By Jeanny Petrocchi, Metalphoto – March 7, 2014
Metalphoto: First of all thank you for this opportunity Andreas. Tell us about the new album: The Mediator Between Head And Hands Must Be The Heart
Andreas: Album came out last year, about October. We took about 4 to 5 months to write everything. We started working on it last year in February/March. And then already in June we went to the US to record the album with Ross Robinson, which was the producer of the Roots album we did back in 95. So it was cool to meet Ross again, you know, he really understands the band and the way he records is very much the way we like to record, very organic, you know, like jamming in the room and stuff. So it was a perfect choice. We spend like a month and a half in Venice beach at his house,
at his home studio and Steve Evetts who also worked with Sepultura before makes the album, it’s the 2nd album with nuclear blast and the first album with Eloy on the drums. First time we’re working together and writing together, so it’s a very powerful album and it’s been receiving very positive feedback you know. This tour has been amazing, I mean the design and the cover, the merchandising is going very well. I mean you can feel the people really embrace it, I mean not only the music, but the lyrics and all the artwork, and everything, it’s great!
Metalphoto: It’s a long name for an album, why this name?
Andreas: Well it’s something different you know. Sepultura always brings something different on every album. It’s something that is very natural for us, you know, we don’t force a situation like that. We travel a lot, we go different places all the time and we meet new people and new music everywhere. So our ideas were always fresh and stuff. It came from the movie Metropolis, which is a classic in the cinema history. It’s a long phrase but very powerful with lots of meaning on it. At least the way we saw the phrase is like if you have all the information in your head and action through your hands, without the heart, without the human ability to protest or to argue. Not only receive and do, which is like a robot. A robot does that, you put information and the robot act according that information. Without questioning, without saying no or yes, nothing you know. So I think it’s very powerful, because nowadays we see people losing their ability to question things. Any religious ideas or political ideas or every concept, family or stuff, you know. Like really losing the ability to use your brain to connect the dots and really make your own point of view about things. Nowadays with internet we have the possibility to have an alternative press who can talk about the same topics we see on the main media, but in different terms in a different ‘’prisma’’, in a different perspective. It can be like a crazy conspiracy theory idea but you can balance what the official media are saying and what the other people are saying. Balance things and not only accept things coming from a CNN or any other big TV station or newspaper. I guess the phrase really showed that, that we really need to be careful not to lose that human ability. All the lyrics were connected to the phrase, not the movie itself. Like we talk about politics, religions, natural phenomena, tsunami and stuff. With the focus on the heart. Human ability.
Metalphoto: What plans do you have this year with the band after this tour?
Andreas: The tour has been amazing! A really great start! There are pretty much ideas to play everywhere. We have some dates in May in Brazil. At the end of May we come back to Europe for many fest. We’re going to stay until the beginning of July. We do Graspop, Hellfest, Download, Greenfield festival and many others. I think in August/ September we’re planned to go to Australia, it’s been a long time we don’t go there. We like to do a Russian tour, but let see the political situation, it’s not pretty well right now over there, you know, with the Ukrainian stuff. In the US we were supposed to do the tour last year but we had bureaucratical problems with the visas. We couldn’t get the visas on time. So hopefully we’re going over there around October/November. So basically it’s just to play everywhere and to celebrate 30 years of Sepultura as well. We have a new DVD coming out in July which is the show we did in Rock in Rio Festival last year with Tambours du Bronx. It’s a group from France, a percussive group. We did different arrangement of Sepultura music. We opened the main stage for Metallica that night. And we have a documentary coming up, from a Brazilian director who was following the band for the last 4 years and collecting interviews with many people who were part of the history of the band. Hopefully it will be ready at the end of the year to celebrate this special mark.
Metalphoto: Do you like to perform here in the Netherlands and what do you like the most?
Andreas: It’s a very well organized country you know, like really good venues, good place, good sound…the vibe is great. We’ve played in The Netherlands so many times and we love the place. We love Europe in general. It was always like that, we feel we can always have the best equipment, the best crew, the best people, so it’s always a pleasure to be here.
Metalphoto: You sing the song titled Da Lama Ao Caos. Has this song a special meaning for you, because you don’t sing a complete song that often.
Andreas: We did the Policia from the Chaos AD, that was in Portuguese, a complete Brazilian song. But it was a short song, more of a hardcore punk feeling. And Da Lama Ao Caos is from an amazing artist, Chico Science & Nação Zumbi. Chico Science died in a car accident in 1997. His first album Da Lama Ao Caos was like a revolution in Brazil, you know, like a new musical direction, new taste. He really shook the music scene down there and he was a friend as well. He really loved Sepultura. We used to play a little bit of Chico Science on our Roots tour and they used to play some of Sepultura’s stuff. So we had this mutual respect and admiration for each other’s music. And finally now, you know after so long, we decided to do something in Portuguese again. It’s a perfect choice and a perfect timing to pay tribute to this great artist. Now in 2014 this album, Da Lama Ao Caos, is going to be 20 years old and it’s a great way to celebrate that.
Metalphoto: You have another band called De la Tierra, together with other great musicians such as Alex Gonzalez, drummer of Maná. Are there plans to come to Europe or is it just for South America?
Andreas: The plans are to go everywhere as much as possible. We’re going to play 4 shows with Metallica In South America and then the Viva Latino Festival in Mexico. We’re expecting to get more dates and stuff. In April we might play in places we didn’t do with Metallica, like Chile, Brazil, Argentina, Central America. And of course in the US, you know there’s a big Latin community in the US. Just to break that barrier, not to play at festivals like Sepultura does, like Wacken or other metal festivals regardless of the language you know. So the idea is really to try to go everywhere and see what happens. It’s a very interesting project we did ourselves, we financed everything, we have a really cool deal with Warner and Roadrunner and we have a great booking agent. Let’s see when we have Sepultura, Maná and other bands to try to arrange dates, like we’re doing right now. It’s working great so far.
Metalphoto: Muito Obrigado for this interview, do you have anything to say to the fans out there?
Andreas: Di nada Jeanny. I want to say a big thank you to everyone for all the great support all those years. It’s still a privilege to be here jamming after so long you know, and now with the new album and everything. Just Thank you, dankje wel!
Check out Jeanny’s pictures of the show in ATAK here.