Lemmy is "Getting Back There"

MOTÖRHEAD's LEMMY On His Health: 'I'm Getting Back There'

In a brand new interview with VH1.com, MOTÖRHEAD frontman Lemmy Kilmister spoke about his health more than a year after he suffered a haematoma (where blood collects outside of a blood vessel), causing the cancelation of a number of the band's European festival shows. Lemmy was also reporetedly fitted with a defibrillator because of heart problems.

"I'm getting back there," Lemmy told VH1.com. "We've just done two tours. It doesn't really matter what you do, it's how you do it and how you feel. I gave up smoking more or less. I have one now and again but that's about it. And I more or less gave up drinking or I switched to vodka instead of Jack Daniels, which is better for you apparently. If you're going to drink, that's the least harmful."

Asked what the worst injury was that he ever suffered on tour, Lemmy said: "Well, let's see. I once fell through a hole in the stage. I used to wear a bullet belt, right? It was chrome, you know, and I crushed two of the fucking bullets flat with my hip bone. That was an interesting half hour. Once we got on stage, by, like, the third song, I couldn't move at all from the waist down. But, you know, you have to go on 'cause there's three to four thousand people who have paid good money. You can't leave them just lying there, if you can help it. Any time we've ever canceled anything, it was because we couldn't actually physically do it."

Lemmy, who turned 68 years old in December, told Classic Rock he didn't expect to still be here at 30,

"I don't do regrets," he said. "Regrets are pointless. It's too late for regrets. You've already done it, haven't you? You've lived your life. No point wishing you could change it.

"There are a couple of things I might have done differently, but nothing major; nothing that would have made that much of a difference.

"I'm pretty happy with the way things have turned out. I like to think I've brought a lot of joy to a lot of people all over the world. I'm true to myself and I'm straight with people."

Asked if his illness last year has made him more aware of his own mortality, Lemmy said: "Death is an inevitability, isn't it? You become more aware of that when you get to my age. I don't worry about it. I'm ready for it. When I go, I want to go doing what I do best. If I died tomorrow, I couldn't complain. It's been good."

Source: vh1.com

Before Rock 'n' Roll ?

INTERVIEW: Motörhead’s Lemmy Recalls Life Before Rock N’ Roll On Eve Of Concert Cruise

September 19th, 2014 | 8:00 am



The idea is almost too perfect to be true; rock n’ roll brigand Lemmy Kilmisterof Motörhead and a rogues gallery of hard rock heavies take to the high seas for a four-day high-decibal concert cruise dubbed Motörhead’s Motörboat. Embarking from Miami, Fl. this Monday and making its way to Cozumel, Mexico, the floating fiesta grande will feature performances from Motörhead, Anthrax, and Down among others and promises to bring chaos to the Caribbean, the likes of which hasn’t been seen since Blackbeard flew the Jolly Roger. On the eve of his departure, the consummate hard rock outlaw was kind enough to take our call and talk to us about a lifetime of rock n’ roll memories, and some that even precede rock n’ roll itself.

Lemmy does not suffer fools or foolish questions. Ask him about something he is interested in, say music or history, and he is elequent and insightful. Ask him something stupid and he will quickly put you in your place. Though he has played some of the most intense music of the past 40 years and has recently suffered health setbacks from a lifetime of hard living, he shows no signs of stopping. His influence may exceed his record sales but he has finally been given his due by the legions of artists he has influenced and the fans of his music and the genres he has forever changed.

VH1: Can you remember what the world was like before rock n’ roll existed?

LEMMY: Yeah, I can. It was miserable. It was terrible, you know. It was all novelty records who got to the tip top. Things like “How much is that f***king doggie in the window?” It was really awful. Things with stupid names and I don’t know. I don’t know how to describe it to you. It was even worse in England then it was here.

What was the first rock n’ roll record you heard? It must have been hard to get things in the UK.

Well, it all happened here and the radio wouldn’t play it in England. The TV wouldn’t put it on for ages. The first one I heard was English rock n’ roll. It was Tommy Steele. He was being pushed as a big star but he wasn’t really rock n’ roll, you know. Probably Bill Haley before him. But you knew he wasn’t really the one cause he was fat and he had a kiss curl on his forehead. (laughter) So we knew that wasn’t really it and then Elvis came along and that was it. He’s still a tremendous influence.

I remember my father saying the first rock n’ roll music he heard was (Haley’s) “Rock Around The Clock” in the movie Blackboard Jungle and how electric it sounded.

Yeah, it did sound like that. It was sort of a rhythm that made you forget your problems and jump about to it. I don’t know, I didn’t have many problems really, I was 12.(laughter) But it really made a big impact and all the authorities were terrified of it because they had a grip on the people and rock n’ roll threatened to loosen that grip. Rock n’ roll made you think “What the f***do I have to do this for?” and demand an answer. It was funny how that happened but it did, ‘cause the songs were about nothing really but people would try and stop you from listening to it all the time. My parents did.


