Last week, we reported that Max Cavalera finally cut off the dreadlock he's been growing for nearly 20 years. The story became a major one, surprisingly, one of our most visited stories of last week. Cavalera, himself, was taken aback by the response.
He recently spoke to MMM Hard N Heavy to explain why exactly he made the decision:
“It was kind of crazy. I wasn’t expecting that reaction. In fact, when I decided to cut it, it was kind of out of the blue. I woke up one day and I told my wife [Gloria Cavalera], ‘I think I wanna cut my dreads.’ And she was very surprised, ’cause it’s been with me for 23 years. She [was, like], ‘Really? Seriously?’ And I was, like, ‘Yeah, it’s bugging me. It’s very heavy. I kind of feel like I need something new, something fresh in my life.’ So we just did it.
“It was a Sunday afternoon at my house. We were having a family dinner. I just went in the backyard and she had a pair of scissors, and [I said], ‘Cut it off. Just cut it off. Let’s not make a big deal.’ But she took a picture and posted the picture. And that was a problem. That was where the shit hit the fan. [Laughs]”
“I didn’t expect [the huge reaction], man. My son called me. He was, like, ‘You’re number one on Google News.’ I don’t even know what that is. I was, like, ‘What the fuck is that?’
“I think [Gloria] wants to frame it and put it on the wall in the house and then do something with it eventually in the future. Those are manager things that I don’t get involved with, manager decisions. [Laughs]
“I tell you what, man — it feels great not having that thing around. It was good, but it had its time. It was time to go; it was time to move on. I feel like I’ve been liberated from the dread. It was very heavy, man, and it was really long — it was all the way to my ass.
“Everybody was, like, ‘2020 doesn’t get more weird than this. Even Max is cutting his dreads.’ Which I didn’t even think about it until later, that I did it. I was, like, ‘Yeah, it actually is in 2020 that I cut my dreads off.’
“It’s just one of those things. Like I said, it was a spur-of-the-moment decision. I just woke up one day, and I was, like, ‘I think I’m done with this. I think it’s time to cut it off.’ And I just did it. And it’s finally done. But I didn’t know it was gonna cause such a shitstorm. [Laughs]”[via]