Synyster Gates, the band Avenged Sevenfold's lead guitarist, fell in love with his six-string the moment he picked it up.
"I never wanted to put it down. I loved the feel and the sound of it," said Gates, who was born Brian Hander. He was speaking by phone from his bunk on a tour bus somewhere between St. Louis and Chicago.
When he was 12, Gates' father introduced him to the music of Pantera, featuring guitarist Dimebag Darrell Abbot. "It was a little over my head when I first heard the music. But as I got older, I really got into it and appreciated it.
"Then in my teens, my friend got me hooked on Mr. Bungle. And I knew that I wanted to play the guitar. Once I got one, I always had it in my hands."
In July 2001, the band — Gates, guitarist Zacky Vengeance (ZackaryBaker), bassist Johnny Christ (Jonathan Seward), drummer the Rev (Jimmy Sullivan) and vocalist M. Shadows (Matt Sanders) — released its debut album, "Sounding the Seventh Trumpet." In 2003, the band released the follow-up "Waking the Fallen." This year, following the release of "City of Evil," the group headed out on the Vans Warped Tour.
"We make sure we have total artistic control with our albums," said Gates. "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."
Gates said the reason the band members want control is that they don't trust a lot of people. "It's just in the nature of the business. There are those people who try to change what you're doing. We don't like that. When we went into the studio for 'City of Evil,' we had 99 percent of the songs finished and ready to record. We changed one thing. But we worked on the songs and had them in the gates.
"When we do find someone we trust, like our tour manager, they become an official part of the band. We take our time to make sure whoever we trust has our best interest in mind."
Gates said the band's success is riding a smooth wave right now. "Our music is being played on MTV and the radio. That's something that still blows us away. And we did it our way."
If you go . . .
What: Avenged Sevenfold, Saosin, Death by Stereo
Where: The Great Saltair
When: Wednesday, 8 p.m.
How much: $16.50 and $18
Phone: 467-8499 or 800-888-8499
E-mail: scott@desnews.com