Cavalera Family Legacy, Touring Stories, and Roots Album Magic at Aftershock 2026

0:05 Hey, you're listening to Adventure on W4CY Radio. This is the Pipe Man here on the Adventure's Pipe Man W4CY Radio, and I'm here with. Igor Amadeus Cavalera. I'm playing today with Cavalera. We're going to be doing the Roots album. Oh, that is so fucking exciting. That's all I got to say. Oh, yeah. And you're here at Aftershock. Have you guys ever played Aftershock? We actually did last year. We were on tour doing Chaos A.D. Yeah, I remember that.

0:45 Yeah, we've been following all the tour cycles, album cycles, all the way back to Bestial Devastation, Morbid Vision, Schizophrenia, Beneath the Remains, everything you can imagine. from the Max and Igor era of Sepultura. And this is only our second time doing Roots. Nice. We did Louder Than Life about three weeks ago. I was there for that. Yeah, it was awesome. Almost got canceled from the storms, which is crazy, the lightning and stuff. I've got to tell you a secret about that, okay? We should have been evacuated that second time. I think because my chem was there and all the emo kids would have flipped out. They kind of let it slide.

1:27 No, I believe it. I mean, we were even on stage and there was like the most epic lightning bolts. Yeah. And I couldn't believe they, you know, they evacuated like four hours earlier. And then here I am on stage. It's like pouring rain and lightning every couple of seconds. I was just like, whatever, we're winging it. Whatever happens, happens. It's going to be fun. And it ended up being really sick. And today I think it's going to be even better. Better weather and... California has a great fan base for, you know, especially the Latino culture out here for Max and Igor and all of us is, like, just unbeatable, you know? Oh, yeah, and you got big today, too, because right before this, I was at La Drone's set.

2:12 Okay. And, oh, my God, how many Latinos were there for their set? Because, of course, Jose Mangan, that's his band, so he was pushing it, and, man... I mean, it was just a sea of Latinos. It was so cool. No, it's great. Especially for the Roots album, it has such a Brazilian influence, which for me, that's my family. That stuff, it courses through my blood as well. It's easy to look at me and overlook that because of my complexion and whatnot. But I do have a connection with the Latino roots of everything and the music and the rhythms, the percussion. um you know I'm playing bass for this band so getting to lock in on those rhythms with my uncle is is just awesome I mean he's one of the best drummers like ever of all time I mean I don't think anybody would argue that you know so like getting to be the other end of the rhythm section with him is just like a really like magical thing to be a part of you know and I can't wait to play it today.

3:15 I love the whole family atmosphere of your whole family yeah okay like I wouldn't happen in my family. So that's why I think it's cool, man. Like I go back to the 80s, like I was at the first Metallica and Slayer shows ever. My dad would never showed up to A & O' s and I certainly wouldn't have gone to anything he wanted to go to. I think that's what's cool about today. It's like you go out there in these festivals and there's grandparents, kids, grandkids. It's like three generations out there. Yeah. No, you really see it, especially in the club settings. We're not on tour for Roots. We're actually on tour with Nailbomb right now, which is weird because Nailbomb's not playing today. But we've been on the road for the last three weeks doing Nailbomb in lots of, not as an insult, but D and C kind of tier cities, smaller towns. We played Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

4:14 Wow. A little town in Illinois called McHenry. And to see the front row at those shows is really crazy because, you know, there's people that bought the Nailbomb record when it came out in 1994 all the way to people born 15 years after that, like, in the front row rocking to it. And I don't, you know, I'm sure the situation here at the festival is very similar. You know, yeah, like you said, grandparents to grandkids to everything in between, you know, metal... Was stigmatized for a really long time. And I think it's starting to be a bit more just acceptable. And I think a lot more people are realizing it's not all demons and evil stuff and whatever.

