BACK TO THE PRIMITIVE......

Making Primitive was an exciting time for us. The first Soulfly was well received by the Tribe. Max put his magic on the Metal world and infused percussion, collaborators and instrumentals on the first Soulfly and this would be an extension of his creative beams. Chino, Tom Araya, Sean Lennon, and Corey Taylor and many others were all stopping by the Salt Mine to metalize the recording. Every day recording was a new frontier conquered!

Corey Taylor and Max

Neville Garrick was Max's choice for the cover art and cd booklet. Neville was Bob Marley's artist and had done many of his creations, as well as helped with the Bob Marley estate. He had archives stuffed with photos, and we relished viewing them, and hearing the tales of Bob's career. Neville is super cool and very calm. This lent a serenity to the project. Glen LaFerman...legendary rock photographer.....arrived to capture the evolution going on in the studio. If you visit The Rainbow Cafe in Hollywood, you will see Glen's b/w portraits gracing the walls and nooks.

Max and Neville Garrick

Glen La Ferman, Max and Mikey Doling

The Salt Mine was in its infancy and did not have a room to chill in, so we rented a motor home that sat out in the parking lot. It was an interesting journey. Chino flew out to track and brought the Deftones music they were working on. He was in the control room a whooping one minute, when the cd mysteriously disappeared...never to be heard or seen again!

Don Salter and others. Don owns the Salt Mine

Brazilian Meia Noite, Sergio Mendez's percussionist, flew in to add his spice throughout the record. He brought a large road case of tribal delicacies...gourds, beads, and shakers galore!! A splash here and a splash there, it all added up!

Max and Meia Noite in the control room

Toby Wright was behind the wheel of this Cadillac! I will say we had our ups and downs, but eventually the pie was baked. When Sean Lennon added his piano outro on Son Song, I truly knew I had heard it all! I will add, Sean is one of the most humble artists I have had the blessing to work with. It was an honor to be there for the creation of a song about Sean and Max's fathers and the love of a son for his Dad. We still have Sean's autograph on our bedroom wall, right next to Dana's. So very long ago but fresh in my mind as the coffee I had this morning.

Toby Wright and Larry McDonald

Percussionist Larry McDonald joined our gang and slid his percussion into the mix. We had met him in Holland when Max did a spoken word presentation at the Crossing Borders festival in Amsterdam. Max was asked to perform a short berimbau impromptu set and Larry volunteered to jam with him. Larry was with Gil Scott Heron's band at the time. Al in all, it was a carte blanche of artists of all genres of music, entertaining their skills and producing the finest gemstone.



Class dismissed.....