PAUL SPECKMANN is one of the true pioneers of death metal. The founder of MASTER talks about his beginnings, songwriting, life in the Czech Republic, touring and the future of the band.
Hello Paul. Why did you choose the bass as your musical instrument?
In 1979 I was singing in a local band called White Cross and I was intrigued by the bass guitar! I watched White Cross bassist John Boghossian and decided thereafter that I would teach myself to play the bass and I did! You don’t mind all the bass jokes? Never really heard any bass jokes to be honest. Besides, after watching bassists like Geezer Butler and Steve Harris as well as Chris Squire play the bass live, there was never a thing to laugh at right? Were you raised in a musical family? No one in the family was musically inclined, I and certainly the 1st and the last musician in the Speckmann family, I am sorry too say! So far none of my nephews or nieces have shown any inclination to play any instruments at least at this point. There is still time of course!
Who was it you were listening to when you were younger that made you want to form your own extreme metal-type band?
There weren’t any extreme bands unless you call Sabbath and Led Zeppelin Extreme bands! In High School Ted Nugent, The Doors and Thin Lizzy also ruled the Jukebox in the lunchroom!
What motivated you to make music early in your career?
Girls, what else, most musicians will tell you that you got the chicks if you were in a band, and hell, still do, if this is what you’re looking for!
Have your motivations changed? If so, how?
Of course as I got older and more serious, the bass took over my life and the girls fell by the wayside. I was in love with the bass and the music it produced, the sounds were more important than the chicks. Not to say that a good fuck isn’t needed also, but Metal is also a way of life for some. For some or many I should honestly say, it’s a hobby, and some make a career while keeping a day job. Thankfully for me I have turned this hobby into a full time job that pays the bills and takes me across the globe every year!
When you listen to other bands, is the bass like one of the main things you notice?
YES, and in today’s Metal scene there is little or no bass on many of the later recordings and I often cringe when I hear this nonsense! That idiot Scott Burns was one the innovators of the no bass sound for Death Metal! The best thing I ever did was get away from that idiot. I’ll admit I made a lot of money from those releases, but I still cannot listen them even today without cringing! This was the reason I passed on the interview for his book!
How long did it take you to get confident in singing and playing bass at the same time?
I was forced into this position as the original drummer for Master, just couldn’t play drums and sing, so I taught myself to do it. Of course it took some time to perfect it, but in the beginning we didn’t play many shows with Master and absolutely zero with Deathstrike! As the years went by I had to prepare for live shows. Even more difficult were the live Abomination shows with the more intricate bass playing and vocals, but at that time we were rehearsing several times per week, so I learned very quickly to Master this so too speak!
Did you have lessons or are you a self-taught musician?
I took two lessons from a guy with Czech heritage, Jeff Kapček, but after I asked him to learn the middle break in the song Killers from Maiden, he was just to busy to do it. I went home and spent the afternoon working on the riffs until I figured it out, and realized I didn’t need him and the rest is history!
There is a constant sense of intense brutality in everything that you have done. Why so angry?
The world is a fucked up place as always, and this is all I need to influence my attack on the music! Society get crazier year after year and so I have to continue to attack all the bullshit that goes on and bring thoughts and ideas to the table in my music!
Honestly, I have to say that lyrics are probably less important in the metal scene than in the hardcore one. How is it with you, how do you give importance to lyrics? Your anger in lyrics, is writing lyrics a kind of catalyst and a kind of therapy for you? Or is there a bit of the misanthrope in you?
Lyrics are always a very important thing in the music I write. Unfortunately, many people only grasp the angerous intentions in the music, but for me personally, there is a method to the madness, and I take the lyrics very seriously. I mean I am not a preacher but I do share my opinions from time to time withing the songwriting process for sure! But I do agree with free thinking and speech of course, and maybe my opinions are not correct for all people, but I give a rats ass about it. I say what I feel at a particular time!
Is there any topic you would never use in a lyrics?
No, all topics are great, why would you omit something?
All the records of the bands and projects you’ve been a part of are all full of true and old school death/thrash metal. Haven’t you ever been tempted to go on an adventure outside of this pure style and try to experiment?
I did a Heavy Rock project when I was living in Los Angeles, but nothing came of it. I returned to Master again! I knew where the food on the table was coming from!
Your discography is like the ultimate collector’s nightmare. What inspired that work ethic and level of output?
I still continue to create and work regularly on new songs, as well as touring every year ,as I said this a way of life not a hobby for me. I live for my music as well through the music if this makes sense to you!
You are a scene veteran. What advice do you have for musicians in underground metal these days? What would you say have been your biggest lessons from recording, touring and dealing with others?
