FULL FORCE.....FULL METAL JACKET!!!

2011 was a busy year for us. The CC tour was going strong and we all had our families with us, on our buses. It was great fun for the kids to get to hang with each other! As we made our trek across Europe, with Full Force came into view!!

I have always had a strong affection for everything With Full Force! Joe and Michael are longtime friends. Our ties are much deeper than business! They have been Max supporters as long as forever, and I would say, they are family to us!! We have spent many summers pulling through Leipzig, heading to the grassy fields of With Full Force! Once, our bus was broke and putting on one gear and they saved our spot for us, as we arrived on one broken leg!! Another time when With Full Force was struck by a deadly storm, we shared their pain and grief.

On this particular WFF event, our son, Igor, turned 16. In Germany, he was of legal age to get a tattoo...so Max and I hooked him up when we visited Hamburg, around the time of the festival. Imagine our surprise when he revealed his first inking to us!!! One of those days.... We let him unleash his teen fury at the shows, as he jammed Cockroaches with Cavalera Conspiracy.

I advise every Metalhead on Earth to make this festival a priority on your bucket list!!! You wont regret it! Your only suffering will be that darn sore neck in the morning...but your tent-mate can take care of that! Did I mention it's a camping festival? What could be better???

Class dismissed...

RETURN TO ROOTS!!!!!

1995 was an action packed year for Max and me. He had this crazy notion to record with a tribe in Brazil. When he first mentioned it, my reply was "impossible! You aren't Michael Jackson!" He laughed and said "Get on it, Glo!" For several months, I watched as he arranged each detail. He reached out to Luciano at the Brazilian office of Roadrunner Records. Luciano introduced Max to Angela Pappiani, who worked with several Brazilian tribes. Together, they became conjoined triplets and I was the buffer for Max, tying up the lose ends.

We all know the rest of the story....a fairy tale recording...the start of Max and my travels abroad recording. In our future were recordings with Serbian gypsies, a professor of Dark Ages' instruments, Russian musicians with mandolins, street folk in Istanbul, on and on, into the folds of the earth, as we ventured to find new ideas! But it all started with the Xavantes' and their circle dance!

Fast forward to 2016 and here we are. The brothers. Their Roots. Their childhood vining into the future. The beginnings of Sepultura. The raw power that came from living in their country. It all evolved and now we are on the horizon that once stretched so far ahead. And here I stand, having weathered great pain, trauma, gossip that was untrue. We are all stronger and happier now. And now we Return To Roots!!!! See you in the pit!

Class dismissed........

MAX AND IGGOR UNITE!!!!

Summer is officially here! 120 degrees in Phoenix; kids in the pool, beaches packed, cars on the road...all in a day's fun! We normally go to Europe every summer and get our Metal on!! With an assortment of bands at my fingertips, I am always a year ahead in my mind and on paper! Tours during the fall and winter are intimate and the summer is always super populated, carpeted with moshpits and headbangers! 2011 was no different!!

We usually bring some of our family with us. When the touring band is Cavalera Conspiracy, there is more Cavaleras on the bus than you find in the phone directory! It's a family reunion of Iggor's family and ours, and that's just the way we love it! Sonisphere was always organized and reeking with good atmosphere! Let's go back in time and let lose with our Killing Inside!!!

Johny Chow is so perfect! He loves the family way also, is always professional, a magician on the bass when on stage and a partier...smokes like a chimney!! And who can forget that smile tucked into that magnificent beard!! We have watched his son, Jackson, grow. Iggor's wife, Laima, and son, Antonio, are also usually in tow, also! Often, Iggor and Laima are packing anywhere from one to five children!! No guns allowed...

Let's reminisce as we soar to Spain and the Sonisphere Festival, 2011. After all, the first Return to Roots show in Canada is in a week. Time travelers...no time machine needed!! You may even see some original stage props from the old school days!!! Enjoy the summer... Winter is coming!!! We Return to Roots!!

