Zacky Vengeance

Music and Playing Guitar

Zacky started to play guitar at age 12 while he was in the seventh grade. He learned by watching his favourite bands and other people he knew who played and practiced as much as he could. He would also read each edition of Guitar World cover to cover, learning the tabs of the songs published in there and watching the professionals perform it until he got it right. His influences in his style are Rancid, Misfits and Bad Religion. Zacky's favourite bands also include Metalica, Guns N Roses and 'other bands like that'.

Before joining up with Avenged Sevenfold, Zacky played in a punk band called: MPA while in high school.
Tattoos

Zacky got his first tattoo when he was around 18, on his leg of a sparrow with a dagger through it. He continues to get tattoos just because he wants to be the kind of guy people see in a nice car, that people looked down on but it actually successful. Zacky also likes his tattoos because they make him look a bit buffer than he really is.

His tattoos include:

* A sparrow with a dagger through it on his leg
* A purple and red coffin on the side of his right index finger which the members of Avenged Sevenfold got with Good Charolette
* The Anaheim Angels logo behind his left ear which he got as the result of a bet he made with Synister Gates back in
* The word Vengeance and the number seven on his back in red to resemble a jersey
* A Jesus on his right lower arm near his wrist
* A sparrow with a dagger on his leg
* A decapitated woman on his right arm
* A skull with wings on left arm

Quick Facts

* Has a dog named Ichabod Crane Vengeance
* Thought of the abbreviation of A7X
* Has his own clothing line: Vengeance University
* Recently released for sale a guitar model he designed

Quotes

* "I ain't afraid of no ghosts, but I think we're all afraid of STDs
* "Johnny's in space, The Rev's in jail, Synyster's in Germany, Shadows knocks down the walls, and I cure cancer then forget how I did it."
* "I wish, I wish I hadn't killed that fish.
* "I play guitar and **** little girls... and drink.
* "I think the invitation was something to the effect of 'We have lots of beer and we need your help drinking it.' Naturally we said yes." (on how they ended up on Warped Tour for a 4th year)
* "Yeah, can I bite you?"
* "How does it feel living in England knowing Robin Hood was going around f***ing f***ing people?!!"
* "I'm Zacky Vengeance and I play the gynaecologist."
* "I dont talk to strangers."
* "The death bat was drawn by a small norwegian man."

-Zackys parents names are Maria and Matthew Baker.

-Zackys guitar tech is Pete Walker.

-Zacky has a brother Matt Baker who is a member of the band The Dear and Departed and a sister Zina Baker Pacheco who has a daughter and a son.

-Zacky also has a little dog that goes by Ichabod Vengeance whom he established a MySpace for.

-Zacky is a left handed guitarist.

-Zacky has a girlfriend Gina Paulhus. She is seen dancing with him in the video "Afterlife". You can also see Gina in the video for "Seize the Day" during the funeral scene standing beside Zacky.

-Zacky is 5'9 and has green eyes.

-Sour Patch Kids is Zackys favorite candy.

-House of 1000 Corpses is Zackys favorite Halloween Movie.

-Zackys scariest Halloween memory is cleaning up after his 2006 Halloween party.

-Zackys favorite Halloween costume was an orange pumpkin suit with a green hat.

-Zacky laughingly says he would like to make a song with Jim Henson of the Muppet fame, Beethoven, and Lil Wayne.

-Zackys white guitar with the red spashes on it he calles the gynocologist has been stolen 3 times in the past. It somehow always gets returned to him.

- Zacky couldn't get the finger twirl right on the Video for Beast and the Harlot. He had to practice it many times before he got it right.

-Zacky learned to play guitar on his fathers right handed guitar. In order to make it work he turned it upside down.

-Zacky smokes Marlboro Reds.


"We didn't really know what we were getting ourselves into. We thought you would just go to a restaurant and they would serve you King Cobra, like it was a common thing. But that wasn't the case." Referencing his experience with drinking the blood of the King Cobra

"If it were all going to end tomorrow, we'd still be the same people that we are. I think that's why we have such a long career. We just stay true to ourselves and have fun doing it."

"I read that I was a 6 finger guitarist." Referencing the weirdest thing he ever read about himself.

"I think that illegal downloading is great. I'd rather sell a million songs for 5-10 cents apiece than a hundred at $20 a CD. It's all about getting your music heard.

"As far as my overall favorite song of all time I would probably say MIA form the city of Evil CD. From think that's probably one of the most meaningful, strongest, heartfelt, songs that we've ever written."

"We just really like to try to be the best songwriters that we can be as opposed to a good metal band or good any other kind of band."

