Synyster came into Avenged Sevenfold in 1999, before the release of the band's first album, Sounding the Seventh Trumpet. He was featured on their EP Warmness on the Soul, and on the reissue of their first album, only playing on one song, the heavy metal version of "To End The Rapture". His father, Brian Haner, is a musician and often is called Avenged Sevenfold's official acoustic guitar player for his appearances on their CD's. He attended the Musicians Institute in Hollywood, California as part of the GIT program, and studied Jazz guitar, citing Django Reinhardt as a major influence.Synyster is also a member of the band Pinkly Smooth, a side project with The Rev(Avenged Sevenfold's drummer), along side former bassist of Avenged Sevenfold Justin Sane. Pinkly Smooth was disbanded because Gates and The Rev wished to focus full time on Avenged Sevenfold, although when asked recently, The Rev and Syn both said that there was a new side project being planned, featuring the two playing older Pinkly Smooth songs.Gates says his biggest influences are a Dimebag Darrell (Pantera, Damageplan), Slash (Guns N Roses, Velvet Revolver) and John Petrucci (Dream Theater, Liquid Tension Experiment). Synyster and Zacky Vengeance often play guitar back-to-back which is appealing to the crowd and works well since Synyster is right-handed and Zacky is a left-handed.Synyster was recently named Guitarist of the Year by Total Guitar magazine. He has been sponsored by Schecter Guitar Research since 2004, and has custom Avenger models out.[
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