One can always learn from others, go to shows watch bands and other musicians, learning is a great thing. This helped me for sure! Never be afraid to ask question from your heroes about strings, techniques! Steve Harris shared some ideas with me on the original Number of the Beast tour in Chicago and Indiana back in the day. He was friendly and easy to talk too. Ok, this was early on in their career, but I am sure he must be the same cool motherfucker today! Now obviously there are dicks around as well, so watch your steps!
How do you manage long tours, how demanding is it physically and how do you take care of your voice? Is there a regime you need to follow or are the nights after the gig long and full of rock ‚n roll?
Great question times have changed, I normally go to bed shortly after the bus is loaded as I am 61 years old next month. But back in the day I was a maniac. But let’s face it, you learn quickly after you lose your voice a few times. The secret is to practice, reduce the marlboro’s and slow down on the beer and Jack Daniels. But most important is that you do some heavy practice even if it’s along in the rehearsal room singing with the stereo recordings or cassettes of your rehearsals, live shows etc!
How do you like today’s digital age? When you release a new record, the label puts out a standard number of records, what is the measure for you today, whether people like the record and it is successful? Number of views on YouTube?
Obviously I personally write the songs for myself, so if I think they are good they must be. Sometimes people just don’t buy the records, but we forge on. This time around the record from this year called Saints Dispelled sells regularly, so the numbers are good. But, this has a lot to do with the killer promotion that Hammerheart Records did for this release. For the previous 15 years or so before Hammerheart took over, the band has been on small independent labels that did little or zero promotion and depended on mail order catalogues to do the work! Things are on the upswing now thankfully!
How do you feel about a platform like Spotify? Does it distribute money fairly among artists?
This platform sucks and rips everyone off, sad really!
What do you think of the death metal scene today? Is there anyone out there who has emerged in the past 5 years that you consider yourselves a fan of?
That’s a tough one really, as the scene has become saturated with clones of the original bands, but on the other hand you have to remember that some of these bands are keeping the Metal scene alive. So this is the bigger picture that matters in the end. I prefer to keep my mouth shut for the most part, but there are many bands kicking ass out there at the moment!
For a lot of bands in the scene this is a hobby, for you it’s a way of life. Was there a time in your life that surviving on just band earnings was on the edge? Can you imagine having to look for work and fit in with the „ordinary“ people?
I was at this point when I moved to the Czech Republic, Krabathor wasn’t making much money when I joined, mostly playing Czech and Slovak festivals in the summer, and Christopher, and I moved furniture in Arizona! Then shortly after in 2000, I moved to Uherske Hradiste for good, and began teaching Czechs, English! I did this for the first few years until Master really began to take off!
About your career. Are there periods in your career which you remember with pleasure? Is there a period you wish to cancel from your life?
You cannot look at life this way. All experiences are important and shape the way you live! Everyone has good and bad times, but it’s best to look at life as a learning experience! It’s waste of breath to criticize any of the past musicians I worked with as these were all stepping stones to get where I am now!
In an interview you said that working on the band i.e. making merchandise, writing new songs, touring etc. makes you young. Anyway, obviously a bands are getting older, same with their audience, although they may feel young. Who else but you might know the answer – is there any special reason why the metal scene is getting older and not being supplemented by the young?
Yeah, some do pop up from time to time, but obviously in small numbers. Why are guitars and screaming getting so little interest to the younger generation? No idea, you said a mouthful in this question. The generations change and people change, but honestly I see festivals packed across the globe most of the time still today, so the future will survive Metal, don’t worry! In these interview I speak of myself, and no one else, I do not have the answers for the newer generation, but we will survive of course.
MASTER. As the band leader and founding member, you definitely have all the control over the band and the creation of the music. Considering the amount of people you’ve worked with throughout MASTER’s existence. Is there and has there always been full understanding for this from the others in the band?
Actually everyone is free to contribute if they like. I am not a tyrant, if I like a song we record it. Guitarist Alex Nejezchleba, wrote several songs over the years that we recorded. If I like a song I will learn it and write lyrics for it. I admit the last two albums were written by me and I personally think they are among the best, but it’s only my opinion! Actually Alex and Zdenek were in Master for 16 years and Alex returned after a 2 year break from Master! So the previous line lasted quite a long time I think. This was the longest lineup in the history of the band!
MASTER have been pioneers of a certain musical genre and a reference for many emerging bands. Now, looking back, do you think there’s been a band able to follow your example?
Many bands have successfully followed our example, many a complete successful ripoff of the band, but hat’s life, so be it!
There is much debate among metalheads as to who the first Death Metal band is, with most votes going to either DEATH or POSSESSED. In my opinion MASTER should have been seen as one of the progenitors of the Death Metal genre. But you never achieved to the attention you have to deserved. What´s your opinion? Is it such a satisfaction that bands like ENTOMBED named MASTER as one of their influences?
