The Rev

The Rev

James Owen Sullivan, (born February 9, 1981) better known by his stage name, The Rev, or The Reverend Tholomew Plague is the drummer and secondary vocalist for the rock band Avenged Sevenfold, and lead vocalist in the Avant-Garde Metal band Pinkly Smooth with fellow Avenged Sevenfold guitarist Synyster Gates.

Early year

In his years at school, Sullivan was expelled 3 times. One of the schools was a Catholic school which he attended with M.Shadows (Avenged Sevenfold lead vocalist), but were both kicked out in 2nd grade.

Avenged Sevenfold & Pinkly Smooth

Jimmy is recognized for vocals and piano in his and Synyster Gates' side project, Pinkly Smooth. He is also utilized as a back-up vocalist in Avenged Sevenfold. Besides screaming with lead vocalist M. Shadows in songs Chapter Four and Eternal Rest, the song Critical Acclaim features Sullivan on lead vocals during the chorus of the song, both singing and screaming. His vocals are also featured in other songs from the Avenged Sevenfold eponymous album, such as "A Little Piece of Heaven", "Brompton Cocktail", "Afterlife", and "Almost Easy". The Rev is known for his "drumstick spinning" and his song writing ability, having written Afterlife among other songs.

Gear

The Rev endorses DW Drums & Hardware, Evans Heads, Pro-Mark Sticks and Sabian Cymbals.

Current Set Up

Drums

-Dw drums custom snakeskin wrap and black hardware: 8"x5" tom (not in use on tour), 8"x7" tom, 10"x8" tom, 12"x9" tom, 14"x11" tom, 16"x14" tom, 18"x16" tom, 22"x18" bassdrum (x3) and a 14"x5" snare with chrome hardware and 14"x6,5" DW bronze metal snare drum series with black hardware. Jimmy uses differents DW rack parts including DW Super Main Rack, DW Side Rack, many clamps and boom stands for microphones and cymbals.

-DW Pedals:

DW 9000 PC Single Pedal(x2: The Rev only uses 2 single pedals because he doesn't use his third bass drum since it is only used for asthetics. A third bass drum is essentially pointless in this case.

Cymbals

-Sabian cymbals: 14" AAX-Celerator Hi-hats, 18" AAX Metal Crash, 19" Paragon China, 19" AAX Metal Crash, 22" AAX Metal Ride (x2), 19"AAX-Xtreme Chinese, 10" AAX Splash, 8" Chopper Effects Cymbal, 11" Signature Max Splash and a 10" HH China Kang.

In the studio for the last self-tiled album, The Rev used also Zildjian cymbals: he used an 18" Oriental Classic China instead of the Paragon, two 21" Zildjian Z-Custom Mega Bell Rides instead of the AAX Metal Rides and an A-Custom Projection Crash instead of the AAX Metal Crashes.

-Drum Sticks:

Pro-Mark TX5BW Signature Model(5B) and Easton Ahead 5B for self-titled album recording

- Evans Heads:

Batter/Resonant

Tom:Evans G2/Evans G1

Snare: Evans Power Center Reverse Dot/ Evans Hazy 300 snare side

Bass drum:Evans EMAD/Evans Resonant Black

City of Evil Tour set-up

Drums

-PDP LXE Series Drums and DW Hardware: 8"x7" Tom, 10"x8" Tom, 12"x9" Tom, 14"x12" Tom, 16"x14" Tom, 22"x18" Bassdrum (x2) and a 14"x5" Snare.

Cymbals

-Sabian Cymbals: 14" AAX-Celerator Hi-hats, 18" AA Metal-X Crash, 19" AA Metal-X Crash, 22" AA Metal-X Ride, 18" AA Metal-X China, 7" Signature Max Splash and a 11" Signature MAX Splash.

Waking The Fallen Tour Set-up

-DW Drums & Hardware:

DW Collector's Series Maple with a Blood Red Sparkle to Black Burst lacquer finish and black hardware: 10"x8" Tom, 12"x9" Tom, 14"x12" Tom, 16"x14" Tom, 22"x18" Bassdrum and a Custom Snare (not a DW).

-Zildjian Cymbals:

From left to right of his set-up

14" A Custom Hi-Hats, 10" A Custom Splash, 18" Z Custom Rock Crash, 19" A Custom Projection Crash, 21" Z Custom Mega Bell Ride, 18" FX Oriental Classic China

Physic and Influences

The Rev measures about 6'3" and is left-handed but he still leads the drum with his right-handed. He has a black hair and blue eyes. Also, The Rev has been arrested a total of 7 times for incidents such as bar fights. This is the reason he has a pair of handcuffs tattooed on his neck, to remind him of his arrests. Some of The Rev's other tattoos consist of a football shirt (actual size) on his back with "Sullivan" and the number 0 on it. He also has a zombie Virgin Mary on his right arm. He had been raised Catholic so it seemed a good idea to get one. This was his first tattoo at the age of 18. His own version of the Deathbat is tattooed on his left arm. He has "FICTION" tattooed down the middle of his chest. His reason for this is: "If I told you a story of my life, you would never believe it. So it is like fiction". He has many other tattoos creating two full sleeves on both arms, one more on his chest, and one which he says he can't show to anybody. "I claw at this tattoo some nights to try and get it off. I think I might have it covered up soon, I don't know why I had it done in the first place." He also has a tattoo on his left ring finger in honor of his fiance former porn star Leana Silver.

His influences are drummers such as Nicko McBrain and Keith Moon. Also he considers Ozzy Osbourne as a good influence for his band.