Interview: Paul Speckmann (MASTER, KRABATHOR, ABOMINATION)

Hello Paul. How are you doing?

I'm doing fine, you know. Just today we had a little band rehearsal this morning, and we tried a couple of new songs. I think we played "Twas Always a Plan" like four times, and we played "A Cell with a Door and No Slave" as well, four or five times. And we decided which song we're going to use for the live show. Unfortunately, you know, on the tour, since we're just direct support, we only have like a 45-minute set. Now, obviously, when you're doing a 45-minute set, well, you've got to play the classics. Yeah, you know what I'm saying?

Yeah. So, I guess it's hard to prepare. It's hard with 16 albums behind you. It's hard to prepare a set list that can contain, you know all the fan favorites.

That's my point. So, you know, we were thinking about putting two new songs in the set, but it's only going to be like 10 songs. It's not possible. So one new song in the set, then some classics, and a couple of surprises from some of the other records as well. You know, 10 songs doesn't really give you much opportunity, but on the other hand, we're looking forward to it anyway.

Yeah, yeah. Well, it it will be amazing. I'm pretty much sure about that. And we already said that the new master album is coming on. I think 16 of October, 16 days from now.

Just a few weeks, yeah.

in the press release about the album, the question "What's new? you basically said nothing, and that's is that a good thing actually? After 16 albums, I actually

I didn't do the press release. You know that.

Yeah, yeah, I know. But After sixteen albums, is refusing to change almost a form of rebellion in itself today?

Of course it is, because I'm not like all these other bands that are constantly jumping on the bandwagon every time a new style comes up. All of a sudden, you've got an album sounding like grunge or whatever, you know, this kind of stuff. With Master, I've always stuck to my guns. I'm not going to change for anybody. I'm not looking for a new bandwagon.

You know, Master Is Master, and I write everything the same way. I never try to change anything. Obviously, they're new songs, but I'm not going out of my way to change my style. Of course not. Why would I want to do that?

Ocourse, of course, yeah. Looking at titles on the new record like “Injustice and Lack of Remorse” and “Watch as Children Burn”, there still seems to be a lot of anger behind MASTER. Have the things that make you angry changed as you’ve grown older, or are you essentially still writing about the same problems you saw forty years ago?

Exactly, nothing really changes. You know, sadly, the world seems like it's getting worse. It's not getting better. But obviously, what's going on in the world today influences my writing, as always. I write the songs the same way, on the acoustic guitar, and bring them to rehearsal and hope that they sound good. And let's say 90% of the time they sound good right away. A lot of times, we use everything I write. Like on this particular album, I wrote 11 songs and brought them into the studio. The only problem we had this time in the studio, which was the same as last time, is that when you're preparing for the studio, all of a sudden there are festivals coming up, tours coming up, and it's like you have to start all over again.

You know, at my age, I don't have time to take three months off, work on an album, and go into the studio and record. I'm more interested in playing concerts and festivals and touring. So sometimes this gets in the way of recording, and you end up working on that record for a long time because you're starting over after every tour, you know.

Yeah, I get that feeling. But do you think that taking the time in the studio it's not the same like it used to be, or did the recording process for Master change during the years, or not?

We've always spent a small amount of time in the studio. We're in and out of that studio with most of the stuff within five days. It's been like that since I started back in the day. There's no reason to spend three or four months working on a record. For what? And I realize that people spend tons of money, or well, they waste tons of money in the studio working on an album for six months. I don't have the time or patience for that.

But when we record an album, we're in and out of that studio in five days, like I said. And okay, maybe we'll spend a few more days mixing and mastering. We remastered the record twice this time, and okay, this is what happens. But really, it's just like back in the day. Okay, I'm not in a hurry. Let's say back in the day we were more in a hurry. Now we're not in a hurry. This is just the way we record. Yeah.

There’s a strange irony in MASTER’s history: you were there incredibly early, yet the first MASTER album didn’t come out until 1990, when death metal was already exploding. Do you ever wonder how different MASTER’s story might have been if that record had come out in 1985?

Well, the problem that really came up at that time was that we actually had contracts before some of the bands that had success in those early years. Let's just leave it at that.

