Matthew Kiichi Heafy

You can find Trivium’s guitarist and lead vocalist, Matthew Kiichi Heafy, regularly livestreaming on Twitch where he does guitar/vocal practice, Trivium songs, video games, and guitar clinics. We recently connected with Matthew and were thrilled to hear that we’ve made our way into his scoring toolkit. We chatted about where it all began with Trivium, his dedicated practice regimen, his transition into the scoring world, and how his connection with his Japanese heritage has had a hand in various projects. Check out the full interview with musician Matthew Kiichi Heafy below:

How and when did you first start playing guitar and writing music?

In the eighth grade, I performed “No Leaf Clover” by Metallica. I was immediately asked to try out for a high school metal band: Trivium. I tried out with “For Whom The Bell Tolls.” I have been in the band since then. This was around 1999, I was 13 years old. Trivium is my first band and first job. I began writing music in Trivium within the first few months of joining the band.

What was the path or the turning point that landed your first major gig?

Even though I joined at 13 and we’d play extensively locally, we weren’t signed for a few years. We were signed to Lifeforce Records when I was 16/17 years old, then again to Roadrunner Records at 17/18 years old. We began touring Europe in 2003, and North America in 2004. We have been touring since then.

Who/what are your biggest musical influences?

Metallica and the other classic greats were the first bands to get me into metal. The Swedish Melodic Death Metal scene was a massive influence on me, alongside Death and Black Metal; later on Metalcore and Hardcore would help round out my upbringing in music. Nowadays I’ve been heavily inspired by Japanese composers of games, movies, and anime (Hisaishi, Uematsu, Sawano); film soundtrack composers (Zimmer, Junkie XL); game composers (Gordon).

We’d love to hear a little bit about your creative process. How do you usually get started on something new?

I like to practice all my needed abilities (guitar, vocals) meticulously and very “right brain”. I ensure I am “in shape” year round to be prepared for anything needed musically. I like to approach my training and conditioning in music more like an athlete than a musician; so I can always be prepared to play a show or make a record if need be. When it comes to making music, with Trivium and Ibaraki I can’t write during writing time. It has to be a “lighting in the bottle moment”. The song has to present itself to me; if I try to write it, it’s not as good as coming about naturally.

Conversely, if I’m asked to compose a game entirely, or make a song for a game or something not Trivium/Ibaraki, I can instantly make something. I like to get lost in the creative process. I like to allow the “left brain” side of just allowing the music to dictate itself, play, flow, and have fun with making the music.

We’re pumped to hear that you’ve become a Heavyocity user, we’d love to hear when in your process you reach for your HY instruments, is that something you’ll use in upcoming projects?

The Heavyocity line is something I always reach for when I’m composing music for games. I love that I can simply load a plug-in of anything, especially Damage/Damage 2, and instantly be able to create. Immediately. From there, I can write and compose freely; then when it’s time to edit and mix I can get into taking those tones and making it something entirely my own. Having gotten so used to using the Heavyocity line in my scoring, I’m sure when it’s time for the next Ibaraki and Trivium project I’ll be bringing in my Heavyocity toolset.

We’d love to hear a bit about your transition from recording artist to game composer. What kinds of approaches do you take, and how do they differ?

When I was 10/11 years old, before getting into Metal, I played the first ‘Doom’ and knew I wanted to make music like that. At 7/8/9 years old I was very much into the music from the Final Fantasy games. Ghibli films, anime, and Japanese shows/culture were always a huge part of my life. I feel all these things made my muscle-memory prepared when it came time to finally get into crafting game music. While Trivium’s original music has been in games a lot over the years, I had always dreamed of fully forging an entire score of original music for games.

My first full soundtrack was for Martial Arts Tycoon under Chance Glasco (COD MW). He asked me one day in Jiu Jitsu class “do you want to score our game?” To which an instantaneous “yes please!” came from yours truly. Then he asked “can you make Brazilian music?”, “Yes?” Was my answer. I then learned how to make Brazilian music. I’ve since been able to complete a couple more entire scores and featured tracks for games I can’t disclose just yet. But yes, lots of metal and orchestral and industrial/electronic incoming.

Do you ever encounter writer’s block; what’s your remedy to cure it?

If I do, I leave that song for a bit. Sure, you can force creativity, but it’s never as good as when it comes about naturally. When it comes to scores, you can’t always wait for inspiration to come about, but the project has to inspire creativity, and a drive to want to paint a picture that is the sonic landscape of the project. If you get stuck, save, go work on another piece or another section or even take a break to get some distance from the roadblock.

