Swedish heavy metal blog Metal Shrine recently interviewed British author Joel McIver about his latest activities. McIver has scooped various end-of-year accolades for his latest books lately: Glenn Hughes: The Autobiography, the memoir of the legendary DEEP PURPLE and BLACK COUNTRY COMMUNION singer which was one of Guitar World magazine’s Rock Books of 2011. In the interview McIver discussed the five years he spent co-writing Hughes’s book, as well as his latest project, the autobiography of SEPULTURA founder and current SOULFLY and CAVALERA CONSPIRACY singer Max Cavalera.

Excerpts from the chat follow:

Metal Shrine: I read an interview with you today, you did a lot of interviews with Glenn Hughes and there was a lot of hours to go through. Was there a lot of stuff that you had to leave out of the book?

Joel McIver: "Yeah, a lot! 60 hours, that’s enough to write a 400,000 word book. The publisher gave us a 100,000 word maximum, though, and as a result the book has a bit about TRAPEZE and tons about Deep Purple, quite a lot from the 80s and then really after Glenn gets sober, not so much. Some of the reviews said they wished there could’ve been more of his solo years, and I wished there could’ve been too, but there just wasn’t space for it. But he’s young enough so he can do an updated version in ten years! (laughs) It’s not like he’s already 80 years old. I think the stuff that sums up his life best is in there. I must have a gigabyte of stuff left over."

Metal Shrine: About his memory and recollections, it’s pretty clear about the stuff he did even when he was doing tons of coke?

McIver: "Well, the reason that Glenn’s memory is so good is that he didn’t drink and he didn’t smoke weed. If you’re drunk all the time or stoned, it will affect your memory, but as bad as cocaine is for you, it’s not going to have that same effect on your memory."

Metal Shrine: You tend to think about yourself and you can hardly remember what you did three weeks ago, but if you live the kinda life he’s lived, maybe it burns a memory in your brain?

McIver: "Yeah, probably. I don’t know about you, but I’ve had my share of booze and weed in my life and Glenn never did, so it’s all there. But I think there’s something to what you’re saying. If you live a very vivid lifestyle and you play in front of 60,000 people every night, you don’t forget that."

Metal Shrine: Cool! And you got Lars Ulrich of METALLICA to write the foreword. Are you on a friendly basis and you can just call him up and say 'Hey, I need a foreword!'?

McIver: "Ha ha, no! But Lars and I have spoken a bunch of times over the years. I went through Q Prime, like everyone does. I e-mailed them and said “Would Lars like to do the foreword?” and Lars immediately said yes. We had a quick phone call and that was that. It was cool. Kirk Hammett did the foreword for my Cliff Burton book, so their managers obviously know I’m not evil, you know. (laughs)"

Metal Shrine: What about the Max Cavalera book then? I just thought that he’s a young guy. Did you pitch the idea to him too?

McIver: Well, he’s relatively young, but he’s been through a lot. I pitched the idea to [manager] Gloria Cavalera and she said yes. It’s a whole different approach to Glenn’s book. You think about the classic rock and the funky soul that Glenn does, and then the kind of thrash/death metal that Sepultura did and the stuff Soulfly is doing now, it’s a complete change, but it’s what I’m really, really into. I’ve always been a thrash metal and death metal guy, so I remember when Gloria got in touch and she said “Right, let’s get started,” I went “Fuck yes! Max Cavalera! What a huge honor!” So right now the interviews are all done and I’m writing the book. My American agent’s looking for a deal. All those things will come together and Soulfly’s got an album out now, and it’s all good. Like I said before, Glenn and Max are very different. Glenn will walk up to you and give you a giant hug even if you’ve never met him, whereas Max is more of a man’s man.

Metal Shrine: What are your most memorable interviews?

McIver: "There’s loads. Lemmy for starters. The first time I interviewed him, he had a rockabilly side project going, and he invited me up to his hotel room to hear the demos: we went up and sat there and drank Jack Daniel’s. It was weird being in his hotel room: there were clothes everywhere and his personal possessions that he brings on tour. Lemmy is always good value. Dave Mustaine is always a great interviewee too. He’s funny and he really, really makes me laugh."

Read the entire interview here.