MI SUCCESS STORY: SYNYSTER GATES

Brian Elwin Haner, Jr., aka Synyster Gates, is an American guitarist best known for his work with the band Avenged Sevenfold. Synyster Gates was raised in a musical family and grew up influenced by various genres of music, including metal, jazz, classical, gypsy jazz, and more. He came to L.A. to enroll at MI, which was then called the Guitar Institute of Technology.

In 2001, he joined Avenged Sevenfold as lead guitarist. As of 2018, the band has put out seven studio albums, one live album, and one video album. He’s won various musical accolades as a member of Avenged Sevenfold, and has travelled the globe on tour and in 2018, the band received their first Grammy nomination for Best Rock Song. Along with his own musical projects, he also runs The Synyster Gates School, a site for online guitar lessons.