MOTÖRHEAD's LEMMY: 'I'm Not Interested In Being A Legend'

David Necro of Crypt Magazine recently conducted an interview with MOTÖRHEAD legend Lemmy Kilmister. A few excerpts from the chat follow below.

Crypt Magazine: How do you keep that going for so long?

Lemmy: Well, you don't give up. That's the easiest way. Why would you give up a job like this?

Crypt Magazine: I dunno. What are the perks?

Lemmy: Well, you get to travel all over the world to places people only dream of. Fuck women of all shapes, sizes, colors, and religious creeds. And make people happier than they ever knew. I can't think of a better gig than that.

Crypt Magazine: So, how are you gonna keep it goin'?

Lemmy: Well, you know how to do it now. So, you just do it, you know? I've never imagined giving it up. Until I can't physically do it.

Crypt Magazine: Do you have anything planned for your 35th anniversary?

Lemmy: Oh no. Fuck no. I hate that shit. Anniversaries are a real pain in the neck. The last one we did was at the Cafe Royale in London I think. It was fucking awful. And then the band that was playing there wouldn't let us use their instruments, so we couldn't play a couple of songs. It's great, isn't it?

Crypt Magazine: In your songwriting, how do you continually come up with ideas?

Lemmy: I mostly write about injustice, war, and sex. There's no shortage of that, you know?

Crypt Magazine: This is true.

Lemmy: There's always a song here (points to his head.) You can't sing about the same thing forever, you know because people don't wanna hear about that, right? Sex and death,basically.

Crypt Magazine: That's what I'm into!

Lemmy: Sex is desirable, and death is unavoidable, right?

Crypt Magazine: What do you think of Obama?

Lemmy: I think Obama is in a very difficult place. Because he's getting stooped every fucking time he turns around, right? Because you kept Republicans in the government; that was a mistake obviously.He should have had Dick Cheney as his running mate; I'm sure that would have been more popular than Joe Biden. Sarah Palin, she's the one that impresses me. Jesus Christ, cookoo. What's the point of even talking to the woman, she's like nuts.

Crypt Magazine: She's a "damage case?"

Lemmy: The fucking woman's a flake.

Crypt Magazine: You always had a problem with record labels. You've been bouncing from one to another for 35 years.

Lemmy: Well, we've been with the same one for 15 years now. But, they just went bankrupt!

Crypt Magazine: Is that the way the music business is?

Lemmy: Well, you know, they keep talkin' about this recession. It's bullshit. There is no recession. But, they're just talking about it to frighten Americans again. That's basically what it is. If there's a recession, how come ticket sales went up?

Crypt Magazine: That's right. People call you a living legend. Is that something you like or dislike?

Lemmy: I just think it's funny. I mean, the trouble with legends is they're dead. To call somebody a legend, you need to listen to their new stuff, you know. I'm not interested in being a fucking legend. I want to be around to be competitive, you know. I don't want to get stuck with this legend bullshit.

Crypt Magazine: With women rockers, you've always championed them. Like GIRLSCHOOL, L7, JOAN JETT...

Lemmy: CHELSEA GIRLS. They go through a lot of shit, just 'cause they're chicks. It ain't right. GIRLSCHOOL, when they started out, guys would say about Kelly Johnson (original lead guitarist) "she's really good for a girl." I'd say, "she's better than you motherfucker!" Because she was a great guitar player. She's dead now, you know that.

Crypt Magazine: Yes, of course. Unfortunately.

Lemmy: She took a long time to die too. It was really bad, cancer of the spine. But, all of these (female) bands, people treat them like second-class citizens, because they're chicks. There's all this "show us your tits, and we'll give you a gig." And all of that shit. It's really like, poor.

Crypt Magazine: Have you pinned down what the essence of rock 'n' roll is?

Lemmy: Personally, it's about having fun. That's exactly why it started for. People couldn't wait to play it, and they couldn't resist playing it. You got a huge audience, and people saw that there was money to be made, so these assholes creep in now. All big tours look like they were put on for the security firm. Just have certain people backstage, you know. We don't tour like that. It's bullshit. You go backstage and it's empty. It's just security guys looming and watching for your pass. That's all there is.

Crypt Magazine: Well, it's kind of a drag, the music business?

Lemmy: No, the touring. Everything's gotta be safe. I'll tell you something; life's not safe, you're not safe, you can't be safe. Every time you leave the house you're not safe. Every time you go into the store, you're not safe. Every time you look out the window...who knows, a sniper. Plenty of people with guns out here. Reach you from two miles away. Telescopic sight, bingo. Scratch one more.

Crypt Magazine: Are you for gun control?

Lemmy: Yeah, I'm for taking guns off of people. Because, you know, they got 25 of them buried further than what they stick on the rack. There's a lot of fucking people out there supplying guns with no license at all. When we were first over here with the four-piece band, Wurzel was in the army, you know. And we was in the pawn shop, and we were looking at the gun display. This guy said, "Are you interested in anything?" Wurzel said, "I'm a British citizen, I can't buy them." The guy said, "Come 'round to the store at 7 o'clock after we close."

Read the entire interview from Crypt Magazine.