McCartney, and Jonathan Taylor.
•Syn probably started playing the guitar at 9 years old but didn't get serious about it until he was 11.
•Up until 2007 Syn had his left nostril pierced. He has since removed it.
•Syn played with Danny Elfman on the Wanted Soundtrack Score.
•Syn's endearing quality is the faces he makes on stage that will never fail to bring a smile to your face. He also has this wonderful sarcastic wit and humor about him that you will either love or hate.
•Syn was featured in Good Charlottes video "The River"in 2007.
•Brian attended The Muscians Institute in Hollywood, California as part of the GIT program. He studied Jazz guitar citing Django Reinhardt as a major influence. Brian cites Dimebag Darrell of Pantera, Damage Plan, Slash of Guns N' Roses, Velvet Revolver, and John Petrucci, Dream Theater as his guitar influences.
•Syn along with his dad wrote and recorded the theme song to The Jeff Dunham Show.
•Syn is the son of Brian Haner Sr. a country guitarist/stand-up comedian who is often referred to as Papa Gates by the Avenged Sevenfold Fans and now as Git guy.
• Syn's parents made him learn to play piano for which he is now greatful. He credits learning to play piano with teaching him to read music.
• Syn's all time fave band is Mr. Bungle. He really likes the early stuff.
• Syn also likes Danny Elfmans abilities in creating musical scores.
• Syn's all time fave song is Bohemian Rapsody by Queen. This song impresses him greatly.
• Syn says in his opinion the Beatles are the best composers ever.
•Syn has an extensive collection of Guns. He inherited many of them from his grandfather. His collection includes such things as a .50 caliber hand cannon.
• The first song Syn learned on the guitar was "I Think We're Alone Now" By Tiffany, a very popular poppy 80's song.
• Syn gave his dad Papa Gates/Brian Sr. the prototype for his black and red schecter that he played in the video for "Beast and the Harlot". Papa Gates plays it at the first of his most recently released video. Fact provided by Rachel Gates  |
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| Awards and Recognition:
• In 2006, Syn was named guitarist of the year by "Total Guitar Magazine".
• Syn won the Dimebag Darrell "young shredder award" in 2006 "Golden God Awards" run by "Metal Hammer".
• In 2010, Guitar World Listed Syn as on of the 30 greatest shredders of all time. They discribed him as being able to perform finger-twisting licks, acrobatic sweeps, devilish chromatics and towering dual-harmonys.
• Brian was chosen Guitar hero's 50 fasted guitarist.
• On the Guitar Worlds 2010 Readers Poll, Syn was chosen Snappiest Dresser and the Best Metal Guitarist.
• Rock one Magazine's 2010 Readers Poll voted Synyster Gates the #3 best musician in the industry.
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| Syn competes in Mixed Matial Arts |
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Syn's Baby Girl, His Maltese Pinkly.
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| Syns baby girl, his Maltese Pinkly |
Quotes: "I am an intelligent drunk because an intelligent drunk carries his liquor with him" House of Blues Myrtle Beach, SC 11-28-2008
"I really pride myself that my band has not changed. We're still the same group of guys that goes home and has dinner together and gets drunk together and does the same stuff. When we bought our homes, our nice, big houses, we still moved close to mom's house. Mentally, we're the same; it's just what we do for a living."
"I think all of our personalities in the band are pretty eccentric, in a way. Just a little bit out there."
"I've never heard the man not be able to talk. We actually flew out to do the gig knowing there was some underlying problem. He made it throug"h the first show and was a bad ass about it. But woke up the next morning and couldn't physically talk. So he pushed himself way too far and went home and he was really rough for a couple of days. And his vocal coach and his doctors and different propel prescribed him four weeks of vocal rest. So he walked around with a chalk board. He would write letters to us." referencing Matt’s Vocal strain and subsequent cancellation of tour dates in October 2008
"We worked out asses off for this record we were in the studio for three months working 12 to 14 hour days until our fingers were falling off, or until our vocal cords were toast. That's just how we do things. The DVD (All Excess) represents us perfectly, because it has excerpts from the last 10 years of our lives, being with friends in the biggest partying situations and the biggest workaholic situations that we put ourselves in. If you take that and listen to our music, you can tell we are a dead serious band. We grew up together and we love hanging out with each other. Things get a little wild sometimes but that’s what you get" Referencing Avenged Sevenfold the album
"Oh I love illegal down loading! It's brought us awareness, enabling us to go on tour. Where kids have no money to buy music, they download it, and that helps to spread the word."
