Motorhead Interview

I AM IN LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA TONIGHT AT THE MOTORHEAD/CLUTCH/VALIENT THOR SHOW TALKING WITH MIKKEY DEE. TONIGHT IS THE LAST NIGHT OF THE TOUR. HOW DID EVERYTHING GO?
Thank God for that now. It’s been a long tour. It’s called a winter tour really because we have been up north and in the Midwest. It’s quite hard touring. You never know when you are going to run into a blizzard, the snow and cold. The tour has been fantastic really. It sold out everywhere.

SO CAN I SAY THAT YOU ARE HAPPY THAT THE TOUR IS OVER?
Well I need some rest. My body needs some rest. I’m not happy it’s over, but it’s probably quite good. It’s not really over; it’s only over on this continent. We almost go straight to Australia and then straight to South America.

HAS THE ECONOMY AFFECTED THE TOUR ANY?
No, not at all, it’s been the opposite. We have seen sold out venues everywhere.

DID ANYTHING UNUSUAL HAPPEN ON THE TOUR THAT YOU’D LIKE TO TALK ABOUT? DO YOU HAVE ANY FUN STORIES?
There’s a lot of fun stuff, but that is the hardest question you can ask really. I can’t say there was anything unusual. Everything has rolled the way it should. We’ve been okay with the weather actually, but it is tough touring. Canada is hard this time of year.

IN A COUPLE WEEKS YOU WILL BE LEAVING FOR AUSTRALIA. I’VE BEEN TOLD THAT THE SHOWS THERE ARE CRAZY. THE FANS THERE ARE WILD ABOUT MUSIC. IS PLAYING IN AUSTRALIA A LOT DIFFERENT THAN PLAYING IN THE STATES?
No I don’t think it is, I mean, it’s a different continent. If they go really nuts, it’s more like South America. They are more hot-headed down there somehow. There you can feel a difference, but other than that no it’s about the same.

YOU HAVE BEEN ALL OVER THE WORLD. WHERE DO YOU ENJOY GOING MOST?
Everywhere really, I mean, now we have finished the U.S. I’m looking forward to doing another continent, but if we did Europe for two months I’d just want to get the hell out of there. The grass is always greener on the other side.

YOUR LATEST ALBUM THE WORLD IS YOURS CELEBRATES YOUR 35TH YEAR AS A BADASS ROCK N ROLL BAND. WHAT DO YOU PERSONALLY THINK IS THE SECRET TO LONGEVITY IN THIS INDUSTRY, ESPECIALLY WITH THE WAY IT IS NOW?
That question is huge really. What do you want to compare it with?

IT’S REALLY TOUGH RIGHT NOW, ESPECIALLY FOR THOSE BANDS JUST STARTING OUT.
Well both yes and no. It’s an amazing opportunity for bands starting up today. Oh fuck yeah! With the internet and the way that you can spread the word, it’s unbelievable. There is a big advantage there. Some parts are worse and some are much better. The sad part is that a lot of bands starting out don’t really believe in themselves even if they do that and they seem to sell out a lot quicker. The reason that a lot of bands play is to be successful and rich. That has changed, but that’s not the industries fault. It’s pretty much the bands that get along with it. A lot of younger guys and girls say to me “It’s easy for you to say Mikkey Dee.” I say “Hello! What do you think I’ve done my whole career?” I never sold out and we started to play for the right reasons. I started playing drums when I was five years old. I was never going to be rich or famous. A lot of the fame and fortune part is the bad side of this business. We are not talking about everyone here, there are some incredible new young bands out there that really stand tall and do their thing. The business of course has more influence today than it maybe had twenty or thirty years ago. Some parts are a lot easier and some parts are harder.

