Synyster Gates
Synyster Gates

If you want to do things right, you have to dig deep for that inspiration.

Synyster Gates
Synyster Gates

He happens to be my father and an incredible musician. When he gets lucky, we let him into the studio for 20 minutes to hear a song which has been previously written for him.

Synyster Gates
Synyster Gates

I don't feel like we have that Paul McCartney gene, and I think the cool thing about us is that we know it.

Synyster Gates
Synyster Gates

I don't like being locked in a cage on the creative scale. I need an outlet.

Synyster Gates
Synyster Gates

We're trying to leave no stone unturned, to push forward in every aspect of what it means to be a band. Because this really matters to us. Metal matters to us. And we know exactly how much it means to kids out there, too.

Synyster Gates
Synyster Gates

I learned sweep picking from a variety of sources. One was a Frank Gambale instructional video, but he executes his sweeps a little differently.

Synyster Gates
Synyster Gates

During our formative years, it was all about, 'What did Metallica do?' and 'How do we do that?' and then you try and find an identity of your own, but they're still... They were the pioneers and the trailblazers.

Synyster Gates
Synyster Gates

For the first two weeks after he passed, we were done as a band. We were just done. And because of the fans and Jimmy's parents and relatives and stuff like that, they just demanded that we continue on and spread the legacy that is, you know, the crazy James 'The Rev' Sullivan.

Synyster Gates
Synyster Gates

Everything from the lyrics to the production, solos to the writing - it's all democratic. At the end of the day, you know, when you're all done with the grind - which it is always an incredible grind for us to write records - I think it makes it that much more special to hear the final product.

Synyster Gates
Synyster Gates

We spent a lot of time in the studio. I mean, we've spent a lot of time on tour, too.

Synyster Gates
Synyster Gates

Maybe we'll do some fun stuff here and there, but I don't want to record any more songs.

Synyster Gates
Synyster Gates

We make sure we have total artistic control with our albums. We were working with Interscope Records, and they had a hard time with us having all the control. So when we signed with Warner Bros., we told them we would be working hands-on with our producer, and they were cool with it.

Synyster Gates
Synyster Gates

I'm obsessed with great endings and crazy intros and stuff like that. I think we all are from what we've listened to and stuff, so I've always focused on great bridge melodies that just kind of naturally fit, or like a crazy ending at the end of 'Seize the Day,' something like that.

Synyster Gates
Synyster Gates

I can't imagine doing anything cooler or better than what we did on 'The Stage' and felt like we're firing on all cylinders.

Synyster Gates
Synyster Gates

I hope we're not the last of the Mohicans when it comes to putting on a big, crazy, over-the-top theatrical rock show.

Synyster Gates
Synyster Gates

We spend a lot of time with MIDI keyboards and various processors, and we just figure it out. And all those things you hear in our songs work as submelodies and countermelodies, and everything has to fit.

Synyster Gates
Synyster Gates

Bullet for My Valentine, we're bros. We've been in the trenches with those guys.

Synyster Gates
Synyster Gates

If you write a country song, and it's the best song you've ever written but throw it out because you're a metal band, you'd be an idiot.

Synyster Gates
Synyster Gates

We tried our best for so long to make the heaviest record we could make.

Synyster Gates
Synyster Gates

When we try and blend the two together, the songwriting and the touring like we did before, it doesn't really work. We tend to become very focused on what we are doing. And we tend to be a little bit one-track-minded.