{"id":298,"date":"1986-08-01T00:00:38","date_gmt":"1986-08-01T00:00:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/?p=298"},"modified":"2012-06-10T01:00:38","modified_gmt":"2012-06-10T01:00:38","slug":"feature-motorhead-mf19","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/feature-motorhead-mf19\/","title":{"rendered":"MOT\u00d6RHEAD – Deaf Metal (MF19, 1986) | Features \/ Interviews @ Metal Forces Magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"

MOT\u00d6RHEAD – Deaf Metal<\/strong><\/span><\/span>
\nGarry Sharpe-Young<\/span>
\nMetal Forces, Issue 19 (1986)<\/span><\/p>\n

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Mot\u00f6rhead (l-r): Phil Campbell, Lemmy, Pete Gill and W\u00fcrzel<\/b><\/em><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
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Mot\u00f6rhead are the first band I ever headbanged to.<\/p>\n

Flea and I did the old \u2018nodding-dog\u2019 act for the duration and, despite the terminal tinnitus that struck with a vengeance immediately after vacating the venue, it was in the morning when I realised the full extent of the damage.<\/p>\n

I awoke from a nightmare as horrible as any Chrome Molly album cover and jumped out of my festering pit with a start to discover my head still on the pillow!<\/p>\n

Mot\u00f6rhead are the first band I ever got a headache to.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t worry I\u2019m not about to feed you a concise history of the band coz you know that already, and I won\u2019t even tell you of the thrilling tube trek to the rehearsal studios to waste three or four pages on journalistic wank.<\/p>\n

So here I am stumbling up the stairs and the first thing I encounter is Lemmy and a plate of congealing beans. His eyebrows recognise my presence, but his eyeballs stay glued to the plate remorselessly hunting down the last bean to be impaled on the fork (heavy metal breeds cruel people.)<\/p>\n

\u201cHi Lemmy,\u201d I offer. \u201cI\u2019m here to interview you I\u2019m afraid\u201d. \u201cOh no you\u2019re not!\u201d Lem states firmly. \u201cYou\u2019re at five!\u201d<\/p>\n

We discover someone has neglected to take in the details of the days schedule and so Lemmy gathers up his brood, positioning them strategically around the room, in readiness (yawn) for an interview.<\/p>\n

Mot\u00f6rhead have been lumbering around Europe recently with Manowar and Exciter as excess baggage, so how did it go lads? \u201cIt went really well,\u201d says guitarist Phil Campbell convincingly. \u201cWe did our first dates in Switzerland and Copenhagen, outselling the other metal bands on the road at that time, so it was great.\u201d<\/p>\n

You must have been all over Europe now then? \u201cJust about, yeah,\u201d says Phil. \u201cYugoslavia, Hungary. We did one and pulled in 27,000 people in an hour! It was incredible!!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThere were kids hitch-hiking from East Germany and Poland to the gig, all over the place!\u201d adds Lemmy. \u201cThey can get the records, but not many bands go over there, unfortunately for them.\u201d<\/p>\n

So when do you go back there? Drummer Pete Gill admits that \u201cW\u00fcrzel\u2019s going back tonight on a Moroccan bus!\u201d Which signals the start of the end of this interview. But, I do manage to get some sense out of them when asking about the upsurgance of interest in metal in the Mediterranean countries. \u201cI\u2019ve noticed that actually,\u201d agrees Pete. \u201cI went to Greece for my holidays and it\u2019s amazing all the names of heavy metal bands sprayed everywhere. It\u2019s like Spain. We toured there a few years back in the bullrings and I\u2019d never of imagined then that it would cotton on like it has now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Why do you think American bands don\u2019t do the rounds in those areas and in particular the Eastern bloc? \u201cThey\u2019re terrified of Communism aren\u2019t they,\u201d Phil says. \u201cYeah, he\u2019s right,\u201d chips in Lemmy. \u201cThey don\u2019t understand that Europeans have always mixed, even before the wall, so it\u2019s still all Europe to us which the Americans have no concept of at all. You get American bands doing world tours that only take in the States and Canada! They think that\u2019s all there is! We\u2019ll play anywhere. The Orkneys, Isle of Dogs, Canvey Island.\u201d<\/p>\n

After all these years have you noticed any change in Mot\u00f6rhead\u2019s audience? \u201cYeah I have,\u201d grins Lemmy. \u201cWhen Brian (Robertson) was in the band it got a lot smaller!!\u201d \u201cHe\u2019s a silly boy isn\u2019t he?\u201d W\u00fcrzel tells me. \u201cI am silly, yes,\u201d Lemmy accepts before turning remarkably sensible. \u201cThey haven\u2019t changed really, they have the same approach wherever we go. They still wear the same old leathers and denim with the same badges on them, even in countries where they don\u2019t understand a fuckin\u2019 word we\u2019re saying.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve lost a few fans because they think they\u2019re supposed to grow up and get married and put all this silly heavy metal behind them. I\u2019m sure you know a lot of people like that Garry, and if you don\u2019t you will (I wonder if that\u2019s after the fourth kiddie? – Garry). In America it has actually started to get violent, violence towards each other.<\/p>\n