Motorhead’s current lineup: (L – R) drummer Mikkey Dee, guitarist Phil “Wizzö” Campbell and Lemmy on bass and lead vocals.





Motorhead’s classic ’70s lineup with drummer “Philthy Animal” Taylor Taylor (L) and guitarist “Fast” Eddie Clarke.

What are some of the misconceptions people have about the history of rock n’ roll?

Well they always think of it as hoodlums and, like, juvenile delinquents. You must have seen those old clips of like what teenagers should be wearing. No makeup, frumpy old skirts. It was really bad news. So we wanted our own stuff. We wanted to dress like we wanted to. They were always trying to change you. They were always trying to make you be like them, basically, and we said “F*** you.” (laughter) Not directly but through our actions. And it was like punk, it was all gone in two years. Elvis was in the army. Chuck Berry was in jail. Little Richard became a minister…

That must have been a good church, Little Richard’s church.

He used to show up in a yellow Cadillac at the seminary. (laughter)

There was a huge blues fan base in England as well.

Oh, I listened to a lot of the blues. I love the blues. You know, Slim Harpo, people like that and Sonny Boy Williamson.

A lot of those blues guys were coming over to England to tour in the early 1960s, right?

Yeah they were. There’s a lot more to it than just the stars. You know, Elvis never came to Britain but Eddie Cochran died in Britain. Buddy Holly came to Britain once.

Did you see him?

Apparently I did but I don’t remember. My father took me which was a bit of a killer.(laughter)

How’s your health? How are you feeling these days?

Alright. I’m getting back there. We’ve just done two tours. It doesn’t really matter what you do, it’s how you do it and how you feel. I gave up smoking more or less. I have one now and again but that’s about it. And I more or less gave up drinking or I switched to vodka instead of Jack Daniels, which is better for you apparently. If you’re going to drink, that’s the least harmful.

Are you surprised that you’re healthier then Dave Mustaine (who cancelled Megadeth’s appearance on the Motörboat cruise due to “complications arising from a cervical spine surgery”)?

Well, I don’t know if I’m healthier than him. He says he’s wrecked his neck. I don’t know about that though. That wouldn’t keep me from doing a tour, you know. (laughter)

What’s the worst injury you ever suffered on tour?

Well, let’s see. I once fell through a hole in the stage. I used to wear a bullet belt, right? It was chrome, you know, and I crushed two of the f***king bullets flat with my hip bone. That was an interesting half hour. Once we got on stage by like the third song I couldn’t move at all from the waist down. But you know, you have to go on ‘cause there’s three to four thousand people who have paid good money. You can’t leave them just lying there if you can help it. Any time we’ve ever canceled anything it was because we couldn’t actually physically do it.


Motorhead circa 1985, which introduced dual guitarists Wizzo and Würzel.



Besides his work with Motorhead, Lemmy has helped pen hit songs for Ozzy Osbourne and Lita Ford.

What are you going to be packing for the Motörhead’s Motörboat cruise?

Clothes. What would you pack for it? That’s a dumb question. Maybe an inflatable life jacket.

Who are you looking forward to seeing?

Well, we always liked Anthrax, you know. They’ve been on tour with us several times. So I like them. And I’d like to see Down. Our old friend Danko Jones, you know. He’s been on tour with us about four times.


Lemmy (far right) with early ’70s space rock pioneers Hawkwind.

There’s been a resurgence of interest in your old band Hawkwind over the past few years, especially in America where they were largely unknown.

Well, when Hawkwind first came over, we started off with a big push and it was going very well. Then they made the terrible mistake of firing me ‘cause I was the driver. I drove that f***ing band. And when they hired the replacement they really hired the wrong guy. This guy would put his foot up on the drum riser and do a bass solo, you know, like a jazz bass solo. So it was not what people were looking for.

As an Englishman what do you think of the Scottish push for independence?

Well it’s up to them, you know, but I think it’s a mistake. ‘Cause I don’t think they’re ready for it really as far as industry. And then, they’ll have to import everything from England and export stuff to England. So I don’t see what the point is.

Do you have any regrets about leaving England and moving to Los Angeles?

No. The music business operates out of Los Angeles, you know, that’s it. Even if you live in New York, you’re fooling yourself. You got to be out here. And it was time for a change anyway because the band it was failing badly in England. We couldn’t get arrested. But you know, coming over here seemed to make us acceptable in Britain again. It’s weird. We’re like a foreign band now. It’s exciting to see us because we don’t live there.

You’ve won Grammys and written hit songs, and explored rockabilly with The Head Cat. Is there anything you haven’t done musically that you’d like to?

No, I’m pretty well off. All my dreams came true. There’s not many people that can say that. I mean most people have to work in a job they hate all their lives and I can’t imagine that. It must be fucking awful. I’m really grateful for the chances we got and the chances we took.

What do people get wrong about the Motörhead story?

I don’t know really. You get various permutations of it. The main thing is that people think we’re fucking idiots, you know, morons, dummies in leather jackets. And they keep referring to my leather trousers which I’ve never worn in my life. I don’t get how they can get things like that wrong and still have a job.


