In this day and age, you probably don't know of anyone who does not own a cellphone,. However, Soulfly and Cavalera frontman Max Cavalera has no problem whatsoever with being one of the exceptions.
In a recent interview with Finland's Chaoszine, Cavalera discussed entering the world of social media by launching his own Instagram account, which is in turn managed by his wife Gloria Cavalera. This might seem like an oxymoron in today's hyper-connected world, but Cavalera remains refreshingly unplugged.
"I think it was necessary for a musician to grow. As much as I wanted to stay away from it, because — I like it, but I don't let it be the only thing in my life. That's why I don't have a cell phone. I'm one of the few people in the world who don't have a cell phone. And I feel very free about that because when I go to eat at a restaurant, I wanna talk to my friends. I wanna sit down at a table and talk to people, not stare at some machine. I think that's ridiculous when people are in a restaurant and they are sitting across from each other and they don't talk to each other. It's fucking sad. It's fucking crazy — it drives me crazy."
However, Cavalera recognizes the power of social media for musicians, and credits Gloria, for managing his online presence: "At the same time, I know how important it is to have your presence in the social media world. And that's why together, I found a way to do it with Gloria so she becomes my voice. She shows me everything, so I get to see everything that people are saying. I respond.
"We do a live Facebook. I was doing a lot of 'Max Trax' – an Internet video series in which Max discusses the inspiration for many of the songs spanning his 40-year music career. I might wanna start doing that again and do Cameos and all this stuff. But I think she's great. She's doing right now six, I think, social media things. She does Max Cavalera, she does Soulfly. She has her own Facebook page, and it's cool."
This includes both positive and negative comments, with the latter serving as a surprising source to channel criticism into positive energy: "I always did this — even back in the day, in the Sepultura days before the Internet. I would read bad reviews so I get really pissed off and have a good show. So now I kind of do the same. I tell her like, 'Show me some people talking shit.' So she gives me the phone, and there's all these people talking shit. And I read it, and I go on the stage and I fuck shit up. It's ammunition. It's gasoline for the fire."
So there you go – don't hate on Max Cavalera unless you want the dude to hulk out and destroy the place.