But the point is, we were smoking a lot of hash at that time and doing a lot of cocaine. And to be quite honest with you, if we had gotten that record deal, I wouldn't be surprised if somebody in the band had died right away. I'm just saying. So, strange as it sounds, maybe it was a good thing we didn't get the record deal because everything was happening so fast. We got a contract, and some of these bands went on to sign that crappy contract that we got.

I'm actually glad, in the end, that we didn't sign it because there was no money involved in that contract. This style of music was so new to the record companies that they weren't offering any money. They had no idea that 10 years later, some of these bands would be superstars on these small labels, you know. But I'm just saying, at the time, it was probably good we didn't get a contract until years later. Sure, we got lost in the shuffle. The band obviously would have been way more popular than we are. I know that, I realize that. But in the end, maybe it worked out the way it was supposed to because I'm still alive, I'm happy, and I live a good life. I only play music. I don't have to do anything else. I don't have some crappy job like a lot of these guys do. I basically turned my hobby into a living, and that's it. That's where I'm at today, you know.

Yeah, excellent. Yeah, well said. Really well said. And everything happens for a reason. So I, I guess pretty much everything was on time. Somehow

Yeah. Somehow it seems like that. Like you said, everything happens for a reason. I suppose, yeah.

Having lived and played on both sides of the Atlantic, do you still feel there’s a real difference between the American and European death metal scenes today? And what makes the Czech scene different from both?

Ah, well, the reality is that the European scene has always been better than America. There's no competition, you know. I mean, this was the reason why I moved to Europe. I moved here 26 years ago to join that band Krabathor, and I've been playing concerts in Europe and actually across the globe ever since then. It's like I got more respect when I came to Europe than I ever got in America, which is really a sad thing to say, but it's the truth.

So I'm glad that I moved to Europe because my life changed, and I never had to look back. I'm still playing today, you know, still releasing albums, and the European scene has always been more supportive of bands like Master and many other bands, of course. But I'm just saying, I got more support here than I ever got in America. And now, when we go back to America, sure, we get a little bit more support, but we're still like the underground of the underground over there.

Over here in Europe, sometimes I'll get a good festival. Sometimes we're the headliner, sometimes we're playing in the middle, but the point is, there have always been more opportunities for Master here in Europe.

Yeah, but as looking on the U.S. scene right now, as someone that's been, outside of the U.S. for so long and you still tour there actually, as you said, And when you go back there what strikes you most — both for the better and for the worse?

Well, let's just say this woke culture is horrible over there.

Yeah…

And they're really not into that. There's so many strange, strange. Let's just say strange new ideas being implemented in America, and I really don't understand it…

I always like to ask musicians that how they deal with this cancel culture, which is recently, you know, getting popular.

And that's a good point. We went through this cancel culture. We played a festival in Elgin, Illinois, and for some reason, there were a bunch of black metal bands that came on later in the festival, and people were saying they were Nazi bands or whatever. And I was the furthest thing from that, to my knowledge. I had no idea about this stuff, you know. The agency in America booked our tour and put us on the festival, and Grave played there as well. A lot of bands played the festival with us. And for some reason, the cancel culture picked out Master and just started attacking us, saying we're Nazis, and that's not true at all. It's the furthest thing from the truth.

I'm not into any of these crazy, weirdo ideologies. I'm not into any kind of government. There's no left or right-wing shit for me. Everything sucks. I'm not into politics whatsoever. I cannot stand the governments. The governments are destroying the world today. Look at all these wars going on because megalomaniacs are in charge in certain countries, and they're making more money while more children are suffering. We're living in strange times. This is pretty much it, you know. And the cancel culture, the woke culture, this is just strange for me. None of this stuff was happening when I was a young man. I don't know what happened. Yeah.

Exactly. Yeah, you know, politics are getting weirder and weirder. But the music business changed too. You’ve watched the music business go from demos traded through the mail to Spotify, social media and instant access to everything. We are so spoiled nowadays...

Yeah, it was better when I was younger. You know, we weren't so spoiled. You know,

I know, I know. That's my point because I'm also also not that young. But I remember that exchanging of tapes and going to the shop buying music without even knowing the band or just by the cover. Has making and distributing music become easier while actually being a musician has become harder?

