Project Description
Interview with
DERRICK GREEN
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SEPULTURA
Interviewer – DEYAN STEVIC
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The Sepulnation is alive and well! Following their crushingly successful 2014 Australian Tour, Brazilian Metal Icons SEPULTURA unleash a heavy metal hurricane upon the Sepulnation in May 2018.
“one of my absolute favourite shows; one that I only wish I could relive time and time again” – Metal Obsession (Melbourne Review 2014)
‘’Sepultura deserve all the respect’’ – Metal Rules
‘The quartet turns a metal crowd into a mass of headbanging maniacs’ – Heavy Metal Bands Info (Brisbane Review 2014)
Deyan Stevic caught up with Derrick recently for a chat.
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Q: If you could sum up Sepultura’s sound in a few sentences to a new fan who’s just starting to get into you, what would it be?
A: That’s a pretty difficult question, I think there’s a lot of influence from so many different aspects of music over the years. It’s really, kind of, made the sound of Sepultura. But if you were describing it I guess it would be extremely real. It also definitely has attitude and power, so I think these are definitely some of the elements that make up the sound and music of Sepultura.
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Q: And for you personally, what were some influences for you in the early stages of your career?
A: I came from a really strong hard-core and punk background so some of the biggest influences for me were bands like Bad Brains as well as classics such as Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath.
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Q: So you joined the band in the late 90s ahead of Sepultura’s 7th studio album “Against”, what were some of the biggest adjustments you’ve had to make since joining the band?
A: I think the biggest was really moving to Brazil. I’d never been to South America, I couldn’t speak Portuguese, I didn’t know anyone from Brazil. So this was a really big challenge to go such a far distance without having any friends or family there and jumping into a lot of really hard work. Also having to open my mind to a lot of different things culturally, musically and every aspect of my life so I think that was an extremely big challenge but it was something I’d been looking forward to my whole life, this being playing music professionally and having that opportunity to travel the world and to perform all over the world. So this was something that I really wanted to do.
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Q: Yeah cool, and you’ve been living in Brazil ever since! I hear you speak fluent Portuguese.
A: Right, yeah I had to learn Portuguese. I’m still not the best, I really should actually be much better but I’m able to understand everything and communicate with everyone. And it’s a challenge, especially that the older you get the harder it is to learn languages but I love languages and I love speaking in Portuguese, it’s a lot of fun.
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Q: Awesome, so you guys released your latest album “Machine Messiah” last year, just briefly run us through the recording process.
A: Well we had the idea that we wanted to record the album outside of Brazil. I came with the idea of possibly recording in Sweden. There are a lot of different sounds coming from Sweden and I was really admiring a lot of bands and they had a big influence and the idea of having a producer from Sweden. So we were actually lucky enough to get a hold of Jens Bogren and work with him. So we did the pre-production in Brazil and sent Jens the demos of everything we had done and he took notes and by the time we got there we were ready to roll. We really had a lot of the songs written already and Jens came in with his ideas and added touches and it made for a perfect combination. But the process basically starts with drums being recorded first, guitar, and then going to bass and then going back to guitar then vocals. It’s a process we’ve always done from the very beginning and it seems to work out very well for us but the pre-production is very important, doing demos of everything we’re recording and ideas and really getting that secure before going in the studio. It’s the main focus of coming out with a successful recording process.
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Q: Before releasing the album there was a 4-year gap between that and your previous album “The Mediator Between the Head and Hands Must Be the Heart”. I’m sure album recording is very circumstantial but do you sometimes prefer to spread albums out over a few years or just release them as frequently as possible?
A: I think the time when spreading it out really helps us because we really like to come in with different ideas when it comes to the writing process and I think every Sepultura album is different just for the fact that we’re growing and changing and it really is important for us to always move forward and keep challenging ourselves to try to think of new things that are creative and interesting. So I think the time spend, having 2 years really helps with that so we’re able to see and listen to a lot of different things and accumulate these different ideas from travelling and touring and communicating with each other. Just certain things happening around us at the time really add to the ideas that go into a new album so I think it’s important for us to have that space.
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Q: Yeah absolutely, and I’m sure the more time spent in between the albums the more chance it gives you to open your minds to new things. Just hearing you speak about it, it really seems like that gap is a necessity.
