Photographs courtesy of Tom Barnes / Napalm Records.
Interviewing one of your childhood idols can become an addiction. Undoubtedly one as healthy as music, which tells me Igor Cavalera when we connect via SkypeHe from London, I here in Mexico City, is the only vice that drags. Perhaps that is why at 44 years old he can continue playing drums as sick as the one he created as an introduction to Territory, uno de los temas icónicos del no menos célebre álbum ‘Chaos AD’ of Grave, 1993. As a child, I tried to follow his blows with the help of two pencils on my pillow and I could not. Surely if I tried with the songs of ‘Pandemonium‘, el disco que junto a su hermano Max launched last November 4 with the group Cavalera Conspiracy neither would it. Igor it is still a beast. And I tell you.
When you've released so many records, what can a new one mean?
Max and I are very proud. There came a time when, as musicians, we were forced to exceed our own limits. This album is tough, aggressive, it reflects the way Max and I see music today.
What limits do you mean? Do you and Max set limits?
Well, I mean to do what we always wanted to do since we formed Sepultura: work as intensely as possible, bring out the best in us as musicians. Support each other without reservation.
On this album, some reviews have pointed out that they experimented with Grindcore, do you agree?
Yes and no. The grind core elements are there, but not in sound but in inspiration. First of all, Pandemonium is a Cavalera album, but with grindcore influences.
You say that you and Max will always support each other, but the reality is that after his departure from Sepultura (1996), you distanced yourself from your brother. Tell me about that process of re-identifying yourself as bandmates.
It was fun and very cool at the same time. I experimented so much with my other projects that going back to Max was, to a certain extent, going back to a much simpler, almost minimalist sound, compared to what I was doing on my side. At the same time, metal has its own complexity. So I think it is important, I think, to approach different projects, so that you do not stay in a comfort zone.
Your style incorporates elements of samba and tribal music, is that the result of your search for rhythms external to metal?
Yes, my style is the result of not wanting to sound like anyone else. When I started playing, there were other musicians who were afraid to get out of the drum canons, but it never bothered me that my drummer had a Brazilian touch, because that enriched the sound.
Are you proud to be the first Latin American metal band to be recognized on a large scale in the foreign market?
Sure, it's one of the things I am most proud of. In our early days, there were no groups from Mexico or another country that had international recognition. I dare say that we were the first band that could come face to face with any British or American group on any stage in the world.
How do you keep fit? Does your playing require it?
It's funny, but yes. Playing the drums as I do requires a lot of physical condition, but also a great passion. I can play very fast for over an hour without feeling tired. I don't know what it will be like in ten years, but today I feel good. It helps me that I have never taken alcohol or used drugs and you may or may not believe me, but my health proves it. There are other musicians who abuse his body and the result can be seen in his playing.
Is Cavalera Conspiracy a project forever?
I don't know, it's hard to say. When we made Cavalera's first album, we thought it would be the only one. Now we are concerned only with taking one step at a time. We made this album and we want to do more, but I don't know if that means "forever".
Zyon Cavalera played drums in Enslaved, by Soulfly. And when Cavalera Conspiracy came to Mexico, they invited Ritchie Cavalera to play. For you and Max the family has always been very important, do you think that for him sharing the stage with his children represents a closing of the cycle?
I'm not sure if Zyon was because he's Max's son. Great drummers have passed through Soulfly and Zyon is one of them, a boy with great talent. Max is proud to be able to play with him. Not all parents are lucky to make music with their children. We both enjoy playing with our families; Max and my children grew up listening to music, going on tour, and hopefully it would catch their attention. My children have not formed a band yet, but if they do I will be there for them.
Is your electronic project, Mixhell, part of that search you mention?
That's what it's about, trying new things. Making electronic music is my way of expressing that I like music above all, regardless of genres. What I do with my wife is different from what I do with Cavalera or what I did with Sepultura. But they are all connected. In both worlds, electronics and metal, there is a similar energy.
What goes through your head when you return to playing old Sepultura songs with Max?
It's magic. We wrote many of those songs when Max and I were kids and that people like to listen to them so many years later, it really moves us a lot. We wrote Troops of Doom, for example, in 1984 and to this day we continue playing it. People go crazy.
During the first stage of Sepultura, with you and Max in their ranks, it may have been metal's last chance to be part of the mainstream. I remember that the video of Bloody roots did not stop appearing. Does that make you nostalgic?
To be honest I see it as a natural process. Things change. We were on MTV and the radio, so what? We have returned to the origin, now metal is underground again and there is no reason to feel sad. It's just like that.
What do you think of the current Sepultura?
It does not represent what we did, Max and me. I don't want to comment more. Max and I are happy doing what we do and what others do, he doesn't care about me.
What do you like most about your brother's playing style?
I adore his style because it is very percussive. He uses the guitar more as a drum than as a stringed instrument. It's not like those boring guitarists who don't dare to do original things.
I can't stop asking you about soccer, are you still collecting jerseys?
I had to stop, it was crazy! I had to keep them in my mother's house, because they were coming down on me. When I moved from Sao Paulo to London, I gave away many, I got rid of others. My cousins were left with quite a few. I, to be honest, kept very few.
Before the World Cup I was able to talk to Max and he said he hoped that Brazil would do well, what do you think of your team, once the Cup is over?
Heavens! Where do I begin? It was a disaster. I think the only positive part of the World Cup was that, you know, I was born in a country that seemed to agree with what was happening and that, as a result of the World Cup, it was revealed that this was not the case, that there were many people protesting. If we focus on football, it was terrible for Brazil, but in social terms people spoke.
How attentive are you to Brazil from London?
I came to London because it is a place where the music I make has a future, but I follow the history of Brazil from afar, the elections and all that. It is desperate what happens. It is not new, it is something that started long ago. As a child I experienced that social chaos, and it does not seem that it will change.
I think we should hang up now, but tell me, do you have new tattoos?
Many, all the time I am doing more. Now I have tried a new technique called “home made tatoos”, which is about using needles and ink, but without a machine. I haven't done it myself, because I can draw, but pricking myself is something I still can't deal with.
