When we caught up with Max Cavalera, the legendary frontman of Soulfly and Cavalera Conspiracy (and former Sepultura member), he had plenty to say about politics, passports, and the passing of rock icons. Honest, unfiltered, and full of stories, Max shared his take on life, music, and staying creative after decades on the road.

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Do you find the current political climate amusing or scary? Or do you have an opinion on it?
It’s always sort of crazy around election time. Do you see much of a difference between this particular election and the last one—or any others you’ve experienced in your life?

This one seems crazier. More “no rules,” you know? They’re all attacking each other. It’s like, Trump just says whatever he wants—it’s crazy. The stuff he says is mind-blowing to me. I’m like, what the hell? But it doesn’t seem to affect him negatively, though. The more scandal he creates, the more points he gets. For some reason, it’s working for him.

I stay away from politics. I don’t have any political friends. I don’t know any politicians. To me, that whole side of life is really dirty—what they do to people. Coming from Brazil, which has always been a completely corrupt government, we learned not to trust our politicians.

In my opinion, Bush was very bad for this country. The stuff he did was horrible—unnecessary wars, the killing of thousands of innocent lives, the invasion of Iraq. There was no justification. They never found any weapons of mass destruction—nothing. That guy’s a lunatic. Anybody’s better than him. But this Trump guy kind of brings back a lot of feelings from that Bush era. I’m hoping he doesn’t get in power, because that would be really bad for the U.S.—to have a guy like that again.

Are you able to vote in America? You’re a citizen now, right?

Yeah, I’ve been for a while. I have double citizenship—I kept my Brazilian one, Cyber Seal passport, but I also decided to get American citizenship to make life easier here. I’ve got a driver’s license, an American passport…

What’s the benefit of having dual citizenship?

Not much, really. The Brazilian passport is worth crap—it doesn’t get you into any borders quicker, except maybe in South America. So when I travel there, I use my Brazilian passport—quicker, less lines. There’s a little benefit.

The passport I really want is the Italian one. My brother has it—it’s great for Europe. I can get it because my dad was Italian. I might have to give up the Brazilian one to do that. Passports are expensive, right? (laughs) I’m like Jason Bourne, collecting passports.

What’s your favorite thing about going on tour—apart from the shows?

The shows are the best part. I look forward to every second on stage. I feed on the crowd’s excitement. But also, you get to see things most people never see. Even just walking around random neighborhoods—you see pieces of America, or the world, that most people don’t get to.

We’ve been everywhere—Tunisia, Serbia, Russia, Kazakhstan. Thirty years, man—it’s been a blast. I wouldn’t trade it for anything.

There’s been a lot of death this year—Lemmy, David Bowie, Prince. Have those losses made you reflect on your own life?

It’s sad. You feel it, especially with Lemmy—that one hit home for me. I knew him personally, and we had a really strange friendship. We started off not liking each other. I pissed him off—he talked crap about me. I was young and drunk, didn’t care much.

Once, during a photo shoot, I threw wine at him—he got really mad. Then, on the last show in Germany, we wanted to play “Orgasmatron” and we all jumped naked on their stage—like a bunch of crazy Brazilian monkeys. He got super mad about that.

But a couple of years later, we made up. When we became friends again, he told me something that really stuck with me. He said, “I like you, Max. You’re not an ass-kisser. You’re an arrogant son of a—like me. Keep it like that.” I thought that was really cool of him.

Lemmy influenced so much. Even the name Sepultura comes from a Motörhead song—“Dancing on Your Grave.” The Portuguese translation of “grave” is Sepultura. We pay tribute to him every night with our bands.

David Bowie and Prince—great artists, but not from my world. Lemmy, Dio, and Dimebag—that’s my world. Those losses hit hard. They make you think about your own life, but you can’t let it paralyze you. You have to keep going, keep creating.

That’s why I’m staying busy all the way through December. I’m doing the Roots tour with Igor—we’re playing the whole Roots record, with Fear Factory opening. It’s going to be amazing. We’re doing U.S., Europe, and South America—all the way to Christmas.

And you’re playing a festival with Sepultura as part of that, right?

Yeah, we’re doing the Canadian festival Amnesia Rock.

Have you guys been able to reach out and ask them not to play certain songs?

Nah, they play whatever they want, and we play whatever we want. No weird rules like that.

No chance of settling it over a beer pong match or something?

(laughs) No, none of that. We just play whatever we want, pretty much.

Max Cavalera has lived several musical lifetimes—thrash pioneer, world traveler, survivor. Through it all, his message is simple: keep moving.

“You can’t let things stop you. You have to keep going, keep creating. That’s what keeps me alive.”

Categories: Interviews, soulfly

Tags: Max Cavalera, soulfly