"Avenged Sevenfold the album was our lifetime of influences put to work. I think the most distinct difference on this album is that the songs are the most focused that any Avenged Sevenfold songs have ever been in the fact that some of our other songs were on other albums were very long and meandering and almost progressive."

"On the Taste of Chaos tour we just want a tour that is memorable"

"When we tour we can see the change of seasons better."

"One thing we take pride in is being able to play everything that we write live."

"I've never felt that way. I've never felt like a looser. You can't get what you want if you feel like it's you against the world. You'll never get anywhere with negativity. I make my own opportunities I don't feel like everything is against me."

"All of us knew it then at the first rehearsal. We thought we were the biggest band in the world before we even played a show. We knew that was what we wanted to do. We just had to find a way to make it work."

"Johnny would bite your fuckin' ankles."

“I was born out of a vagina that was pretty depraved.

“There was a time when metal ruled the world and I don't see any reason why it should be different now."

"I think a lot of the time writers try to make us sound like a stupid young kid. You don't get to where we are by being a stupid kid that just loves titty bars. We're really smart, and everything we do is really thought out, and they just want to make us look like party machines with stupid opinions on politics. We're more than what people want to write about."

"Zacky Vengeance-Fuck yeah! It's going to be on my tombstone. It's a huge part of my life. Only my family has been there longer."

"When we made the change some kids didn't like it. They'll come back around. A lot of people are scared of change and that's why there are not a lot of bands out there doing anything creative."

"All the other bands in our genre, heavy bands it's like they've given up and given it over to rap. They say aw...fuck TRL. You don't take over the world by leaving unconquered territory."

"When I get a platinum record I'll do a double-line."

"It's 1999-upside down- That was the year we formed the band. But 6661 is cool cuz it's like Satan won. To me that's the real number of the beast."

"We got to the point where we got sick of the screaming and we didn't want to contribute to the noise pollution anymore. Then we realized that all our favorite bands didn't scream."

"It's been like that from day one though. There's no middle ground with us. One of the first reviews we got best album of the month and we also got worst album of the month at the same time. It's like maybe we are onto something here."

"Some players don't appreciate how important rhythm guitar is and how a good rhythm guitarist will hold everything together".

"Just for good measure we had to bum the drummer out by taking away some of his favorite parts of the record too".

"We expect this album to take us to the next level".

"With each album we're becoming a little more fearless. One thing that annoys me is people who say A7X were at their best when "Sounding the Seventh Trumpet" was out. Where were those fans when we couldn't sale out a single show or sale over 2000 copies of the album?"

"Critical Acclaim is us telling people who don't make the decisions to just shut up a minute. Their bitching really isn't helping".

"If you don't know now you know."-Zackys words on stage taking the moon man in 2006 for best new artist in a video.-

Zacky Vengeance issued the following thanks to fans for their #4 Billboard debut of their latest self-titled album:

"It’s kind of funny to wake up and see the words Avenged Sevenfold at the #4 spot on the billboard top 200. Right next to The Eagles and a Britney/Carrie Underwood threesome. I don’t know about you but it puts a smirk on my face just knowing that our fans tattooed it right on the foreheads of everyone who would quickly disregard the name Avenged Sevenfold (like we aren’t a fucking force to be reckoned with, Haha). So once again thank you from the bottom of our hearts."

"MTV has decided to debut our video for almost easy on TRL which makes me believe that someone over at MTV is screaming for something real. I’ll be honest with you, when I roll out of bed every morning my goal in life isn’t to be alongside popstars or actors and actresses or on the cover of the national enquirer. It sure does feel good though to surprise all those people that don’t even know what "an A7X" is by putting them right behind us on the countdown or going home with their moonman."


"With that said if you wanna vote and bury whatever else they’re playing at the moment you can do that here. If not we’re still coming to your city to kick ass and have a great fucking time with all of you. Thank you all again for every ounce of support love and respect!"

"Avenged Sevenfold," the self-titled and self-produced follow-up to the 2005 million-selling "City of Evil," topped also the Billboard Alternative, Hard and Rock Charts this week in addition to its #4 debut on the Billboard Top 200. This marked the biggest sales week ever for the Huntington Beach-based band. "Avenged Sevenfold" was released on October 30th by Warner Bros. Records.

"Almost Easy," the first single for the album, exploded into the Top 10 at Active Rock and Top 20 at Alternative in less than a month. In addition, the video for "Almost Easy" is in MTV2's You Rock The Deuce Countdown and the Number One Most Played Video on Fuse.