In a recent interview with the And Now The Band podcast, Cannibal Corpse drummer Paul Mazurkiewicz talked about his decision to go vegetarian 22 years ago. “I didn’t wanna eat the animals anymore. That was as easy as that,” he explained.
He explained that he loved the food, but as he got older, he began to feel hypocritical. “I grew up, of course, a meat eater. A Polish family living in Buffalo, it’s meat and potatoes. And there was nothing wrong with that; I loved it, of course. But then the older I got, I was just starting to, I guess, feel hypocritical, knowing that, man, I can never kill an animal to eat it, but yet I can turn my head and somebody else can do it for me and then I can enjoy it, eat it. And I was just really starting to get hypocritical in that view.”
His belief that every animal deserves to live played a big role in his decision. The drummer continued, “I believe every animal deserves to live, and if I can not eat one and eat any, then I’ll be happy with myself. And that’s when I made that decision 22 years ago to stop eating meat altogether. That was my mindset. It wasn’t health reasons and it wasn’t like I got sick or I hated it. I loved eating meat. I would have probably told you six months up until I was gonna become a vegetarian, if I didn’t know at that point, but I would have said, ‘Ah, there’s no way. I bet you a million dollars. I’m never gonna be a vegetarian.'”
When reflecting on the transition, Paul was surprised at how easy it turned out to be. “Things change. Things in your head change and your views change, I guess, and this one was a very strong one for me that made me just made that decision to do it. And it was actually one of the easiest things I ever did, which was kind of crazy. I thought it would be a little harder since you’re eating meat your whole life and all of a sudden you’re not. So, [I thought], ‘Man, it’s gonna be difficult. I gotta really…’ But it wasn’t. I was ready. Mentally, I was ready. So it was, like I said, probably one of the easiest things I ever did, actually, which is kind of crazy to think.”
On the other hand, Cannibal Corpse’s bassist, Alex Webster, also embraces a vegetarian diet, though his transition hasn’t been as long as Mazurkiewicz’s. Webster has been trying to make the switch for a few years now, and he is finding it easier than expected. “I’ve been doing a vegetarian diet for a little over a year and a half now, and that kind of helps [my health],” the bassist said in a 2022 interview.
“The catering at the festivals when they have vegan stuff set out, it’s always just a bunch of vegetables and tofu and nice brown rice and stuff like that. That’s pretty healthy stuff. So just sticking with the vegetarian thing kind of leads you in a healthier direction most of the time,” he continued.
The bassist also talked about Mazurkiewicz’s experiences. “Our drummer Paul, he’s been vegetarian strictly for, like, 20 years, so I thought, you know what, I won’t be the only one. I give him credit now that I’m doing it. There’s some days where you wind up with very limited options on the road. I’m impressed that you could do this for 20 years.”
Cannibal Corpse will go on tour starting on March 28 in Quebec City, Canada, and it will wrap up on April 24 in New York City.
