Max Cavalera, one of the most important names in metal, revealed in an interview with Metal Hammer how the impact of the early loss of his father shaped his way of making music.
The singer and his younger brother, Iggor, helped build Brazilian metal. Amidst challenges and a lack of industry support, the rise of Sepultura, founded in 1984, was, at the very least, improbable.
Above all, the musician's story is far from linear. Max recalls his childhood moments with his father, Graziano Cavalera, who worked at the Italian consulate in São Paulo.
“We had a beach house in Praia Grande, on the coast of São Paulo, and we would go there on weekends. We were middle class. My father earned very well, and we had a nice car and a nice apartment. But then he had a heart attack and died.”
Despite losing his father at just 9 years old, he clearly remembers the day of his death: “It was very traumatic because we went fishing on this lake – Interlagos – and he started complaining of chest pains while we were in the boat. We took him back to the car and I held him in the back seat.”
“I could feel his heart beating through his chest, and he passed away right there in the car. I remember thinking, ‘That’s it. He’s gone.’ They took him to the hospital, and after an hour, my aunt came to talk to me, and before she could say anything, I said, ‘I know. He’s gone, isn’t he?’ And she said, ‘Yes. He passed away.’”
Max Cavalera transformed grief into fuel
Faced with the sudden loss, the family had no insurance or financial reserves. Still young, he found himself facing new challenges and transformed his grief into productivity.
“My mother took us back to Belo Horizonte and we lived in a shack behind my grandmother’s house. We lost everything, including the beach house. It was like: ‘You have to go to school and get a job. Forget about those childish things, you have to be a man now, at nine years old.’ That propelled me towards metal. I embraced metal with all my might. I needed it like I needed oxygen. I needed that genuine rebellion.”
In 1996, at the height of his success with Sepultura, Max faced yet another loss. His stepson, Dana Wells, died in a car accident under controversial circumstances. That same year, a bitter dispute led to his traumatic departure from the band, resulting in a ten-year estrangement from his brother Iggor.
However, these wounds not only healed, they became the lyrical and sonic inspiration for his later works and projects such as Soulfly and Cavalera Conspiracy.
READ ALSO: Max Cavalera chooses the 10 albums that define his career.
