Derrick Leon Green was born in Cleveland, Ohio on January 20, 1971 to parents Friendly and Gloria Green. His father, Friendly Green, was an electrician and his mother Gloria was a music teacher. Derrick is the youngest of three children and has an older brother, Gregory Lawrence Green, and an older sister, Renée Green, who is a writer, artist and filmmaker. At the age of 7 Derrick’s family moved to Shaker Heights, a suburb outside of Cleveland. Derrick started going to hardcore and punk rock shows at the age of 14. He went to see bands in Cleveland like False Hope and Integrity.
In 1986, at the age of 15 years old, Derrick joined a Cleveland, Ohio based band called Outface. Outface had a different singer for a short period before Derrick joined the band. Once Derrick was in the band, the lineup consisted of Charlie Garriga on guitar, Frank Cavanagh on bass and Mark Konopka on drums. Outface recorded two demos in the period from 1987-1989 and were then offered a one-album record deal under Walter Schriefels’ label, Crisis Records. The result is the band’s 1992 release, Friendly Green, which was named after Derrick’s father. Derrick is listed as “Simon Verde” on the credits of the album. The music is has rock, metal and ska influences.
In the early 1990s Derrick also made a guest appearance on Asphalt’s debut album 357 Knockout which was released in 1994 by Dark Empire Records. Asphalt was a new band that was formed by members of False Hope after False Hope disbanded. The album also features a guest appearance from Integrity vocalist “Dwid Hellion.” Derrick recorded vocals for songs Plantation Brown and Burnt. The album itself is unique as each track has its own unique lineup of musicians and musical style. Similar to Outface, Derrick was credited as “Simon Verde” on the 357 Knockout liner notes.
Outface played many shows in the United States during its seven year tenure and did one tour in Europe in 1993. After conclusion of its European tour, Outface disbanded with Derrick Green and guitar player Charlie Garriga moving to New York City to seek new opportunities. Outface bassist Frank Cavanagh remained in Cleveland and became the bass player for Filter in 1995. Cavanagh played in Filter until 2002 and also did a brief stint with Prong in 1997. Outface drummer Matt Konopka also remained in Cleveland and was the drummer on Integrity’s Systems Overload album which was released in 1995.
After their move to New York, Derrick and Charlie formed a new band called Overfiend with the additions of Sammy Siegeler on drums and Eric Thrice on bass. Sara Cox replaced Eric Thrice on bass shortly thereafter. The band’s name is derived from a Japanese anime film titled Legend of the Overfiend. Overfiend’s existence would be short-lived. The band recorded a three-song demo and played just one concert, opening for hardcore punk band Sick of it All, in New York. Overfiend would then disband with Charlie Garriga and Sammy Siegeler going on to form CIV while Derrick Green and Sara Cox formed Alpha Jerk in 1996.
In Alpha Jerk, Derrick added guitar duties in addition to doing vocals. Sara Cox played bass and they also teamed up with Gorilla Biscuits drummer Luke Abby and another guitar player named Chris. Drummer Luke Abby only performed with Alpha Jerk live and was later replaced by Nick Heller. Alpha Jerk recorded a six-track studio album, the self-titled Alpha Jerk, which was released in 1996 by Toybox records. The album is now distributed by Victory Records. Two tracks from Alpha Jerk were featured on New York’s Hardest, Vol. 2, a compilation album. In the liner notes of the compilation, audio engineer/producer Tim Giles wrote, “Alpha Jerk are NY emo-core favorites featuring Gorilla Biscuits drummer Luke. Singer Derrick was one big bad ass looking mofo who had us on the floor laughing all night.”
In December of 1996, the legendary Brazilian heavy metal band Sepultura parted ways with their frontman. Sepultura initially considered continuing on as a three-piece act but decided it was completely necessary to add a fourth member to handle vocal duties. In 1997, Roadrunner Records A&R representative Mike Gitter contacted Derrick Green and told him that Sepultura was searching for a new singer and that Derrick should go for it. Many people tried out for the position including well-known artists such as Chuck Billy from Testament. The best fit for Sepultura, however, was clearly Derrick Green. Sepultura was asking potential vocalists to add vocals to one new song they had recorded. The song would later be released as Choke on the 1998 album Against. Derrick recorded vocals for the demo song and submitted it to the band. Not long after submitting his recording, Derrick was contacted by Sepultura and audition for the band. Derrick then traveled to Brazil and met the band and their families and was asked to join the band and begin recording the Against album.
