DON'T LET A GBH-ER TAKE YOUR SHARPIE!!!

In the early '90's, I was traveling with Sepultura in support of the Arise record...or Beneath the Remains..it was one of them for certain!! So much has happened since my first tour, sometimes it's hard to recall exactly which tour was which! Those early days were quite different than these days! We were a happy bunch of fun loving criminals, and raged hard!

One warm night in Texas, after a show, we all headed to our hotel. We were starting to stay in nicer hotels and Red Roof Inns were becoming memories. I went in my room only to soon hear a knock on the door. The word was out and we were all heading to bash at the outdoor pool. It was late and no one was there. Surely we could chill in peace and enjoy the time off!

After a short time, security showed their faces and ruined our plans. Since my room was near the pool area, everyone decided to go there and transport the fun. I admit I was leery of this move. Parties in hotel rooms always ended up with someone getting kicked out of the hotel. Sure enough, shizzle quickly got out of hand. Max found out that his friends from the UK, GBH, were in the same hotel, so naturally he invited them in. In one rapid hand movement, Jock, Ross and Max played a quick game of tic tac toe on the wall! It wasn't any ordinary game; it was a 4 foot tall game! A minute goes by and there were tic tac toes all over the wall. I couldn't say much. The damage was done. I went out to the pool and slept on a chair...overload? I think, yes!

The security dude gave me the Get Outa Here Nudge in the morning and luckily, I had my room key. The room was a wreck! In those days you didn't need a credit card and I could have easily slid out and escaped. Guilt overcame me and I went to the lobby and fessed up. Blah, blah, blah, have mercy on me! After a short time, the manager charged me $222 to wallpaper one wall of a room. Not bad, actually! I anticipated worse. It would cost me an arm and a leg today, and maybe a chat with an officer or two! The moral of the story....Punks are Punks!

Class dismissed......

HOLLYWOOD ROCK, 1994, PISSING ON A FLAG IS DANGEROUS

In 1994, we travelled to Brasil as part of the Hollywood Rock festival run.  Aerosmith, Robert Plant, Poison, and Ugly Kid Joe were also on the bill.  Rio de Janeiro kicked ass, as always.  It's such a visual city, full of excitement.  If you know how to tame it to your lifestyle, you desire to stay on that beach with the plush sunlight forever.  The famous black and white cobblestone sidewalk, frames the beach and the city streets.  It's romantic and spiritual at the same time.

Sao Paulo was a proud day for Max.  After an explosion of a show, it was important to Max to present Zyon to the crowd, to his people, to his country.  He took him from the side of the stage and carried him to the front.  40,000 crazy fans going wild, and Zyon never flinched.  He just soaked it all up and filed it in his fresh brain.  As Max held Zyon, a Brazilian flag was thrown up on the stage.  Max picked it up, raised it and then turned around and left the stage.  I joined him, as usual and we went towards the dressing room.  Or, so we thought...

At the bottom of the stairs, the MTV cameras and lights turned on, and there, next to MTV,  were the police, waiting to arrest Max!  They advised us to get into the van that had conveniently pulled up.  Max, Zyon and I were shuffled off to the police station and Max was under arrest. For what, we did not know.

At the station, the atmosphere turned light after Max was questioned about the flag.  Apparently someone at the concert protested loudly and quickly, "Max peed on the flag, stomped on it, on the stage and walked off!"  In no time at all, thanks to the arrangements of MTV, the news spread like wildfire, through every possible microphone, fax machine, phone call and carrier pigeon in the country.  Most likely also at every beer and cup of coffee shared in Brazil, for the next week to come!  We were detained for quite some time at the police station.  When the Cop Shop Talk turned to soccer, I quit worrying.  After the Police Chief arrived, Max was released and all was well...until morning.

Max flipped from being the Max everyone loved, to the Max everyone shunned, all in a matter hours.  Every news channel, radio station and magazine was spreading and stretching the story, inch by inch.  A simple presentation of Zyon, with the flag of Brazil, had turned and twisted and arrived at Max, basically shatting on the flag on stage, in front of 40,000 people, while holding Zyon.  Ok.  Every talk show was talking, and every mouth was judging.  We even heard a Brazilian rock star say Max should be lynched!  One of the biggest political magazines had Max in the political cartoon of the week, with the President!  We couldn't leave our hotel room.  Everywhere we went people glared at him.   Paranoia and despair set in.  Poison took it differently and said "You are taking all the press!"  Max didn't want it.

