Let’s start from the very
beginning when in 1993 MASTER was put together as a band.
Well, those days we were
playing MOTORHEAD and BLACK SABBATH. It was a complete struggle for us. At the
end we recorded a demo tape which sold out like fifty copies. But somehow some
ten thousand people got the copy of this tape.
Did you record that demo
yourself?
Yeah, actually my father
passed away and left me a small inheritance. And so I spent money for the band.
The music you played back then
was quite ahead of time. Why did you decide to play that sort of music?
When I found my first band we
played heavy metal, RAINBOW and something like that. But I heard VENOM and
MOTORHEAD and we just wanted to be the heaviest band in the world! We tried to
sound as aggressive as possible.
So you did!
Oh yeah, we did, ha-ha!
And it was the beginning of
death metal...
Yes, but back then I called
the music we played as power metal. And even now I call this music «life
metal», I don’t particularly just sing about death. I sing about life, death,
politics, religion, real world. And for the reason that it was so extreme and
aggressive they just classified this as «death metal». But it more deals with
life to be quite honest with you.
So, we have got «LIFE» metal?!
You got it!
OK, you sold fifty copies of
you demo, what happened after?
People started writing me, and
magazines wrote that we were a rip off of SLAYER! Which we found interesting
and quite funny. But soon in late 1984 we received a record contract... And we
threw it away. We were naive, too young, idiots if you will, ha! We were
waiting for a million dollar contract and the contract we got offered us very
little money for five albums. We should take it because other bands took the
same contract and now are making it huge. I think if we took the contract we
would have done much further today.
How did you think of the name
MASTER?
We definitely believe in
ourselves, and this is pretty much the whole concept of the name MASTER.
So you are the masters of your
own lives?
You are definitely correct! We
are the masters of our destinies.
What were your actions
afterwards?
I started rehearsing and put
together the band called...er...I got to check my notes out there, ha-ha! Goddamn
dates, you know! OK, so around 1987 I started rehearsing with the band called
ASSAULT. We recorded two demos and Kerrang! magazine reviewed the two demo
tapes. And they put a picture of me and signed it «Slow down, dude!». They
definitely thought our music was too fast and too aggressive! Two-three years
later this music was called grindcore and brought millions to the musicians who
played that sort of music. FUNERAL BITCH was playing grindcore in 1987 and we
got the video tape live to prove it, you know! Shortly afterwards I was jamming
with FUNERAL BITCH and doing some shows. And I also played with some other
local bands in Chicago. One of the bands called ABOMINATION. Once we were
jamming with FUNERAL BITCH and ABOMINATION. It was three or four in the
morning, we were doing a lot drinking and coke smoking. We were young and
crazy! Soon I quit FUNERAL BITCH and joined ABOMINATION and we recorded two
demos as well in 1987 and in 1988. I sent the second demo to Nuclear Blast
records and in 1989 Nuclear Blast signed MASTER and ABOMINATION at the same
time. They offered me two contracts and it worked.
Could you compare the two
scenes: the one of the ‘80s and the one of the ‘90s?
The scene was incredible in
the ‘80s and things are a lot different in the ‘90s. The smaller crowd at the
shows. Back then we could pack the house. It seems that the scene in America
died down for death metal or speed metal or life metal. But I wanna say that a
few month back I toured with MASTER in America and it was like the early days. There
were thousands kids at the shows, at the smaller shows there were five hundred
kids, they gone crazy, and then they were all standing in the line to get the
photos signed.
And what for the musicians,
what is the main difference between the two generations?
OK, the musicians in the ‘80s
believed in the music and were honest with you. They put their soul. And in the
‘90s lots of bands are copying MASTER, POSSESSED and KREATOR. I think these
bands, they are not into it. It seems that everything started to sound the
same. Unfortunately. But then again I am trying to play the same stuff that I
played fifteen years ago. I haven’t really changed that much and that is one of
the reasons I am still here.
There’s also another «school»
of death metal in the States - Florida. What do you think of its
representatives?
I think the best band which
came out of Florida is DEATH. DEATH began to play that style of music for
Florida and MASTER began it for Chicago. Actually SEPULTURA and MORBID ANGEL
asked the sound engineer in the studio we recorded our two albums how Speckman
recorded the vocals and made the sound.
So, if I have understood you
correctly, MASTER and DEATH were the very bands that started to play death
metal in the States?
Yeah. And there were also
HELLHAMMER, POSSESSED and some other awesome bands back then.
What do you think about
DEICEDE, OBITUARY, MORBID ANGEL?
I don’t care for any of those
groups. Speaking about MORBID ANGEL and originality, they have just copied
MASTER many times! Many bands copied MASTER. That’s ridiculous!
So you confirm the major part
of the bands in the US just copy MASTER?
MASTER and DEATH, you got it. Most
of them are copying both of us, it’s true. But fortunately many people like
originality in this business.
But Paul, why all these
MASTER’s copycats have become even more popular than MASTER?
You know why? Because they
have good promotion. You see, there’s a problem with Nuclear Blast - I got
little or no promotion for years. Nuclear Blast spent tons of cash for our
first album and the album sold tons of copies! But then they said: «Your next
records will be sold by the name alone. We don’t need to promote you». So what
they did, they took money from MASTER to promote other bands. That’s rock ‘n
roll, believe me! With good promotion we would have sold million copies, no
problem! Promotion is 90 percent of the game.
