HERE WE GO!! ANOTHER DAY, ANOTHER STRIKE!!

The video for Seek and Strike was made in the yard of our home we cal The Mountain House. Sean Lennon penned the lyrics to Son Song there, with Max. A track about John Lennon written by his son, written there! I could only dream of something like that! Killer Be Killed was given birth there. Joe Nunez's first show with Soulfly was at Roxanne's Sweet 16 Party at that location. The Mountain House soothed the children's loss of their brother. It gave them adventure romping through the desert and creek bed. When you walk in the front door, on the floor is a giant carved word...CAVALERA. There is a secret Soulfly logo tucked on the tile in a corner of a room. Many many memories there..

When it came time to make the video for Soulfly 3, Max chose the desert location to be in our yard. 6 spacious acres offered all types of terrain. The only problem was the 110 degree heat that decided to smother us that day! Never fear, as we Arizonans are tough stock when it comes to dry heat! We gathered our Tribe and off we went!

For drama, we painted the faces of everyone with Soulfly logos and tribal paint. Our friend, Ray Nugent, has a large Soulfly logo tattooed on his back; perfect for this occasion! Throughout the day, they all ran through the cactus, up the inclines from the creek bed and the band played on!! We even had a visit from a rattlesnake!

The end of the video was the final gift! Everyone perched on the massive bedrock popping through the volcanic rock and a water truck sprayed everyone with the coolness of the tank! Did I tell you that our property and home is smack dab in the middle of an extinct volcano? Located at the foot of Pyramid Mountain, the last house in Unincorporated Phoenix, also a positive vortex location. It has the vibe that caresses your spirituality.

Please don't ask what happened to the snake!

Class dismissed....

MAX BRINGS HIS BRAZILIAN ROOTS TO SOULFLY!!

As Carlinhos Brown added percussion to Roots, and Max took his idea full circle, to record with the Tribe, it was a natural evolution to add the Brazilian  spirit to Soulfly.  On the first release, Max invited the guys from Macau Zumba to spice it up.  On Primitive, Soulfly 3 and Prophecy, Max invited his friend, Mei Noite, to bring on the tribal jams.

Mei Noite had known Max from living in Brazil.  He was playing with Sergio Mendez at the time of the Primitive recording and we were lucky to grab him during a break.

He is known as one of the top percussionists in the world, as well as being a super cool dude!  Even Jennifer Lopez and Ricky Martin tapped his talent! Listen closely to the Soulfly records he appears on, and you will find his flavor throughout!  When he arrived in Phoenix , he came with a rider truck full of instruments!!

Max laughed his ass off when Mei Noite arrived in the studio during the Primitive recording.  Max played him a track and Mei Noite said " oh, so you want some James Brown Funk Beat!"  Whoa!  During Soulfly 3 recording, the producer, Otto D'Agnolo, lost his mind when Mei Noite captured the percussive sounds of water.  The mics!  The mics!

He has a very successful percussion school in Brazil and I am certain he still elopes around the world, with artists we only hear about!  Mei Noite, bringing the earthen sounds to metal...Bring Da Shit!!!!

Class dismissed....

NAILBOMB... PLANNING THE DAY OF HATE... PART 2

Moving along towards the Dynamo Festival, there was much preparation to do. Choosing the musicians, rehearsals, advancing the show details, flights, gear, you name it, it had to be organized. Nailbomb had never played before so every adjustment had to be carved out. This wasn't goofing off in the nanny's bedroom any more. This was a festival with over 100,000 people! It would be the sum of our achievements!

While I was working on the flights, and preparing the rider, Max and Alex were choosing band members. I would be making laminates for the 2 shows and they were reaching out to musicians. Christina was sorting the merch and show details wth me. It was all unfolding nicely. Because the band was a hate project, we laughed a lot! Seriously! It was all about shock and awe! It was a funny kind of hate, actually. We were disturbed; hate was reality!

Max had a list of musicians compiled. It wasn't the easiest thing to do. Some of the tracks were done on drum machine, so we had to find a drummer who could imitate this precision drumming. We settled on Barry Schneider, a drummer from a South African band named Tribe After Tribe. He was very well known for his click track skills. Peligro from the Dead Kennedys and Iggor Cavalera, would both split drumming on the remaining songs. Dave Edwardson from Neurosis would slam the bass; Rhys Fulbar from Front Line Assembly; would man the keyboards, and Scoot from Doom would add some action!

