SEPULTURA’s DERRICK GREEN On His Decision To Stop Drinking Alcohol: ‘I Started To Feel Good Immediately’

In a new interview with Australia’s AndrewHaug.com, SEPULTURA frontman Derrick Green spoke about his decision to stop drinking alcohol. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “I think it started especially with things like alcohol, before the whole lockdown, before COVID. It happened a little bit before then. For me, it just got to a turning point where I just really didn’t wanna do that anymore. I didn’t find any positives in drinking. There were none. Except for flavor. And everything else was just getting worse as I got older, as far as the feeling afterwards of drinking it, feeling depressed, which never happened before, just my body out of whack, my digestive system completely destroyed, my brain just aching, starving for water in the morning over a hangover and just feeling broken. I was just getting tired of that, and I was, like, ‘Why am I doing that to myself?’, like really questioning [it]. It doesn’t make sense. And I’m spending money doing it, which didn’t make any sense at all. It’s just ludicrous. So it was easy for me to stop because I started to feel good immediately.”

He continued: “Those changes are worth much more than what I was doing to myself, and that clarity really kicked in, and it just pushed things further to really do more things for myself, treat myself well. I just felt that I’m the only person that’s gonna be able to do that, and I needed to really do that in that moment. So I didn’t wanna lose the moment.

“I had many years of just whatever, not being able to remember certain things that happened at night after incredible moments, just losing that,” Derrick added. “So, it felt really good. It was only going uphill once I stopped. It was this really incredible feeling.”

Two and a half years ago, Green‘s SEPULTURA bandmate Andreas Kisser told A&P Reacts that he “quit alcohol right before the pandemic hit. It was one of the best decisions I made in my life,” the guitarist said. “Not that I was a fucking out-of-control alcoholic, but alcohol was a part of my life, of everything I did. In certain degrees less and more, but it was there. It was taking control of my life, of my choices, of how I dealt with people or with a special occasion or something. Alcohol was involved in everything. And I don’t need that. And I proved now that I don’t, because I’m having a better life.”

According to Kisser, “it was very easy” for him to give up the bottle. “Once you have a clear idea in your mind, there’s no discussion,” he explained. “I didn’t put the responsibility on a saint or, let’s say, in a church, or ‘I will stop for a year’ or ‘I promise you, my wife, I don’t drink anymore.’ No. It’s not for them. It’s a very personal attitude. It’s me with me — not more. I don’t have to put the responsibility away from myself, in a time period or in a certain religious belief or my family. They don’t deserve that. This is my problem, and I resolve it with myself. So I’m in peace with myself with that. It’s not something that bothers me. I can be around alcohol, I can be around parties, I can be around backstage, as I did with my KISSER CLAN band here and stuff. People drink around [me], [and] I don’t care. I don’t even feel the wish to drink, which is great. So I don’t have a battle, let’s put it that way. I’m not running away from anything. I just decided to stop. That’s it.”

Earlier in the month, SEPULTURA announced that it will celebrate its 40th anniversary next year by embarking on a “farewell tour” which will cover the entire globe. Starting in March 2024, SEPULTURA will spend 18 months celebrating the band’s past and the present one final time.

In the works for two years, SEPULTURA‘s final tour, titled “Celebrating Life Through Death”, will start with dates in Brazil, and will include shows in Latin America and the United States, with the promise of additional dates to be revealed soon.

SEPULTURA comprises Kisser, Green, bassist Paulo Xisto Pinto Jr. and drummer Eloy Casagrande.

Photo courtesy of Nuclear Blast Records