English translation from the Swedish Magazine OKEJ.
Exclusive OKEJ interview with MOTÖRHEAD'S
- Samantha Fox is one of my main interests!!!
IAN KILMISTER, more known as LEMMY, is undoubtedly Motorhead's leading figure. In all weathers he have kept the band together, no matter how dark it may have seemed. There was a period when Motörhead didn't even exist, but LEMMY succeeded to hold the interest for the group alive through to walk around London's clubs and ensure that he ended up on the pages of magazines and newspapers.
"We have always been good at getting photographed in all sorts of possible and impossible contexts," laughs Lemmy on a phone line from London.
- Have you seen the one where I'm standing with Samantha Fox? Not all forty-year-old rock musicians get to be in a picture with her, you know.
Samantha Fox is one of Lemmy's main interests. In his house back in London, he has an entire wall covered in pictures of the beautiful lady, whom he also knows personally.
I think it's great that she's made it as a rock artist and above all that she can really sing. It's a slap in the face to all those who have tried to say that she's just a dumb blonde, says Lemmy. Samantha Fox isn't ashamed to be know Lemmy either. I like him, he's a really fun guy, but I can't with his music, she has said.
Lemmy's world is filled with a lot of "them", an indeterminate something that he finds himself forced to wage a continuous battle against.
"It feels good now that things are starting to go well for "Orgasmatron," says Lemmy.
It's great to repay all those who doubted us and thought Motörhead was over. "Orgasmatron" is Motörhead's new LP that was released a short time ago. Judging by the sales (21st place on the UK charts after just over a week) it was a much-anticipated album. It has taken Motörhead three long years to release the album.
"It wasn't really our fault that it took so long," Lemmy comments.
You know we had to fight with our old record label so most of the time has been spent trying to resolve contract disputes.
Another reason for the delay is Lemmy himself. Once the album had been recorded and mixed by producer Bill Laswell, it would be played to the band for approval.
But Lemmy was very unhappy with the mixing.
"I went to New York and met with Laswell and told him how I wanted it and what I wanted to change," says Motörhead's headstrong bassist.
However, Lemmy doesn't seem to have made any particularly big changes. I heard a demo version of the record, the version that was supposed to be released in London, and the difference from the finished version is very small. However, the difference between old Motörhead records and "Orgasmatron" is big.
"I don't know if I think it's that big of a difference," Lemmy protests.
"Of course, my voice is heard better, I can actually sing," he giggles contentedly.
We have two guitars and they probably do a lot to make it sound more melodic as you say, Lemmy continues thoughtfully.
Although it's hard for me to sit and comment on this album, it's too recent and too current. Ask me again when it's finished climbing the charts and stopped selling so I've gained some distance from it.
One reason why it sounds the way it does on "Orgasmatron" is the producer Bill Laswell who most recently produced Mick Jagger's solo album and also works in musicology (!). Motörhead has never before worked with an outside producer who has ideas other than those that are generally acceptable in the hard rock genre. It was our new record label, G.W.R., who suggested Laswell and I think it has gone beyond expectations. He has highlighted details that we have not been able to achieve before and created a studio sound that is very reminiscent of how we sound on stage. Although you get to control the volume yourself, Lemmy adds.
"Orgasmatron" has a cover that depicts a speeding locomotive. Not entirely unexpected when you consider that trains are one of Lemmy's great interests. Together with Wurzel, he can sit glued to the TV for hours if there are programs with or about trains. They should be old trains, preferably ones that run on steam. Then they sit and discuss all the advantages and disadvantages of the model in an informed manner, as well as how it should actually be constructed if they had been given the choice.
He got his interest in trains from Wurzel. Previously it was airplanes and World War II, but when Wurzel joined Motörhead, Lemmy started liking trains. He still builds a bunch of model airplanes that he hangs from the ceiling in his apartment.
These days I make them a little more carefully, says Lemmy.
Now I paint them and put the degree designations on them, before I just put them together.
Pic and text taken from Defenders of Metal
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