SEPULTURA 2OO6: Paradise Lost…and Found

-A: The whole album was written according to Dante Aligheri’s ’Divine comedy’. The idea started at the first day of practice, when we started to write new material and all. I came up with the idea to try to do a soundtrack for either a movie or a book. We did so many different stuff in the past in Brazil and many different stuff that was going on in our lives, that always influenced the music of Sepultura, but now we wanna do something new, and specially because we did many soundtracks in Brazil for different movies, I worked with different people and we tried as Sepultura to do a score for a movie, and my first suggestion was ‘Clockwork orange’ : not only about the movie, and to read the book, meet the author and everything. So we did for Dante, which was a suggestion from Derrick, and tried to do ‘The divine comedy’. A lot of people did Dante’s Inferno, many bands, many movies were influenced by, but our challenge was really to do Hell, Purgatory and Paradise, the whole trilogy, not only that but to connect the dates of today to hundreds of years ago, when Dante wrote the book. So studied a lot this book, and that’s why it’s called ‘Dante XXI’, 21th Century. We studied a lot about the Dante’s life, his exile, his problems with the church and politics, his loves and passions and friends and enemies, why he wrote and when and where and we really situated ourselves in that world and we saw that it’s not different from today, with a lot of church influence, a lot of wars, of disagreements, of political fights, it’s the same…shit, so we could really connect the days of today with Dante’s days and we were really inspired by his work to do our music and lyrics and artwork.

-So, all songs are connected in a sort of story ?

-A : Yes, it follows the paths of Dante through Hell, Purgatory and Paradise : the first five songs represent Hell, when Dante wakes up in a black forest, lost and trying to reach the light, and then Virgil comes, and he comes through inferno and through Hell, and there he deals with all those different enemies and with himself, stories of adultery and treason and is put into plots and lies, luxury, everything. The five next songs represent purgatory, where he deals with capital sins, in order to clean himself for those sins, be pure and reach the sky. The last songs of the album represents Paradise, which is less a material world than a spiritual world, he travels to planets, to meet bigger love, platonic love that never ends, everything is very inspiring, the story is so rich that we could relate it to many situations of today.

-Who produced this album ?

-A : We produced ourselves, together with two Brazilian guys, Stanley Suares, who did all the technical parts, pro-tools, engineering, microphones and all that, and Andre Morales, someone we did many soundtracks with, in Brazil : he provided the arrangements for horns, cellos, drum loops, he bring taste, flavour for that record. So we did ourselves with these two guys, in Sao Paulo.

-Is it any guests on this record ?

-A : Andre Morales played a lot of instruments, like piano, keyboards, some percussions, sitar, and we had French horn players and the cello players, musicians for the symphonic orchestra of Sao Paulo, and that sounds really big.

-This record is very short, 39 minutes, in the punk spirit ?

A : Yes, sure, if not it would have been boring, as the book is very long and very complicated, but our intention was not to portrait the book as it is but to be inspired by the situations and build a story in our point of view, using the element of today. So it’s about forty minutes longs, and it’s the good length, to do it live like Slayer did with ‘Reign in Blood’. It’s really straight to the point. I hope we’ll could do it entirely on stage, in the future. Now, people are starting to listen to it and get more involved, and it’s great when people really understand the core of the album. Then we can do that.

-We don’t find anything sung in Portuguese : why ? No need, or no demand from people ?

-A : I don’t know, I mean we use so many different languages. This time, we would use more Italian, because Dante is the masterpiece of Italian literature, he’s so powerful, so strong, and Portuguese is very close to Italian, many words are the same, it’s also Latin and everything, but English is the language that people understand the most and it’s also the most rock language. We used Portuguese in some parts, here and there, for titles and words sometimes : in ‘Ratamahata’, I don’t call that language Portuguese, it’s very much Brazilian. It would be a stupid nationalism to have to sing in Portuguese to be Brazilian. We used all the elements, all the language like the precaution and the images, on videos and in interviews and in our style, everything is from Brazil, the way Igor plays drums, the samba is there somehow, but I don’t see the necessity to use Portuguese as an obligation because we are from there. It’s something that we could do naturally, as we use some words here and here, and we could do it sometimes because Derrik is improving his Portuguese so he could sing in Portuguese pretty soon!

-Last year, you participated to the Roadrunner special project record and concert : do you intend to do some participations yourself for other bands records ?

-A : It was amazing, excellent ! I was really happy to be a part of it. I thought it was a great idea, first for the album, which mixed so many musicians and create different bands, to do new songs and new music, original stuff, which is great, and the show itself was amazing too, it was a lot of work to learn and play all the songs, but all the different musicians there were around and participated, the vibe was so great which no egos, no fucking stardom or bullshit like that. Everybody was on the same level, enjoying the party, from Slipknot to Him, from Deicide to Biohazard, Madball, it was a great night and I was really happy to be there and take part of it.

-This year, you issued a live album and DVD, live in Sao Paulo : can you tell us more about it ?

-A : Yes, there’s a DVD that we wanted to release for a long time, and the last time we recorded a full gig was in Barcelona, in I992, along time ago. Derrick came in to the band in 98, so it took time for him to be comfortable and confident to work on something and register. So, two years and a half after ’Roarback’, we’ve been in so many places we’ve never been before, like central America, South Africa, Dubai, etc, and so Derrick really developed his identity together with the band, and then we were ready to register. Because of SPV, we have that kind of support a band needs from a record label. Roadrunner wasn’t really into it, working Sepultura with Derrick. They were more interested in Soulfly, and Max and stuff, so it was better for us to leave and have people that believe in the future of the band. And then it’s happening right now, and it’s much easier to do everything like video clips, DVD’s, albums and tours. Everything makes a difference. And we try to do at our ideas, to make you happy.