It’s harder now to make a living in music because, like you said, social media gets your music out to everybody, and some of the crappiest bands in the world are out there making a living. I think it's a struggle for the bands that are original and true to the scene. And obviously, with streaming, you're getting everything for free, basically. I'm not making any money from streaming, and I'm sure none of these other bands are making any money from streaming. It's not correct.

Back in the day, people would buy the demos. Like you're saying, we traded them. They'd buy the records, go to the store, and find stuff. And now music stores are going out of business as well. Record stores are going out of business. It's terrible. It was much better back in the day. You got that right, you know?

Yeah, yeah MASTER still releases vinyl, CDs and even cassettes, and you’ve always maintained a very direct connection with the people who buy your records. So does that mean that selling someone a physical record still means much more than 1000 streaming on Spotify?

Of course, I'm happy to be there at the merch stand, selling the vinyl or the cassette to you right there, or the hat or the shirt. This is a big part of it and a big part of my life, you know. You get your meet and greet with Paul Speckmann right there at the merch stand.

Even on the Napalm Death tour, I'm doing my own merch again, like they let me do in 2024. It's better for me to be right there. I'm right there among the fans. I get to watch Napalm Death kick ass every day. I also like that. I mean, I realize that lots of guys are hiding backstage or whatever, but I like to... I'm living in the real scene. I like to enjoy it all, you know.

Exactly. Yeah, that's well said. You’ve survived labels, lineup changes, bad contracts, the collapse of the traditional record industry, COVID and more than four decades on the road. Was there ever a moment when you genuinely thought, “That’s it, I’m done with MASTER”? What came closest to making you stop?

Never. I really never thought about stopping. To be quite honest with you, even during COVID, I was selling stuff. You know, every day people were buying stuff. Most of my work during COVID was going to the post office. Thankfully, the underground crazy metal scene was still sending money to me, and I was sending them products, and I was still making products, you know.

But I really never thought about giving up. Certainly, it was a struggle during COVID. There were no shows going on, and it made me nervous. But during that time, like I said, I was just pushing on the internet, trying to sell more stuff, working on new songs, and getting exercise over here, going to the gym. Even the gym was closed, and you had to have a special combination to go in through the back door, which was totally against the law. It was right near the police station, but for some reason they didn't seem to go over to the gym, so we would sneak in the back door. There were maybe 10 people in there at a time, and that was it.

So, I mean, it was a scary time, but I never thought about giving up music. I kept playing guitar and bass and trying to keep my chops up, you know, hoping that one day the world would return to, quote-unquote, normal. I don't know if that ever happened, but just saying, you know.

I keep seeing kids who are barely 15 or 16 wearing shirts of obscure old-school death metal bands that I wouldn’t even expect them to know — and at the same time some of them are already playing incredibly well. Have you noticed that new generation yourself? And if you could give those kids one piece of advice, would it be something the 16-year-old Paul Speckmann would have listened to — or completely ignored?

I never had any advice, you know. The reality is, as I said, when we started out back in the day, in our early 20s or whatever, we had no help from anyone. It was just a struggle and a fight to try and get a record deal, and then the record deals were all shit. Like I said, even that first one was a shitty record deal. I know some bands that signed that deal, and it didn't really work out for them either. They got more famous, but they were struggling in the end. I remember that.

But the advice I would give younger bands is obviously to get out there and keep fighting, and be careful what you're signing. Maybe get a lawyer. I didn't have a lawyer back then, you know, but get a lawyer or somebody in the music business to help you. And the most important thing I would say to a younger band is to get out and play as often as possible.

I mean, back in the day, when we first started out with Master, we weren't playing live at all. We did maybe one show in two years. The original drummer, with the original lineup and stuff, they just wanted to do a show or two in two years. We didn't really get a lot of live experience, so the shows weren't very good. We didn't have a lot of energy in those shows, even though we were young guys. If you don't practice, you're not going to get out there and kick ass.

I mean, the best thing that ever happened to me was finding musicians shortly after that. When I started working with Abomination, these were guys who were serious about practicing four days a week, you know. And I even miss that today. I'm lucky to get the guys to practice once a week, but I'll tell you, it works. Don't get me wrong, because we're playing live all the time.

But it's really important for a young band to practice as much as possible. I miss those days when we were jamming four days a week. You were tight, so when you went and did shows, you just kicked ass every time. I remember those days. They were good times. So I can just say, when you're younger, enjoy that practice and get in there and practice as much as you can. Get out and play live, you know.

