If you had told my 18 year old self that one day I would be sitting face to face with Andreas Kisser, having a conversation about a new album, I would almost certainly have laughed in your face. Well, this is exactly what happened on the early evening of the 6^th of February, only a couple of hours before the Brazilian Thrashers stormed the stage of London’s O2 Islington Academy in promotion of their latest studio album “The Mediator Between Head and Hands Must Be the Heart”. Gracious, engaging and generally in high spirits, the Sao Paolo resident explained how the Seps came to create studio album number thirteen, his current take and philosophy on song writing, as well as the band’s plans on how to further promote their unique musical brand.

By Yiannis (John) Stefanis.

Hi Andreas. Thank you very much for taking the time to talk to us

Andreas: Thank you.

I am excited beyond description to be sitting here next to you, not only because these last three decades or so you have been responsible for creating some of the most classic tunes in extreme music, but also because you continue to release good quality music for us to enjoy.

Andreas: I really hope that this is the case.

You do, believe me, and you know, it is always rewarding for old school fans such as myself to experience such a level of consistency from artists of your calibre and status. I was listening to “The Mediator Between Head and Hands Must Be the Heart” for the “n”th time on my way here and still cannot believe how good it sounds. I actually believe that since the release of the “Dante XXI” album (2006) Sepultura are becoming more daring with every new release. This new album, to many people, comes across as the best Sepultura album with Derrick (note: Green) as front man – do you agree?

Andreas: I think so, yes. Derrick has been with us for so many years now, since 1998 pretty much, and Paulo (note: Xisto Pinto Jr / bass) and I have been together since 1987 when I first joined the band. Eloy Casagrande, our new drummer, fits perfectly into the picture, you know? He’s very young but he’s a pretty experienced musician who started playing drums very early on and went on tour with many different musicians both in Europe and Japan. He won a world-wide drum contest so you could say that he had enough experience to prepare him to join a band like ours, you know? This was the first time that we all got to work together for an album, to come up with new ideas and the way he plays drums has opened a lot of new possibilities for my guitar playing and Paulo’s to evolve. It was also great to be able to work with Ross Robinson (note: producer of the highly acclaimed “Roots” album). He knows Sepultura so well. We did work with a lot of different people over the years but finally Ross and we got back together again and things made total sense, you know? He’s really more of an organic type of a producer, not too attached to his machines which, in a way, truly reflects the title of our new album whose message is not to be a robot but to use your heart; this also applies to musicians – not to be attached to a clicker or a metronome but really let yourself go. Ross is the perfect guy to help us achieve that, to help us bring the Sepultura live sound into an album. There are plenty of mistakes made that were inevitably kept in the recordings and it is little details such as these that make the new album so special. We are very happy with the end result, we are very happy with the feedback and finally we are here to play for our UK fans having had the album released two or three months ago (laughs). We understand that we created certain high expectations by doing that but, what can I say: it’s great to be here and we plan on playing six or seven songs from the new album for you tonight. It’s great: we don’t seem to lose any momentum at all – it’s fantastic.

I am particularly pleased by the fact that, though obviously influenced by it, the new album doesn’t sound anything like “Roots” – something that I am sure that you guys were quite conscious in trying to avoid. You continued your evolution as a band, which is great.

Andreas: Yeah, and you know what? Even if you wanted to copy “Roots” that would have been impossible as it was an album created by a different band with a different atmosphere. On “Roots” we were certainly at the peak of our musicianship and the band was really moving back into the background, with managers becoming too involved in things; it was all a huge mess, you know? Eventually, Max (note: Cavalera – founding member) left the band because of that, you know? Because we couldn’t really agree on terms with management companies and whatever, you know? It was really a tense time, especially during the recording sessions and stuff – it wasn’t anything as relaxing as it was this time round. We were in Venice beach (note: California) where Ross lives, at his house, everyone was so focused and so appreciative of the time we spent there and for the opportunity to work with him again in such a great studio – things were much easier. Of course we remember all the good times we had when we recorded “Roots”, of course, as we had many! “Roots” is an amazing album, not only for Sepultura but also for Ross as it really helped his career and stuff. It’s definitely an album that help put Sepultura in a totally different place and we respect that so much, but that’s exactly why we did not try to copy anything. We were just there working on new ideas and experiencing a totally different atmosphere and everything worked out perfectly, you know? We are really looking towards the future as a band.

Just to let you know: I do not plan on going down the whole ‘Sepultura vs Cavaleras’ route as this would be both pointless and disrespectful towards the band. There is one question I do think that needs to be asked, though, which is: do you think that an album like “The Mediator…”would have sounded the same had the Cavaleras still been part of the picture? Personally I think not, but I am curious to see what your take on this is.

Andreas: (laughs) I don’t think so, no. It’s really impossible to say, man, it’s really hard. What Max is doing nowadays is totally different to what we’re doing, you know? He went in a totally different direction. Of course his music is aggressive and has elements from the Sepultura history incorporated in it; that is something that no one can deny, but, at the same time, his path is a different one not only musically but lyrically as well. We’ve done so many different things and worked with different ideas like playing with an orchestra and jamming with different percussive groups – we kept the Sepultura feeling flowing, you know? Like the same way we did on “Roots” and on “Against” – we just kept on going…yeah, it’s hard to imagine (laughs) where we would be had we not followed different paths but…I think we would definitely had been a much different band than we are now.