A: Yeah it’s definitely necessary. I mean for us we love to tour and that’s where, you know, it really matters a lot of time, being able to play those songs live. And we’re so fortunate to have the opportunity to play so many different places around the world that it usually takes 2 years to do a full tour of as many places we can in the world. But it’s also necessary for our minds to open up to a lot of different things and it’s very important as an artist I feel to be able to search for new things and try new things and to not be afraid to do that.
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Q: So you’ll be touring Australia with Death Angel, how excited are you to come to Australia with them and do you enjoy coming here?
A: Ah extremely, I think this is the first time we’ve come to Australia with a band that’s so high on the list of amazing metal bands and have their own history that’s so strong and is such an influence in so many ways and we’re also friends with. So there’s a lot of pluses coming here with Death Angel so we’re so excited. We’ve been touring with them in the US and I think this is going to be even more over the top so I’m really looking forward to it.
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Q: Awesome, I mean we’re all really stoked to have you coming to Australia again. What can fans expect, especially those who might be going to their first Sepultura show?
A: Well we’re definitely going to be going through the history of Sepultura. We’re going to play a lot of new songs of course along with some of the older songs and classics so they’ll definitely be able to hear a history of Sepultura through the ages at the show.
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Q: Do you have any standout memories from touring in Australia?
A: Just the actual people, the reaction, the energy that people have and how enthusiastic they are about the band and the history of the band. That support has always been something that is very special and we don’t get to play there that often so it’s really noticeable every time that we play there.
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Q: Cool, and do you like playing to our crowds? I mean obviously coming from somewhere like Brazil they’re such passionate people when it comes to music, sport or anything. Coming to Australia for example, how do you think our crowds compare?
A: I think they’re always towards the top. I think the distance, coming to Australia so far away and so many bands want to play there but the possibility is not so easy. So I think fans really appreciate it when they see you out there. It’s definitely comparable to many of the shows that are hear, just that passion is something very similar in many places around the world with heavy metal music and the style of music that we’re doing. You can see it in Indonesia, in South America, that metal fan or that Sepultura fan has that same passion all over the world and also in Australia.
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Q: So this one’s a two-part question. Sepultura have had a history of collaborating with a few artists in the past and a few different producers. Who have you enjoyed collaborating with most and who would be a dream collaboration for you?
A: I think there’s always room for so many people that we’d love to work with. For me I’d love to work with Prodigy or Massive Attack. I like to work with people that are doing different things or have a different outlook on music. But as far as artist-wise I’d love to work with either of them.
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Q: That’s awesome, I think that’s a really important thing because even you with maybe a different musical background to the others coming into the band, when you get these fusions of different outlooks it’s really been in my opinion a crucial part of Sepultura’s success. And it’s awesome that you’re still willing to expand further, do you think that could have an impact on your sound and possibly change it further?
A: I mean it could, that’s what I think is so wonderful about music is that there’s no limitation to where it can go. And this is something that I’ve always enjoyed about music, the fact that there are no walls, you know, there’s nothing holding it back and you really don’t know where it could go and that’s the beauty of it. That’s something that we really look forward to as a band; to expand and to really push ourselves to try these different aspects of music that we’re constantly bombarded with and that we’re so passionate about.
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Q: So if you had to pick your favourite Sepultura album that you’ve been involved in creating, which would it be and why?
A: That’s a difficult question. I don’t know if there’s one favourite, I mean, the one that sticks out the most in my mind is “Machine Messiah” just because of the fact that there was so much work leading up to it and all those elements made it so important and made it quite enjoyable to record. And to see it go so smoothly was something that was such a joy after being so many years in the band and just getting to a level where the confidence of everyone is so strong, along with the strong team of management, the label and everyone who’s behind us so I think everything is really in sync now. I think all those elements make for a great recording of an album.
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Q: Cool, that’s all from me. Thanks so much for taking the time to talk to us.
A: Thanks so much man, we’ll see you guys very soon.
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SEPULTURA
(With specials guests Death Angel) Tour Dates
Tuesday 15th May – MELBOURNE, 170 Russell
Wednesday 16th May – ADELAIDE, The Gov
Friday 18th May – BRISBANE, Eatons Hill Hotel
Saturday 19th May – SYDNEY, The Metro Theatre
Sunday 20th May – PERTH, Capitol
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Tickets HERE
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AMN – DB
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