Yeah, but you know what? Looking at some of these bands, they're actually pretty amazing and incredibly tight. And as you said, they might have been rehearsing for days or even weeks, but nothing can really prepare a band for life on the road. So, what are the things you can only learn by touring that you simply can't learn by rehearsing and playing together?

Well, you've got to learn how to control your alcohol intake. If you're a singer, you've got to work on your voice, especially when you get to be my age, 63 years old. You've got to drink lots of tea, lots of tea with ginger and lemon and honey. And at my age, let's just say, you've got to go to bed. But even when you're younger, if you're out there on tour, that's really important too. You've got to try and get your sleep, you know?

Okay, I was young once and I didn't care about it, but these are the kinds of things you learn as you get older. I found that if you rest, you're going to do a better show every day. For example, on the Napalm Death tour, there are probably 26 concerts in maybe 32 days. There aren't too many days off, and I know the guys in my band will be drinking all night on those days off anyway. But I'll be in bed, reading my book on my Kindle, relaxing, taking it really easy. I may go out and eat, but I'm just saying, touring can be rough because you've really got to watch what you're doing.

You can't be drinking too much, blacking out all the time and getting hurt. You've got to take it seriously. I know you're young, of course, but you've still got to look at it like a job in some ways too. Because if you do a good tour, you do good shows on the tour, then bands and agencies or whatever are going to ask you to do it again.Maybe you're just a drunk idiot, like I used to be when I was younger. It's more complicated then. Yeah.

Okay, yeah, really well said. But When you’re at home and there’s no tour, no rehearsal and no MASTER business to deal with, what does a completely normal day for Paul Speckmann look like?

We can start today. I got up in the morning, did a few emails, and went to band practice, which, as I said to you, is maybe once a week if we're lucky, all right? Then, when I got home after lunch, I made a couple of packages and went to the post office. Came back here for the two interviews. All right, well, there are two interviews today, and then tonight I'll be going to the gym to work out really hard. Hard workouts with these young people.

Now, on a normal day, I'll go out in the morning and maybe walk in the forest for an hour and a half or two hours looking for mushrooms. Or if it's too cold, I usually do my cardio in the morning. And every day, Monday through Friday, whether the band is rehearsing or not, which sometimes they're not because they're busy, I'm playing bass and singing and playing the set, preparing for the Napalm Death tour. At least three days a week I'm doing that, and five days a week I'm playing bass, no matter what, usually for an hour, just bass warm-ups. As you get older, you've got to warm up.

But let's just say my days are easy. I go shopping. I have to go grocery shopping once a week, you know. But let's just say I have an easy life, okay? I'm basically retired. I'm just saying, I'm basically retired, and I do whatever I want. Of course, I'm looking for more shows and festivals, and sometimes I'm working on contracts and stuff like this. Life is relatively smooth. Yeah.

Yeah. Pretty cool. Pretty cool. Okay. Most musicians seem to have that one childhood moment when they see or hear something and suddenly think: “That’s what I want to do.” Do you remember what that moment was for you — the band, musician or song that made you decide this was the life you wanted?

Okay, well, there was a band... That's actually a good question, you know. So thank you for that. Really. I remember when I went to... You know, over here you go to kindergarten through sixth grade. Then you have what we call junior high school, which is like seventh and eighth grade, and then you go to high school, which is ninth, tenth, eleventh, and twelfth grade.

And I just remember when we went to the high school orientation, there was a band with a bunch of long-haired, freaky guys, and they were playing Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin covers. They all looked really cool. It was a band called Deuce, obviously not KISS, you know. But they were really cool guys and maniacs. And that was my moment, when I saw those guys at the high school orientation. They were playing some songs, they looked really cool, and they just had a good attitude. And I said to myself, "I want to be like these guys. I want to play music."

Every kid has that moment at some point. Yeah.

So then, when I was in high school, that freshman year, I was walking around singing songs from different bands in the hallway, and some long-haired guy, semi-long-haired guy, came up to me and said, "Hey, you know, we're looking for a singer in our band. Maybe you'd like to come and try out."