Before Max left the country, for other planetary dates, he wrote a short statement, from his heart, and it too, spread like melted butter.  Everything and everyone cooled down.  I am sure there are some little homes, in some little villages, where the news stayed put and Max will forever be the Flag Destroyer.  It was all part of our Journey.

Class dismissed....

LYNN STRAIT(RIP)..... TO BIG DAY OUT

As Christmas neared, in 1998, Max and I received a holiday card from Lynn Strait and his main squeeze.  The same day we got the card, we heard about Lynn's accident and death.  It was a slam of earthquake proportions!  We had done many Soulfly tours, and an Ozzfest tour, with Snot.  The guys had gotten to be some serious friends.  Lynn came onstage with Soulfly and sang "Bleed,"  each night.  And then, he was gone...

At the beginning of the new year, I was looking for a new guitarist for Soulfly.  Logan Mader went on his own journey and Soulfly had an Australian tour coming...Big Day Out was on the horizon!  Max suggested I contact Mikey Doling, the guitarist from Snot.  No doubt he could use some positive vibes and this would be it!  I hit up Mikey and he was surprised and super happy!  It gave everyone a lift in spirits!

At that time, Big Day out went to several cities in Australia...Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth and the Gold Coast.  The festival also travelled to New Zealand and did one show in Aukland.  It was founded by Ken West and Vivian Lee.  I must admit, they treated everyone exceptionally well.  The dates were very well planned, and organization was top notch!

Soulfly shared the stage with Marilyn Manson, Korn, Hole, Sean Lennon and scores of other acts.  This tour was the meeting point of Max and Sean Lennon, which evolved into the recording of Son Song, which appeared on the future Soulfly release, titled Primitive.

We took our son, Igor, on tour with us.  He was only 3 years old, but already well seasoned to the road!  He loved the koala bear hanging out in the backstage at the shows.  There were all sorts of activities to watch, bungie jumping, bands playing all day, new cities flying by...  I can only dream that one day, Big Day Out will materialize again, and we will be sitting on the Gold Coast, taking a break in-between shows!!

Max was presented a beautiful, Aboriginal didigiri do, which still lives in our home!   Mikey stayed with Soulfly for some time more and the Journey just kept rolling by, under our feet.  We made friendships that only grew stronger, and music that kept blanketing the Earth.  Australia became a natural home on the road for us!  And now.....18 years later, we will see you in September, with Return to Roots!!

Class dismissed......

MAX BRINGS HIS BRAZILIAN ROOTS TO SOULFLY!!

As Carlinhos Brown added percussion to Roots, and Max took his idea full circle, to record with the Tribe, it was a natural evolution to add the Brazilian  spirit to Soulfly.  On the first release, Max invited the guys from Macau Zumba to spice it up.  On Primitive, Soulfly 3 and Prophecy, Max invited his friend, Mei Noite, to bring on the tribal jams.

Mei Noite had known Max from living in Brazil.  He was playing with Sergio Mendez at the time of the Primitive recording and we were lucky to grab him during a break.

He is known as one of the top percussionists in the world, as well as being a super cool dude!  Even Jennifer Lopez and Ricky Martin tapped his talent! Listen closely to the Soulfly records he appears on, and you will find his flavor throughout!  When he arrived in Phoenix , he came with a rider truck full of instruments!!

Max laughed his ass off when Mei Noite arrived in the studio during the Primitive recording.  Max played him a track and Mei Noite said " oh, so you want some James Brown Funk Beat!"  Whoa!  During Soulfly 3 recording, the producer, Otto D'Agnolo, lost his mind when Mei Noite captured the percussive sounds of water.  The mics!  The mics!

He has a very successful percussion school in Brazil and I am certain he still elopes around the world, with artists we only hear about!  Mei Noite, bringing the earthen sounds to metal...Bring Da Shit!!!!

Class dismissed....