SOULFLY ONE.....LET'S HEAD TO MALIBU!! PART 2

We were all very excited to return to Indigo Ranch Studios after the Root's recording session had made a great friendship with Richard, Ross and the crew that worked the studio. It was difficult to transition into another band, not difficult, more like apprehensive, actually! It made sense Max would want to maestro at a studio he was attached to.

Richard Kaplan (white beard)

Richard had a stockpile of new and vintage gear piled up in one room and the choices were sweet! Out side, there were fruit trees and lush greenery. If you took a short walk, you could see down the mountains all the way to the Pacific Ocean.

I was very happy also. We had Zyon and Igor with us, the older kids were traveling back and forth and I was beginning to get a grip on the tragedies of 1996.

yours truly...

Max set up a mini alter in the vocal booth, which was customary for him. Time to focus on the release of his stored up aggression and have a spiritual spot to turn to when faith needed an outlet. The rest of the guys were staying in a wooden A-frame cabin that was adjacent to the studio. Richard Kaplan and his hospitable wife, Julie, lived in a trailer just above the studio. Their original home had been burnt in the Malibu fires some time before. We all had our private spots to chill out in.

We even hired caterers to cook for us, because it was too far to go for a food run. We had great meals all day and new friends!

The recording began and the notes became imprinted on big spools of analog tapes! Ross was at the helm, Richard and Co. at the board and the band in the various rooms.

Maxxx

Roy 

Ross directing Roy

Lucio

Max had many ideas for special guest's collaborating. He had magic in his notebook and music throbbing in his brain. Every day, he became more confidant, more powerful. He had a message to convey about his life and his mission. This was a new found freedom that surprised him. It gave him courage to step forward. He became the person he had always wanted to be!

Class dismissed.......

SOULFLY ONE....PRE-PRODUCTION.......BRING DA SHIT!!!!!

With Soulfly X being created in front of my eyes, I mentally get in the time machine of my thoughts and travel back through time, thinking of the experiences that have changed Soulfly through the years. 19 years of creations.......After the drama and blood that was spilled in 1996, so much happened. It didn't ever slow down again.

Maxxx

First Soulfly Photo ever taken...by Christina

Soulfly One was steeped in the belief of No Hope No Fear. What else could we lose? We had hit the bottom and climbed back up. There was positive vibrations pulsing through our veins. There was also distrust, be wary, look both ways before crossing...and there was hope for a new freedom of expression. These feelings blended into Soulfly and the Tribe began to unite! Roy Mayorga, Marcelo Dias and Lucio Maia all joined arms with Max and became the new force of Metal...Soulfly took its first breath!

Max and I have kept a warehouse near the airport for over 20 years. Its corners are piled with well travelled gear from years of use, many of them spent circling the globe. They remind me of toys in Toy Story...one day they just retire. In 1997, we actually had room to rehearse and hang out! Roy and Lucio stayed at our daughter, Christina's house and Marcelo lived in Phoenix. Every day at 4:30, they would head to the jam pad and hammer out the songs Max had written in the interim period between Sepultura and Soulfly. It was like taking off bandages to find the wounds healed quite nicely, much to one's surprise!

Ross Robinson came out for pre-production. Max had worked with Ross on Roots and the transformation seemed natural to him. There was a mystical feeling at Indigo Ranch Studios in Malibu and Max was still creatively flowing with it. He was comfortable with the woodsy vibe of the studio, perched high in the hills. He knew this magic would spin onto the reels. The band had rehearsed and Ross came to get the feel of what was going down.

Ross arriving

Roy shattered the drum skins every day and Marcelo had the pounding bass thumping parallel to the slaying riffs that were exploding out the door! Lucio had suffered through the death of his friend and bandmate, Chico Science and had great emotional contributions slipping through the strings of his guitar. Eerily, Chico had died much in the same type of car accident as Dana, only a short time after Dana. I have always held high his guitar playing on this record, especially in the track, Bleed. I swear there is an emotion that is yet undiscovered and it's the feeling one gets from music that no words can possibly describe. Four separate beings blended through music, into one unit. The days of rehearsing filled them all with positive energy, and they knew they were ready to go into the studio. Soulfly emerged.....

