SEPULTURA's KISSER Talks About IGOR's Departure, Possibility Of Reunion With MAX

Rockinvasion.de conducted an interview with SEPULTURA guitarist Andreas Kisser during the band's German tour this past summer. A short two-minute preview clip can be viewed below. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow:

Rockinvasion.de: Why did [drummer] Igor [Cavalera] leave [SEPULTURA]? It was announced that he was tired of touring. But is that really the whole truth?

Andreas: Yeah, pretty much. I mean, he really wanted to do something else, stay more in Brazil. He got a new wife, a new kid, and he's got three kids from a previous marriage also. He just wanted to be more involved there. He's doing [gigs as] a DJ, he's not playing drums that much, that often, like he used to. He just got tired [of the SEPULTURA lifestyle], I guess. I mean, it's pretty natural. It was like 23 years in a row [being in the band]. He wanted to get in touch with his brother [former SEPULTURA frontman Max Cavalera] more often and stuff, and I guess that's very understandable. We reached a point where it was better for him to do something else, and for us, we had "Dante" [the latest SEPULTURA CD, "Dante XXI"] on our hands. I mean, we couldn't stop — after we recorded "Dante" and stop — so we took the challenge to move ahead, first with Roy [Mayorga, stand-in drummer on SEPULTURA's spring 2006 European tour] and now with Jean [Dolabella, current SEPULTURA drummer], and now we have reason to continue with this great drummer and this great time that we're in now. It's just, like, different choices. It was much easier to deal with Igor leaving right now than it was with Max. With Max we were on "Roots" and we were at the height [of our success] and everything was happening, and it was very confusing and very shocking to everybody involved, but because of that, I think we were better prepared to deal with this kind of situation again. I think both [of us] are in a better place now.

Rockinvasion.de: But even though he's burnt out, you've still got the fire, don't you?

Andreas: Of course. I mean, we [Igor and I] see the world in a different way — that's very obvious. (Laughs) I love to be on stage. For me, it's a privilege to be in a band like SEPULTURA, to travel the world so many times, and to really feel the changes in the world, and not only by TV and stuff. It's great. I can pass this kind of baggage and information to my family, to my kids and stuff, and bring them here when it's possible. Travelling is great — it really opens your mind and you see your own place with different eyes and with a different attitude every time you go back, so I think it's very healthy. To play music everywhere in the world — that's what I asked [for] a long time ago and that's what I worked for for so many yeas, and that's what I do.

Rockinvasion.de: I was confused by some Cavalera statements, of both [Max and Igor]. 'Cause they were talking about reuniting with the original [SEPULTURA] lineup. First of all, it doesn't go along with the "tired of touring" argument, and second of all, it didn't happen. Was it just [all talk] or was there anything true in that — are there any plans [for a reunion of the classic SEPULTURA lineup]?

Andreas: Well, you have to ask about their plans for them. (Laughs.)

Rockinvasion.de: So they didn't ask you about that?

Andreas: No, this is just, like, rumors. People can say whatever they want in the press. Like I said, everybody has an opinion. And this confusion is always there. I really think all [of Max's] interviews [contain] very contradictory statements and stuff, but whatever… There's [no talk] about a reunion, there's nothing about coming back. We're very focused on what we're doing right now. Like I said, we're preparing a new album and we're looking towards the future. And if in the future something like that will happen, it has to happen very naturally, [which is what] SEPULTURA was always about — we cannot try to force anything. So, I don't know… All the rest is just politics, you know. I'm just really concerned with what we're doing right now and looking ahead.

Rockinvasion.de: So Derrick [Green, vocals] and Jean aren't nervous about the situation?

Andreas: Not really. I mean, there's no reason to be. (Laughs) We're enjoying what we're doing and we have our plans. Nothing more to it.

Rockinvasion.de: Did you stay in contact with Igor and Max?

Andreas: Yeah, [Igor] is still in Sao Paulo and we still know the families and kids and stuff like that, but we don't talk as much as we used to. I'm here in Europe working, he's doing his stuff. The lives now are very different, so… But I have [no ill feelings towards him], I respect his position. And ever since Max left [in December 1996], we never talked. It's a very stupid [situation]. I mean, they never accepted the fact that Gloria [Max's wife] was fired [as SEPULTURA's manager] and still today, it's very difficult to move if you don't resolve your things, so they seem to be kind of stopped in a place in time.