What does a typical day look like for you when you’re in the middle of working on a major project?

I always say that I’m “half Marine and half Japanese.” My father is a Marine, and my mom is originally from Japan. I feel the two cultures of both of my parents were really instilled into me. I keep the same schedule when off-tour and at home. I make sure after getting my kids set for their day, I begin my vocal and guitar warm ups, my basic practices to keep in shape for Trivium, then I begin writing/playing.

Every song starts a bit differently; sometimes it’s a tone, or a specific guitar, or specific idea. Sometimes I have melodies or rhythms that pop into my head randomly and I make sure I take a voice memo and label it. Recently I’ve been playing on the simplest free piano on my phone and screen recording that if an idea strikes me.

You’ve been involved in a variety of side projects and collaborations. Can you tell us about some of your favorite experiences outside of Trivium? And how these side projects influence your work with Trivium, if at all?

I am definitely one who has been trying out the many facets revolving around my stratosphere. I would have to say the current game score that I’m working on (that I unfortunately cannot disclose yet) is my proudest outside-of-Trivium/Ibaraki achievement. The vast range of styles it has called for has pushed me into realms of music I never knew I could create.

We noticed that you are also the author of a children’s book. What inspired you to put a project like that into motion? And what was that experience like?

I’ve always been in touch with my Japanese side, and looking around I noticed we have plenty of Viking/Scandinavian lore in our mainstream culture: games, shows, movies, music. Thanks to the influence of Ihsahn (Emperor/Ihsahn) guiding me to tapping into my Japanese side for my side project Ibaraki, the next step was creating a children’s book that teaches the classic stories. Having twins, I found that I wanted them to learn about their Japanese side. I couldn’t find a book, so I made one.

It’s been amazing to see the many cultures around the world now being able to show their families what other cultures’ ancient stories are composed of; and I hope from here it inspires readers to learn about where they come from too. Then hopefully they’ll want to learn about all the cultures around the world.

What is your proudest project to date? Why?

There is a piece I just completed for my current score I’m working on (that I unfortunately can’t disclose yet). When I can finally announce the game score and the song itself, I’ll show the world this piece that I feel may be one of the best works I’ve composed to date.

What’s your studio setup like? (DAW/Hardware systems); do you have a favorite piece of gear (or plugin)?

My studio setup at the moment is a hybrid-mess. Twitch streaming is a big part of my life, so over the years as I’ve built my streaming rig, I’ve integrated my studio rig into it. Currently, I run a Mac M1. I have Apple Logic X as my DAW, and basically I run a live mix setup of myself on guitar and vocals into that, all this acts entirely as the audio that feeds to my stream rig.

Rough setup list and signal-flow:
-A guitar from my too-many-guitar-collection
-DI: a. A clean signal to DAC to DAW
-B. a thru to a my too-many-pedal-collection into an EVH 51503 stealth into a Torpedo Captor X (that goes to DAC into DAW)
-SSL 12 DAC
-Apple M1 with Apple Logic X DAW
-Native Instruments Kontrol S88 with Korg nanoKontrol into DAW
-sE Dynacaster mic into DAC into DAW
-The SSL 12 1+2 outputs feed into an Apogee Duet that feeds into…
-ASUS ROG GA35X PC (for streaming out to Twitch)

This PC rig is adorned with a ton of elgato, ASUS ROG, and Logitech G gear and peripherals.

If you could snap your fingers and have any virtual instrument custom-tailored for you, what would it be?

At the moment, I’d say a library of all the traditional Japanese instruments. I can’t seem to find one that nails the sounds and intricacies of the traditional instruments.

What role do Heavyocity products play in your work?

What I love about Heavyocity is that the line sounds so incredible, and is so intuitive to work within that there is no lost time. I find one of the biggest things that kills inspiration is time-wasting. It can completely crush creativity. With Heavyocity, I can load up the very first patch and it will sound amazing. Everything Heavyocity makes brings incredible sounds and sonics. When your paintbrush and palette are that wonderful, your mind becomes free to create.

Do you have any messages or advice that you’d like to share with aspiring musicians?

Play! And I mean this in every sense. Yes, play your instrument; but more importantly, go back to why you got into this… to have fun: to truly play. Don’t think about creating the music, simply jump in with a child-like mind of making something for you, something you love, something that you have fun making and listening to.

For more on Matthew Kiichi Heafy and his diverse projects go to: https://kiichichaos.com/