Next week, part 2, Soulfly and Indigo Ranch....

Class dismissed.....

AUSTRALIA, WHAT TO DO ON YOUR DAY OFF

Soundwave isn’t all work, there’s a lot going on, on the side.  Some bands take the days off in between the Soundwave weekends, and head to the Gold Coast.  It’s action packed there!  We’ve all been bungee jumping, hanging at the beach and taking helicopter rides over Sea World.  The recent Australian Soundwave run of Killer Be Killed also had two shows, called Sidewaves.  One was in Melbourne and one was in Sydney.  In Melbourne, the band did an in store signing at Eureka Rebellion Trading, a really cool vinyl/barber shop/tattoo parlor.  They had a great selection of LP’s, and Kenny even got his head shaved while he was there!

If any of you head to Sydney Australia, you haven’t lived the Sydney experience unless you visit Harry’s Cafe de Wheels on Cowper Wharf Roadway.  Life isn’t complete without a traditional Harry’s Tiger Pie.  A palm size pie full roast beef, and a wonderful peppered brown gravy with mashed potatoes, mushy peas, and the volcanic stop is spewing gravy lava.  The menu is vast, and they are very famous for their hotdogs, and seafood mini pies, but I never make it past two Tiger Pies……..

Kenny, Harry's cook, and Max

You never know who you are going to catch in the hotel lobby’s.  It’s a cool meeting place to catch up with good friends you haven’t seen in a while, due to your schedules.  One of the added bonuses of the festivals.

Max causing some MAYHEM in the Lobby

More MAYHEM different hotel

And when it’s all done, you can just enjoy the view….

Brisbane Story Bridge

Class dismissed!  

LET'S PARTY AT SOUNDWAVE!!

Every February, there is a super cool festival in Australia, called Soundwave. The festivals take place on the weekends and in between the festivals, bands do headline shows with other bands from the lineup. These dates are called Sidewaves. It is a very cool idea and not to mention...it's really fun! This year I travelled with Killer Be Killed, who was one of the bands on the bill. Our Sidewave shows were with Lamb of God. Talk about a riot!!

Max, Troy and Greg before the gig

Besides the energy of the music and live shows, one of the raddest things is meeting people from other bands, catching up with long-time friends and eating in the catering with zillions of rockstars! This year, Max and I even travelled in a van with a Fall Out Boy and passed Bill Corgan from Smashing Pumpkins, whose dressing room was near ours! Haha! The dudes from Of Mice & Men were super down to earth also. And don't forget the groupies...damn, they were screaming and chasing All Time Low through the airports!

I set up a couple secret meet and greets with Max at the hotels early in the day, for some of my special FB friends to get their Max books autographed. It was killer to meet them for real instead of in messages! Max, me and the KBK'ers also went to a koala park called Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary and ventured through the jungle. We saw Tasmanian devils, platypuses and kangaroos...oh and don't forget the leather jacketed bats!

Rob Halford came on the last day and congratulated Max on his new band, KBK, and we talked about when Rob came to the Bootlegger's to see Richie when he was only 2 days old. I said, "Rob, you got on your knee by the bassinet and gave Richie the Kiss of Metal!" He said "and what's he doing now?" I replied that Incite had played the Troubadour the night before and Rob smiled and said "Metal." It was Gangster!

Max and Rob

Me and Rob

I also saw Mayhem for the first time and I will say, their show was bombastic and I loved the rocking, raging set list! The guys are so down to earth and nice! Crossfaith was a new band that I fell in love with immediately. Their energy reminded me of Igor and Zyon's Moldbreaker days! I really loved their performance! Slipknot raged and put on a kickass show too, but that's too be expected ! The revolving and rising drum kits on the sides of the stage were cool as shizzle! Lamb of God tore it up on Sidewave and Zetro and Exodus and I bonded by blood! I love that guy!