I'd never been in a band before in my life. I think I was 17 at the time, and I went over there and just sang some Thin Lizzy and, like I said, some Black Sabbath. I think we did UFO, Ted Nugent, stuff like this. They were just a cover band, and I went in there and sang these songs the best I could, and I got the job.

Then we played some shows, maybe eight or nine gigs over that year, in churches and little clubs and stuff. No bars at that time. We were still teenagers, but at school functions we got to do things like talent shows and stuff like this. And then again, I kept looking at this bass player, John, and I said, "Oh, maybe I should learn how to play an instrument." So the band broke up, and I started teaching myself how to play bass. One of my friends across the street said, "You're never going to play bass. You'll never figure it out." Well, that gave me more energy and more of a desire to learn it. And before you know it, at 17 or 18, all of a sudden I'm playing Iron Maiden's Killers and different stuff like this. I wanted to go take lessons from a guy, a Czech guy living in the area. I didn't know he was Czech then, but anyway, his name was Jeff Kapchek. I went and took a lesson, and he said, "I can figure out anything you want me to figure out." So I said, "Figure out this solo part on the song 'Killers' from Iron Maiden. There's a middle break in there, a cool bass break. Figure that out for me." I went back for the second lesson, and he said, "Oh, I didn't have time to do it." And I said, "You know what? I don't need your lessons anymore." I went home and sat and played that song for three or four hours until I figured out how to play that bass break. And after that, I realized, well, I don't need anybody to teach me anything. I'll figure it out myself. And this is where it all began for me, really.

Yeah, we really-that's every child has that that moment in life. So that's why I wanted to know which one is yours. And as you said, you grew up with a lot of the the bass and the music of like Steve Harris and Geezer Butler. But what I'm realizing today in in modern death metal that a lot of musicians are pushing the bass really back. Do you think that in that metal somehow has forgotten that the bass actually it needs to be heard?

The bass is the most important thing in Master, for example. And the bass was the most important thing in Motörhead too. So I agree with you. You know, you've got these more modern guys. I don't want to say modern, but with Scott Burns, it all started with him at Morrisound when we recorded “On the Seventh Day God Created... Master”. I remember going out to his car. We decided we'd listen to a song when we first started doing some rough mixes. We went out to his car, and he said, "Oh, the bass is too loud." And believe me, the bass was great at that point.

So we went home after recording that album, and he did the final mixes and mastering without us. In the end, there was no bass on the album. Well, most of his albums have no bass. What was always really important for him was the triggered drums and the heavy guitar sound. And don't get me wrong, he did some great albums, just not my album.

And so, yes, I have to agree with you. Many bands ever since 1990, let's say since the Morrisound Revolution, don't have much bass on their records, and I don't understand it. Coming from the early days, you know, the music of the '70s always had a lot of bass. Well, that's me. I'm a 1970s bass player. You've got to hear the bass in my songs. The bass drives it. It pushes the songs, you know.

Exactly. Well, okay. So we don't have too much time for this interview anymore. But it is really it was a pleasure to to talk with you. Just one last question I have. You’ve lived in the Czech Republic long enough that you’ve probably adopted some local habits yourself. What was the hardest Czech thing to get used to as an American — and what Czech habit have you completely picked up by now?

Well, the language has been the hardest thing, and I never really picked it up. I mean, I can understand very well what people are saying, when they're talking about me, and what they're talking about most of the time. And I can speak a bit, but in the early days it was hard to go to the grocery store and many other places. Today, a lot of people understand English. The older generation still doesn't, but the younger people do.

One of the habits that I picked up is going for mushrooms, and I still do it now. I went this Saturday, Sunday, and Monday, and I got a lot of mushrooms. It could have been more, but it's been really dry in the area lately.

But I generally go by myself, and I go into the forest and climb these hills and small mountains in search of mushrooms. So this was a great habit that I picked up.

Thank you Paul for this interview. Looking forward to see you on 28 th of November when you will be playing in Sofia with Master!

I looking forward to that too really!

And maybe we can exchange some mushroom cooking recipes as Im a mushroom lover too.

No kidding? Ha-ha. Super!

Thank you again for this interview and see you soon!

I enjoyed it take care and have a nice evening

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More about MASTER

Website: https://www.speckmetal.net/
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Author: Nikola Petras
October 2026