melodylane

MELODY LANE: Your new headlining tour for Machine Messiah ‘s just started, four dates…so, how the audience and fans are reacting to the new songs?
ANDREAS KISSER: Great man! Reaction’s been amazing so far, the album came out a year ago, so fans had the time to learn all the new stuff…We already played here in Europe with Kreator last year…Then we played with Testament in the States…and then we had dates in Brasil…So the new songs are working really good, and lots of new songs in the setlist…It’s since CHAOS AD that we didn’t introduce so many new songs in the concert setlist…I think we are playing five or six songs from the new album tonight, and they all mix really well with the old stuff. Of course in this tour we are playing our classics, a little bit of our history,but our real intention is to show the new album.

MELODY LANE:New album…that we can define a concept album…
ANDREAS KISSER: Oh yes, every song got a very specific characteristic and all the songs together create the atmosphere of MACHINE MESSIAH and It’s great to know that the news songs are going great live, fans recognize the songs and sing in the lyrics, it’s fantastic!

MELODY LANE:It ‘s an album that sounds quite different from your past albums …
ANDREAS KISSER: Yes man, a lot of new elements! We used violins and Derek singing clean…We are more mature to introduce new elements and of course Jens Bogren, as producer was the perfect choice. We went to Sweden to record the album and it was great to go to a different place for the first time for recording. Everything helped to bring new atmosphere and new ideas to the sound of the band.

MELODY LANE:…As a fan of the band , I can say it sounds like a ‘new start’ for Sepultura…Something really different…
ANDREAS KISSER: Oh for me as well…We just finished to 30 years anniversary tour in 2015…We travelled the world playing all the old stuff, the old material…We also worked in the documentary “Sepultura Endurance” which we have the plan to release in the second half of the year, around October or November, in a DVD format, together with the show we did at the ROCK IN RIO last September in Brazil…So it feels like we closed this big cycle of 30 years, and  MACHINE MESSIAH it’s a new start, a new beginning for Sepultura.

MELODY LANE: MACHINE MESSIAH is the second album with Sepultura for your drummer EloyCasagrande…You worked in the years mainly with three drummers…Igor Cavalera, Jean Dolabella and  EloyCasagrande…How have they affected the sound of Sepultura, and have you had to change your working method according to their characteristics?...
ANDREAS KISSER: Well, Sepultura has a history of great drummers. Since Igor that helped to create the sound of the band, giving us new drums possibilities, with him westarted using lots of percussions and traditional Brazilian instruments, adding new  ideas and new elements…Then Jean Dolabella came in bringing a new sound, and you can hear it in the albums…but what I can tell you is that this thing happened also to me when I joined the band in 1987…and also to Derek: every time a new member entered Sepultura, has brought new elements, new ways to see things…Our intention ‘s always been to respect the new characteristics of the band, changing our sound…Because we don’t want to copy ourselves and we don’t want to copy anybody that was previously in the band. But of course drummers are very important, basilarand are a big influence on the sound of a band…

MELODY LANE: And what about your creating process…are you the main composer in this moment…?
ANDREAS KISSER: Usually I start jamming in the studio on some ideas or riffs with our drummer Eloy…who has some drums loops…But I also write a lot of stuff on my phone, and I have my portable studiowith Pro-Tools so I can keep ideas when I’m on the road…Mainly all start with simple riffs and simple ideas…For MACHINE MESSIAH, once I had the concept for the album in my mind, I brought it to the others.Then I embraced their ideas about it, and we started working on it. Every song was really connected with the others and that really helped to create different songs and different atmospheres but all going towards the concept. What I can surely affirm is that all starts from a simple riff or ideas that we develop all together in the practice room… 

MELODY LANE:As a composer and as a guitarist…Can you tell us your main influences, so…the most important musicians for you…
ANDREAS KISSER: There are many man!...Of course my idols are Toni Iommy and Randy Rhoads. But I can tell you also Judas Priest, Metallica, Slayer, Anthrax, Megadeth…that type of guitar playing really influenced my style and my sound … But I like also classical guitars, and I love Steve Howe of Yes, and I like the musicians that introduced classical elements in rock like Ritchie Blackmore, Rick Wakeman…I like classical guitars composers from Spain, from different centuries…and I really love blues a lot, my favorite are Stevie Ray Vaughn, B.B,King, Buddy Guy…

MELODY LANE: …And from new bands around…are you interested in the emerging scene?  Any favorite?
ANDREAS KISSER: Oh yes man, I ‘ve got a radio show in in San Paolo together with my son, every Sunday we play Heavy Metal, there’s  a lot of new stuff, especially from Brazil, bands like Claustrofobia, Torture Squad, Project 46 and Nervosa, this all young girl band that’s doing very well,I know them from the start, really doin’ a great job…Very interesting bands for the new metal scene…

MELODY LANE: …But talking about the actual music scene…Internet, the illegal downloading, the business crisis…Thinking about your past and your career and seeing how is difficult today for a band to survive…What do you think about it…  
ANDREAS KISSER: I don’t know man, for us the most important thing was always the live show, and the merchandising…I mean, of course we sold really well with CHAOS AD and ROOTS but…it was the road, we were and are a band that’s always been touring, that’s too important to survive and today everyone ‘s touring. The old days are over, when bands released and album and stayed home waiting for the check to come… but I think that today it’s a more democratic way, more bands are coming up…the power of record labels’s gone downand that’s a good thing….  There was too much power in the hands of few people in the past, you know…I think for art, in general, today is better…Maybe from the business point of view is not that well, but at the same time, we have also to consider that the metal fans are really faithful, they like to buy the original stuff, original album and official t-shirts, and that’s very great…it’s very respectful. It’s cool…I can definitively affirm that we are a band from the road that survives thanks to the following of our fans that are really respectful in every sense…

MELODY LANE: …What’s next for Sepultura?...What’s your schedule for the rest of the year?
ANDREAS KISSER: We have a pretty busy year, we have this tour in Europe for a month, then we go to Australia, New Zealand and Japan for a great tour as well. We have festivals in Europe like Wacken and Summer Breeze and other festivals in Czech Republic…Then, in October and November we will tour United States and Canada and in that period we will release the new dvd I told you before…

MELODY LANE: Last question, how ‘s your relationship with your label Nuclear Blast after three albums,  and also your next one will be released with them?
ANDREAS KISSER: Oh fantastic, yes our next album will be on Nuclear Blast again…We are really happy, we are in a beautiful and strong relationship with them. It can’t be better.

MELODY LANE: Thank you Andreas!
ANDREAS KISSER: Thanks to MELODY LANE, Bye!