Metal legends Iggor and Max Cavalera are currently returning to their roots on their “Return To Roots” world tour, celebrating the 20th anniversary of their legendary 1996 ‘Roots’ album, a record that was revolutionary to the world of metal and still resonates with fans far and wide today. 

The brothers are set to bring the tour down under to Australia in September, with Aussie metal fans old and young alike, excited to see the unique record played live in it’s entirety. For some it’ll be a trip down memory lane getting to see the songs live again and embrace the nostalgia of the distinctive Brazilian rhythm fuelled sounds on the metal record. For others, it’ll be their first chance to experience the “Roots” songs immersed in the stage presence of the Cavalera brothers and the rest of their band “Cavalera Conspiracy” who are sharing the stage with them for the tour.

We chat to Iggor Cavalera about living in the UK, the upcoming Australian leg of the ‘Return To Roots’ tour, the progression of his musical influences including early tastes of Samba music and Queen, turning to the likes of Black Sabbath and Motörhead. We delve into his experience recording music for the iconic Roots record, in a Brazilian jungle with a native tribe and the musical projects that he’s currently working on, including drumming for Soulwax, new Cavalera Conspiracy and something a little different in his DJ outlet of ‘Mix Hell’. 

Hi Iggor, it’s Sarah from Scenezine Australia, how are you? 

Iggor Cavalera: Hey how’s it going? 

SCENEzine: I’m good thank you, thanks for taking the time to chat to us today.

Iggor Cavalera: Yeah, yeah thank you.

SCENEzine: So where are you in the world right now?

Iggor Cavalera: I’m in London, in the UK.

SCENEzine: Oh yeah is that for one of the dates on the “Return To Roots World Tour” 

Iggor Cavalera: No actually, it’s for a few days off that we have so..

SCENEzine: Oh that’s good..

Iggor Cavalera: Yeah, I live here.

SCENEzine: Oh you’re living over there? 

Iggor Cavalera: Yeah, I’ve been living here for the last four years. 

SCENEzine: Oh yeah right, that’s something I didn’t know, that’s cool. How do you find living over there?

Iggor Cavalera: Its great! It’s very different, I live pretty much all my life in Brazil, so it’s a bit of a change and I have to say I like the energy of the city. Yeah it’s a cool place, you know like you get to see a lot of different bands that I like that come to town and it’s good for my kids, they have a really good school system, so that’s quite nice. 

SCENEzine: Yeah that sounds really good. So congratulations on the 20th anniversary of your legendary record “Roots”. How does it feel to have made one of the most revolutionary records in Metal that’s still very much resonating with people all over the world?

Iggor Cavalera: It’s really cool, I think, you know of course I’m super proud of Roots and ah I think it’s a good thing to celebrate by playing the album, you know it’s something that I have to say, we’re so lucky that me and Max can do that. A lot of people 20 years later, sometimes you know they’re…sometimes people pass away and things like that. So I think it’s a cool thing that we can celebrate by doing tours and then playing for people who didn’t have a chance to see Roots when it came out and some people have a chance to revive their passion by seeing it again so it’s a fun thing. 

SCENEzine: Yeah for sure, well I’ve never been able to see you play live yet so I’m pretty excited for the show.

Iggor Cavalera: Yeah, it’s cool, we really took a lot of time and effort to focus on representing Roots the best way possible so every detail is there to make sure that somebody that comes to the show can have the full experience. 

SCENEzine: So how has the tour been going so far? You’ve been on it for a while now haven’t you, like I saw you were doing shows overseas last year… 

Iggor Cavalera: Yeah, we had a little path in Canada where we play a festival and it’s really cool, but also I have to say, it’s something that, it’s cool but it’s also just to move forward, so during the time that we were doing Roots, we also wrote the whole Cavalera Conspiracy record and we recorded it and it’s done now so I think it’s a cool thing to do that but also focus on the future. So I think the two things together, it’s what makes it special. 

SCENEzine: Yeah I was going to mention that aswell, coz you just finished up a little while ago, playing drums for Soulwax on their tour and then you’re on this Return to Roots tour, and writing the new Cavalera Conspiracy album. Have you been doing much with Mix Hell (DJ project) on top of all that? 

