Kerrang! – June 28, 2019

’HEAD

OF THE PACK

B

efore I joined Motörhead,

I thought they were

unique,” says guitarist

Phil Campbell on his

first encounter with the

band that changed, and

would become, his life.

“Everything was turned

up, there was all this distortion and there was

nothing subtle about it at all. They came on

to the scene like a juggernaut.”

Louder, faster and more aggressive than any

other band around when they formed in 1975,

for Phil, they were a revelation. He’d actually

met Lemmy some years before, acquiring his

future bandmate’s autograph at a Hawkwind

show at Cardiff’s Capitol Theatre, aged just 12.

Phil had started his own band, Persian Risk, in

1979, but in 1984 the Pontypridd-born guitarist

was asked to join the Motörhead fold, following

the departure of former Thin Lizzy member

Brian Robertson.

“I auditioned at a studio in Shepherd’s Bush

and it was the loudest thing I’d ever been

involved with,” he recalls. “Lem fired up his

bass and I thought, ‘Jesus Christ!’ so I had

to turn my guitar up full. I blustered my way

through about 10 songs, and it was a nerve-

wracking experience. Philthy [‘Animal’ Taylor,

drums] was there, too. They made me feel

at home.”

Within days of joining, the quartet – rounded

out by guitarist Würzel, who joined at the same

time – were invited to play Ace Of Spades on

anarchic sitcom The Young Ones. The show

made household names of the cast – Rik Mayall,

Adrian Edmondson, Nigel Planer, Christopher

Ryan and Alexei Sayle – while the exposure for

the band was undeniable.

“People still tell me that’s how they got into

Motörhead,” laughs Phil. “It was the stuff of

legend and I’ve had people shout ‘Scumbag

College!’ at me a few times.”

Of course, Ace Of Spades never left the set

list, and has since appeared on car ads – in fact,

we’re willing to bet that it can be found on

every single rock compilation that finds its way

on to a service station shelf.

“People would ask Lem if he still enjoyed

playing Ace Of Spades,” says Phil, “and he’d

always say, ‘Yeah, a good song is a good song.

Imagine if your biggest hit was an absolute

stinker and having to play that 300 nights a year

• then you’d be in trouble!’”
  Phil’s first full-length with Motörhead was
  1986’s Orgasmatron, the band’s seventh,
  and he went on to record a further 15 studio
  albums until Lemmy’s passing in late 2015.
  But, in keeping with the band’s no-fucks-given
  DNA and dedication to rock’n’roll, when the
  frontman’s health began to deteriorate, he
  refused to leave the road or stop recording.
  “We knew Lem was ill at the end, but he
  wanted to carry on,” says Phil. “He went out
  the way he wanted to go out: still playing. It
  was still a shock, even though we knew it was
  coming – we didn’t expect it to happen that
  quickly. I was with him
  for 32 years and he
  was my best friend.”
  Following the big
  man’s passing, Phil
  said it was an obvious
  decision for Motörhead
  not to continue. In the
  months that followed,
  Phil questioned what
  he should do next,
  until his children, Todd,
  Dane and Tyla, got him
  to pick up his guitar
  again and jam with
  them. And thus, Phil
  Campbell And The
  Bastard Sons were
  noisily born.
  “My boys are all
  amazing musicians,”
  he says. “Three or
  four months after Lem
  sadly passed away, the
  boys said, ‘Come on,

let’s write some songs, dad,’ and we picked

it up from there. I think it’s a unique situation.

I can’t think of any bands where a dad is playing

in a rock band with his three sons.”

I

nfluential, enduring, and with an attitude

that extends far beyond deadening volume,

this year’s Inspiration Award, then, is rightly

bestowed upon Motörhead. And what does

Phil put their legend and lasting legacy down

to? Doing whatever they fuck they wanted.

“Playing stuff we enjoyed was a big part of

it,” says Phil, proudly. “Make music for yourself.

We didn’t write it for fans or record companies.

We’d go into the rehearsal room and play riffs

that we’d get off on, put them on a record and

hope other people would like them, too. Our

music is accessible; it’s for everyone because

it isn’t incredibly complicated. People could

pick up a guitar and work it out themselves.

And people have said we’ve got them through

good days and bad. It’s a

nice thing to hear.”

Just ask Lars Ulrich

about Motörhead’s

importance. Or Dave

Grohl. Or Corey Taylor.

Or any band who has

ever played music loud –

they’re all indebted to the

‘Head, and to Lemmy.

“He left his mark,”

beams Phil. “He was a

true outlaw. He lived by

his own rules, and people

admired him for that.

Sometimes they wouldn’t

agree with him, but he

spoke his mind, played his

music at the volume he

wanted to play it, and I’ll

always be proud of what

we managed to achieve.”

Motörhead, then: still

louder than everything

else. Forever and ever.

THE WINNER SPEAKS...

PHIL CAMPBELL:“It’s great – I just

wish everyone from the band were here.

Motörhead were unique, and we had an

incredible journey. We went through good

times and bad times, but the most important

thing is that people still love the music. When

they played some of our stuff during the

ceremony I thought, ‘Yeah, we were pretty

damn good!’ And it doesn’t get much better

than sharing a table with Jimmy Page and

Scott Gorham.”

MOTöRHEAD

THE AWARDS

Inspiration award

KERRANG! 41

WORDS:

Simon Young

PHOTOS:

Tom Barnes, PAUL HARRIES

In the realm of raw, rebellious rock’n’roll, MOTÖRHEAD existed in a field of

one – inspiring legions of budding rockers for generations. All hail the kings...

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