Samuel Nicholas Hipa (born November 30, 1982) is an American heavy metal guitarist. He has performed with several notable acts. He is the current lead guitarist of Mire, and was the longtime former lead guitarist of As I Lay Dying. Background Hipa started his musical career with the band Evelynn. The band was signed to Pluto Records. In 2001, Evelynn toured with As I Lay Dying. As Evelynn started to disperse, Hipa joined As I Lay Dying in 2003. As I Lay Dying ran its course with the same lineup since 2007, up until Tim Lambesis' arrest, when Hipa, Phil Sgrosso, and Josh Gilbert departed from the band. Alongside AILD drummer Jordan Mancino and Oh, Sleeper and Hipa's former band-mate, Shane Blay, the group of friends formed Wovenwar. In a more recent interview, Mancino stated that AILD is still technically five members, himself, Lambesis, Hipa, Gilbert, and Sgrosso. Hipa performed lead guitars for Wovenwar, appearing on both Wovenwar (2014) and Honor Is Dead (2016) to date. In 2017, Lambesis reformed As I Lay Dying, with all new members, stating that none of the previous members, Hipa included, would return. Nevertheless, on June 8, 2018, it was confirmed that Hipa along with the "classic" lineup of As I Lay Dying reunited with Lambesis with the release of "My Own Grave". On April 12, 2019, the band released a second single, titled "Redefined", which also features August Burns Red frontman Jake Luhrs. Hipa was featured on Billy on the Street. On August 15, 2020, it was reported that Nick Hipa had left As I Lay Dying. In July 2022, it was announced that Hipa would be performing with the band God Forbid for their reunion show. As I Lay Dying controversy Lambesis, after his arrest, said negative things about the rest of the band, Hipa included. Hipa responded to these statements–particularly accusations of the entire band secretly being atheists and lack of contact with Lambesis after the arrest–calling them slanderous. In November 2016, Hipa stated that Lambesis was, at the time, still of the same mind and that the relationship between the two remained damaged. Hipa's tone however, changed in an October 2017 interview with Hatebreed frontman Jamey Jasta when asked about a potential As I Lay Dying reunion with the classic members–Hipa replied: "Man, I'm on the spot… people ask us about it a lot. But what it comes down to