Matty Lewis

Matty Lewis
Live in Manchester, 2008
Background information
Born	(1975-05-08) May 8, 1975
Origin	Papillion, Nebraska, U.S.
Genres	Punk rock, Pop punk
Occupation(s)	Musician, guitarist
Instruments	Singing, guitar
Years active	1998–2004 (Jank 1000) 2005–present (Zebrahead)
Labels	Sony Music Japan, SPV, ICON, MFZB
Associated acts	Jank 1000, Zebrahead
Website	www.zebrahead.com
Notable instruments
Gibson SG Gibson Explorer Gibson Les Paul Fujigen (FGN) Matty Lewis Custom

Matty Lewis (born May 8, 1975 in Portsmouth, Virginia) is the rhythm guitarist and co-lead singer of Zebrahead, and is a native of Papillion, Nebraska. Lewis took up playing the guitar and writing songs at age 12.

Jank 1000

While still in Omaha at the age of 22, he formed the band Jank 1000 with bassist Danny Isgro and drummer Jake Horrocks. Together the three produced two independent albums; "Suburban Punks Are Go!!" in 1999 and "My Love Notes And Her Death Threats" in 2000. Both albums spent several months atop the Homer's local album chart in Omaha, including extensive radio airplay for their first single, "Misty 540".

During the summer of 2001, Jank 1000 signed a management deal with Todd Singerman and with Schwam, Schwabm & Schwam as well as Singerman Entertainment. (Motörhead, Zebrahead, Sepultura...) After replacing Horrocks with Albert Kurniawan, the trio set sail for California, playing clubs and venues in and around Los Angeles to warm reviews. Jank 1000 also earned praise for their performance during selected dates of the 2002 Vans Warped Tour. On the heels of moderate success on the West coast, the band decided to call southern California their home. The following year, the band broke up under the strains of producing and recording their third album. The members went their separate ways and Jank 1000 was officially extinct.

Zebrahead

Miles from home and without a band, a financially strapped Lewis put his teaching degree (Dana College - Blair, Nebraska 1998) to use in the Washington D.C and Las Vegas areas. Meanwhile, he continued to write music and play acoustic gigs, while re-recording previous Jank 1000 songs in 2003 and 2004. In December 2004, Lewis received a call from Singerman, who informed him that the lead singer of Zebrahead, Justin Mauriello, had recently left the band due to creative differences. Lewis set out to California yet again to try out for the remaining members of Zebrahead. He was officially named Zebrahead's new co-lead singer,^[1] and formally introduced to the world at a "secret" show at the Anaheim House of Blues on March 8, 2005.

Side projects

Due to Zebrahead's growing popularity in Japan, Lewis and Zebrahead bandmate Ali Tabatabaee were asked by Sega to record vocals for a new theme song, titled "His World", which appears in the 2006 Sonic The Hedgehog game for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Matty Lewis.

• Zebrahead's Official site
• Jank 1000's MySpace Profile