"When people tell me I am better than I think I am I feel good about myself."
"I think we have just become a really fearless band that pretty much does what we want to do. Now we are not afraid to experiment with anything"
"I do my best to concentrate on the day. Even if it's kind of a bad day. I don't spend the time wishing for the next day to come. Cause if the next day is fucking bad, then I’m just wasting my life wishing for death."
"This is a tight unit-we'll hang-out with you but......"
"There have been physical assaults. I've been kicked and called names."
"There are definitely people out there that would kill us."
"I've been awake for 4 days straight on drugs. That was the longest."
"We are so passionate about this band that we don't want to fuck up".
"If I had to do anything else in this world I would be a failure. I was an honor student until 4th grade, when I got a guitar in my hand. Then I quickly became an educational failure. This is all I can do now and I want to do the best."
"I'm totally going to do a big line of coke off my first gold record".
"Our biggest fear is to be lumped into one category. We first got labeled as a metalcore band. So we quit screaming. Now we're bringing all these influences together to forge an A7X style."
"When we started out on "City of Evil" we were like if it happens, but we didn't expect any of this stuff. I'm just really proud that we wrote the album that we did and that it did cross-over, because it's pretty ridiculous, crazy, ambitious album. For it to be accepted in the world of radio and MTV and to win the VMA. It's pretty insane!
"When you play A7X music, your fingers are going to get sore and your drummer is going to have leg spasms."
"Being different is curtail these days but it gets harder all the time to get there sanely".
"I love jazz from a metal stand point crazy arpeggios with tons of altered holes but equally palatable as the straight ahead stuff. Anything to make it heavier, goofier, funnier. I'm a big climax guy. I want every song to be a roller coaster ride, but to never forget about structure and melody. You broaden fans horizons if you do it right."
"The .50 caliber is the loudest, craziest thing I've ever shot or heard or seen in my entire life. That and the .45 are my 2 dream guns. I've got tons of other guns from my grandpa but those are my babies. Some people give you shit about having guns but I don't give a fuck. It's my right and responsibility." Note* Syn's Smith & Wesson .50 Caliber hand cannon, a revolver has 3x the stopping power of a .44 magnum.
"When I joined the band I couldn't play rhythm guitar worth a shit".
"Playing with a good drummer like the Rev makes out lives easier. We've been playing with the Rev practically our whole lives and he's always had a great groove."
"We can lay back and play a great show for ourselves and our fans, without having to look back at the dickhead ruining the song".
"We seem to know the difference between polishing a turd and having something really good".
"As a band, we think similarly even though we come from such vastly different genres".
"My number-one favorite metal lead guitar player of all time is Dimebag Darrell. Slash is also one of the tastiest players ever".
"Welcome to Casa de la Syn"
"I know we have this reputation of partying but I think we have all grown up alot over the last few years".
“We work our fucking asses off and then partying comes second".
"I've been with my girlfriend for 3 years and I decided that I wasn't going to do anymore fucking around because this girl’s rad.
God bless the groupies but I'm in a different stage of my life now. I feel bad for them. They'll be waiting a lot longer than they thought they were gonna".
When you're out there riding fast and you feel the wind in your face it's so exciting and invigorating. I'm all about it."
"I'm a guitar geek, so its always technical. You broaden fans horizons if you do it right." - 2006 -
 "Harley-Davidson is the epitome of cool. That H-D Logo has always represented the American bad-ass."
"We never slide by unnoticed, that's for sure. People either hate everything about us-the full 10 minute songs, all the guitar solos, the singing, and the lyrics, the crazy drumming-or they have absolute undying love for us. There's no middle ground."
"Were just so fuckin proud of what we accomplished with this record. We really worked together as a group, as songwriters, as players. To come up with the best and most diverse stuff we have ever done. What anyone else says doesn't really matter.-referencing "Avenged Sevenfold" the album-
"Music is pretty much in my blood and it’s definitely in my environment."
"I like fingering as opposed to palming, it was the smart choice to make." -Quote provided by Rachel Gates-
"I thought it went down great. It was a very difficult show, it’s one of our bigger ones so they put us in places not so acoustic friendly so it’s really hard to hear shit, but listening back I think we’re all pretty much in tune, solos turned down alright, Shad sounds awesome, and drumming’s amazing. I mean, I’m pretty proud of it ‘cause up there I had to drink a little bit more to make things a little more comfortable ‘cause the in-ears where definitely a little ambient."-Commenting on the Live in the LBC DVD-
"What I’m doing I try to do my best to just hit the parts and not try to be a douche bag all the time.”