Actually, Grim Reaper told me similar stories when they opened for Slayer<\/a>, who incidently got booed off after a few numbers. Why do they do it?? \u201cPerhaps they hate each other,\u201d Lemmy conjects. \u201cPractising for the football field, I don\u2019t know. They just kick the shit out of each other slam dancing and whatever.\u201d At this point his attention is drawn to the sight of Phil reaming out his nasal passages with a strange device. \u201cWhat the fuck are you doing??\u201d he demands of his guitarist. \u201cMy nose is bunged,\u201d is all he can muster which in turn is the cue for a quick ridicule from W\u00fcrzel. \u201cBlowfish! Blowfish!!\u201d he blurts.<\/p>\n

Ever seen grown men giggling like schoolgirls with a Y-fronts catalogue? I have. Let\u2019s move on to this new album then. The title track seems to be very different from anything you\u2019ve tried before, and the lyrics don\u2019t tie up with the title do they? \u201cIn what way?\u201d inquires the beady eyed bassman.<\/p>\n

Well, you\u2019d think with a title like \u2018Orgasmatron\u2019 the thing would be sexually motivated, but it\u2019s about the causes of war isn\u2019t it? \u201cAh! Is it?\u201d states Lemmy sounding uncannily like an old teacher of mine. \u201cIt\u2019s about people without the courage to wank or have a woman and get off by going to church instead. Masturbatory hysteria!!<\/p>\n

\u201cI would call Hitler an orgasmatron right, as he enabled everyone to experience this mass orgasm. The verses deal with the three things that do that – politicians, religion and war. An army marching off to war love it with the chicks throwing flowers at them, new uniforms, big tough guys. That\u2019s a form of mass orgasm.\u201d<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t you agree with religion? \u201cIt stinks!\u201d he snarls. \u201cI fuckin\u2019 hate it!!\u201d Are any of you guys religious? \u201cNo\u201d laughs W\u00fcrzel. \u201cBut Pete worships hamsters!\u201d \u201cGreat big fuckers with tattoos!!\u201d shouts Lemmy. Why did \u2018Orgasmatron\u2019 turn out the way it did then? Pete (who did not laugh at the mention of tattooed rodents – a private fetish revealed?) tells me, \u201cWe\u2019ve played the song for some time but didn\u2019t know how it would develop. It turned out that way because a lot of ideas came when we were recording it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Okay, what about \u2018Mean Machine\u2019? Is that one deep and meaningful? \u201cYeah, it\u2019s about Mot\u00f6rhead powering down the highway,\u201d says Lemmy, still recovering from the hamster session. \u201cMost of my songs are simple because I\u2019m a simple chap.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018Deaf Forever\u2019 seems pretty much on the same lines as \u2018Orgasmatron\u2019? \u201cSort of,\u201d Lemmy explains. \u201cIt\u2019s about all the war heroics for fuck all. No dead are remembered past the given period of mourning.\u201d<\/p>\n

What is your \u2018Claw\u2019 Lemmy and what do you use it for? \u201cHa! It\u2019s about snatching peoples\u2019 girlfriends!\u201d he reveals. \u201cIt\u2019s very ambiguous too. Seems like the claw is a big four fingered dick. Be handy though wouldn\u2019t it? You could get four at the same time. Stand close together girls and Uuunnnngh!! (this is bloody disgusting!)\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018Doctor Rock\u2019? \u201cYou\u2019ve heard of tree surgeons? Here\u2019s W\u00fcrzel\u2019s sexy black socks!!\u201d says Lemmy bending down to sniff the offensive articles and emitting a monstrous fart in the process (which he virtually ordered me to include in the interview). The beans have had their revenge!<\/p>\n

What about \u2018Built For Speed\u2019 Phil? \u201cI don\u2019t know what any of these songs are about!\u201d admits the only person in the room unaffected by Lemmy\u2019s flatulent outburst. Praise be for congested nostrils. Lem answers \u201cIt\u2019s just another one of my songs about fucking!!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018Ridin\u2019 With The Driver\u2019 must have a story to tell? \u201cChoo! Choo!!\u201d shouts W\u00fcrzel. \u201cThat\u2019s mine. We\u2019d just been to Europe and were coming back on the train to London. I went up the front and the driver let me drive the train back. I was ecstatic. because ever since I was small I\u2019d wanted to be an engine driver.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the mention of trains, Phil is dispatched to fetch a print of the album cover for my critical perusal. I suggest a cow guard would look nifty between the bass drums. \u201cWho have you been talking to??\u201d demands Pete. So we could see a big chuffa train onstage then? \u201cNo,\u201d discounts Lemmy. \u201cWe\u2019re having all the audience dressed as passengers!\u201d \u201cAnd all the roadcrew will be dressed in British Rail porters uniforms!\u201d jokes Pete. \u201cWe may even be half an hour late onstage!\u201d W\u00fcrzel points out.<\/p>\n

