In a new interview, former Sepultura and currently Soulfly/Cavalera Conspiracy frontman Max Cavalera discussed (via Blabbermouth) what motivates him to continue writing, recording and performing music so many years after Sepultura's inception.
"Well, to me it's a journey," Cavalera explained. "It's a long journey. It started in Brazil, of course — I think now it's 40 years I'm making music and touring for close to 30, I think; 27 years touring. And the best thing about it is that I don't lose the passion. I still, I'm nervous before the show; I'm going to be nervous tonight — very nervous, like butterflies and everything. But I think that's good. It's a good anxiety. It's a good nervous. It's a different kind of nervous than other type of nervous that you get. This is good. It's excitement, nervous-type thing. It's difficult to explain. But it lasts all the way till you hit the stage and then you hear the roar and you have your guitar and you hear the first note and it goes away the minute you hit the stage. It's incredible. It's just magic. I think there's a lot of magic in me. I know it's cheesy to say magic, but I don't know another word to describe this, because it's a crazy feeling that we get on the stage, and I think the fans get it."
Cavalera also explained that Soulfly shows are like spiritual experiences for him, which keeps him both feeling fresh and on his toes.
"I think a lot of times also Soulfly shows tend to be almost like rituals; they are more than a rock show. I think that because of the whole tribal feeling that we bring to it, it becomes almost like a religious experience-type thing. Everybody is very connected through all the songs. And I love that about Soulfly. It's also a very positive band as well… I also like the fact that we are kind of like an old-school type of band where everything is live. We use minimal playback — maybe intros; for two or three songs, we have an intro, but everything else is us. It's all organic, so it's all coming from us playing the instruments, which goes back to The Beatles, if you go back in rock history. It goes back to Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath — real live, organic. Every night's a little bit different, and I like that, because it makes… so it's not robotic. Every show is not the same. So tonight I'm sure it's gonna be different from last night."
We can all relate to that type of show experience before, where it feels like the audience is connected to each other through the music.