Iggor Cavalera: Yeah it’s been crazy busy I have to say, and I really enjoy doing a lot of things and keeping you know like as busy as possible and pushing my limits. So it’s cool to have all those things you know like I have Mix Hell which right now we’re just like putting stuff out on our old label so it’s very focused more on the underground scene. Then of course there’s the stuff that I do with Soulwax which is like proper crazy, it’s like a seven piece band with three drummers, so it’s something that’s completely different than what I do in other projects. 

So I think, as a musician it’s really, I have to say, like I’ve never been so focused on drumming and I have to say, most people that I really appreciate in music usually they’re involved in many different projects so that’s pretty cool. 

SCENEzine: Yeah, you’re really honing your skills well and truely by engaging in so many diverse outlets…

Iggor Cavalera: Yeah, again it’s pushing the limits to the most and then by doing stuff like that you grow a lot as a musician and as a person. 

SCENEzine: Yeah definitely. Getting back to Roots, what was it that inspired you to make the transition from the more traditional metal / somewhat industrial sounds in albums like Arise and Chaos A.D, and then really delve further into the Brazilian / African rhythm in Roots?

Iggor Cavalera: We started to experiment a little more at the time with Chaos A.D, we had a few more percussive things on it and so when people think that we just went straight into the whole Roots concept, actually it took a few years to get to that, because we wanted to be very ah careful and also very respectful dealing with our Brazilian heritage and music and we do that in a very special way, and not just do it for the sake of having to do it. 

So it’s something that, it took us a lot of research and a lot of time to make it in the way that we would feel completely I don’t know, like satisfied with it. So I think it’s something that took us a lot of time to get that to that level. 

SCENEzine: Yeah ok, yeah there were some hints of those sounds emerging in those two albums. 

Iggor Cavalera: Yeah! I mean it was like little things that we saw the potential of having a more heavy percussive influence like that we could do. And then the more we added to it we felt like that was the right direction at the time. So that was the cool thing about it. 

SCENEzine: A natural progression..

Iggor Cavalera: Yeah, yeah it’s a slow process that does make sense at the end. 

SCENEzine: Yeah. Can you tell me a little bit about your experience with making the record, you spent some time with the native Brazilian tribe, now I’m probably going to pronounce this wrong but is it, “Xavante”…

Iggor Cavalera: Yeah that’s pretty good! 

SCENEzine: Oh yeah? Good (laughs) 

Iggor Cavalera: Yeah!..

SCENEzine: Yeah, so what was that like, exploring thier culture, and you got to record out there, did I hear right that you had to record on car batteries!? 

Iggor Cavalera: Yeah, there’s no electricity at the time, I don’t know how it is today, I haven’t visited the tribe in many years so we had to bring the car batteries to generate energy to put the microphones to record what we were doing. Then of course everything was done acoustically, like we didn’t have guitars or drums it was just like the two acoustic guitars and a few percussion instruments and then of course the voice of all the Xavante Tribe. It was something that was very special, we got to spend time there and experience something that we never had before. Not that many people, even in Brazil have a chance to go that deep in to their culture. For us it was a very special moment and to have that registered in the form of a song that was quite special and then again for me to play that every night at the Roots tour, and bring back some of the atmosphere and the vibe is very special also. 

SCENEzine: Yeah, so it was just the song “Itsari” that you did up there? 

Iggor Cavalera: Yeah

SCENEzine: Would you say that would be one of your favourite songs from the record because of that experience?

Iggor Cavalera: Yes, in the sense that it’s such a different track and then of course we wrote with someone that it was completely, ah nobody had done that before, so that was something very fresh so it’s definitely in my favourites of all time, the stuff that I’ve done, not only in the Roots record, but in my whole career. 

SCENEzine: Yeah, I can imagine it would’ve been an incredible experience. I read that growing up you were originally into Samba music and then found an interest in rock after seeing Queen live in 1981, which I’m very jealous of by the way (laughs)..

Iggor Cavalera: (laughs) 

SCENEzine: Who else has inspired you or left an impression on you musically throughout your career?

Iggor Cavalera: Yeah, I mean well it started out by going to see ah Queen of course but then after that, me and Max we just got really into the idea of putting a band together and then the more we were discovering bands like Motörhead, Black Sabbath like those bands which have a little more of a heavier feel to it, that’s when we really start shaping what we wanted to do musically and they are still two of my favourite bands, the two that I just mentioned…

SCENEzine: …oh yeah, two of mine too. 