"We’re growing together every step of the way. It’s one of those things you can never predict or work on; if you’re compatible you’re compatible and we fortunately are."-Brian referencing his relationship with the rest of the band-
"I never got to meet Dimebag before he died and he’s, you know, if not my favorite one of my favorite guitar players."
"I’m fine with the feel that I was given from whoever my creator was, maybe my mom or my dad or God. And that’s fine, I’ll never be him. You know, when I was maybe 19 or 20 or 21 if somebody told me I couldn’t be like Dimebag Darrell I probably would’ve said, “Fuck you, yes I can,” or if I found that they were just telling the truth I would’ve been bummed. But now I am what I am and hopefully kids dig on that. "
"In my experience I find there is a lot less competition than what you read about in guitar magazines and stuff. Guitar players can be a little egotistical and definitely catty and competitive, but most I’ve met have been really cool people, except for Zack.
"I think when you see the DVD that came with the actual CD, the making of the album or whatever, you can see how fun it actually was and you can see the funny shit. You know, Shad would come in and tell me to do it again or tell Zacky to do it again, we’ll be telling him its outta tune over and over, shit like that, but it’s funny. Like I said, egos are left outside the door. "-Brian referencing the MVI and CD collection-
"We’re just doing our best and we’re just doing our own thing. If it works, it works. You never know what’s going to work in this world. You have to do your own thing and we definitely believe in our creativity, our business ethic and how to really reach our kids. We cultivated such a great relationship with our fans that I think that helps a fuck of a lot. We remain close and they in turn respect the evolution of this band; understanding that we’re always changing and we’re always switching it up. At first it was kind of a bummer to them, but I think they now get excited about it, to see what we’re going to do next. I don’t think many bands; certainly not any bands that I listened to growing up had that effect. I always wanted it to stay the same. Now we constantly have that, “What are they going to do next kind of effect,” which is cool."
"I don’t think that we really ever sucked, but damn close and I think we’re getting better and better. That’s all I want to do as a musician, songwriter and performer. I just want to get better and my idea of better might not be another kid’s idea or version of better, but it’s my fucking band."-Brian’s response when asked why they don't scream anymore-
"I write when I write and when I’m in writing mode, fortunately it comes out and I come up with a lot of material."
"If something fucks up, it used to be the end of the world and now you can turn it into probably one of the highlights of the show if you just joke around about it. You know, “My guitar doesn’t work, I don’t give a fuck, I don’t need a guitar! I can dance, I can go drink beer, I can go do whatever the fuck I want!” The whole outlook and aspect of live performing has definitely changed for the better."
"I tried golf and golf doesn’t work for me and I don’t like spending all the money. Jujitsu was perfect for me."
"The gym sucks. It gets so fucking stagnant and stale. You just want to exercise a better way. I go in there and I get fucking jacked in two weeks and I get twice as big and I look like a goddamn fool. I’m not supposed to look like that. I’d rather stay a little more lean. Namely, it’s just exercising in ways that are beneficial in different applications in life like kicking a man’s ass."
"We were the underdogs."-Brian words on stage when the guys won the moon man for best new artist in a video in 2006
"Sucked my dick for a buck......suck yours for 2."
“When “I wouldn’t be one-third of the player I am today if it wasn’t for Avenged,” he says. “They’re an inspiring group of guys, and I’m constantly challenged to write things beyond my ability and then figure out how to play them.”
I was 18 and just a complete dickhead and wanting to play shit way over everybody’s head, Kessel was my guy,”
I’m very open to music, and I like to do things in a traditional and musical way. For example, if I’m soloing on a ballad, I don’t want to play fast; I want to play slow and melodic. Or on a song like ‘Dear God’ [from 2007’s Avenged Sevenfold], which has a country-ish vibe, I don’t want to play like myself—I want to play like a country guy. I always try to fit the song to the best of my ability.”
