Timeless energy: Max Cavalera says he hasn’t changed since his teens

Max Cavalera, the current frontman of Soulfly and former member of Sepultura, was asked in a recent interview with Australia’s The Rockpit if he had ever wished to work on a musical project but had never done so for any reason. This is what he stated, according to Blabbermouth.

Yeah, I was thinking about that the other day. I was actually watching a Paul Simon video. And it was really interesting because I’m a big fan of [his albums] ‘Graceland’ and ‘The Rhythm Of The Saints’. And when he wrote ‘Graceland’, he was in his mid fifties, I believe. And people had kind of written him off; they thought his best days were all over, which was the stuff with Simon & Garfunkel and all the hits he had before. And so he made a second life with ‘Graceland’.

I love watching things like that ’cause it kind of gives me hope that there’s better things coming in the future. There’s ways to get other things. And nothing wrong with what I’ve done. I’m super proud of the works, all the Sepultura records and Killer Be Killed and Nailbomb, Go Ahead And Die, Soulfly — it’s great — but the chase is what makes it interesting, that you can still find the magic to do something that surprises even yourself. And that never gets old. The chase never stops. And that’s kind of a thing that it’s really cool, is that inspiration to always try to be inspired as much as you can whenever you’re gonna make a record. Touring is different. Touring, you don’t need to be that inspired, because you’re not creating a new body of music; you’re playing stuff that’s already written. So you just gotta worry about performing them very well. But I love both [touring and making music]. I don’t know which one I like more. I probably like touring a little more, just ’cause I get to really just do what I love and know that that’s there. Creating new music is always a bit bit scary all the time, but, yeah, I like to think that better things are still to come, and so that kind of drives me to the future.

Returning to the question of whether he has considered taking a completely different musical path, Max stated this.

I don’t have any projects set up yet, but, yeah, I’d like to do some stuff… There are some things that I thought about. It’s just gotta be done the right way at the right time. But, yeah, I love jamming. First of all, I like jamming in general and with different musicians and stuff like that. That’s why I have so many bands, as you notice: Killer Be Killed, Go Ahead And Die, Soulfly, Nailbomb, all that. I get to jump from one to the other, and it’s different guys on all those bands… And I just love to interact with all of them, man. It’s great. It’s amazing. It’s a really, really cool thing. ‘Cause I think music — there’s something really pure and magic about music that nothing else gives me that rush.

Max stated this when asked where he currently finds inspiration for his songs.

I’m a curious man by nature. That’s why even watching things like Paul Simon documentaries and stuff like that always inspires me. As far as music goes, yeah, I’m always on the lookout for new things and sounds and records that really pique my interest. And then you get influenced by them, and sometimes it is a higher volume of influence. Sometimes it’s less. But I think in general I’ve always kind of been the same guy; I haven’t really changed much. So literally I’m actually a 17-year-old trapped in a 56-year-old body, because of that. I don’t let the other stuff outside of metal, the politics of music and all that, I don’t let that destroy the purity of why I fell in love with this music in the first place. And that’s something that is sacred to me. And I fight tooth and nail to keep that thing sacred alive, the 17-year-old Max Cavalera that just loves metal and is actually a nerd. I’m actually a nerd. I like all the things about metal. I like to study it and learn. I think you’re always learning, man. You never stop learning. Always. There’s always somebody who can tell you [something] that you go, ‘I never look at it that way. That’s cool. I’m gonna apply that to my life.’ There’s always that. So, it’s great. It’s an amazing world and you just gotta keep your ears and your eyes open for the inspiration to come and then use it.