Max and Godflesh

Max w/ Jay Weinburg of Slipknot

Slipknot

Mayhem

Max and Mayhem

Max with Crossfaith

Corey / Slipknot

Me and Crossfaith

All in all it was a great time and hats off to AJ for masterminding such a work of art! Lots of preparations, calculations and demolition of eardrums! Looking forward to bringing my other bands some day, to rock the house in Australia! Oh, and lets not forget the label and John Howorth for the hard work, the famous twins Paul and Andrew Haug-the Australian Metal hosts- and the fans who rocked the house from dusk till dawn! I wish it was February every month!

Killing it at dinner!

Home sweet home!

Class dismissed....

INCITE...WE ARE ALL UP IN HELL!!!

I would like to dedicate this class to our son, Richie...

Richie and Dana fishing, (1995)

Since Rob Halford gave the Kiss of Metal to a newborn Richie Cavalera, Richie has had only one path....to be vocalist in a Metal band...straight up, no detours! If I had known earlier, what I know today, Richie would have started a band in his early teens, but I was still forging my way through the death of Dana and the absence our our beloved Sepultura in our lives. I was trying to hold myself together, carry Max up from despair and keep our family strong through wicked odds that were against us. I was also in the midst of solving a murder...but that is another story..

Richie as Al Jorgensen, (1993)

Richie had made his appearance on the cover of Atrophy's Violent By Nature, at the age of 4. He next popped up, shredding some feedback on Nailbomb's Point Blank recording and then again, he poured his heart out on Ozzfest with Soulfly, singing Fred Durst's verse on the track, Bleed. He was always full of energy , creative instinct and never afraid to hit the stage.

Atrophy and Richie photobombing

Greg Hall and Richie

Richie in jam pad practicing for Nailbomb

Richie singing Bleed with Soulfly in 1998

Once he presented Incite to me, I knew he was on his path. I absolutely loved every song they cranked out and began developing their stage performance on tours by adding them as the opener. The road life is something you need to prune, to cast off the dead leaves and work yourself into the best performer you can be. The problem with developing new bands is that many young bands want success to be delivered at your door, all bundled up neatly, but that isn't the way the biz is...you must pay your dues.

The lack of patience, the life on the road and thirst for overnight success usually weeds out the musicians that really should not be in the business. For this reason, the early Incite had flexible stability. Throughout the label years, one person stayed by Richie's side, even leaving to have a baby, but never truly leaving...Dis McAllister. The man behind the groovy riffs that explode suddenly in a wrath of mosh-sweat! This, combined with Richie at the helm, made Incite a serious force to lay down their road in the Highway of Metal through history.

INCITE lineup 2007-2012 (Photo credit Glen La Ferman)

The band has always had a huge amount of energy and positive faith. This enabled them to take surprises, like lineup changes, with stride , and look at it as polishing the band, fine-tuning it. One tour, Incite even drove in a Toyota 4 door sedan, after trouble arose with their travel arrangements!! And don't forget, little Spanky was there too...But back to the lesson..

I will tell you now...

IScream was the label for The Slaughter, the brilliant debut of the band. Unfortunately, the label was in a crisis, unknown to us, and soon the band was free to move on. All Out War came out on a new, rising label, MinusHead Records, which was imbedded in the San Francisco music scene, and headed by the master, Brad Hardie.

Brad had a strong belief in the band, and released All Out War to critical acclaim! The label was spawning its life at the same time as Incite, and they both grew together. It was fantastic working with someone who loved the band and was so full of energy and support for the project. Brad wasn't afraid of taking a chance on a young band and the newest release, Up In Hell, has proven to break all boundaries, for the label.

INCITE 2014 (Photo credit Glen La Ferman)

Now, with a solid line up and a real label, the band is poised to contribute to the halls of Metal!! Determination, youth and real life issues are the message of Incite, so get your pit shoes on and prepare to Incite to the highest level!! It's how we survive, Up In Hell!!!!

Class dismissed...