"when I was growing up, Slash was the guy, for sure. The hat, the guitar, the ‘November Rain’ video where he’s standing on the piano ripping that solo—he’s the whole package. And I still consider him the best melodic player of all time.”  "This time out, the band not only wanted to produce the record on their own, but outdo themselves as a musical act."I think we raised the bar, and we had the mindset that we wanted to do it, but we had no clue what we were gonna do,And we've always claimed that we were this fearless band, with the utmost fearless approach to writing music, but in a way, this was like the self-realization that we sort of hadn't. And this album, all boundaries were just torn down and we just went absolutely crazy, and we really made a pretty eclectic and, as far as we're concerned, not to sound too cocky, but a flawless album."- referencing the self titled album Avenged Sevenfold-
"We try to keep our personal lives to ourselves. Maybe in 10 years we’ll write a book. Everybody likes to talk about our partying, but I can guarantee we’re not shooting up heroin like Mötley Crüe. Sure, we have our own personal vices, but we just do our own thing and try to keep it private. But we always wake up at a certain time to prepare for the show, ’cause that’s the most important thing. Business comes first, but when that’s done, whatever happens, happens." 2009
"For me, Gibson is the best-playing guitar of all time. The only thing I’ve found that’s even comparable is my custom Schecter. Also, a Les Paul lacks a whammy bar and 24 frets, which I require. Besides, Gibson is a little late in the game. They just offered us an endorsement, but Schecter has been by our sides supporting us since day one." 2009
"Maybe five years ago I might have been more competitive, but these days I don’t think of myself as a competitive guitar player. I know what I do is different, and for what I do, I can play just as fast as the next guy." 2009
"Picking technique? Hmm…I think everybody’s different, and sure, maybe mine’s a little weird. Basically, I was self-taught for 10 years, until I went to the Musicians Institute. But by that time it was too little, too late. [laughs] They could teach me theory, but I was already playing too fast to really stop and change my picking technique."
"We always write above our head and you can do a bunch of different takes and splice things together in the studio but live you have to nail it or else you’re a fraud [laugh]. And Avenged Sevenfold would hate to be ever fucking misconstrued as a fraud ‘cause we definitely go full-bore and put all our effort into recreating those songs live in their entirety just like you hear them on the album and I think we do a good job of it. "2008
"When you’re trying that’s when you will screw up ‘cause you’re over thinking it, but when it’s second nature and you’re up there having fun that’s when you perform at your best. Unfortunately, it’s like the opposite of a Catch-22. You know, when you’re having fun and you’re not thinking about things, you’re playing better, but it’s hard to do that; it’s really hard to get to that point. " 2008.
"I used to be when I was a kid, we all were. We were born and raised in OC so there’s a bunch of skate parks by our house, but after you fall a few hundred times you kinda give that shit up when you get older. Now I pretty much just surf. It’s safer, all you can do there is drown [laughs]." 2008
"Well, I really wanted to do kind of a long “November Rain”-ish song, and so this is a song that I’ve been working on for a very long time, which is, like, the number one sign and symptom of a bad song [laughs]. So that’s basically what it is and it did get finished. It’s kind of one of those songs that just didn’t quite get there." referencing until the end from the album Diamonds in the Rough. 2008
"Yeah, the Rev is one of the most talented guys I know and have ever met. No matter what band you talk about, the biggest most famous bands off all-time, he’s right up there as far as I’m concerned. He’s a brilliant writer, he’s got one of my favorite voices in the world, and I know this for a fact, he’s the best drummer in the world. I mean, put those things together and he’s a pretty unstoppable dude. I feel very much like that with the rest of the guys, too."
"Well, nobody thinks my solos suck [laughs]. I’m just kidding. No, there’s definitely a ton of that, but it goes both ways, you know? We’re all very, I hate to use the word hard on each other, but we all get it. We have huge talks beforehand thing, you know, “We’re gonna be really hard on each other and we just want this to be a perfect album. We’re gonna be doing ourselves, there’s not gonna be that shoulder to lean on. Being a producer, you know, we’re gonna have to do it for ourselves. Fuck the egos and lets go make the best record we’ve ever made,” and that’s exactly what happened. "
"I think when you see the DVD that came with the actual CD, the making of the album or whatever, you can see how fun it actually was and you can see the funny shit. You know, Shad would come in and tell me to do it again or tell Zacky to do it again, we’ll be telling him its outta tune over and over, shit like that, but it’s funny. Like I said, egos are left outside the door. "  NOTE: The photo at the very top of Synyster Gates bio is the property of Dennis Tesch Photography and I am using it with his personal permission. Please do not steal it. It is my personal belief that he has caught the bands essence better than any other photographer I have seen thus far since I've been following the band (early 2004). If you would like to contact Mr. Tesch or view more of his work you can do so here. The photo was taken in Germany November 2010.
This site is dedicated to the Band Avenged Sevenfold
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