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Interview
by SashaS
9-8-2002
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| Soufly's musical positivity |
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Trust and fury
Soulfly are still the warriors of belief
There are very few rockers to equal Max Cavalera’s belief in the power of music, a credo his band Soulfly’s third album, simply entitled ‘3’, continues propagating as do live shows. The band’s recent visit to Europe for a short tour, with the line-up rejoined by Ray Mayorga on drums, was just an introduction as Soulfly is readying itself for a long touring haul that ought to see them calling at the ‘Old Continent’ few times over the next year or so.
The Brazilian-born star, now resident of Phoenix, Arizona, is such a believer in power of music he trusts it can unite people and create “One nation”. It is a sound-cum-idealistic theory of ‘one-planetary-tribe’ regardless of race, nationality, creed and attitude… Well Max, I’m glad to be an ‘Earthling’, I tell him but enquire about road-testing the new album: what was the impression, working perfectly live or things were found wanting, perhaps benefiting from additional fixing and altering?
“I feel very positive about the album,” Cavalera speaks mellow, “and we’ve had a better reaction live than I expected. With the third album, this is becoming more of a Soulfly concept than ever; and live, 90 per cent of our show is Soulfly and 10% is the Sepultura’s classics… It is great to combine old and new stuff because it provides a perspective for listeners…”
“I’d say the creative process is also getting easier, it is getting more focused through the process of learning and finding out what Soulfly really is. It’s kinda like bands I like, Dead Can Dance for instance, you can hear progression and I think our third album shows we’ve found our own style, feel comfortable playing and delivering it in a way that is quite exciting.”
Seek’n’Strike
“I’ve never felt any pressure,” Max muses aloud, “but to achieve as much as other bands that have had huge budgets from their big companies while we haven’t got it from our label… We only have ourselves to rely upon and it is very hard to operate in such circumstances at the level we’d want to. But, I believe in music, in its soul, its spirituality… I believe in live shows and touring is very essential to us, to get our music across.”
“I love playing live,” Max continues, “and live for these moments. The whole day is only preparation for a show, getting ready for those 90 minutes we put in everything we’ve got. I record albums and think how it is going to be playing it live, and I’ve never lost that spirit. That’s what keeps my fire burning and to keep it fresh I don’t soundcheck. I’ve never believed in it but let the guys practice to get sharper. I like to go and do different things during the day; I travel with my family and we go out and do things. On this recent visit to Europe we went to Louvre Museum, visited some concentration camps, some tourist sites…”
“The only thing I require before going onstage is to be quiet for about half-an-hour before; I need silence, I need to be by myself and have my mind focused on the show, mentally prepare… I do that on a tour bus, I never go into the venue, backstage, it disturbs me; there are too many people around, talking and working, trying to ask me something… It is usually a chaos.”
Stem of memories
Max Cavalera came to our attention at the beginning of the 1990s with Sepultura but things went really pear-shaped when he was ousted at the end of 1996, following a show in London. The reason was dissatisfaction of other three members, one being Max’s drumming bro, Igor, with the way the band’s business was handled by the band’s manager, Gloria, who is also Max’s wife. Now, the recording of the 16 December 1996 show at Brixton Academy is coming out on the 23rd of September as a 22-track compilation entitled ‘Under A Pale Grey Sky’.
“They (Roadrunner) asked my permission,” Cavalera explains, “and I agreed… I think it is really okay otherwise I’d have argued about it if I thought it was wrong. The thing is that Sepultura never had a live album, for the difference from the other bands from that era, Pantera, Metallica, all had live albums the fans enjoyed. I thought it was fine on that level, as well.”
“It is a document to one… ending. It happened to be my last show with the band, which I didn’t know at the time, and it was a very good show. When I listen to the recordings I don’t hear any friction going on in the band, it was an awesome concert, it is an awesome recording and the integrity of the band is preserved. I don’t feel bad about it and the only difference was that it turned out to be my last-ever show with Sepultura.”
“I didn’t even know they recorded the show! I only found out later… And, if Sepultura were to have a live album out, I’m happy to be this one, for fans to hear because we were at our peak, ‘Roots’ was a brilliant album… It’s good that the fans can hear, or re-check, how the band used to sound at the time!”
The last thing I ask is about Igor, whether they’ve started moving toward resolving their differences or there is still bad blood between them? Max evokes his adopted country’s Fifth Amendment and claims privacy. Strange, he’d no problem discussing it few years back… And, the rumours persisting that the original Seps line-up will get back together sounds even more like wishful thinking…
What’s certain is that more Soulfly live Euro-dates are to be announced very shortly.
SashaS
9-8-2002
Soulfly’s album ‘3’ is available now on Roadrunner
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