I don’t waste my time looking back on this nonsense, Master influenced an entire genre and created something special that many successfully went on to copy! So be it. There is no reason to point fingers. The biggest mistake was our failure to sign the first contract, Death and Possessed signed this contract for peanuts, but at least they got a good start! They managed to get their names out there!
What happend in the time between you fantastic demo in 1985 and the debut album (1990)?
I released demos with Funeral Bitch as well my other band Abomination successfully I might add! I guess that the debut came too late and death metal was already in full flow. This would be a true statement but life goes on my friend!
Why didn’t Combat recording originally release that album? The drummer and his Mom screwed up the contract, this was before I took over the band affairs for good! How pissed off were you at Nuclear Blast because they rejected the record?
They didn’t reject the record, they didn’t like the mixes, they wanted a sound like the emerging bands from Morrissound! So they gave us an enormous amount of cash to record again, and then decided the newer recording was too polished! In the end Scott Burns remixed and remastered the original mixes and we released the 2nd recording as The Speckmann Project, both releases sold over 50,000 copies each worldwide in the end!
A lot of your recordings have been re-released over and over again. How do you oversee these represses in terms of artwork and sound? I just came across a comment recently where a fan describes a re-release of the debut album via Hammerheart : “ This release is completely different sounding than original on Nuclear Blast and not in good way. The original is so incredibly fat, dirty and in your face, it is like a DISCHARGE playing death metal. This one on Hammerheart is like they had put Diana Ross on it for the mastering“. What´s your opinion?
Opinions are like assholes, everyone has one. This is the 1st negative review I have heard from the Hammerheart reissues? If I am to be honest, I rarely if ever listen to the remasters, why should I want to hear this again after a million listens? Fat dirty and in your face would be the original mixes and they were released before on a double CD, so it’s obvious that the Scott Burns recordings made there way to your friend!
You have recorded with the Czech line-up in Shaark studio in Bzenec. But obviously you have a lot of experiences from recording in the USA. How would you compare the way of working here and there? How does our Shaark compare to the American ones in terms of equipment? Is there anything that characterizes the Czech or American sound?
Hmm the last recordings in the USA were done in 1993, so how could I answer this? I have been recording in Bzenec for 24 year now and the recording equipment improves every few years. There is nothing to complain about or compare with 1993! Working today is fast and easy, back in the day you had to have real talent, if the drummer fucked up, you had to start a song over until it was perfect! Today you can push a button to fix things, they call this progress. I am not so sure!
What influence do your teammates have on the MASTER sound? Is Alex the reason why you might sound a bit more thrashy than on earlier recordings?
Yes, Alex has a Thrashy sound and kills it in the studio as well as live. I respect him completely and would never tell him what to do. He is killer guitarist and always a big help in ever way! Totally happy that he chose to return to Master, life is much easier with Alex at my side!
Compared to similar-sounding bands, let’s talk about pure death/thrash metal, MASTER has catchiness in its songs. Do you try to add melody to the songs in addition to brutality? It could also be because you definitely grew up with a style like hard rock, rock’n roll.
I think that’s what younger musicians can miss, those classic hard rock roots. I never think of these things, as you said I grew up listening to early rock and heavy metal, this must be where the influence arises from. But I never set out to write a particular way. I pick up my acoustic guitar and write what comes to me and develop it a bit in the rehearsal studio sometimes. That’s the great thing for me as there is no particular formula, I write things different ways! Sometimes idea come on airplanes or tour buses, also many times in the quiet forests of the Czech Republic!
As far as I know, you arrange all the work regarding the MASTER by yourself. Is this the way you prefer? Can you imagine working with an agency and having management that takes care of MASTER?
The German agency called MAD will help with more bookings in 2025, but I will always book fests as well!
How do you go about selecting your set list for your gigs?
I play what I like!
How have you established yourself here over the years? I know you’ve been walking around the woods picking mushrooms, which I don’t think you can do well in Chicago.
24 years. Obviously I have bought a house, cars and the things you need to live a good life anywhere!
Is there any improvement in your communication in Czech?
People speak English in the music scene or they do not survive, Czech language is for the old guard my friend, I can obviously understand many things after 24 years, but it’s really not of much importance to a Metalhead like myself, sorry!
How have you been received and how do you spend your time here, besides playing with the band?
I ride my bicycle, go to the gym, visit the forest and my biggest friend, the post office regularly every week, as orders never cease for the many products I have online at speckmetal.net
What do you miss most about the American way of life?
Nothing!
Last question: Is there anything you haven’t achieved with any of your bands that you would like to? Thanks a lot for the interview.
Sure, Wacken, Hellfest, and a few others, but these are now in the works at MAD, so fingers crossed! Thanks for the thought provoking questions!
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