Today blabbermouth.net has reported the Deftones‘s YouTube channel uploaded a video of SoulFly‘s lead singer Max Cavalera joining the Deftones  on stage last night in Brisbane, Australia to perform the song “Head Up.”

Deftones’s lead singer Chino Moreno and the rest of the band  bandmates were responsible for the name of Cavalera’s post-Sepultura  project. On December 1996 Cavalera left Sepultura and  spent parts of 1997  assembling a new group while appearing  on “Head Up”, which appeared on  Sacramento’s  Around The Fur studio album.

During that time Cavalera struggled with finding the name for his new act which caused him to consult with the leader of the Brazilian Xavantes tribe, who played an integral role in shaping Sepultura’s Roots album. Remembering the word “SoulFly” from “Head Up”, Cavalera found the right name for his band, which was revealed  in a surprise announcement during a live French television program in 1997.

During an interview with Asgard Video Channel in 2019 Cavalera openly talks about where the name Sepultura originated from.

“I recorded with them and in the song, I said ‘soulfly’. When I recorded with the Deftones, which was in ’97, I didn’t have SoulFly until ’98. For a whole year, I was looking for another name. I had a whole list of Brazilian names. I even had a guy from the tribe in Brazil [Xavantes] that we recorded the Roots record, even he gave me a list of names. That’s how deep it was to search for a name. It was right in front of me the whole time. I just didn’t look hard enough. One day, it finally clicked, like ‘Hey man: The Deftones song. “Headup”. SoulFly  is great.’ It’s a made-up word.” said Cavalera

Also Cavalera  mentions how SoulFly‘s name is actually based on “a tribal belief.”

“Many tribes — I did this research — in South America and Africa and even North America, believe when they make music, they are evoking the spirits of their ancestors through the music and their souls are flying around them when they are playing their instruments. A lot of them even believe — this is where it gets really crazy — the animal sacrificed to make skins for the drums, even the spirits of the animals get out through the drumming. It’s really deep. It’s a cool name; it’s a positive name. I wanted to do something different. Like I said, I tried for a year to find a name and I had all these names that sounded like Sepultura, but it would just be a copy. I just went the other way. SoulFly is as different of a name as it can get from Sepultura . I’ve tried to do things in a little bit of a different way and that’s how it turned out.”

It is amazing how a simple name has an amazing story behind it and surely some fans  enjoy hearing the meaning of the iconic band name.

Photo Credit: Ekaterina Gorbacheva