OMEN.....2009

In 2009, we travelled with Soulfly to record in LA. Logan Mader was on an artistic roll with Max. Logan seriously is a super chill person to produce with. He also is not afraid to make suggestions to the artist. I appreciate that! He scheduled Soulfly to hit up one studio first to record drums, because the room was bigger, and after, we would tuck the band into Logan's studio in Hollywood.

In the drum room, there was a video game, so everyone was addicted to playing it, in-between tracking! The studio was comfortable and really set up nice so hanging out was not crammed!! Richie, Zyon and Igor came to hang for a bit. Max had the idea to do the 2 B-sides with each one of them drumming a track. He chose Refuse Resist for Zyon. It was a natural and he zipped it in one or two takes! Igor did an Excel track, Your Life, My Life.

I don't have many photos in the studio of this particular recording. I think we had a photographer and anyway, I tend to stay out during the recording. Marc Rizzo on lead guitar, Bobby Burns on bass and Joe Nunez on drums. Max on guitars and vocals, was also toting the electric sitar he has used on every record. Weapons complete!

After the drum tracks were set in stone, we transported ourselves to Logan's nook in Hollywood, and Kenny and I set up our lounge in the parking lot outside the studio door. Damn we had some great times chilling in that parking lot!!

As the recording wrapped up, Max added a couple special guests for his finishing touch....Greg Puciato (Dillenger Escape Plan, Killer Be Killed), and Tommy Victor (Prong) completed the Maxterpiece! They each came on separate days. Smooth as the river flows, thats all I can say! I love Rise of The Fallen and Lethal Injection! Each collaboration of Max's has the DNA of 2 or more (Pain) great artists entwined through it.

When Greg came to the studio, I remember he came buzzing around the corner and zipped up the driveway in this little black sports car. He clipped a parked car on the way in and got out of his car just like a Cool Breeze! He didn't even flinch. Kenny and I, in our parking lot lounge were like "Whoa!" He was ready to throw the smack down!

Tommy Victor has known Max and me for ages...going back to the early days of the Foundations Forum Convention. He is a pro in all ways and humble. I saw him jam Lethal Injection with Soulfly and it was brutal! I can say that Tommy never stopped his art when many others did. When many of the bands out now had given up due to alternative and nu-metal taking over, Tommy kept Prong going. He didn't wait till Metal resurged and the new generation wanted to see the bands that paved the way. He kept it real the entire time. Much respect!

It was killer to wrap the recording with Greg and Tommy there! And Kenny and me?// We went back to the parking lot......

Class dismissed....

LET'S GO UNDER THE SUN!

Some years back, we took Zyon and Igor on tour with us, as we left for Europe to play with Black Sabbath. Summer vacation from school....why not?

I admit that some of the Black Sabbath crowds didn't really "get" Soulfly, but the Tribe who piled in early did! The shows were gas!!! Listening to the Black Sabbath set each night was like a dream, to be honest. The clarity of their music, the tightness that can only be brpught on by years of experience....it was surreal!

There was more than just music and concerts on the tour. Family feeling, unity, great venues and delish catering... Sharon, Gloria, and their team know how to throw a party!! You are treated human, you aren't told not to look at them or speak to them, like some of the important Hot Shots in Their Own Minds demand! Black Sabbath is in the catering room, sharing their meal time with you. You are equal and not just a squashed tomato on the road. It's brilliant! Real people!

This photo of the boys with Bill Ward is exactly when he had just given Zyon the MOMENT OF TRUTH talk. I will never forget the trance I went into, when he started talking about some of the greatest musicians of all time... Ginger Baker, Stevie Winwood, Cream, to name a few! He told Zyon to learn from everyone, to never stop learning. To stand with the greats one day! Excuse me, Students, while I catch my breath.... As the Mom of a drummer son, it was a heavy moment.

Zyon and Igor were a bit speechless meeting Tony Iommi. They had spent quite a bit of time with Ozzy and Sharon on Ozzfests and some private gatherings, so they were always super comfortable around all the Osbournes, but Tony was a different matter! They had never met him and they were just at the age of learning what our lives are.

And now they know.... Enjoy the summer!

Class dismissed.....