Blabbermouth.com recently conducted an interview with Irgor Cavalera.
In the two days since drummer Igor Cavalera announced his departure from SEPULTURA, there has been a great deal of speculation regarding the reasons for his split with the group and his future plans. While some fans have theorized that Igor became disillusioned with playing heavy metal and wanted to explore different musical styles, many others have taken it for granted that Igor would eventually rejoin forces with his brother Max in either SOULFLY or a reunited version of SEPULTURA's classic lineup.
n this exclusive interview with BLABBERMOUTH.NET - conducted Tuesday evening (June 13) Igor refutes many of the rumors currently circulating the Internet and explains the circumstances that led to his decision to leave the band.
Q: When I spoke to you in January, you told me that you were not leaving the band that you were merely taking a break from touring to spend time with your new wife and kid, and that you were fully intending on returning to SEPULTURA at some point. That is obviously no longer the case. What happened in the last five months to change your mind with regards to your position within the band and to cause you to finally make the announcement that you were leaving the group?
Igor: "The main thing, really, that changed - It was after the European tour that SEPULTURA did with Roy [Mayorga, ex-SOULFLY, currently in STONE SOUR] on drums I had a meeting with Andreas [Kisser, SEPULTURA guitarist] before he left for that tour, and then we had another meeting when he came back. And before he left, at the only meeting that we had, we pretty much agreed on all those things that everybody knew - that I was willing to take a break. I wasn't thinking or even saying anything about leaving the band, even though there was a lot of rumors going around. But my intention was really to continue doing this and taking a break. And we even talked about how we wanted to [have] an injection of new energy in the band, and that was something that with this break we might have been able to [achieve] that to think about and reflect on a lot of different things; that was the plan. When he came back from that tour, we had another meeting, and in that meeting he just showed me a completely different side of it where he didn't feel like my break would be good for the band and good for everything, and he wanted to really continue doing a lot of touring and a lot of shows ? they were already booking a lot of shows that I didn't know about - and things like that, which pretty much [led] me to make this decision. And not only that, but also in Brazil, a lot of things were going around, like a [news story in the media] 'A new drummer for SEPULTURA has been hired' this guy [Jean Dolabella] from Belo [Horizonte], who was already playing in the band, which wasn't a lie, but the way that portrayed it, it was like he was the new drummer, and the band didn't come forward to say anything about that - not even on our web site - and I felt really disrespected [by that]. Not even to put something [on our web site to refute the rumors], since it was already out on the Internet and things like that. Like the time when you posted that story on Blabbermouth [referring to the January 13, 2006 article on this site stating that Igor was quitting the band - Ed.], right after that I put up something on the web site, explaining to the fans - at least like a little letter - just saying, if they [should] rely on [any information being spread about the band], it [should come] from the band directly - not to [believe anything] unless it came from us. And I think that's a pretty good relationship between a fan and a band - if they can go to a band web site, if they hear something, and if they see something from the band, there can be a little relief, or not as was the case [on Monday, when the official announcement about Igor leaving was made - Ed.]. So those were the main reasons that I just started thinking completely differently, where I just felt that in their opinion, the [idea] of them moving on and continuing to play didn't include me as part of this plan. So I just felt that the most honest thing to do was to explain to everybody [what was going on] instead of just sitting at home [while] people [were] thinking that I was still taking that break, [but] where my mind was in a completely different place."
Q: But it is understandable why the other guys would want to tour and keep the SEPULTURA name alive, especially after a new album has just been released. After all, you only get one chance to tour behind an album and it's hard to tour for a new CD a year down the road. Why did you have such a problem with the other guys using a different drummer for the entire touring cycle for this album and just regrouping with you next year or whenever you were ready to become a full-fledged member of the band again?
Igor: "Actually, that was my idea in the beginning of all this. But I just felt that were weren't really talking the same language anymore when they returned from Europe. Especially after this meeting, it was like- for me, the intention that they showed me was completely different. 'Cause I wasn't willing to tell them, 'You can't go out and tour,' and all that stuff. But at the same time, I just felt that over the years, things were going for us not so well - between us, our relationship - and for me, this was a chance for me to be free and do new things at the same time."
Q: You say that your relationship with the other guys deteriorated over the years, and in your statement announcing your departure from the band, you mentioned that you started feeling that you weren't on the same page as the rest of the group around the time of your last European tour with SEPULTURA, which was in December 2004. Did anything specific happen on that tour - any particular incident that made you feel that way?