Are you going to sue Nuclear
Blast for not giving you money?
Oh yeah! Nuclear Blast at the
beginning was the super offer. I signed a contract within two months and the
album was recorded two months later. Then we made MASTER and ABOMINATION
European double tour at the same time. ABOMINATON opened the show and MASTER
headlined the show. We played twenty six concerts and some of us played for two
bands! In those days Nuclear Blast treated me really well, I was always sent
money, they took care about me. But I came to find out this year they didn’t
pay me anything for the last twelve years. So it’s a big problem right now as
they owe me a lot of money, ha-ha! They were really good people but toward the
end they started getting greedy putting out all these records at one time
thinking they could make a million dollars.
And why did they change their
attitude toward you?
It’s a good question, I really
can’t tell you man!
May be money is the root of
all evil?
Yeah, I think so. Many record
companies are greedy, they do it for money, but for me music is the heart of
the soul, it’s what I believe in.
Has Nuclear Blast ever imposed
its musical tastes on you?
At the end Nuclear Blast
offered a fifty grand to do away the record they wanted. But I didn’t do it! I
will not start compromising with my artistic freedom.
Why did you start so many side
projects?
First of all you can
experiment with lots of things. If I did my experiments with MASTER all the
time, people wouldn’t like it. And labels wouldn’t like it and wouldn’t promote
it. I like the side projects because the side projects give you a chance to
explore new territories. And I am making a new side project and we will release
a new recording in few months. But MASTER is number one focus for me.
By the way, where did you get
the money to record all these albums?
All the demos we recorded
ourselves, we got jobs and Nuclear Blast paid for all CDs.
Having a job, how do you
manage to find spare time for all your projects?
I move furniture, I am a hard
working bastard, ha-ha! There are three offices and I work for them. But
somehow I find time for everything.
What side project you consider
to be the most successful?
ABOMINATION, definitely.
Judging by the titles of your
albums and songs, one can admit that Jesus is one of your favorites names! What
is your attitude toward religion?
I like to make fun of it, fun
of people who give money to church and think it can buy them the way to heaven.
I was twenty one when my father died. And I asked the hospital preacher: «What
have you got now?» And he went away, he had nothing to say, you know. This is
hypocritical, a bunch of crap.
Do you just make fun of the
religion or do you also confront it?
Both. That is what music all
about. Questions and answers. That’s what I do. In songs that I write I am
questioning and giving my own opinions. I don’t try to convince someone to
believe my opinion. I want people to go out and explore, to figure out for
themselves. ‘Cos I have.
What things besides religion
really piss you off?
The government, the lows,
preachers...
How could you explain the
now-mature sexual activity of Bill Clinton? «Oral Sex Is In Season»?
Hey,
you are the first man who asked me about that! Because I was dreaming about
that! You know I don’t care about Clinton. I think his private sex life is his
private sex life. He’s a man like every other man. And in his age I can imagine
that many other men would do the same thing. There are more important problems
in the world than Clinton’s sex life. And they made a kind of a circus in the
United States. And that’s what I hate about America. I got to be honest with
you, that’s why I write songs about America. You got good questions, this is
the best interview so far!
Thanks
Paul. Is there a place for drugs and alcohol in your life?
Drugs
suck, they ruin your life! I still drink beer... Hey, come on! I am German, I’m
Irish too. And English, ha-ha! I enjoy my beer. But I am not the guy sitting in
the pub seven days a week drinking beer. I drink a few beers at the show, but
then I have to drive to another show and be responsible for the band.
It
seems to me that you are a hard working person who takes responsibilities and
cares of everything around you!
You’re
right, that’s true. But I am not a saint, if you know what I mean, ha-ha!
Yeah,
it’s still rock ‘n roll! Do you have a family of your own?
No,
no kids, no wife, no nothing. You know, pretty much my kids are the musicians
in the band, my family is the band. I’m pretty much married to MASTER. It’s my
own little family.
But
would you like to get married some day?
Of
course, I’ll be looking for a wife in Germany or Poland.
We haven’t heard anything of
you since 1993! What have you been doing all these years?
I split with Nuclear Blast in
1993. They stopped calling me, stopped giving me money, stopped being my
friends. In 1995 I put out a demo, and in 1996 I put out a demo as well. And I
showed the demo around the US and Europe and nobody was interested. I think
after Nuclear Blast nobody was interested. Such things happen sometimes in this
business. Then I was offered a contract from Julios Polkvinski, from Poland. And
I recorded a record actually for him. And he didn’t contact me. But now I got a
good record deal with Pavement and good promotion. Promotion is very important
for me. Some shittiest bands in the world are making millions dollars because
of promotion.
So you released the latest
album «Faith Is In Season» on Pavement. What are we to expect this time?
The album is a mockery of
religion as usual. Everybody is living in faith. In faith of false religion. The
US is full of preachers, they charge you in twenty dollars and send you a
bible. It’s a bunch of crap, you know. And the scary thing is that the millions
of Americans send their twenty dollars to these preachers. They become reach
and people work their ass up to support them... But I believe in MASTER, as
MASTER is in season!