World’s End?
Motörhead show no signs of slowing down… yet. Though, as CHLOE SCANNAPIECO finds out from guitarist Phil Campbell, it hasn’t been the smoothest of rides of late. Could the unstoppable Motörhead machine finally be nearing the end of its innings?
ost 12 year old children spend their time watching cartoons, having sleep-over’s and settling in to secondary school. But at this tender age, Phil Campbell had his sights set high. He was going to see one of his favourite bands, Hawkwind, in Cardiff and he’d be damned if he wasn’t going to meet their 28 year old lead singer and bass guitarist Lemmy Kilmister at the same time. Unbeknownst to him when he set out to the gig that night, Phil wouldn’t just meet Lemmy but he got his autograph too and 12 years later he would join Lemmy’s next major band, Motörhead. “I’ve still got it at home on a programme,” says the cheeky Welshman, laughing at the thought of still having his hero’s autograph. “If somebody said to me that night, ‘you’re going to be in a big band with that guy for 26 years’ I’d have called him stupid! It just goes to show that anything can happen.” Motörhead are currently on the road celebrating 35 years of their grizzled existence. Founder member Lemmy recruited Phil Campbell in 1984 and drummer Mikkey Dee completed the band’s current and most consistent line-up to date when he signed-on in 1992. By this point Motörhead had achieved their commercial peak with their most (in) famous record, 1980’s Ace of Spades, followed by the Number One live album No Sleep ‘til Hammersmith the following summer. Phil and Mikkey arguably have the best of both worlds – they’re able to play to adoring crowds of many thousands and then go to the corner shop the next day to buy a pint of milk, immersed in virtual anonymity compared to their legendary leader. “I feel sorry for Lem a lot of times” Campbell muses. “He’s so recognisable. He can’t really go out anywhere. He can go to casinos most nights but it’s a struggle for him. I’m quite happy with my lot, it’s great.” Such is the fascination with the gruff vocalist and bass- player that film makers Greg Olliver and Wes Orshoski have directed and produced an eponymous rockumentry set for release in early 2011. Lemmy features cameos and footage from the likes of Ozzy Osbourne, Slash and Alice Cooper amongst others. The intention behind the movie is simple – to set the record straight with regards to Lemmy’s lifestyle, laying waste to rumour in a fly-on-the-wall fashion. After being followed about and filmed over the course of three years (even to the toilet) guitarist Campbell is featured in the movie only once – asleep on the tour bus with Family Guy on the TV, much to his annoyance! None of that behind-the-scenes stuff would matter if not for the fabled Motörhead live show. A proper arena Motörhead concert is really something that must be experienced to be believed. A torrent of testosterone pumping through Everest of Marshall amps, deafening percussion and unhealthy growls doused in gravel. Masculinity doesn’t come much denser than this. Or does it? Campbell is open and seemingly unashamed with how in touch he is with his feminine side. “I’ve pole-danced in Portland, Oregon. I rode a horse on stage in a dress Ronnie Dio had given me in San Francisco with a blue wig. Ronnie was a brilliant friend of mine, so I’ll treasure it now.” In a year where the rock and metal world experienced great loss, most notably Dio - as well as other notables, Slipknot bassist Paul Gray, Type O Negative vocalist Peter Steele and former Stereophonics drummer Stuart Cable - Campbell also experienced his own personal loss in 2010. It happened during the recording of Motörhead’s twentieth album The World is Yours, coincidentally in the week Dio also passed away. “My father got ill. I heard he got really bad so I came back immediately; so at least I had the last couple of months with him. I recorded all the guitar parts in Wales. Lem did the vocals and the bass in another studio in LA. In the morning I’d go down to the studio and then come back. In a strange way, I could focus – there’s lots of distractions in LA.” Motörhead’s new record The World is Yours is rough, gritty and absolutely
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unmistakably Motörhead. Recorded during studios sessions in Wales and the USA - the band insist that trying to write on the road is an impossible task due to their penchant of playing scrabble and hitting casinos - they’ve stuck to their usual recording formula with Lemmy writing all of the lyrics himself. “We leave Lem with the lyrics because he’s way better than us! He’s a much underrated lyric-writer. Lem gives us some free hand wherever we want. He gives us our say; it’s a democracy that.” Producer Cameron Webb was chosen to helm the desk for the third time in their extensive career, which illustrates their trust and appreciation for him despite a frosty start to their relationship. Campbell explains, “The first time I worked with him I threw a guitar at him after 30 minutes and left the studio! He was trying to tell me how to play. I said ‘Cameron, look I know what I’m doing; I’ve been with the band 19 years!’ And he was saying ‘No you’ve gotta do this, you’ve gotta do this’. We were at his studio on Venice Beach and after 30 minutes I was like, ‘Tell you what Cameron, here’s the guitar, do it your-bleedin’-self!’ Got in my car and I drove home. Cameron’s got a feel for Motörhead now; he’s a good guy and a good producer.” 20 albums in a 35 year career is more than impressive, but it’s no secret that Motörhead aren’t getting any younger. Phil Campbell even admits that the band will only function for another half decade tops and after their demise he has only one overruling priority. “Get my ears sorted out!”, he cackles. Who could blame him? PM
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