Jeff Waters facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Jeff Waters
Jeff Waters at Rockharz Open Air 2016 in Germany
Background information
Born	(1966-02-13) February 13, 1966 (age 58) Ontario, Canada
Genres	Thrash metal, speed metal, progressive metal, heavy metal, groove metal
Occupation(s)	Musician, record engineer & producer, songwriter, studio owner
Instruments	Guitar, bass, vocals
Years active	1984–present

Jeff Waters (born February 13, 1966) is a Canadian guitarist and the founder, bandleader and producer of the metal band Annihilator. He was born in Ontario and resides in the UK. Waters has owned Watersound Studios since 1994 (where it was in Maple Ridge, British Columbia) and from 2003 until 2018, in Ottawa, Ontario, and now in the UK.

Early life

Water's father was in the military and his mother was a teacher. His family had houses in Ottawa and Camp Borden, Ontario as well as London, England. He took some classical and jazz guitar lessons at a young age.

Waters has referred to Van Halen, Randy Rhoads, Michael Schenker, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden and Black Sabbath as his early influences. In a 2013 interview with photogroupie.com he said, "I started listening to Elton John, Kiss, Sweet, AC/DC then it evolved from hard rock with electric guitar to Black Sabbath and the heavier stuff, Judas Priest, Maiden, Loudness, Van Halen was coming in. Then I get turned on to the thrash stuff, so then it was Razor, Exciter... Those first albums were a huge influence on metal bands."

Career with Annihilator

Waters formed the band Annihilator in Ottawa, Ontario, in 1984. He wrote and recorded the song "Annihilator" (not to be confused with their 1994 song of the same name) with singer Big John Bates. This original version of Annihilator was released on the special edition of the 2005 album, Schizo Deluxe.

Waters has frequently changed Annihilator's line-up over the years. During the early era of the band, his goal was to produce a stable line-up. ..... Due to these rapid line-up changes, Waters has taken on the role of bass player, engineer, producer and writer as well as guitar player. After some time, Waters began to embrace the idea of working with many other musicians, and recruited vocalist Dave Padden for 12 years (2003 - December 2014) as well as a revolving touring line-up. Jeff Waters has performed lead vocals for six of the band's studio albums and on the songs "Holding On" from 2004's All for You, "Too Far Gone" from the 2005 album Schizo Deluxe, "Operation Annihilation" from 2007's Metal, and "Demon Code" on the 2013 album "Feast".

..... Padden cited he wasn't at all happy playing in the band over the past five years and the decision to leave was not caused by anyone in the band but by a general discontent with the lifestyle and constant touring.

Annihilator has been touring prominently Europe and Asia since 1989. Despite not touring and receiving virtually no press or label interest in Canada and the US, Annihilator has become one of the biggest selling Canadian Metal band of all-time, yet the majority of their sales have been generated from Asia and Europe. Most of Annihilator's discography is hard to find in the band's home country of Canada.

Legacy

Waters is well respected in the metal community for his technical skill and versatility on the guitar. In Annihilator, he plays extremely difficult passages on rhythm guitar, lead guitar, bass guitar, acoustic guitar, and classical guitar. Even when he is playing challenging material, he does so with speed, fluidity and precision. He has also arranged some Annihilator songs into unplugged versions.

Waters has been cited by many metal musicians worldwide as an influence on their own music. Artists from many bands such as 3 Doors Down, Slipknot, Nickelback, Megadeth, Killswitch Engage, Lamb of God, In Flames, Danko Jones, H.I.M., Children Of Bodom, and WOLF have either cited Waters as an influence or have revealed themselves as a fan of Annihilator or his guitar playing.

Music writer Joel McIver identified Waters as the third best metal guitar player in his 2008 book The 100 Greatest Metal Guitarists. Waters has been compared to Dave Grohl of Foo Fighters, due to being a multi-instrumentalist.

Waters is reported to have ghost-written many successful country/pop ballad songs for other artists.

Watersound Studios Inc. has been Waters' studio since 1994. In 2003, Waters relocated his home from Maple Ridge, BC to Ottawa, ON, where he continues to be a well-known and sought-after mixing/mastering engineer and producer.

Waters shares the same name as Jeff Waters, an independent alternative musician based in Baltimore, Maryland, but their music is unrelated and the two are unaffiliated.

Equipment

Waters performing in 2007

In the early stages of his career Waters used a Hamer Flying V. Around 1994, he began to experiment with other guitars and over the next few years used classic models such as a Gibson SG and Gibson Les Paul to achieve the diversity of sounds in Annihilator's music during this time period. He would also use a Fender Stratocaster from time to time in the studio and a Gibson Flying V Gothic when playing live. Waters has been known to use an ESP Dave Mustaine signature Flying V that he owns and it was this guitar that he used to record Schizo Deluxe as mentioned in the video section of annihilatormetal.com. Waters currently plays Epiphone Annihilation-V Guitars (his own model, available in Red or Black, with a Floyd Rose FRX Tremolo System, custom pickups, kill switch and other modifications), previously endorsing Ran Guitars. On a tour in Europe in November 2009, Waters used a prototype of the Epiphone Annihilation-V Flying V, which he has since sold. The new Annihilation-V shape is very similar to the original flying V, but has a smaller body and four cosmetic lines cut into the center of the V as well as a rubberised patch on the lowest edge of the V (to stop the guitar from slipping). It comes in "Annihilator Red" and Pitch black. For amplification, he used the Hughes and Kettner Coreblade head and is now using the EVH 5150III amplifier. He has also had his own signature overdrive pedal called the Jeff Waters Devil Drive by SolidGoldFX, however this is no longer in production.

Personal life

Waters married Angie in 2018 and lives in Durham, England, where he runs his recording studio Watersound Studios.

Discography

Annihilator

• Alice in Hell (1989)
• Never, Neverland (1990)
• Set the World on Fire (1993)
• King of the Kill (1994)
• Refresh the Demon (1996)
• Remains (1997)
• Criteria for a Black Widow (1999)
• Carnival Diablos (2001)
• Waking the Fury (2002)
• All for You (2004)
• Schizo Deluxe (2005)
• Metal (2007)
• Annihilator (2010)
• Feast (2013)
• For the Demented (2017)
• Metal II (2022)

Amerikan Kaos

• Armageddon Boogie (2024)

Guest appearances

See also

In Spanish: Jeff Waters para niños