Max Cavalera on Recording 'Roots' With Xavante Tribe

Welcome to this sneak preview of Loudwire Podcast #16! In this clip, Max Cavalera recalls visiting the isolated Xavante tribe in the rainforest of Brazil to record Roots with the natives.

Max and Iggor Cavalera have been touring the U.S. on their ‘Return to Roots’ tour, performing Sepultura’s massive experimental album in full. To celebrate the record, we spoke about it extensively with Max Cavalera before his gig at New York City’s Gramercy Theatre.

Max reminisced about traveling deep into the Brazilian rainforest to meet the Xavantes. “I loved the three days we spent with them,” Max says. “There were a couple of things that were mandatory, so we had to apply by the rules of the tribe. One of them was no drugs and no alcohol, the other was at any point if they don’t like how this thing was going, the whole thing was going to get cancelled.”

Cavalera revealed he originally wanted to record with the Kayapo tribe, but he was advised against it for a pretty good reason. “The Kayapos would probably just kill all of us, they don’t like white people,” Max explains. “I told [our guide] that’s my favorite tribe [and she’s] like, “Well, you’d better pick another one. You’re not going there because you’re not coming back alive!”

Loudwire Podcast #16 with Max Cavalera will become available March 9 on YouTube and iTunes!

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