Sepultura had already written much of the music for Against in the time prior to Derrick joining the band. Against maintained many elements of the classic Sepultura sound while also introducing new elements. Sepultura is a band that rarely releases two albums that sound the same. After Against was released the band embarked on a supporting world tour for the album. During this time, Derrick lived in Europe.
Around this time, Derrick made a guest appearance on Integrity 2000, the fifth album from Cleveland hardcore band Integrity. The album was released on April 8, 1999 by Victory Records. Derrick Green provided guest vocals on one track which is titled “Never Surrender.”
In the year 2000, Derrick moved to São Paulo and immersed himself in the Brazilian culture and language which was a big adjustment for him. When Derrick moved to Brazil, he only knew the band. He didn’t find the transition to be easy. It took Derrick two years before he was able to really speak Portuguese well.
Sepultura went on to release one more album, Nation, following Against. Nation was released in 2001 and included Derrick as an active part of the writing process. A major conceptual shift for Sepultura as part of the Nation album was the movement from “Sepultribe” to “Sepulnation.” That theme was recurring in several songs including Sepulnation and Tribe to a Nation. Nation was the last album released under Roadrunner Records.
Around this same time Derrick Green also made a guest appearance on Biohazard‘s sixth studio album, Uncivilization. The album was released by Sanctuary Records on September 11, 2001. Derrick appears on the song “Trap” which also features Sepultura guitarist, Andreas Kisser. Uncivilization features many other guests including Pantera’s Phil Anselmo, Hatebreed’s Jamie Jasta and Type O Negative’s Peter Steele.
Derrick also made a live guest appearance with Andreas Kisser’s Brasil Rock Stars.
Sepultura then signed with record label SPV and released an EP of cover songs called Revolusongs, featuring songs originally written by bands including Hellhammer, U2 and Jane’s Addiction. The album was initially only released in Japan and Brazil. Later, the album was included as an additional bonus disc included with the digipak version of their next studio album Roorback which was released in 2003. Throughout these years Sepultura continued to tour the world. In 2005 the band recorded a live concert at São Paulo, Brazil which were released on both CD and DVD as Live in São Paulo.
The band continued to stay very active and recorded Dante XXI in March 2006. Dante XXI was the last album to feature the band’s long time drummer who left the band shortly after it was recorded. However, Jean Dolabella joined Sepultura and toured with Sepultura in support of the epic release. Sepultura’s first studio album to feature Jean Dolabella was A-Lex, a concept album based on the movie A Clockwork Orange. A-Lex was released in January 2009 and received excellent reviews.
In 2008, Derrick joined another band in addition to Sepultura. The band was a Brazilian metal band called Musica Diablo. Musica Diablo’s lineup consisted of Andre Curci and Andre NM on guitars, Ricardo Brigas on bass, Edu Nicollini on drums and Derrick on vocals. They recorded one album with Derrick Green in Rio de Janeiro which was released in 2010. Derrick amicably left the band in 2011 to focus his time and efforts on Sepultura.
Sepultura’s second album with Jean was Kairos which was released in 2011 but under a new label — Nuclear Blast Records. Dolabella left Sepultura in 2011 and was replaced by Brazilian drummer Eloy Casagrande.
In 2011, Derrick also started a collaboration with DJ, composer and producer Sam Spiegel under the moniker Maximum Hedrum.
In 2012, Derrick Green made a guest appearance on Violent Demolition, the 2012 full length album from German thrash metal band Dust Bolt. Derrick shares vocal duties with Dust Bolt’s Lenny Breuss on the album’s final track, “Deviance.” The album was released on July 27, 2012 by Napalm Records.
Sepultura recorded The Mediator Between Head and Hands Must be The Heart with producer Ross Robinson. The Mediator Between Head and Hands Must Be The Heart was Eloy Casagrande’s debut album with the band and was released in 2013. Also released in was Maximum Hedrum’s full length, self titled album, which was distributed by Stereophonic Records.
They then released the critically acclaimed album, Machine Messiah, in 2017. Machine Messiah has been very well received throughout the world both in the media and with the fans.
Derrick currently lives in São Paulo, Brazil and he has a son named Nolan Maddox. Derrick is a vegetarian and his passions include his family and art. His favorite hobbies include bowing and watching movies. Some of Derrick’s biggest musical influences include Metallica, Abba, Hellhammer, Bad Brains and Slayer.
[Note: This history of Derrick was compiled from a variety of sources and its purpose is solely to help fans become better acquainted with Derrick. If you see any incorrect information that should be corrected please contact me so I can make a revision.]
A Tribute to Derrick Green 