Next I had to collect the info to send in the rider. For those of you who don't know what that is...it is the list of requirements a band has, to perform a show. It is usually the PA, lights and monitors, security, hotels, things like that. And don't forget the catering info! We have always been pretty simple in our catering. We don't ask for stupid things like a bowl of red M&M's, or round bread. We did have some fun with the Nailbomb catering rider, as you can see. After all, we were in Holland.....

Class dismissed......

NAILBOMB...DAY OF HATE IS BORN

22 years ago, I worked with Andre Verhuysen to bring a band I manage to the Dynamo Festival in Holland. That band was Nailbomb. We never realized or even dreamt that the record, Point Blank, would march through the ages and stay relevant....but it did. In a few months, Max will bring this classic music to the Tribe. The timing is perfect..war, hate, suffering, sorrow. It's all still here, alive and well.

Recently, I found my Nailbomb file from the time of the festival. The next couple weeks, I will show you the behind the scenes, the growth and the reality of the concept of Nailbomb. Here we start off with my schedule that I prepared for the band. It's funny to read the rider and also the rooming list with our fake names! Christina was my partner then and my partner now. Let's time travel, Students!!


Hate is reality!!!

Class dismissed......

HOLD THAT POSE!!!!!

In 1997, we entertained a photographer at our Phoenix home, who had been flown in, courtesy of a guitar magazine. We didn't know it at that time, but in walked Glen LaFerman, one of the hottest rock photographers in the business and soon-to-be-in-the-future-adopted-friend/family-member!! He has our family's life in photos going back to Soulfly 1, and even took my favorite shot ever, of Max and me.

Photo by Glen LaFerman

I will never forget that first day....after the shoot was over, Glen said he wanted too chill in our backyard, by the pool. Of course we were cool with it !! A few minutes later, when I looked out the kitchen window, there was Glen, standing and loving life, but stripped down to his Tidey Whiteys! Max was like "whoa, there are young girls here; can you put your pants on?" We all laughed and said "those Californians!" Jokingly, of course! Glen decided to spend the night, so we offered him a private room at Christina's apartment. When she woke in the morning and couldn't find Glen, she went outside. He was soaking up the Arizona sunshine, drinking a beer and smoking his cig, in his Tidey Whiteys, on her balcony! We still crack up at this!




Glen's history as a rock photographer has been unmatched. From his first band member shoot ever, which was the famous Corky Laing from Mountain, to KISS, to Bob Marlie, he has more notches on his camera strap than any photographer I have had the pleasure of working with! He was the staff photographer for RIP Magazine, all the guitar mags and countless recording sessions. He has shot Eddie Van Halen since the beginning of his career. His photos of Ozzy wearing the maid's dress in his hotel, made me smile! KISS has adorned their tour books, clothing and lunch boxes with Glen's shots. And we all have seen the photos in the Rainbow Bar and Grill on Sunset....all Glen's visions.

Glen was very honored to show Max and me the Max shot, he had placed in the Rainbow. We were surprised to see Max in there with the heavyweights....Slash, Eddie, Gene Simmons, Ginger Baker, Ozzy, Jeff Beck... Unfortunately some time later, a cunning fox made off with all the photos in the room where Max's photo was!




Glen's studio is in his living room. Through the years, he has perfected every shadow in his black and white portfolio, in this very location. His walls are a museum of rock history. One room has so many magazine covers on the wall, you can't even focus on them! They are only a fraction of his work! Recently, Max and I paid Glen a visit. I had Max detain him while I snuck a few shots for the blog, without Glen's knowing! Glen, if you are reading this...it has been an honor to know you, to work with you and to reminisce with you. You have graciously shot our family through time, even capturing Incite through their evolution and Zyon and Igor's Moldbreaker to Lody Kong transition!! Long after we are all gone, your photos will tell our story!

One of our favorite times was going to Bank One Ballpark in Phoenix, for a SIT String's shoot. The ballpark was just starting construction and had many photogenic opportunities. Unfortunately, soon after starting the shoot, a foreman walked up and kicked us out. Max said "it's ok. I am going to play here some day when you finish building!" We laughed and snuck around to another corner and did the deal!! Secretly, Glen shot photos of Max and me, and the shots of Max with his guitar. And guess what...on December 31, 1998, Soulfly opened the New Year's Evil Ozzy festival, and became the first Metal band to ever play Bank One Ballpark!




