Biography Zacky Vengeance (Zachary James Baker)

Zachary James Baker, (born December 11, 1981) better known by his stage name Zacky Vengeance, is the rhythm guitarist and backing vocalist for the American metal/rock band Avenged Sevenfold. Baker attended Huntington Beach High School, and formed Avenged Sevenfold there with M. Shadows and The Rev. Before Avenged Sevenfold, his first band was a
crust punk band called Society Down. He's said before that a demo exists, but lost it years ago. After Society Down, he formed a punk band called MPA*, which stands for Mad Porno Action. He implied that they were both not successful. Baker came up with his stage name "Zacky Vengeance" because he wanted to get back at all the people from his youth who doubted his potential. He also came up with Jonathan Seward's stage name "Johnny Christ," saying it suited him. Vengeance was also responsible for the creation of the initialism "A7X".
Despite playing the guitar left handed, Vengeance recalls the first guitar he learned to play on was actually a right-handed his parents had bought him for his thirteenth birthday. He learned by playing upside-down, watching his favorite 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 there and watching the professionals perform them until he could play them.