Wolfie/AbsolutMetal �2005
Interview - Sepultura
12/22/05
w/Andreas Kisser
Sam: The new
album, the concept of it, how did you guys come up with
that?
(editor's note: the second phone I was using for the
interview was being gay so part of Andreas' answer to
the first question is missing.)
Andreas Kisser: "...We chose the
divine comedy because it's such a rich and powerful
story, you know?...to connect the situations and emotions
of the book, with the situations and emotions of today.
Like we were Dante' passing through hell and purgatory
and then paradise. So it was a very powerful source of
information, you know, for us to write."
Sam: Do all of the songs go in an
order? Is it like telling a story?
AK: "Well, the book is very
complex, you know? and very rich and very long, and the
album, you have only 11 songs you know? We didn't have
the...to tell the whole story, but to be interested by
some part. To show a little bit why Dante had to go to
hell and purgatory, to learn to see his own faults, and
his own mistakes and all that, you know? At the end the
book reflects only one feeling, respect. You know, have
respect for yourself and respect for everybody else.
don't do stuff to others that you don't like to receive
for yourself, you know? The book is full of fuckin'
punishment for different things, different treasons
and whatever, so it's all about respect. 'Don't do stuff
here so you pay later in hell' kind of view. We divided
the into 3 parts, like the first five parts represent
hell. Which is just musically speaking, just the band
like guitar, bass, drums, and voice. And the second
part, the next 5 songs represents purgatory and then
we start using horns and cellos, some different
orchestrations and the music is more melodic. And the
last song represents paradise, it's a song that has
nothing to o with the rest of the album. It's like
a droning drumbeat and chorus with the whole cellos
and horns and choir voices and shit like that. And you
know, it's great, we're very happy with the final result.
It's a very short album, like 43 minutes long, but at
the same time, very rich. We didn't want to make like
a long, boring album just because the story i so complex
and so long. We just wanted to be inspired be some
situations and connect the whole thing, you know, on
this album."
Sam: Did you guys think of the
book while you were writing the music? Like how the
moods change and everything?
AK: "Definately, definately,
some parts, I mean hell is very...hell is the best
part in the book because it's where the punishments
are all very heavy, and very brutal, and you know
merciless punishments you know, so we write some
really heavy and fast stuff. And pugatory is more...
even though you have like really strong situations
and new punishments, the heavy rain and fire and rocks,
you know, holding heavy rocks and whatever, you know,
and situations, it's too heavy but you're close to
paradise. So we have the cellos and chorus, you get
like that feeling that you're close to paradise, the
light and stuff. And we felt that when we were writing
the lyrics. Me and Derrick wrote the lyrics together,
and musically we tried to follow those feeling according
to us, according to what we felt reading the book."
Sam: Do you guys have any tours
planned yet, any European festivals?
AK: "Yeah, that is the plan, I
mean Dante' is coming out next March, and I think
we're gonna start touring right in March, in Europe,
and hopefully we can get a killer package...to be in
America again, for a long time we didn't play the
states, you know, 2003, so we need to go back and jam
in America, so the plan is to keep touring. Hopefully
for a long time."
Sam: I haven't seen you guys in
a long time...I got the DVD, that was pretty cool
having Derrick run through with the extra footage,
gave it more of a personal touch.
AK: "Yeah, ever since he joined
the band he started filming, he had like 60 hours or
so, of tape, and different stuff. He did the first
like editing and stuff, then we got all together and
chose the parts and everything, and we managed to put
in 25 or 30 minutes. It's kind of short, but it's just
to give like and idea of what we're doing since he
joined the band. We never really had the chance to
tell our story, because Roadrunner, when Max left,
you know they really put all their effort to work
Soulfly. They have all the management structure, and
booking agent, and all the record label structure,
and producers, whatever you know? They kept everything,
and we had to rebuild from scratch pretty much, you
know? It took awhile, it took time to renew, to rebuild
but it's great that we are here right now, you know we
feel much better, much better place. And Derrick is
much more confident to do the old stuff, to play a
little more guitar and everything, so we felt ready
to put something like that out. and it shows a little
bit of our family too, the way we are off-stage."
Sam: Speaking of Max, I've heard
rumors flying around that maybe someday there would be
another tour with you guys and Max, not an album or
anything, just a tour.
AK: "I donno, I've been listening
to rumors since he left the band, it's like, I've heard
everything, you know, that he never will look in our
face anymore, or never play with us, or maybe talk and
not play, and maybe play and not talk, so every interview
it's something new. But it would be great if we had a
chance to play again together, no doubt. Between the
band there was never a problem, the problem was around
the band, you know, management and all that crap. That's
still the problem you know, that's why we're not
together, because people...you know...whatever. You
know between the band, shit happens. But actually I
don't think too much about that because I'm so much
into the new DVD and new album coming out with
Sepultura and all that. There is no place for that...if
it happened it would be great but I don't see it happening
too soon."
Sam: You recorded a solo album?
AK: "I am recording the album right
now, I'm preparing but I still have alot of stuff to
do, and hopefully I'll be ready to release this album
by the 2nd half of this year."
Sam: I thought there was one
already out, you've been working on it for awhile
then?
AK: "Yeah, actually 3 years
already, so I'm not in a hurry"
Sam: Is it going to be as heavy
as Sepultura or are you going in a different direction
with it?
AK: "No, it's going to be a guitar
album, but not like a masturbation guitar album, you
know with endless leads and fast leads all over the
place. It's going to be a guitar album, but I like to
explore the different tones of the guitar, different
guitar, different amps. It's going to be a double album,
the first one would be really more into electric guitar,
and band, and singing. And the 2nd album would be more
acoustic guitar, you know like percussion and stuff
like that. I want to put everything I enjoy on the 6
string instrument and not really be limited by anything.
You know, just work whatever I like to be on that album,
be free, to do whatever I want on it. Hopefully it
will tell and story from start to end. There's something
similar to Sepultura on it, other stuff, and I like
alot of blues and classical music and there gonna
a little bit of everything involved in songs, so it's
going to be interesting I hope."