Igor: "No, it was more me than anything else. I was just not feeling well - like touring, and being out [away from home]. It was just a bunch of different feelings that I was feeling - it wasn't any one event or one special thing that triggered this whole thing. It was just myself; I just felt like a complete outsider in this whole thing - I just didn't wanna be there, I didn't wanna continue touring and all that stuff. I was just struggling with myself to keep doing this. I wasn't really happy. That was like, for me, the most - The thing that hit [me] the most was that I wasn't really feeling it anymore."
Q: Do you think that the things that were going on in your personal life ? the breakup of your first marriage contributed to you feeling this way, or do you think it was completely unrelated?
Igor: "I think it was unrelated to a certain extent because I could always deal with both things and have the joy of both, but at that time I wasn't having any fun being out and being on the road and playing - all that stuff. Even performing, for me, it was like - When performing got to the point that I wasn't really having - I don't know - like a feeling of fire inside, or something like that, that's when I really felt like I had to do something else."
Q: And you started feeling that around December 2004, right?
Igor: "Yeah, that's when it got really strong."
Q: You also mentioned in your statement on Monday that there were "artistic," or "musical," differences that contributed to the split. The way you are describing this situation, I'm not sure that "artistic" differences is how most people would see it. It almost seems like it was question of lack of motivation more than anything else.
Igor: "But it could be seen in that way. The way I was looking at it, it was different. When I put 'musical differences' [in the statement as a reason for the split] it was where I felt that I couldn't give anything more to the band. If I wanted to do something, I wanted to do something completely different from what I was doing with SEPULTURA. So I think it was even more from my part than the whole band itself."
Q: When I spoke to you yesterday, you mentioned to me that you felt that "Dante XXI" was the strongest album you have done with Derrick [Green, vocals]. So I think, with that in mind, people would probably be surprised that you would choose to leave when the band was at its strongest, musically speaking, at least as far as this lineup is concerned.
Igor: "It is definitely my favorite album out of all of them -the ones we did with Derrick. But at the same I feel very proud stopping the way I stopped, [having just released] such a great [album]. As far as promoting and going out and touring, I wasn't really feeling it, but being in the studio and writing the songs, I put 110 percent in it."
Q: You said earlier that you wanted the band to take a break. Do you really feel that a break would have helped - I mean, if all of you guys had agreed to go separate ways for a while and then regroup later on, do you think that would have made a difference or do you think that it pretty much would have meant the end of the band?
Igor: "I truly believe that it could have helped."
Q: But you also know that it could have meant the end of the band just as well, right?
Igor: "I don't know. I was looking more on the - not really on the business side of it, more on the artistic side of it, where if we took a break and if we did different things for a while that we could miss being in the studio, being on the road, and all that stuff. That's where I was coming from."
Q: One other thing that I have seen mentioned on various message boards, including the one on the official SEPULTURA web site, is that many people believe that you no longer have a passion for playing metal music - that you are more interested in getting involved in hip hop music and electronic sounds and DJing and all that stuff. Is there any truth to that? Do you still feel any kind of interest in playing hard-hitting metal, hardcore music or do you want to really do something completely different?
Igor: "I think it's both. I really wanna do stuff that's really heavy and really powerful, but I also wanna do different stuff, like I always wanted to do with SEPULTURA. I always put my influences [into the music] and they've always been very different - from metal all the way to all kinds of styles of music, and that always came across really good when we were writing songs. So I think it's both, you know. It doesn't necessarily mean that I wanna stop playing metal and just playing whatever I'm listening to at the moment. I think, for me, that's - I don't know if I could even that. When I play, I play in a certain style that even if I'm trying to play in a certain style, it's gone come out the way I play my drums. So I think, in my point of view, I'm always gonna have that fire inside to play heavier music, and I definitely don't wanna stop playing that kind of music, because the stuff that I do outside of SEPULTURA, it's a lot more fun than anything else - it's just having fun. Like the whole DJ thing - it's just having fun here and enjoying different -It's almost like discovering a new instrument by doing the turntable stuff and also trying out new electronic stuff with drums, just like I did with percussion at the time - really researching a lot of percussion, and Brazilian music, and things like that. But I wouldn't exchange everything I had just to be in that style or changing the whole thing."
Read entire interview www..blabbermouth.net
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