Iggor Cavalera: Yeah, like later on with bands like Venom and Celtic Frost and now the whole scene of more extreme metal is pretty much how we ended up where we are today. 

SCENEzine: Yeah, that’s cool to hear what / who’s inspired you to create your sound. Do you happen to have a certain piece of equipment that you’ve always played with that you need to take on stage for every show, or do you have any other rituals that you and the band do before every show? 

Iggor Cavalera: Not really, I have to say, I don’t have like a special cymbal or snare. I have quite a different approach when it comes to drums where I like the challenge of playing different drums all the time, so like say when I go to Australia, it’s going to be a whole new kit, it is a challenge for me to make my sound into that kit. 

So I think, I get more of a drive trying with those things rather than bringing my own personal stuff, what I bring, it’s more with my playing and not really with the instrument itself, it’s very different than someone with a guitar or a bass, I think it’s more similar to maybe to a singer who only brings their voice and they can sing on pretty much any microphone you know. The drums for me, it’s really about what I bring to the table and not the instrument itself. 

SCENEzine: Yeah I like that, and then you’re always keeping yourself fresh, challenged and you can really change up your whole sound I guess…

Iggor Cavalera: Yeah! It’s really…again it’s a challenge every time you go on stage and you have a different set of drums to play on. As a musician I really love those little challenges that come in front of me. 

SCENEzine: Yeah that’s cool, to keep pushing yourself. Now, the song ‘Roots Bloody Roots’ is a huge crowd favourite, did you have a feeling when writing it that you had something special there?

Iggor Cavalera: We always do, I have to say, like with every record you do have a feeling that it’s something, but you never know how that’s gonna translate into other people’s perception. So I think it’s hard, you know, like if you knew it would be crazy, like if everybody knew exactly how to do a formula to something that would mean a lot to different people, so that doesn’t really exist and I think it’s really about doing something that you believe and you’re 100% honest and then it’s a lot easier to accept if people understand or even if they don’t understand what you’re doing, if you’re true to yourself that’s what it’s about for me. 
 

 
SCENEzine: Yeah at the end of the day, that’s the most important thing, staying true to yourself. Well here in Australia we’re very excited that you’re bringing your “Return To Roots Tour” here in September, not too far away now, what can Australian fans expect from the show, I heard you’re actually playing the Roots album in chronological order, is that right?

Iggor Cavalera: Yeah, yeah that’s how we’ve been doing it and ah it’s exactly as if you put the record on and you press play, so it’s from the beginning to the end, it’s exactly the same order. So it’s really fun I have to say because I only discovered that after playing it a few times that the album actually, it does work as a live performance, exactly as we put the order, so it’s really fun to do it. 

SCENEzine: Kind of like a concept album in a way…

Iggor Cavalera: Yeah! It does work, you know I have to say like when we started I didn’t know how, if we would have to change the order to make it more into like a proper show but it does work like even like with starting with the song that most people know and then finishing with something that it’s super fast which is “Dictatorshit” so it does work in that sense. 

SCENEzine: Are there any hints of some Cavalera Conspiracy shows perhaps that might be coming to Australia, any time soon? 

Iggor Cavalera: Well hopefully, I mean we are finishing the record right now so we’re just waiting for the label to have a date for it’s release, and then of course pretty much, I think the whole next year were gonna be focused on the Cavalera Conspiracy record so hopefully we get to do some shows in Australia. 

SCENEzine: Yeah fingers crossed. Can’t wait to hear the new stuff. We don’t  have many heavy music festivals anymore but we do have one called Unify, which might be a little early, as it’s in January, but ah maybe we could sneak you onto the lineup there, that would be pretty cool to see Cavalera Conspiracy there… 

Iggor Cavalera: Yeah I would love to! I would love to come, if not this one but whatever you know, when we can make it, it’s always fun to go back to Australia. 

SCENEzine: Yeah that sounds good. Well as I said, we absolutely can not wait to see you and Max, and the rest of Cavalera Conspiracy who are playing your “Return To Roots” Tour in Australia, so thank you so much for taking the time to chat to us today. 

Iggor Cavalera: Thank you. 

SCENEzine: We’ll see you soon. 

Iggor Cavalera: Alright, thanks a lot! 

Interview by Sarah Thomson