IN MY OPINION IT IS HARDER BECAUSE IT IS AN OVERSATURATED FIELD.
In a way it has always been. It’s just that you hear more about it today. That’s the only difference because of the way the world and the cyber world is there is nowhere to hide. Everyone has a camera and everyone can record. I was up jamming in Texas , went out had a couple beers, jammed with some band and before I was even back at the hotel people started calling me saying it was up on Youtube. I mean, that is scary and they were calling from Europe. That is crazy! Therefore you will obviously see everything that is out there, even the shit. In the older days the shit never really made it, (Laughing) but today the shit can make it. At least they are being seen. There was a lot of crap when I was growing up. I played with a bunch of joke bands too, I mean, not played with them, but had friends that were a joke really that I would consider truck drivers, not musicians. There’s nothing wrong with truck drivers, but they could drive a truck better than they could play drums or whatever.

AT FIRST YOU GUYS WERE NOT REALLY INSPIRED TO WRITE THE NEW ALBUM, BUT THEN IT JUST STARTED FLOWING OUT OF YOU. I READ THAT THE ALBUM THE WORLD IS YOURS WAS ONE OF OZZY’S FAVORITE ALBUMS OF 2010. WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THAT?
Well we talked to Ozzy in Japan about it. I really don’t know what he really thinks, but we were yapping about it backstage and he really liked the album obviously. Again I have to go back to a boring answer and it may sound obnoxious in a way. A big part of why we are where we are is because that stuff doesn’t really affect us. It has a positive affect, yes, it’s a bonus. When we are sitting around writing a record, we don’t think about anyone or anything. The day we do that I think it’s over.

YOU GUYS ARE REALLY SPONTANEOUS WHEN IT COMES TO WRITING RECORDS. DO YOU FEEL THAT MAKES FOR A BETTER RECORD?
I’VE HEARD TIME AND TIME AGAIN FROM BANDS THAT THEIR HITS WERE LAST MINUTE SONGS.
Yeah, well it is so easy to over analyze your stuff in the studio. There are some morons out there that would never give up a fucking song. They keep going over it, demoing it, they work it, they go back and they are never ready. My view on that is that it doesn’t matter if you work that song until it is absolutely perfect, you are still going to want to change it two weeks from today. To save yourself a lot of time, take that into consideration while you are writing it. You might as well skip all these weeks and months because when the album comes out there will be a million things you would have done different. There is no way that you can do it, so write spontaneously. Whatever comes out is more true to what you are really all about. I can go back and think about every single Motorhead album and remember the vibe and the feel around the whole thing. A lot of other records I can't.

WHAT INSPIRED YOUR "ON THE ROAD" BLOG?
It’s a cool little thing I thought. Some friends of mine in Sweden actually invented this particular way of doing it. I figured it would be cool and nice to give the fans some little insights of places that they don’t get to hang out. I blogged from Conan and Jimmy Fallon and it was great!

I NOTICED THAT DRUMMERS LIKE SHAWN DROVER (MEGADETH) AND CHRIS ADLER (LAMB OF GOD) ARE DOING DRUM CLINICS. IS THAT SOMETHING YOU WOULD EVER CONSIDER DOING?
I’ve been asked for twenty-five years to do it. The only problem is that I don’t have time to do it. If I’m going to do it, it has to be special and it has to be really good. That means that I have to have time off to put this piece together. We don’t have any time off. It’s the same with a solo record. I’m not just going to throw out a solo album just to have one. The day I do one, it has to be a really proper record. If I had a lot of time off and wasn’t touring for six to eight months then sure I’d be out doing something else.

SOME ARE WRITING BOOKS TOO YOU KNOW.
Yeah, there you go. (Laughing) I don’t think I’ll be writing something. It’s all in how much we have to do. The moments that I do have off, I don’t want to see my drums. I have to re-charge.

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT VIDEO GAMES SUCH AS GUITAR HERO INCORPORATING MORE METAL SONGS INTO THE MIX? DO YOU THINK IT HAS HELPED BRING METAL MORE INTO THE FOREFRONT?
Yeah probably, but Guitar Hero stuff has kind of mellowed out a little bit. You don’t hear much about it anymore to tell you the truth. If they bring in more metal, then that’s cool. The wider the choice you have, the better it is I’d say.

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE INTERVIEW. I REALLY APPRECIATE IT.
Cool, thank you very much.

Read More News

Tags:  Motorhead, Mikkey Dee , Mikkey Dee - drums, interviews

Shauna O'Donnell    March 10, 2011