New Titans on the Bloc....

I was in Brazil with Sepultura, getting ready for a US tour. We were excited and getting geared up! It was our first big support tour and we all had big expectations. When the phone call came through, I was floored. I hung the phone up and looked at the band..."we are off the tour!" The conversation stunned my ears. The advertising was out; tickets were printed; tour support in place and we got kicked off the tour? Bull!!!

Chillin at the house

What can you do at a time like that? You can get mad!! I phoned my agent and asked him to make my own tour, with my own 4 bands..Sepultura, Sacred Reich, Atrophy and Forced Entry. One thing lead to another and the package morphed into Sick of it All, Napalm Death, Sacred Reich and Sepultura. I would use different genres of music and call the tour a spoof name...The New Titans On the Bloc. I would drop the 'k' off block so the New Kids couldn't mess with me, and cruise America! Phil Rind had come up with the name one day when we were laughing our butts off, being sarcastic. The name would now serve its purpose.

I don't know what the big deal was with the name and the package, but it sure irritated people. The record label phoned and said they wouldn't support the tour because they had issues with one of the bands. I could care less. There was boiling blood in the creation of this bill, and I was just the person to stand up to them.

The tour was a huge success, packing the venues in every city. Only a couple misdirected white power incidents; people wandering into the wrong show apparently. In Allentown, Biohazard was added and they surely tore it up!! Someone got maced during the Sick of it All set and a huge brawl erupted, but what the heck...it made good memories.

Iggor and Andreas

Arise Backdrop

We made super-cool tour jackets, tour passes and all the adds were co-ordinated with our artwork. Apparently we attracted a lot of attention, because after a couple weeks on tour, I received cease and desist letters from a couple managers who felt they "owned" a few of the words in our tour name. Few days later, I got a letter from The New Kids on the Block manager stating I could not use "on the bloc." Haha I ignored the pests and carried on, knowing I had 30 days to comply---but only 27 days left in the tour!

Biohazard

Sacred Reich

Sick Of It All

I smiled inside as the tour wrapped up. The label admitted this was the tour that launched the Seps in America and a big metal mag named our tour the best tour name of the year! Sweet revenge!!

Iggor

Class dismissed....

Seps Meet Ozzy and Alice in Chains...

In the fall of 1992, Sepultura landed an Ozzy and Alice in Chains tour. We were super excited for this tour. We had never played with Ozzy before and couldn't believe the Great and Powerful Oz would even put us on show! This was going to be sick!

Sepultura Photoshoot

Andreas

 We hit if off well with Alice in Chains; they were exploding in the music scene and every radio station was pumping their tunes. There release "Dirt" was topping the charts. We were all partying quite a bit in those days and our buses were always brewing with escapades.

One day, Layne Staley, the vocalist of Alice in Chains, came on our bus. He plopped on a couch and said "Who is sleeping with the manager?" I was like "whoa..." Did I have to make a confession? I guess the cat was out of the bag!

We didn't see Ozzy very much. In those days, he was arriving and chilling in the dressing room. Whenever Ozzy would stroll past, we would all have heart attacks!! In no time at all, we got tight with his crew. Bobby Thompson always kept things together and smooth for everyone. He was Ozzy's assistant and did a fantastic job of promoting harmony and reason on the tour.

 Sepultura was wrapping up the Arise Tour and we were using a new backdrop. The backdrop that had the Arise album cover on it had been stolen in Mexico City, and we were using a backdrop with the tribal "S" on it. It would come in handy for the upcoming Ministry Tour which had bones as its stage theme.

Layne Staley w/no eyebrows

One of the last nights of the tour, Layne came to our bus and looked funny....he had no eyebrows!! He said the night before, he had pranked a young lady who had passed out in his hotel room. He fell asleep...she woke up. When Layne woke, he saw she had pranked him back and shaved his eyebrows off! I thought it was funny and took a photo. God bless you, Layne, you were a shooting star.

Class dismissed....

The Coolest Breakfast I Ever Had!

Ever have a meal that was so special you couldn't forget it?  Someone you sharedit with....some exotic location....something fabulous?  I did and I will not forget it ever!      In the mid 90's, Sepultura got confirmed on large, outdoor concerts in Brazil called Hollywood Rocks.  The headliner was Robert Plant, and other acts on the shows were Aerosmith, Whitney Houston, Poison and Ugly Kid Joe.  It was a killer show and all the bands had a blast playing and chilling together.  We traveled to a couple cities in Brazil for the concerts.
       One morning, waking up in Rio de Janeiro at the famous Rio Palace Hotel on Copacabana Beach, Max and I wanted to go out for an early breakfast.  Zyon was with us, but hanging with the family, so we thought we would have some quiet time together before the interviews and later, the show would take over.       We walked to the breakfast area and Max noticed a small, wrap-around balcony that overlooked the beach.  I didn't think they would serve us there, but the minute Max asked, the waiters set up a table for 2.  It was so romantic on that balcony; I felt like a princess.  Max got up to go speak to the waiter and as he did, another table was set next to us.  A silver haired gentleman sat down.  I could see he was eye-balling me, with my green hair and tatts.  He soon introduced himself as Ronald Biggs, aka the Great Train Robber!!  I was shocked!  He was meeting with someone regarding his book that was soon coming out.  I admit, he got flirty and I was happy when Max returned.  He couldn't believe it when I introduced him to Ronnie.

