Trivium‘s Matt Heafy has joined forces with guitarist/content creator Jared Dines to release their DINES X HEAFY EP. A music video for single Dear Anxiety has also been released.
The duo crossed paths back in 2017 when Heafy went on to participate in Dines’ Shred Wars series. Fast forward a year and Dines filled in for Heafy on Trivium‘s autumn US tour, when the initial ideas for the EP were developed.
“Matt was pre-internet in the way he launched his career, releasing records, playing shows, and signing to a label. I’m post-internet in the way I launched my career by using YouTube, Facebook, and all of these other video apps. It is interesting to see the crossover though,” Dines explains. “Matt has done everything traditionally. At the same time, he embraced new technologies instead of shutting them out. By doing this together, we get to be in both worlds. The EP was recorded in a raw and real manner. So, it has a different element. It would be cool to show everyone it does not matter if you are a guitarist from Instagram or you are in a big band, you can do things together. At the end of the day, the goal is simple—we’re just trying to write good songs and create some cool shit.”
Speaking further about the collaboration, Heafy adds: “Streaming actually helped me improve as a singer and as a guitarist, because I’m practicing all day in front of people. The culture is very regimented. However, I have always had that mentality, because my mom is Japanese, and my dad was a marine. Now, it is a combination of three things: streaming, training, and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. Those practices made me better at what I do and prepared me to jump into something new. I took a very different approach to DINES x HEAFY. It all came very organically without any planning.”
Check out the Dear Anxiety video below:
Like what you hear? You can stream the DINES X HEAFY EP HERE.
