DERRICK GREEN: SEPULTURA Has Become Bigger Than The Individuals Making Up The Band

A new audio interview with SEPULTURA frontman Derrick Green conducted by Vassil Varbanov of Bulgaria's Tangra Mega Rock is available for download at this location (MP3, 4 MB). An excerpt from the chat follows below.

Tangra Mega Rock: Do you hear people saying, "Hey these guys are cool but need to change their name?" And what is your answer to that?

Derrick: Well, I think it's kind of... I can understand in the very beginning a lot of people would think that, but you got to understand that the band was comprised of four people. In the very beginning of SEPULTURA.

Tangra Mega Rock: And it still is, I believe...

Derrick: [Laughs] And two of those people who wrote, you know, a majority of the material of the entire history of the band are still in the band. Andreas [Kisser], the lead guitarist, playing all the solos and being a major contribution to the band, is still in the band. And Paulo Xisto Pinto Jr., bass] who is there from the very beginning. And when we were actually playing with Igor, people suggested the same idea. But when you really believe in a band, and work with the band for so many years, and you go out on the road and you sacrifice a lot of your life in different things, then you don't have to listen to the public. The band was started without the public and the band will continue... It's the way that it is, because it is something that we are doing, you know. And it's something that we believe in and it's something that we are carrying and it's something that's inside of us. So there is no reason why we would change name because SEPULTURA has become actually more than the actual people in the band. It has become bigger than the actual individuals. The name itself and what it represents. So for us we believe in what we are doing and we believe in the name and we were proud to represent it a hundred percent.

Tangra Mega Rock: well, the thing is that when igor was still in the band, obviously the fans were ok, not all the fans of course...

Derrick: Yeah. [Laughs] Of course not.

Tangra Mega Rock: Yeah, but since Igor left it may have become worse...you just said "the band is bigger than its members... Do you mean "the band is bigger than the Cavalera brothers?"

Derrick: I think the name itself — SEPULTURA has grown bigger, yeah, than the actual individuals, the Cavaleras. Even when Max left the band, trust me, there were many many people saying it's over, it's done. There's no way they're gonna be able to continue on without him. There were a lot of people kind of kissing ass, you know, in that aspect, because they didn't realize it was a group, and it still is a GROUP of people writing, not one person creating everything. And so I think since Igor has left, it's been three years now and we've been able to play actually many many places all over the world and there's still a lot of new people that are into SEPULTURA. So it's like we are able to capture a younger audience and retain some of the old audience but we are moving on and moving forward. And I think that's what makes SEPULTURA still survive, the fact that we are able to move with times, not to sit in the past and try to recreate something that's never gonna happen again. We look to the future and try to do new things.

Tangra Mega Rock: What do you think of illegal downloading?

Derrick: I think it's impossible to stop. It's something you just have to accept, you know. Free music. [Laughs] Unfortunately it does harm us in some ways. In many ways, actually, because the record label is supporting us. And the only way they can support us is by selling CDs. But I believe there's always like options, you know. I believe that, it depends on the band. You can actually attempt to try to regulate something or actually give out the music for free, for a short time. At the end I think it's just important for the fans that really enjoy the music, that love the music, to actually HAVE the music, support the band by going to shows and hm… it's even better when they're able to buy the CD and have, you know, something very special in their hands. I think it's up to the artist to create something very special as far as artwork and something unique for them to want to pick it up. But I think that it's up to the fans to want to support the band to go out and actually purchase the CD. But I can understand downloading. I can understand it because you want to have an idea what it is that you're gonna buy. And if you really really like it, then it's great, you know, go out and support the band.

Read the entire interview from Tangra Mega Rock.