We all have seen your Bob Marlie shots, taken only a couple months before he succumbed to cancer. The expressions and emotions in this shoot are some of the most intense Marlie shots in existence. Recently, Glen was honored with a display and plaque inside the Bob Marlie museum in Jamaica. It is a honor well earned. The music world of business and fans can never thank you enough for the history you have logged and given us!!!! Very proud to be a part of it!!

Class dismissed.....

BREAKING BARRIERS WITH MAX......GYPSIES, DARK AGES' MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS AND A COYOTE....

Recording The Prophecy was a rare experience! Max's creative thinking passed all boundaries, as we flew to Belgrade, Serbia, to add the fingerprints of the past, on his new baby.



Our friends from the Serbian band, Eyesburn, had introduced us to a new producer, Bare, and his home recording sanctuary. A cosy, intimate studio, right across the street from the best chevappe barbecue cafe, ever, was our ground zero. A Serbian Orthodox icon was on the wall, overlooking us all. I knew we were right where we were supposed to be!

Max had an idea to record with gypsies...real gypsies from the streets, not people with gypsy blood, living normal lives. He wanted the real thing! Bare granted Max's wish and asked a troupe from the street to come to the studio. The drummer got caught in some mishap and couldn't make it, but the others did. The song they chose was a song from the World War, The March on the River Drina. The young men spoke in their obscure language and smiled and laughed throughout! The energy coming off them was so positive and strong! When I asked them to sign an agreement for the record label, one of them signed it with an "X!"



Max also wanted some ancient instruments on the record. Coyote, the vocalist and trombone player from Eyesburn, told us his uncle was a professor of instruments from the Middle Ages and Dark Ages, at the university in Belgrade. His name is Ljubomir Dimitrijevic. He brought a wide assortment of instruments. They were made from animal skins, bones, and ancient woods. He played the Kaval (flute), a zurlaj (woodwind), and a gajdej (sheepskin bagpipe). It was amazing these organic items were in such pristine shape!

The final encore was the mystical track, Moses. My daughter, Christina, was awaiting the birth of her son, Moses. We were all family, and waiting for the birth of our second grandson, was an event! Christina had introduced us to the magical Eyesburn, and Coyote, with his extraterrestrial trombone. I cannot find the words to describe this haunting trombone's sound!! Coyote is a master musician and his vocals are addicting! This brilliant track was the ring around our Saturn!!

Students, don't be afraid to take risks. Don't listen to the haters and critics. Art has no boundaries, no expiration date, no code. Max's diverse thinking gave us the uniqueness of Sepultura; the combining of world music with Metal! He added a tribe to his ROOTS!! He gave us the berimbau, never before used in Metal. He combines words whimsically such as Downstroy, Straighthate, Soulfliction and Karmaggedon. He started the world craze of wearing camouflage. He is the only person to play guitar on the bridge of his guitar (You never knew it did you? We call it "crickets."). Max also was the first artist to incorporate the soccer chant in his set! He is the first person to put a Brazilian flag on a guitar. I can go on and on..... Tear down the fences! Don't be afraid to follow your dream!



Class dismissed......

FULL FORCE.....FULL METAL JACKET!!!

2011 was a busy year for us. The CC tour was going strong and we all had our families with us, on our buses. It was great fun for the kids to get to hang with each other! As we made our trek across Europe, with Full Force came into view!!

I have always had a strong affection for everything With Full Force! Joe and Michael are longtime friends. Our ties are much deeper than business! They have been Max supporters as long as forever, and I would say, they are family to us!! We have spent many summers pulling through Leipzig, heading to the grassy fields of With Full Force! Once, our bus was broke and putting on one gear and they saved our spot for us, as we arrived on one broken leg!! Another time when With Full Force was struck by a deadly storm, we shared their pain and grief.

On this particular WFF event, our son, Igor, turned 16. In Germany, he was of legal age to get a tattoo...so Max and I hooked him up when we visited Hamburg, around the time of the festival. Imagine our surprise when he revealed his first inking to us!!! One of those days.... We let him unleash his teen fury at the shows, as he jammed Cockroaches with Cavalera Conspiracy.

I advise every Metalhead on Earth to make this festival a priority on your bucket list!!! You wont regret it! Your only suffering will be that darn sore neck in the morning...but your tent-mate can take care of that! Did I mention it's a camping festival? What could be better???

Class dismissed...