5:00 It's the exact opposite anyway. It is. If you really get into it and you meet people... We are a big family and some of the nicest people you ever meet. No, exactly. And you see it in the crowd. And I really love that. Going on stage and just... kind of like bridging the gap between different generations you know it's it's so cool and yeah i mean to be a part of a family that does this as our you know our our business and our passion our neck and neck you know what i mean because the passion comes first and then you find a way to kind of like make a life out of it make a living you know we all have to pay rent we all have to you know, go to the grocery store and spend $ 500 for like four bags.

5:43 Of food nowadays. And you know, so as much as I'd love to give away my music for free and, and let people enjoy it, you know, I, I live in the same world as everybody else. And, you know, we, we've found a good way to make it a business and to make it successful where we're able to do this. And we're able to go to so many places and, and play for our fans, you know, cause it's not cheap. There's no way to do it out of pocket nowadays. And, um, You know, seeing that front row of three generations of people makes it all worth it. It makes the travel worth it and the expenses. The $ 7 a gallon diesel. I mean, to fill these buses is insane nowadays.

6:24 Oh, my God. I can't even imagine. So little moments like that kind of reinforce the passion for it. Because when you fall into the business stuff, that is where you can get a little jaded and you can get kind of burned out. Totally. But just seeing that crowd every night, and especially at a festival like Aftershock, It makes every moment of crap that you deal with just so much more worth it. You know? Oh, absolutely. And to your point, I talk about it all the time because I own radio stations. I'm licensed. I pay royalties. And yet I pay more royalties than Spotify. There's something wrong with that picture. Absolutely. Like, who knew Lars was right?

7:06 Yeah. And that's true. You know, and I do run into other people that are like, you know, the ones that started their own thing and run it at her house. And I'm like, well, you know, you have to get licensed, you have to pay royalties and they don't even know. And then they're like, well, they should just be happy. I'm playing her music. And I'm like, um, do you work for free? Like, how do you think they get to the gigs? Like they, they have this image, like you're making all these, all this money and living the life. And like, I'm sure you get it all the time. I even get it with what I do. Oh, you lived a dream life. That's because you're looking at my social media. I'm not putting the shit on there. No, it's so true. We do a good job of not advertising a lot of the bullshit that comes with doing this. Like I said, just the expenses. The market for all of this is pretty rough now. To be able to go out and do it and not lose...

8:04 you know, hundreds of thousands of dollars, maybe even millions over the years is, is tough. And that's why I try to give the fans such a good show and always give it my all because just as much as we're spending money to get there, they're spending their hard earned money as well. Yeah. And I'm never going to go up there and give them a half assed set when they, for all I know, they work in a factory or they, you know, they deliver packages, they, they, they cook, they clean and, They do whatever. They do construction. I'm never going to take their hard-earned money and give them a half-assed show. It goes the same way. They're spending money to be there. We're spending money to be there. It's a business. It's capitalism.

8:46 It's a bunch of shit that I really hate, but I have no option but to go with it. You have to just roll with the machine. It makes it all worth it in the end. Giving them a good show, them supporting us in return by buying merch and doing things like that You know, it's a big harmonious effort on everyone's part, and it's love, really, at the end of the day. As much as the music might be angry, there might be some hate-fueled lyrics and things like that. But that's what gets it out. Like, it's therapy, man. I've always said that if it weren't for the pit, there'd be a lot of people that would get their asses kicked in the outside world. I get the shit out in the pit, and then we all hug each other, and you're good.

9:33 Yeah, it's love at the end of the day. And we love doing it as much as the fans love seeing it. Getting these opportunities, even just our stage alone, is like Cro-Mags, Municipal Waste, Pops doing Double Duty with Soulfly and Cavalera, Body Count, Suicidal Tenant. That stage alone is insane. Which pisses me off because media is about, I think, it's over in San Francisco compared to here. No, it is. And all my favorite bands are playing here. When I even came over here, I'm like, oh cool, I get to catch the Cro-Mags now for a few minutes. Exactly. No, it's great. But it is a huge festival. It's really hot. You can probably tell sitting here, our generator on the bus has been going out. We have no air conditioning right now. It's like 91 degrees outside.

10:21 We're sweating. We're dying. It's not comfortable walking around out there. That's the dream life part of it, right? It is. It's the dream, you know? Using a port-a-potty first thing in the morning. Right. And the 90-degree California heat. That's the glamorous champagne and bubble baths that we get to do every single day. And I wouldn't trade it for anything. As much as it sucks and a lot of people could not handle touring... Um, it, you know, it breaks a lot of people and even a lot of people attempt to do it and it breaks them. Um, you know, I, I started when I was really young. I actually, I dropped out of school when I was like 16 to start doing music and I'm 31 now. So I've been going for about 16 years and it's hard. There's no doubting it. I, you know, I've lost friendships and relationships and Been through every up and down you can imagine. Broken down in South Florida in the middle of May. Broken down in the desert before.

11:15 Broken down in the freezing cold. Like, there's nothing that's going to stop me from doing this as uncomfortable as it gets. That's just part of the rodeo, you know? Well, you made a point there. It's like, it's not for everybody. You have to love it. Like, my youngest daughter, she's 31. I'll bring her sometimes to festivals with me. Halfway through the first day, she's like, Dad, I don't know how you do this every weekend. I'm done already. I have the opposite feeling. I don't know what to do when I go home. All my friends are out here. Everybody I know is out here. When I do go home, I seclude. I don't even leave the house for a week.

11:57 You really ride those highs of being on tour. Even doing media, you're traveling and going to the festivals and And experiencing a very similar thing to what we're all doing as well, you know. And, yeah, you ride that high for so long, you get home, it's quiet. I live by myself, so it's, like, particularly quiet. Me too at this point. And it's, like, just me and my two cats. And that first day I wake up and I, like, am twiddling my thumbs. Right, you don't know what to do. Yeah, I'm trying to, like, you also go from such a schedule, you know, load in, set up, sound check. go grab dinner, play your show, tear down, pack up the trailer, hang out, party for a little bit after whatever you're into. You know what I mean? You're so, you're so regulated in a chaotic way. You know, it's like controlled chaos being on tour. Right. Then you get home and, um, you know, the first couple of days you're just sitting around kind of like, man, I don't, I don't know what to do with myself right now. And, uh, You need to have some hobbies. You need to have some stuff to fall back on. Even just for me, playing music, going home, practicing other stuff, trying to write.

13:06 do things like that. It really keeps me from going crazy. You have other hobbies besides music. Yeah. I always ask that cause I want to hear about that. Yeah, I actually do. Um, I'm a, I'm a huge bookworm. Uh, I always have been, I'm really into horror, sci-fi and, and like fantasy. And, uh, I write novels when I'm at home. Uh, I've written two horror novels and I'm on my third one now. Nice. And, uh, writing for me is like the piece from tour, you know, cause that controlled chaos, uh, uh surrounds me for almost six seven months out of every year so when I get home I like to sit down and put my glasses on and I get on my computer and I'll write for a couple hours and then I'll edit it and I'll run through the whole rigmarole over and over you know what I mean and um writing and reading for me are like the just the best way to unwind after a stressful crazy tour and.

14:01 And again, good therapy because you can kind of like get out of your own head and into your own head. And you know what I'm talking about. It's like, you know, all the other shit you don't even think of. Exactly. You know, and then you get creative and that's the fun part, you know? No, it is. And, you know, it's interesting. I was at Bloodstock once. Yeah. When you did that first Nail Bomb show coming back. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, my God. That was fucking insane. It was crazy. That tent was nuts. I was in that fucking tent. You could barely fit another person in there. It felt like, you know. It was insane. Like, I made sure I didn't book any interviews during that set. And I got over there.

14:46 And I was like, holy shit. Like, I got to get through this crowd. Yeah. No, Nail Bomb is super fun to be a part of. And getting to fill... Alex Newport's shoes, because, you know, we obviously contacted him about doing it first, you know, everybody would love to see Max and Alex do it, myself included, like, I'm a huge fan of Fudge Tunnel, and, you know, even albums that Alex has produced, but he wasn't interested, you know, he straight up told us, like, I'm not into heavy music, and I don't want to play it. And it would be kind of, you know, he was like, it would be almost a little phony of me to do it. Which I totally respect. I have respect for that.

15:27 To me, that's like the most punk rock answer you could ever give is saying, no, I don't want to do it. That's not authentic to me. So when he declined, you know, he suggested getting someone else to do his parts if they, if they really wanted to play it. And that was when they asked me, but because like I said, I'm a, I'm a huge Alex fan boy and, Like I said, Fudge Tunnel is my favorite band of all time. Nice. Getting to fill those shoes was crazy. I was in contact with Alex. We talked about what the writing and recording and everything was like for Nailbomb. I like to think I'm doing a pretty good job. It's a very mixed bag of opinions on me doing this stuff, but I don't listen to it. I just go up there every day.

16:13 It's always a mixed bag. You know that. But it's cool, you know, between that and Cavalera, like, getting to play these old records. Once again, you know, it's like it's a bridge between my generation and my dad's generation. And even the kids younger than me are coming out to the shows. You know, I've seen plenty of, like, 9, 10, 11-year-olds in the crowd. It blows your mind that they even know the music. No, definitely. Like, some of these kids absolutely love these records, even though, yeah, they were born 15 years after they came out. Right. And, yeah, I mean, once again, it's such an honor to be able to do this stuff. And, yeah, between Nailbomb, Cavalera, and then, you know, I have my own bands as well that I do all the writing for.

16:56 I'm busy, but it's like that's the best problem a person could have is just always having something to work on, you know? Yeah, you might have nothing, like, and that definitely happens a lot in this business, you know? It's infinitely worse to have nothing going on than too much, so I just... Try to never take it for granted, you know. What's it like playing with your dad? Oh, it's great. He's fun. Like, his energy is crazy, you know. He's 57 years old, and he's doing double duty this whole tour. Today he's doing Soulfly, Cavalera. Yeah, that's mad respect for that. Yeah, every other night he's doing Nail Bomb and Soulfly. And his energy is crazy, and it's really inspiring to me. You know, it gives me hope that I'll be 57 still up there rocking, jumping, headbanging, screaming.

17:48 He really hasn't lost his voice, which is impressive. That's very impressive. A lot of guys hit their 50s and really can't scream. Rightfully so sometimes, you know. It's not an easy thing. to do all the time. Especially the old school people, because I come from that time. I sang thrash metal in the 80s, and I didn't know what the fuck I was doing. Exactly. You didn't have technique back then, and I blew out my voice. And you definitely didn't have YouTube videos explaining how to do it like a lot of people have nowadays. I'm kind of a firm believer in not having technique. I do think what gives you personality... is maybe doing some things wrong, particularly with your voice. You know, technique is great and awesome, but you end up sounding like a thousand other guys who have perfect technique. And at least for me, I don't like that. You know, I think it was someone like Al Jorgensen said... you ain't never going to sound like me cause you ain't me. And I do it the way that I do it. And nobody's ever going to replicate that.

18:50 Nobody will. Nobody will. Exactly. So, so I'm a firm believer in that. And honestly, my dad is kind of the same way. You know, he's not, um, he's not like learned, you know, everything that he's written and done, he's just like figured it out as he's going. And that's just super inspiring. And, uh, We're also very different, me and him, which is cool. We bring different dynamics to our live show and to our approach to things. He's a little more sporadic. I'm a little more like, let's think this out before we do it. He's very by the seat of his pants. I'm a little more like, let's come up with a plan. But I think having the two of us together makes that really cool.

19:32 The happy middle, but putting it in the funnel and then what comes out of that funnel. So, no, it's great. Getting a jam with family is truly such a blessing. Yeah. That's way cool. And I do agree with what you're saying Cause I've been saying a lot lately, like, listen, the big four thrash did not sound the same at all. It didn't even sound like it was the same genre. Yeah. But yet you have these bands nowadays, like I say, they like kind of use an algebraic equation to, to make the music. Like No, metal wasn't ever that. It was always experimentation. I remember I started playing guitar. My dad's yelling from the other room, you better give that up because you suck. And really, all I was trying to find out was what sounds I could make. I wasn't playing a song. I was like, what could I do on this thing that nobody's done?

20:27 100%. And I had a very similar upbringing. My parents didn't force music on me at all. You know, I was exposed to it from from my dad being a musician and my mom being a manager handling the business side of things. But it was never forced on me. They always told me, whatever you want to do, do it. And as I mentioned earlier, you know, I was actually into writing and reading and books and stuff like way before I was into music. But, you know, I gravitated towards it naturally. I taught myself how to play. I was actually really sneaky and kind of embarrassed about it when I started. I would take the guitar to my bedroom, close the door. Late at night, I'd play really quiet because I didn't want anyone to hear me. I didn't want them to catch on that I was trying to learn this. Eventually, they did figure out and they were just like, go for it. My dad never showed me how to play. as surprising as that might be to a lot of people.

21:26 That's way cool. I love that. Um, and I think if they would have forced it, I would have hated it. That's what I was going to say. I think it's because he handled it the way he did is why you're here at aftershock right now. You know, like it, it, it was smart. It was really smart because like, that is what happens. You're absolutely correct. You know, like if your parents force it, you don't want to do it, you know? Yeah. And I, I mean, I was a very defiant kid to say the least, you know, So if they would have had even any inkling of trying to force it on me, I would have immediately been like, no, I'm going to do the exact opposite. I'm going to be a lawyer or something. You know what I mean? Right, exactly. But no, I worked out, and I'm having so much fun, and it really is one of the best decisions I ever made. And it's paying off, and I found my own sound, and I found my own way, and my play style and everything was totally natural. So that's the way.

22:23 If you're out there listening, don't listen to what people on the internet say. Don't worry about your technical proficiency. Just figure out what you do best and just build on that. Well, that goes on the word you said before, authentic. That's the only way you're authentic. Exactly. So why don't you tell everybody how they can reach out to you and check out all your projects and buy your merch? Because going back to the mind thing, that's the only way you guys get to the next gig nowadays. Absolutely. I tell them they can't listen to my show unless they buy your merch. Yeah, no, so true. And thank you for the support. But yeah, I am mostly on Instagram. My personal page is just look up Full Moon Wizard. Once again, I'm a dork, so I made a dorky name. I'm into Dungeons and Dragons and stuff like that. So yeah, just find my personal one, Full Moon Wizard. You can write to me there. I'm pretty good about getting back to people.

23:17 And that is the only one that's actually me. I do think there's a couple fake ones out there. Otherwise, follow the Cavalier Conspiracy, Nail Bomb. My other two bands are called Healing Magic and Go Ahead and Die. And I'm always on the road with one of them. We're always playing shows or putting out an album or doing something. So just follow the pages, keep an eye out for it, keep an eye out for my books as well. And yeah, we play all over the world. So if we're in a city near you, just come check us out, show some support, and I guarantee you'll leave very happy with the show. I'm sure they will. As somebody that has been a fan and has been in your pits, they will definitely have a lot of fun. And we're going to have a lot of fun at Aftershock today.

23:59 Awesome. So thank you for being here, and thanks for being on The Adventures of Pipe Man. Hell yeah. Thank you, Dean. Have a good one. What's up, everybody out there? This is Igor Amadeus Cavalera, and you're listening to The Pipe Man on W4CY. com. Keep banging your head out there. Thank you for listening to The Adventures of Pipe Man on W4CY Radio. Thank you.