Girl, Myself, Ronnie Biggs, Max, and a Friend

 A couple minutes later, another table was brought out and down sat Robert Plant and Steven Tyler!  This was getting heavy and Max and I were really in some wicked company!  Another table soon appeared and who next?  Why, the tiny, gorgeously beautiful Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown!  This was getting serious!

Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown

I couldn't resist...I got up and walked to Whitney's table and said "I know you are Whitney Houston, but are you Bobby Brown?"  They both laughed and Bobby said "yeah, I'm Bobby."  I said "Wow, here I am being annoying like some people are to us, but sorry, I couldn't help it!"  They both laughed; Whitney flashing that famous smile.


      I returned to our little table and Max and I laughed about the trend we started.  Every time we would walk by Whitney and Bobby, at the concerts, they were like "hi Gloria!"  I was a gangster!

  The concerts kicked ass and Max introduced Zyon to Brazil.  We met the Train Robber for lunch, with his girl, and took photos after.  It was a Hollywood Rock that we would never forget...that little quiet balcony with the heavy weights on it!

     Class dismissed....       

Max and Glo Get Hitched!

     After Zyon's birth, we decided our home was too small and we should find a bigger crib.  Two blocks away, a large 5 bedroom house with a pool lured us in.  In no time at all, we were stretching our legs out in our very own home!  It was amazing to have a room for everyone!

     One day, Max wanted to talk, and asked me to marry him.  I was a bit hesitant; we got along so good already.  I did accept, like he knew I would.  You see, when he was young in Brazil, a woman who could often see the future...among other things...had told him he would marry a foreigner and have sons with her.  Max said he knew the minute he met me, that I was the one she was talking about.  I was surprised to say the least!

     We decided on a simple ceremony in our backyard.  We asked a justice of the peace to conduct the vows, and we both agreed to a church wedding later.  Recording with Sepultura was coming up in June, so we needed to squeeze the date in somewhere.  June 6 was the only date that was open for everyone to attend, so 6-6-93 was set for the Big Day!

     I asked Christina to be my maid-of-honor, and Max asked his brother, Iggor to be his best man.  Roxanne and Richie would follow and little Jason would be ring bearer. 

     Throwing a party is my specialty and soon the arrangements were steaming like a freight train!  Tents, tables and chairs, linens and china; it was all coming together.  I chose a catering company and soon we were rocking!  I didn't want a wedding dress, but something a bit wild, like our family.  I chose an imperial blue strapless gown that accented my green hair. 

Me Rox and Max

     The night before the wedding, we got a surprise guest, sent in as a gift from Cees Wessels, the owner of Roadrunner Records.  Jonathon Shaw, the most famous tribal tattoo artist arrived at our door!!  Instead of whacky bachelor parties, we got tatted in our home!  We loved it!  Max designed a tribal M and G tatt and we both got them on the back of our necks!

     The morning of the 6th, it got super busy around the house!  Deliveries, flowers, catering, everyone arriving early.  Our yard was kind of ghetto, since the house had been sitting empty for 3 years, but with all the set-up, it filled it up nicely.

Me and the Kids and Dad

Max Igor his Mom and Kira 

The children and I all met with my family in the master bedroom, right before the wedding commenced.  Hugs and a few tears of happiness were the guests.  Max and the others were outside, positioned under the 2 humongous eucalyptus trees.  The guests were arriving.  Cees, Monte Conner and others from Roadrunner and Blue Grape Merchandise Co. even flew in!

Tattoo artist tatting our hands

      Dad walked me out ; Dad loved Max so much and was so proud and happy that day!  The kids all followed and things went smoothly.  At the end of the vows, Jonathon Shaw took a tattoo needle and made a black dot on each of our hands.  We clasped our right hands, which formed a ying/yang and where our thumbs were, the dot was planted.

     Next...the Big Kiss and tada... we were married!  Photos and photos next and then the big party blasted off!  Food and drink into the night.  We were married at 6:00pm and partied for hours.  I was laughing my butt off at some of the Brazilian wedding traditions, such as the guests picking up each of us in a chair and carrying us around the yard.  It was a bit scary with drunken people hoisting you up in the air!

     I tossed the bouquet and next was the garter throw.  We told Max that in America, the husband has to take the garter off with his teeth and Max did!!  We all chuckled at our prank!

     Winding down, we said our thank yous and goodbyes, preparing to head to a resort.  Just as we were leaving the backyard, the fence around the pool fell in the water...one last hurrah!!!

PARTY TIME!!

     Class dismissed.....