In a conversation with Brazilian radio program Sofá 89 Sepultura‘s guitarist Andreas Kisser revealed that he was a big Kiss fan and he started to play guitar because of them besides the dreams of being a Kiss Army Member. They also talked about the quarrels with Cavalera’s brothers, his family and other things. Read excerpts of the conversation here (transcribed by Metal Addicts):
Who’s Andreas Kisser’s Andreas Kisser?
“[chuckles] I started with Kiss and Queen. For sometime I only listened to Kiss. I wanted to be a member of Kiss Army. Kiss were the only band that I cared for. I was very lucky because my generation – I’m fifty years old – was the first to see Kiss alive in 1983 when they performed a show here in São Paulo. It was my first big show. It was the “Creatures of the Night Tour.” The last tour they made with their masks and Eric Carr on the drums, Vinnie Vincent on guitars. It was a fantastic time for me because there was only Kiss for me. It was a huge coincidence that Kiss performed in Brazil and I dreamed to be part of the Kiss Army and everything. That show had a huge impact on me. It made me want to be a musician and a guitarist.”
Metal fans are super critical people. Do you think that having this in mind helped you to always want to be the best?
“I think Metal fans are critical people. The guys want to play, you know. They wanna know about arpeggios, emulate Steve Vai, Malmsteen, Randy Rhoads, all our idols. Drummers, you know, what Eloy Casagrande do today is a bricolage of John Bonham, The Police, a lot of guys. Metal musicians have an open mind for, sometimes people think it’s otherwise, but, Sepultura brought percussion.”
He added:
“Metal fans want to have the official products of the bands, to smell the cd when you open it, the official T-shirt with the logomark. So, they are respectful fans. They buy the music, they want good quality products. Bands work hard to offer quality products.”
You are Sepultura’s face. There’s a huge load on your shoulders because you are the guy who goes to interviews, who sits down and talk to people. Do you have any fears?
“Ah. [laughs] Fears? To play soccer and hurt my hands. [laughs] Man, my passion is soccer. I love to play soccer. I also had to immobilize my arm for a great defense I made as goalkeeper. You know, it wasn’t broken, but it hurt a lot. Luckyly, I had no shows scheduled. You know, it’s my profession. James Hetfield broke his arm twice skating. So, you have to be responsable. It’s really a huge load, the fans, our workers, too many people involved to blow everything for a passion.”
When Max Cavalera left all the burden was immediatly passed to you.
“In fact, Max left a huge debt. It was not only the financial debt, but also the mess. We lost everything, our manager, our lead singer, many fans, even some roadies went with him. But, it was it that brought us here where we are today. It’s was an opportunity, you know, when a tragedy happens, many doors open. You have to keep breathing, your mindset open. That’s why we didn’t take any decision soon after Max left. We thought about changing names, to quit the band to do other things. Pretty strong thing.”
Were Cavalera’s brothers pissed on 2017’s documentary “Sepultura Endurance”?
“You have to ask them. I don’t know. In fact, they refused to be part of it. Our director contacted them. I guess there are more than forty e-mails saying yes and no. Max and Igor came to Brazil, I don’t know, three or four times. But the director couldn’t reach them to talk for even fifteen minutes. They were always refusing. And besides refusing, I guess it’s a right people have to not be part, but they also blocked the director’s rights to use many subjects. From where I’m standing it’s such a poor thing to do. You know, you have the right you not to be part. It’s one’s choice. He wrote a book where he told his stories. But one doesn’t have the right to ruin a project only because you’re a part of it. But, you know, it’s life. It’s a parallel documentary. That’s Sepultura’s story. We have a lot of projects to negotiate with them, soundtracks, video games, box. There are a lot of things we did together. So, we have to work together. We don’t have to be friends and drink a beer together. It’s business. We need to work wisely, professionally to make money. We have a great story together. Metal is always renewing itself. There are today’s kids listening Led Zeppelin for the first time. And it’s a wonderful thing.”
Watch “Arise” official video here:
