Max Cavalera Reads Negative Comments Online to Psych Himself Up for Live Performances
If Max Cavalera—founding member of Sepultura and current frontman for Soulfly and Cavalera Conspiracy—ever struck you as Abe Simpson in the “Old Man Yells at Cloud” meme, there’s a good reason for that.
In a recent interview with Finnish outlet Chaoszine, Cavalera talked about his recent decision to finally launch his own official Instagram account with help from his wife and manager Gloria Cavalera. An artist starting their own Instagram account isn’t really newsworthy unless you’re a set-in-your-ways luddite who had to be dragged kicking and screaming into the 21st century, or even the 20th century, for that matter. But Cavalera finally getting an Instagram account is a bit of an event considering he doesn’t even own a cell phone. This is what he had to say about it in the interview (as transcribed by Blabbermouth):
“Yeah, I think it was necessary for a musician to grow. As much as I wanted to stay away from it, because — I like it, but I don’t let it be the only thing in my life. That’s why I don’t have a cell phone. I’m one of the few people in the world that don’t have a cell phone. And I feel very free about that, because when I go to eat at a restaurant, I wanna talk to my friends. I wanna sit down at a table and talk to people, not stare at some machine. I think that’s ridiculous, when people are in a restaurant and they are sitting across each other and they don’t talk to each other. It’s fucking sad. It’s fucking crazy — it drives me crazy. At the same time, I know how important it is to have your presence in the social media world. And that’s why together, I found a way to do it with [Gloria] so she becomes my voice. She shows me everything, so I get to see everything that people are saying. I respond. We do a live Facebook. I was doing a lot of ‘Max Trax’ [Internet video series in which Max discusses the inspiration for many of the songs spanning his 40-year music career]. I might wanna start doing that again and do Cameos and all this stuff. But I think she’s great. She’s doing right now six, I think, social media things. She does Max Cavalera, she does SOULFLY. she has her own Facebook page, and it’s cool.”
If I had a dime for every time I heard someone make an overblown claim about how cell phones are ruining society, I could probably buy MetalSucks. But apparently not having a cell phone has had one advantage for Cavalera in that it keeps him from reading all the negative comments people make about him online, at least until he needs them to fuel his live performance. As he said a little later in the interview:
“I always did this — even back in the day, in the SEPULTURA days before Internet. I would read bad reviews so I get real pissed off and have a good show. So now I kind of do the same. I tell her like, ‘Show me some people talking shit.’ So she gives me the phone, and there’s all these people talking shit. And I read it, and I go on the stage and I fuck shit up. [Laughs] It’s ammunition. It’s gasoline for the fire.”
If Cavalera really needs negative comments as fuel for his next performance, I’m sure he can just read the comments on this article. People on the Internet are very good at being negative.
To see Cavalera psyched up by Internet hate, catch Soulfly on their fall tour. Dates are listed below.
With Mutilation Barbecue & Skinflint:
10/19 Albuquerque, NM – Sunshine Theater
10/21 Wichita, KS – Wave
With Eyehategod, Mutilation Barbecue & Skinflint:
10/22 Dallas, TX – Trees
10/23 Austin, TX – Come And Take It Live
10/24 Baton Rouge, LA – Chelsea’s Live
10/24 Fort Walton Beach, FL – Dwntn Music Hall
10/26 Fort Meyers, FL – The Ranch
10/28-11/01 Headbanger’s Boat Cruise (no Mutilation Barbecue/Skinflint)
11/02 Fort Lauderdale, FL – Culture Room
11/03 Jacksonville, FL – Jack Rabbits
11/04 Mobile, AL – Soul Kitchen
11/05 Houston, TX – Warehouse Live Midtown
11/06 San Antonio, TX – Rock Box
With Mutilation Barbecue & Skinflint:
11/07 Lubbock, TX – Jake’s Sports Cafe
11/08 El Paso, TX – Lowbrow Palace
11/09 Tempe, AZ – Marquee Theater