-Derrick owns a musical bar in Sao Paulo with Paulo: how did it happen and do you see him there if one day he quits the music? Does Derrick lives in Brazil today?

-A: Yes, he does, we’re all in San Paolo now. And yes, I think so: but Paulo is even more involved in there than Derrick, he likes to stay there a lot. He likes the nightlife and there’s not easy to run a bar like that. There’s something they like a lot to have a room there, with the bar and a little stage, where I have played a lot. It’s cool and it’s a way to put your hand beside the music and the band all the time. It’s great!

-Aren’t annoyed with the perpetual discussion about the reformation of the previous Sepultura line up?

A : Well, not really, I think it’s very natural that something like that happen. Derrick knows the situation, it happens with any band, like Van Halen, Black Sabbath, Judas Priest: all of them ends up like together somehow, sometime, and I think it would be great to have the chance to play together again. We built like a beautiful story together, we conquered a lot, coming out from Brazil and recorded ’Roots’ and it was great time and stuff. We’ve never had problems personally, myself, Max, Paulo and Igor, we always were related together very well, musically and stuff. The problem was outside, the people around, managers, all that crap, and, unfortunaly, that’s a part of it all. But there’s something we don’t really think about, we hear that and listen to that since he left the band, basically. But it doesn’t bother.

-It’s a part of the legend?

-A: Yes, and people will talk forever. So, let them talk!

-Soon, you’re going to tour in Europe with In Flames: what do you think of them and their musical style?

A:I don’t know too much about it, I know that they have a lot of albums, and I have listen the new one recently. I think it will be great, they sound really fresh and powerful and they seem to be a very good live band, a great package for the crazy kids. To play every night with them I will learn more about it! We know that, but, for myself, I don’t listen to much of the new stuff. I like music which comes naturally, I don’t hunt for music. But it’s cool to be here again, release an album and tour, so we’ll be closer to that scene, and learn more about what’s going on.

-There’s a video shot for ‘Convicted in life’: when or where will we see it?

A: Well, we’re gonna shoot that video when we’ll be back to Brazil, so it’s not ready yet! We have the concept, Derrick did talk with the director, it’s gonna be something weird, connected to the spirit of the album of course. As for the album, we have a strong artwork, a lot of paintings which represents diverse parts of the trilogy, and for the show, we’re gonna use a lot of visuals effects too.

-It’s not a question for you, but do you know of Derrick had role models?

-A: For him, I know it’s really the hardcore scene, Bad Brains, Cro-mags, Agnostic Front, all that stuff, the New York scene where he lived a lot, despise the fact that he’s from Cleveland. That whole scene was the most powerful influence for him in ht beginning.

-Bands which made you wish to be in a band yourself?

-A : My first passion was Kiss, and then Queen. One of my neighbours had a lot of their albums, and it was something I really loved. Kiss and Queen played in Brazil in early eighties, and I’ve got the chance to see those bands really close, so that was a big inspiration, especially Kiss, which was my first show, in a big stadium in Brazil : after that, I knew I wanted to be in a band and do something similar. No using masks or stuff like that, but play guitar. Then, Iron Maiden, Def Leppard, Ozzy, Dio, all that beautiful stuff! We were very influenced by Metallica, with no extravagant clothes, just go on stage and fuck off! That attitude really influenced us a lot. I always preferred band for the music rather than for the look. We’re still looking for that kind of bands. They’re getting older, of course, but that happens!

-For this Lp, there’s a story told: do you intend to do it on stage?

-A: Yes, definitely, when we’ll do an headline tour, we will decorate the stage, with backdrops, we have many different options that we could do. But now, for this tour with In Flames, the album with be out around that same period. Then, we intend to do some festivals in June and July in Europe, and then America, and then Brazil, but we’ll be back with our own show.

-Some records which changed your life?

-A : ‘A night at the opera’, from Queen, was my first album, and I still think it’s one of the best work ever in rock. ‘Diary from a madman’, from Ozzy, all the Black Sabbath stuff; ‘Ride the lightning’ from Metallica, ‘Hell await’ from Slayer, ‘Pleasure to kill’ from Kreator, plus other styles like Yes, Pink Floyd, and blues like Stevie Ray Vaughan, BB King, I love them all, and a lot of classical music too, especially guitar like André Segovia, Spanish composers, it’s a great different whole that inspire me to play.

-No chance to see the soundtracks you composed issued on records?

-A: There’s one record from me in 99, that was our first soundtrack. It’s called, translated to English, it is: ’In the heart of the gods’, there’s a movie that was of course only in Brazil, but the soundtrack was released here in Europe by Mascot Records, a Dutch label. There’s a small label, with no big catalogue, but Mike Patton is there, singing some songs on the album. It was very cool, but it has been the only one released outside of Brazil. I hope to do more in the future, but it depends the time we had and if the project is cool.

-And tomorrow?

-A: Beside Sepultura, touring and promoting this album, I’m also preparing my first solo album, which will also be released by Mascot. There’s something I’ve been doing forever, some demos I have used in Sepultura or soundtracks, I’m using my acoustic guitar a lot, and so I have a lot of stuff on demos for the last two years, and I’m ready to record some parts. It will be a double album, the first one devoted to the electric guitar, with a band and some vocals, but the second one will be only acoustic guitars and more instrumental stuff. There’s a lot of work to do but I’m not in a rush, I take my time to record and re-record some parts. Hopefully, it will be released at the end of the year. The Sepultura album is already on the net, and the responses are very positive. We’ll issue a limited version in vinyl, with great artwork and stuff, as well as the CD with a great package of paintings and stuff.

Interview made in Paris, February 3rd 2OO6.

Thanks to Roger Wessier, always very efficient!