Days of our Lives \\ Capítulo de hoje: SEPULTURA Guitarist Talks About New Album, Possibility Of Reunion With MAX CAVALERA

Q: In a number of recent interviews, whenever Max Cavalera was asked about the possibility of a reunion of the classic SEPULTURA lineup, he mentioned the fact that he supposedly had a conversation with you a couple of years ago where you agreed to try to make the reunion happen. However, he claims that the whole thing fell apart a short time later after you made unreasonable financial demands and "lawyers" got involved. Did you, in fact, have any such conversation with Max, and if so, what caused the talks to break down?

Andreas: "It started, I think, in 2009 when SEPULTURA and SOULFLY finally actually played at the same festival [at the Devilside Festival on June 28, 2009 at Landschaftspark in Duisburg-Nord, Germany]. So our tour buses were parked side by side. I left my tour bus and saw Gloria [Cavalera, Max's wife and SEPULTURA's former manager] there. I walked over and just gave her a hug and said, "How are you?" I mean, there was no reason not to do that; I never really held any animosity or any hate towards them at all. Anyway, after that, it was cool because I think it opened the door, really, to our communication — without really even thinking about anything, reunion or nothing, just people that know each other and worked together, just to talk to each other again. So we opened this channel of communication, and it was clear from the beginning that Gloria really wanted to do a reunion. Actually, she started really trying to put this together, and I talked to Max for two minutes, or maybe a minute and 48 seconds [laughs] — it was really quick, and she had him on her side. I think it was the first time that we talked on the phone for ages — since he left the band — or even [that I talked to] Gloria. So it was good to have that kind of talk. I was happy to at least talk to each other again. And we talked about football and just like basically bullshit — just to say, 'How are you?' 'How are things', kids, whatever, football... and that was it. It was just a conversation of trying to get back in touch [with one another]. But [everything that our new] album ['Kairos'] is about is opposite of what they [Max and Gloria] wanna do. I guess I live my life in a different way. And it's kind of really annoying, that kind of pressure, from everywhere, not only from the press. We see promoters trying to put pressure when promoting our shows in the States, trying to... trying to get in the way somehow, not to let SEPULTURA just have our path or our way. We are on a very good label [at the moment], with our business in place and stuff, a great album, and I don't think Max and Gloria respect what we achieved [in the years after Max left] and what we are doing [right now]. I guess SOULFLY did great, or is doing great, and I don't see why he's even worried about us. Everyone chose their way — Max chose to leave the band, Igor is doing his MIXHELL stuff, and he's happy about it; he's very active and he's doing great. Even CAVALERA CONSPIRACY, I came to see their show here at a festival in São Paulo — I didn't meet them, I didn't see them, but I saw the show and I thought it was great; it was cool to see [Max and Igor] playing [together] again. I don't see what the problem is for us to get on with our career and stuff. I mean, the reunion stuff, it's not gonna happen at all. It was never a part of our plan to do that, and I guess they felt that the contact of speaking on the phone for two minutes was kind of my way of saying, 'Yes, let's do a reunion.' I mean, I wanna have a relationship with the people that I work with — I'm not a slave of the fucking past and I'm not a slave of people's expectations of what SEPULTURA should be. I live SEPULTURA every day — since I joined this band in '87 — and it's been like that to this day. And I still enjoy what I do, regardless of the challenges that we [face]. And I wish they could respect that and get on with our lives. Max is a very creative musician and he should be doing great stuff, as he deserves. And that's all."

Q: But Max has said in a bunch of interviews that you guys supposedly spoke, you agreed to try to do a reunion, and then all of sudden money issues came up...

Andreas: "It never happened. This is all a fantasy. What happened is what I said — it was a really nice, cool conversation, talking about nothing but family stuff; nothing about business at all. It would be stupid for us to, after [almost] 20 years [apart], expect for a phone call of two minutes to [lead] to a big reunion. [laughs] It's kind of naive, you know — it's kind of stupid."

Q: Is it safe to say that if you guys could rebuild your relationship and have a real friendship with one another again, you would be open to maybe doing a SEPULTURA reunion with Max, but unless that happens, you are not interested?

Andreas: "No, I don't [necessarily] connect our friendship with doing a reunion. But, of course, after getting to know each other again and talking about projects, we could even do different stuff — [work together again and] not call ourselves SEPULTURA. I mean, create some different project or whatever; it doesn't necessarily have to lead to a reunion. It [would be] just a relationship [like the one] that I have with [any of] my friends — that's all."


To be continued...