BIOGRAPHY
Name: Brian Elwin Haner Jr.
Nicknames: Syn, Bri, Synyster, Gates, Brian
Date of Birth: July 7th, 1981
Place of Birth: Long Beach, California
Age: 26
Currently Resides In: Huntington Beach, CA in Casa del Syn, right off the PCH
Education: High School, some college at MIT
Hair Color: Brown / Black
Eyes Color: Brown
Height: 5' 10"
Hobbies: Drinking, smoking
Instruments played: Lead Guitar, Backing Vocals, Piano
Preferred gear: Schecter Synyster Custom, Gibson-Les Paul Custom, Bogner amp, Jim Dunlop picks
Musical influences: Dream Theater, Pantera, Guns N' Roses, Oingo Boingo, Django Reinhardt.

Biography: Synyster Gates was born Brian Elwin Haner, Jr. in Huntington Beach, California on July 7th, 1981. He was born to Brian Haner, Sr and Jan Gera, with whom they had one other child, Brent. They split when he was younger and his father remarried Suzy Haner, and had one child with her, McKenna, younger than Brian. His mother has a child from her second marriage, named Johnny. He's played guitar since he was young, when he picked up a guitar and started to try and learn Jimmy Page's solos, ignoring his father's warnings. His father is a studio musician, working for bands such as Frank Zappa.

Michelle Dibenedetto (girlfriend): Occupation: Clothing designer for Syn's clothing line.
How they met: They've known each other since the eighth grade and got together due to two drunken hookups. They are now steadily dating and seriously contemplating marriage, though Gates states he wants to take it slow.

Family: Gates was born to Brian Haner Sr. and Jan Gera. He has one full brother Brent. His parents got divorced and both got remarried. He has one half brother Johnny from his mom's second marriage and a half sister McKenna from his dad's second marriage to suzy haner (Gates' step mother)

Tattoos/piercings and other notable features: He has a full sleeve of monsters tattooed on his right arm, performing a form of torture involving surgery on one particular monster (the only reason he cites is that "I like monsters"); another monster scene on his left arm; purple and green flames on both of his wrists; "Haner" tattooed across his back (it was his first tattoo and he dislikes it due to its amateur quality and rough design, so he never takes his shirt off); he also has a VII tattooed behind his left ear (similar to The Rev's), the number one on his right thumb, 'blue blood' over his left pectoral, "MARLBORO" tattooed on his knuckles, and a coffin tattooed on the inside of his left middle finger (which is a friendship tattoo between a7x and Good Charlotte). He also sports a nose ring, which until recently was a stud.

 

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