LEMMY Is 'Delighted' To Be One Of METALLICA's Influences

MetalInsider.net recently conducted an interview with MOTÖRHEAD frontman and rock icon Lemmy Kilmister. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

MetalInsider.net: What are your thoughts on the music industry these days?

Lemmy: Well, the music industry these days is dying, isn't it? They have no idea what fucking happened to them. They don't know what hit them. They couldn't work with the Internet, so they tried to prosecute it, which is really fucking dumb. And it seems that they keep fucking up. Every turn they make is the wrong turn. Soon they're going to be out of business in ten years. And it's all because of the Internet.

MetalInsider.net: Do you think it was was easier for up and coming bands to promote themselves back when MOTÖRHEAD first started out, or is it easier now?

Lemmy: It's the same. It's always been the same. There's always people robbing bands. Agents rob you. Managers rob you a lot of the time. We've got a good one now, but we've had a lot of bad ones. The fucking promoters rob you. They tell you that "it hasn't sold out," and you can see that it is. But what are you going to say? They've got all their guys with them, and there's only five of you.

MetalInsider.net: It's just been announced that MOTÖRHEAD will be playing a few dates with the FOO FIGHTERS. You and Dave Grohl have been long time friends and admirers of each other, but how did a tour with both bands finally come to fruition?

Lemmy: Well, the FOO FIGHTERS/Dave asked us to do the shows. So we said "yeah!" I'm hoping there be some sort of collaboration because I really like playing with Dave. He's like me, he's fast and he's good, and that's always fun. I hate these people that take three hours to do a fucking solo, let alone three weeks sometimes.

MetalInsider.net: After all these years, do you still get a kick when well known and popular musicians, like Dave Grohl and even METALLICA, cite you and MOTÖRHEAD as a major influence on them?

Lemmy: Well, METALLICA's starting to feel the old age bite now, aren't they? (laughing) They've been around a long time now. I mean, you can't top METALLICA. They're really a fucking excellent band. I'm delighted that they said that I was one of their influences. Like, they have all of their influences, and you can't hear the influences in them, which is great. They've become their own people, and that's great. I like them a lot. I've spent a lot of time with those boys. There's a clip of me jamming with them in Nashville, Tennessee in the ["Lemmy"] movie.

MetalInsider.net: Have you noticed any big differences between touring today and when the band first started out? A lot of bands lately have been finding it harder to tour because of the latest economic problems. Have you found that to be the case?

Lemmy: Ah, that's fucking bullshit. I mean, we've just sold out every place we've played in America, and this isn't the first time. And the recession is reportedly biting everybody's ass, yet all of these 17 year olds have found it possible to come to the shows, right? So I don't know about this recession. I think it's a bunch of bullshit. I think it's an excuse for the businesses to downsize, as they say, and fire all of the people that they didn't like (laughs). And I think the banks are really, really bad people, man! The banks are getting away with it. Nobody gets put in jail. The government bails them out. Then they say "sorry" and start doing the same thing again. It's fucking disgraceful.

Read the entire interview from MetalInsider.net.