Sepultura drummer Greyson Nekrutman says accepting farewell tour offer was an easy choice

Former Suicidal Tendencies and current Sepultura drummer Greyson Nekrutman was asked how he goes about “mentally preparing” for a gig like Sepultura, where he had to replace Eloy Casagrande with less than two weeks’ notice in early 2024, during a recent interview with Thomann’s Drum Bash at this month’s Europe Drum Show in Friedrichshafen, Germany, as per Blabbermouth.

It’s interesting because Suicidal was my first foray into playing on big stages [and] at big festivals, and that was great. But the real challenge mentally was more so that transition. ‘Cause I was in the band, and I was having a great time. And I got a call — Andreas [Kisser], the guitarist, called me himself and said the situation that there was no drummer anymore, and they needed a drummer. And the best way I can describe it, and I’ve said this a few times to my family and friends, is it was a decision of, like, [exhales deeply], one of those, ’cause it was, like, I knew I had to say ‘yes’, but I knew I was taking on so much responsibility. But I had to. There was no way I could say ‘no’, because the only thing stopping [me] was the fear.

And it was hard… I remember practicing… Those few days were crazy. I spent maybe 13 to 14 hours [per day] —and I’m not even kidding — ’cause it was only, like, 10 days at home before I had to go to Brazil [for the first show with Sepultura]. So I spent those days practicing. And I remember halfway through that, it was probably two o’clock in the afternoon. I’d been playing since eight in the morning. And I was so frustrated ’cause I was trying to learn these songs and I was, like, ‘I just need to go for a walk.’ And I just went for a walk and I just got outta the house and I was, like, ‘I have to do this, but it’s gonna take so much strength to do it.’

Yeah, it’s hard because your mind will play tricks on you. Honestly, I’ve been struggling with the fact of, like, people will come up to you and be, like, ‘Oh, you’re my favorite drummer,’ or these kids at this thing will come up and say such nice things. And I’m always kind of, like, ‘Why? I’m just a kid. I’m just a dude.’ There’s people older than me — tons of people who are way older than me — who say these things, and it’s weird, because I don’t view myself like that. Sometimes I wish I had a little bit of an ego, ’cause I feel like that would kind of protect you from those feelings. But it’s hard.

It’s really difficult to accept the position that I’m in sometimes. And it’s weird because, yeah, you stay very grounded, which is a great thing and I’m never not gonna be that way, but it’s easy to be walked over too, ’cause people kind of can pull that thing over you where they can take advantage ’cause you are doing something huge and you are in a very privileged position and you’re very high up at this level of things. It’s like the professional sports level of music, basically. But it’s just hard to remember that that stuff is deserved. So sometimes your mind can play tricks on you of, like, ‘I don’t deserve to be here.’ ‘Oh, I, I can’t do this.’ … But it’s hard. It’s certainly a difficult challenge at times.