Ok, let’s focus on the present now. There are two songs that truly stand out, namely “Grief” and “Vatican” – the latter which, I believe, truly defines Sepultura, anno 2014. When you began working on “The Mediator…” did songs like these two sound in your head the same way that they sound now on the album?

Andreas: I think so. It was the closest we got to that kind of vision, as you always work with a certain vision in mind. It is one thing, however, to work with a certain idea in mind and another thing altogether to make this idea a reality, you know (laughs)? We have a tendency to go into the studio and try to find perfection and by doing that you lose all the momentum of the performance, you lose everything that’s good about the song, you now? That’s the type of recording that we focused on achieving with Ross; the one where we completely focused on the performance and on the song and try not to aim too much towards perfection. Even when we did eventually make a mistake, Ross would normally go: “Yes, that’s it” (laughs) simply because we were working at our limits and that’s the way I believe that art should be – in its purest expression. I believe that we achieved that, you know? On “Kairos” (2011) we tried to do that but the type of production we went for was different, which was fine and I like it as “Kairos” brought back this Thrash element on Sepultura with the lead guitars and everything being prominent. “The Mediator…” is an album that was created as a consequence of that decision – of that approach to song writing. “Trauma of War”, “Vatican”, “Manipulation of Tragedy”, “Tsunami” – they are all very direct, very Thrashy songs and that was the idea; to go to the extremes again, you know? Eloy, as I said before, brought these possibilities for us, of being able to challenge ourselves and our writing – especially me. We kind of challenge each other actually. There were times when I thought to myself: “Let’s see if he can do that”, which of course he did, and then he would throw stuff at me and I would be: “Oh fuck, my turn now” (laughs). That was really good for the music, you know, because it pushed things to a different level, really.

Have you not been tempted at all to bring a second guitar player to help you with the more complicated guitar arrangements when performing live? Is there any specific reason for that?

Andreas: Yeah, there are many reasons actually. It’s not only a decision based on technical issues. To add a new guitarist to the band means that you add a new person, a new entity, into the fold – someone you will have to travel and discuss musical ideas with. If a guy does gel then all is well. If, however, this guy cannot cope with the way we live, think and record music then there’s one more thing to worry about, you know? It’s not really worth it. I mean, our music is much more than simple technical details. “Kaiowas” (note: “Chaos A.D / 1993), for instance; we have presented that song in so many different ways to our fans – acoustically, distorted, with percussive groups, with an orchestra, with different sounds and ideas but the spirit of the song has always remained intact. The core of the song is always there and it can be presented in any way you wish. So we kept that approach; we respect the song and ourselves – the band. It’s not that easy to put somebody new in the band. It was really hard for us to find a singer, to re-adapt to this new idea and that’s what we did. We chose not to be too attached to the past and try to copy something that was already done. The later days that Max was in the band, he was not really playing that well. He was just really focused on hand movements and all that performance stuff, which was great, but Sepultura ended up being more of a power-trio even back then, when Max was only really making noise having only four strings on his guitar. He was not focusing on the technical side of things but more towards making noise than playing. That transition was not that hard for us because of that reason – because we were kind of used to holding everything there. That’s the way we worked. I am not complaining or making any criticism about it – that’s the way things were, you know?

I understand where you’re coming from, plus, you look like you’re having way too much fun being the sole guitar player on stage!..

Andreas: Yeah, totally! I have room to do extra stuff, Derrick found a way to add some percussion stuff and Paulo’s bass features more effects than ever before so we all add different kinds of things into our music these days. It’s fun to work with what we have; we cannot really be slaves to ourselves. We are re-defining Sepultura every day and that’s the way we see and understand things, you know? Let’s make the most of what we have available now!

Tomorrow is the last date on UK soil and straight away your European tour begins with Flotsam And Jetsam in support. I was thinking what a shame it is that you couldn’t play with these guys here tonight.

Andreas: Yeah, man. We know these guys from Phoenix/Arizona as we used to live there back in the 90s. It’s great to see them with us on the road – it’s going to be a great tour, I’m sure of that.

And once that European tour is over; what are your plans after that? There are a few festival dates already scheduled for you guys, right?

Andreas: In June, yes, Sepultura will be back in Europe. We have a DVD lined up which we shot during the “Rock In Rio” festival last year with Les Tambours du Bronx, the percussive group from France, which should come out in July. Then, hopefully, the documentary about the history of Sepultura which will be ready for release at the end of the year. Let’s see what happens. We will be celebrating thirty years in existence, you know, by making a few products available, mainly in Brazil like a new type of beer, new sun glasses, our own pepper sauce (laughs)…a lot of stuff…a wine made in the style of Casarsa. There are many different brands and companies that have approached us which is great; it’s a great way to spread your name, your brand around, you know? Also, you get to learn more about those things, you know, how they are made and stuff and you’re given the chance to work on new ideas. It’s a great opportunity.

You’re not planning on becoming a restaurateur on us, right?!

Andreas: Well, who knows (laughs)? Food is a great thing – guitars and food.

I am Greek so I am not going to complain about what you just said. Andreas, it has been a pleasure talking to you. Once again, I love the fact that you guys are having fun with your music. It’s inspiring and the results are clearly audible! You have a sold out show to attend to which I hope you will enjoy as much as we will.

Andreas: Thank you, thank you very much!

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