Derrick Green: We are Sepultura!

Derrick Green is not quite the man you want to confront, especially when you are half his height. Still, he was kind enough to sit down and answer a couple of questions, even if some of them were not that convenient. A small chat about the determination to keep Sepultura going. Enjoy!

Metalfan: Hello! You are for the second time in Romania. What do you remeber in particular about the first trip?
Derrick: The energy of the people here. It was our first time playing here, and it was something that I will never really forget, so I recorded a lot of coming into the country, for us being here, and just the reaction of people after the show and even put a piece of it in our DVD that we’ve recorded „Live In Sao Paolo”, that documentary that I did, and it was one of the shows that really struck me as a very special moment.

Metalfan: What do you expect for the second coming?
Derrick: I think it’sgonna be really, really great. We have a new drummer now and we’re doing a lot of different material from the last time that we were here so I think it’s a lot of anticipation for people to see what’s happened over the [last] few years and... I’m looking forward to it, I’m really excited about playing again, I think it’ll be even better this time.

Metalfan: How is the new drummer putting up with the stress?
Derrick: Hahaha! I think he’s doing really well. I think most of his stress has nothing to do with the actual playing, I think it has to do with other people’s opinions, wanting things happen, the curiosity that comes along with such a big position, but as far as playing-wise he’s incredible, he’s got better and he’s very secure, and he [improved] his ability to play and I think he’ll [get] even better once we’ll start writing new material, so people can see more of his own personality and music, but now he’s just really really tight on the shows and he’s extremely energetic and we have a really tight setlist and I think people will be really surprised when they see him...

Metalfan: Is he nervous? Has he fainted or something? Has he thrown fits?
Derrick: Never, hahaha! He’s been really very calm. I think even from the auditions... that was really something we picked up on – that he wasn’t really worried about anything, and that was something that we needed – somebody that was very confident, and he fit that position perfectly, as far as being confident and having the ability, the attitude to play in Sepultura...

Metalfan: The unavoidable question... How is the last album doing?
Derrick: As far as I’m concerned, I’m pretty happy with it and I think a lot of people were happy with it, but unfortunately we’ve had again something very dramatic happening for the band, which steered away from a lot of people, taking the focus off  the album itself; but I think it did really well as far as of lot of people believing in the band and seeing the evolution of the band; people have actually followed from the split until now, so I think a lot of people saw the evolution of it, getting better.

Metalfan: The Cavalera brothers are kind of a brand. Sepultura itself is another brand.  Now they are not kind of competing, but separating a bit. What are you going to do to make the Sepultura brand competitive enough?
Derrick: I don’t think it’s really competition. The brothers themselves... I think that people see it.... When we were playing together with Igor it was never really like the Cavalera brothers – it was like Max and then Igor. And people were completely against us – and then completely for Max. Now that Igor decided to leave, it has nothing to do with actually playing with his brother, he went to do his own thing, which he’s doing now – which is [being a] DJ. So they’re not living together, they’re not even living in the same country. Max is doing Soulfly, Igor is a DJ now; and we’ve always kept doing Sepultura.

Metalfan: [Igor is] Like a metal DJ, hehe?
Derrick: Not like a metal DJ at all, haha!
Metalfan: Scratching and stuff?
Derrick: Scratch, whatever... you can see him play, he’s got a website you can check it out for yourself. That’s what he’s doing. It has nothing to do with brothers being back together. That’s something that people make up in their own head. And they’re like „Yeah! I want to see this happening!”. But that’s not reality. We’ve been playing Sepultura for the past 10 years and that’s reality! WE came here, WE took the trip, got on the plain and came here to play for everybody. So for us that’s how it’s always been. We wanted to play in Sepultura, we’ve been doing Sepultura and we are Sepultura, it’s still the same.

Metalfan: People expect a lot from you and Andreas. I think you are the two driving forces behind this band. Now it’s a new chapter and maybe you don’t have a blank page, but you have [at least] half of a blank page. What are you going to write on it?
Derrick: I think right now we’re doing what we can as far as getting familiar with Jean and playing with him and doing the touring and after the tour is over we can start the writing process because we intend to do another album and really bring the best that we can from all of us; so... it’s exciting for us as well to work with somebody different and to really challenge ourselves to come up with something better than we did before, on the other albums. I really look for creative things to do and I think we’re capable of  doing them. The touring helps us, we listen to different music and everyone having their own ideas... I think this will really add to creating something really cool.

Metalfan: Do you think Sepultura is a more democratic band now?
Derrick: Hehe, I think it’s always been pretty democratic. It’s been very open to bringing in your own ideas. I mean, when I joined the band they told me that they wanted to hear every idea that I had. It’s been a little strange, of course, to come into a band that’s been together for so long and it took time to really become more comfortable for myself in this situation. I think it’s always been very open to show ideas, to come into practice, to try out different things.

Metalfan: To compensate for this [Igor’s] departure, I think you have to do something extra even in the show. What are you going to do?
Derrick: We’re playing a lot of songs, actually we’re playing a variety of songs that we’ve never played before, I think that really compensates for a lot. A lot of new songs... We have lot of new fans that were never around for the whole era before Roots. I think playing new songs and keeping things fresh, keeping things new... and also having the ability to play old songs very well, very tight, really adds to the show. I think before we weren’t playing as many songs as we possibly could. Now we can choose from a whole catalogue and really have more of a selection to make the show even more interesting.

Metalfan: Are you going to pick the guitar up more often tonight?
Derrick: Not tonight, haha! But I think in the future, when we’ll start writing the new album, it’s something that I’ve been thinking about a lot and I’ve been playing a lot at home, so I really want to come... we really want to come with something new on this new album, a new approach and have something different from the past albums. For me, I feel that I want to play more guitar.

Metalfan: Do you rehearse alone?
Derrick: Yes, hehe...
Metalfan: Alone and very nervous, with no one to see you, haha?
Derrick: Yes, on my own, hehe. No, it’s ok, I just like to play the git and practice; and when we’ll start practicing then I’ll go in really strong and ready to try different ideas. That’s one thing that’s always been really cool: to be able to come in [with ideas]; even if it sucks or it’s really cool – they are going to say [it to you]. It’s all about being very honest.

Metalfan: One final question – classical again, hehe. Do you have a message for Romanian fans?
Derrick: It feels good for us to be back here, we’re definitely plan on playing a lot of songs for any old school fans, for the new fans and hopefully we can keep coming back here again, it’s one of the best places to play in the world, one of the most special places. We’ll see you tonight!