Trains and GWR kinda go together too, so I question them on their new record company. How did it start? Is it any good? \u201cIt\u2019s very good,\u201d praises Lemmy. \u201cIt\u2019s only upstairs, so we don\u2019t have to go very far to complain! No, they\u2019ve got us, Girlschool and… er, Thor (much tittering). It was formed by our management and has nothing to do with Bronze.\u201d<\/p>\n

Talking of the bad old days, what really happened with the Ultimate Rock Magazine\u2019s (Kerrang!) gig at Great Yarmouth? \u201cFuckin\u2019 terrible that was!\u201d moans Pete. \u201cThe organisation was fuckin\u2019 useless! We flew back from the States especially as well. Small hall for a start, which turned out to be a good thing coz no fucker turned up!! The generators for our equipment broke down halfway through our set, so we had a nice 15 minute break.\u201d \u201cHe got on his drumstool, dropped his shorts and did a dance with his arsehole to fill the gap!\u201d Phil accuses Pete. \u201cYeah, and I was singing \u2018Ten Green Bottles\u2019!!\u201d remembers Lemmy. Pete provides additional information. \u201cOnly 600 odd turned up, which was crazy for some of the good bands on – Waysted and Grand Slam.\u201d Lemmy has obviously learnt his lesson. \u201cYou don\u2019t hold a rock festival in a deserted holiday camp in Norfolk on a wet weekend. That is the lesson we learned. It was fuckin\u2019 hopeless!\u201d \u201cHard graft as well – \u00a330 for three days,\u201d mutters Phil.<\/p>\n

Do you find it difficult explaining why it isn\u2019t financially feasible to play everywhere to fans? Scotland? Wales? \u201cWe play Scotland everytime!\u201d Pete retorts.<\/p>\n

Lemmy is eager to clarify the situation to the UK fans: \u201cYou can\u2019t just visit every fuckin\u2019 village, so we do the largest cities serving that area. The people in Scotland always bitch that we do Edinburgh, Glasgow and maybe Aberdeen but not Oban!! What the fuck can you do??!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe once toured with Saxon and did 54 fuckin\u2019 dates! And then we jumped off a diving board into a wet sponge! But there\u2019s nothing in the north of Wales. I know coz that\u2019s where I come from. Just naked erotic dancing clubs, with that rhythmic jungle beat that incites our children to fuck like rabbits!!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHalf of America though is in the Middle Ages with these cunts putting stickers on records about the Devil and shit like that!\u201d Is Orgasmatron<\/em> going to get one? \u201cI sure hope so!\u201d wishes Lemmy.<\/p>\n

I noticed Judas Priest went out of their way to avoid the dreaded stickers. Would you ever be influenced as to your writing style? \u201cI don\u2019t write consciously to upset anyone,\u201d he pleads before making clear that \u201cI wouldn\u2019t go out of my way to avoid it either.\u201d<\/p>\n

How do you come up with your warped ideas? \u201cI just write,\u201d Lem beams truthfully. \u201cI don\u2019t write about the Devil though. I don\u2019t give a fuck about him.\u201d \u201cYeah,\u201d butts in Pete. \u201cWhat he has done for us, ay?\u201d W\u00fcrzel\u2019s face crinkles up into thoughtfulness. \u201cHe came to one of our gigs though but the bastard didn\u2019t pay!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re very quiet aren\u2019t you?\u201d says Lem turning the tables on me. Well, yeah. It\u2019s so I can let you lot rabbit on and hopefully get you to say lots of things you\u2019ll regret when this goes to print. \u201cOh no!\u201d gasps Lem feigning horror. \u201cWe\u2019ve fallen into a trap!!\u201d \u201cBlowfish! Blowfish!!\u201d W\u00fcrzel rounds off.<\/p>\n

\u201cHey,\u201d asks the mainman. \u201cDo you want to hear a bit?\u201d. Er, I\u2019ve got a tape of the album actually. \u201cNo, no, no. This is the real thing!!\u201d My mouth has a habit of saying \u201cYes\u201d when my brain is screaming \u201cNo!!\u201d, and it\u2019s just happened. Goodbye cruel world – it\u2019s \u2018Orgasmatron\u2019 live in an enclosed space.<\/p>\n

You could spend a lifetime in a biological laboratory trying to mutate a human being into a jellyfish with no hint of success. Mot\u00f6rhead can do it in just under three minutes. (Wobble, wobble) \u201cBlowfish!!\u201d<\/p>\n

Interview taken from Metal Forces, Issue 19 (1986)<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MOT\u00d6RHEAD – Deaf Metal Garry Sharpe-Young Metal Forces, Issue 19 (1986) Mot\u00f6rhead (l-r): Phil Campbell, Lemmy, Pete Gill and W\u00fcrzel Mot\u00f6rhead are the first band I ever headbanged to. Flea and I did the old \u2018nodding-dog\u2019 act for the duration and, despite the terminal tinnitus that struck with a vengeance immediately after vacating the venue, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23,10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-298","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-features","category-motorhead"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/298","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=298"}],"version-history":[{"count":50,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/298\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5861,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/298\/revisions\/5861"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=298"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=298"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=298"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}