MOTÖRHEAD's LEMMY Says Band Is Contemplating Recording Album Of Covers

Jeb Wright of Classic Rock Revisited recently conducted an interview with MOTÖRHEAD mainman Lemmy Kilmister. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

Classic Rock Revisited: There are rumors that the next MOTÖRHEAD album will be all covers.

Lemmy: We did discuss it, but we haven't come to a concrete decision on it. It would be fun to do. The three of us are very different when it comes to music, so it would be a very diverse album. We'd make them all into MOTÖRHEAD songs, anyway. We've done covers before.

Classic Rock Revisited: Do you have any new music?

Lemmy: Not yet. We will just go into the studio a month before we do the next album and just write.

Classic Rock Revisited: Even with different musicians in the band you've retained a MOTÖRHEAD sound. After 30, or 40 years, how do you keep from running out of ideas?

Lemmy: I only play one way, so if we have an idea that is outside of that, then, by the time we are finished with it, it sounds like us. We've done off-the-wall stuff, like "1916", and we did "I Ain't No Nice Guy", and we did some tracks that were absolutely not normal for us, but they sounded good.

Classic Rock Revisited: You have your own Lemmy figurine. I understand that you had to pose for it.

Lemmy: They did an all-around thing with the camera, where they went around my entire body so it would be just like me. The funny thing is that they did a gold one, they did a silver one and they did three different natural ones, with different guitars and they did a black one, as well, which seemed a bit strange to me. My face is black; the guitar is black and everything. It was pretty weird.

Classic Rock Revisited: You have been in videos, movies and TV shows; do you like acting?

Lemmy: It is fucking tedious. You have to be there at five in the morning and you have to hang out with fucking actors all day. Then, at four in the afternoon, they say, "Oh, we don't need you today." That's great. I really need more of that in my life, right?

Classic Rock Revisited: You could pass the time better now. You have MOTÖRHEAD beer, wine and vodka.

Lemmy: Soon we will have bourbon.

Classic Rock Revisited: Do you taste test these products?

Lemmy: Yes. I didn't taste the red wine because I don't like that, but I tasted the rosé, the vodka and the whiskey. Most of this stuff is bought by the fans, so it has to be good. There is a review of the wine with people's name on it. They said SLAYER's wasn't bad, but Gene Simmons' was terrible. You get a lock of Gene's hair with every bottle. That's really what you need, isn't it? I think he needs to be holding on to all of the hair he can.

Classic Rock Revisited: How does the classic band compare to the current band? I think the last few studio albums, in some ways, are better than the classics.

Lemmy: This band is tighter, but I don't know if there is as much feel. We were very sloppy before and now we are not sloppy. Then again, sometimes the old band was tight. Any band I've ever had has been very good at timekeeping; we don't vary, very much. We used to jam in the studio to get song ideas, but on stage it was very to formula.

Classic Rock Revisited: You travel the world and see every walk of life there is. Does the injustice in the world get to you and inspire your lyrics?

Lemmy: There is no shortage of injustice in the world, believe me. Look at this country, the medical monster charges people so much when they are ill that people actually commit suicide because they can't pay any bills. People are homeless because they are sick. What the fuck is that? I think that's really weird, don't you?

Classic Rock Revisited: In all seriousness, if you went to the doctor and he said, "Lemmy, you have ruined your liver. Quit drinking or you will die." Would you quit?

Lemmy: Well, you have to, if something like that happens, don't you? You can stop drinking, smoking or doing drugs if you want to. The trouble is that people stop doing something and they don't really want to stop doing it, so they go back to it.

Classic Rock Revisited: At your age, have you outgrown the speed usage?

Lemmy: You'd be surprised. I don't talk about drugs, you know.

Classic Rock Revisited: People often don't understand how easy a touring musician can get drugs.

Lemmy: It's just good old-fashioned greed. The demand is there, so someone will always be around to fulfill it. There is a demand for child porn on the Internet and there is always some bastard that will do it. If somebody wants dope, then someone will bring it to them because they make money at it. The art crowd does as much dope as we do. I don't see anything wrong with smoking a bit of dope, as it has been proven to be fucking harmless. They are always tossing out the dangers of marijuana on TV, it's ridiculous.

Read the entire interview from Classic Rock Revisited.