The Lord High Bishop of Hard Rock, Ian “Lemmy” Kilmister.




Source: vh1.com

Slash Creates Another Blaze...

...of Old-School Rock 'n' Roll Glory!



(AP Photo/ Roadrunner Records)



Recently, KISS main mouth Gene Simmons made waves when he declared to Esquire that rock 'n' roll is officially dead. But World on Fire, the latest album by rock veteran Slash, proves that rock didn't die; it just needed a good kick in the rear.

"I don't like to be critical in a negative way of what other people are doing," Slash tells Yahoo Music the day before a gig in Atlantic City. "I just recognize certain things that turn me on about rock 'n' roll. There's a certain thread that's consistent throughout my favorite bands, and that has become extremely diluted. But I don't pay much attention to other bands. I just like to make music that has a lot of groove and soul and that's loud. We blew a lot of speakers making this record."

That's not surprising. World on Fire is immediate, brash, and bluesy, an extension of the kind of blazing anthems and heartstring-tugging ballads from Slash's second solo album, 2012's Apocalyptic Love. The songs are stealthy, slinky, and spirited, yet filled with melodic bridges and choruses as infectious as Taylor Swift's.

"I don't think there was any conscious effort to do anything different than what we did on Apocalyptic Love," Slash says. "The record really is the natural evolution of this group and also working with a producer [Michael "Elvis" Baskette] who had the desire, passion, and chops to make it sound like we wanted it to sound and how he wanted it to sound. We were exactly on the same page. So I think the sound of this album comes from a combination of things. We have a band that has a real natural chemistry that we developed further because of all the touring we did between the last album and this one. And we found someone who was super-conscious about capturing that energy in the studio the right way."

Quick to downplay his own contributions, Slash credits bassist Todd Kerns and drummer Brent Fitz (who also performed on Apocalyptic Love) for providing the propulsive groove and sexual energy that drive many of the tunes.


"Finding Brent and Todd was a gift from on high," insists Slash. "I asked them to play not knowing them and having never worked with them before. Someone recommended Brent to me and he mentioned Todd so I was like, 'OK, let's try it out.' I really didn't see it coming but we got together and played and I immediately felt, 'F---, these guys are amazing!' They have this innate rock 'n' roll genuineness and ability."

The other key element of Slash's solo band — aside from the guitarist himself — is vocalist Myles Kennedy, who doubles in Alter Bridge. Ever since Slash's fans first heard Kennedy playing with Slash on two tracks from his 2010 self-titled solo album and on subsequent live tours, the guitarist has been bombarded with questions about whether Kennedy will ever fill the vacant vocal slot in Slash's other band, Velvet Revolver, which Scott Weiland (ex-Stone Temple Pilots) was evicted from in 2008. What some people don't know is that Kennedy was already tested for the gig.

"The first time I ever heard about Myles was when we were auditioning singers for Velvet Revolver before Scott came into the band," Slash reveals. "[Drummer] Matt [Sorum] was familiar with him and we contacted Myles to see if he was into it. We sent him some instrumental demos and he never sent the demos back with vocals on them. He later told me he didn't feel that he was in the right place at that time to take on the size of that project, so nothing ever came of it. And then when we talked to him post-Scott, he was knee-deep in Alter Bridge and didn't want to interrupt that."

Slash wrote much of the material for Word on Fire over the last year while touring for Apocalyptic Love. He carries a guitar around with him everywhere he goes and routinely comes up with parts on the bus or in the hotel. He says he records 90 percent of his riffs into his voicemail and returns later to listen to them.

"When you have a stockpile of riffs like that, there's no pressure to sit there and write a record on the spot," he says. "A lot of times I'll come up with an idea and go up and play it with the guys at soundcheck. Some of those ideas get ingrained in your mind. But there's some other ones you might have recorded on your voicemail in passing that all of a sudden present themselves when you listen back at the end of the tour, and those sparks of inspiration give you a whole variety of stuff to flesh out."


When the band finished pre-production, Slash planned to enter the studio with producer Eric Valentine, who worked with Slash on Apocalyptic Love. But Valentine wasn't available, so the band had to find someone else. The only problem was he couldn't think of someone who had the same creative spontaneity and boundless energy to capture the new set of songs the way they needed to be recorded. Then in September 2013, Slash was listening to the radio and heard one of the Alter Bridge tracks Baskette produced.

"I remember thinking how awesome the bass and drums sounded on that and how it had the kind of sonic quality I wanted to attach to what we were doing," Slash says. "So I talked to Myles about it and he said, 'Well, I've been working with Elvis for all the Alter Bridge records, but I don't want to have any influence on this decision. You have to call him yourself.'"

Inspired, Slash scheduled an appointment with Baskette and the two talked about guitar sounds, amplification techniques, and most important, analog recordings. Unlike many rock bands that record directly into soundboards, use amp simulators, and efficiently edit the results with computer software, Slash wanted to work with someone who would directly mic the amplifiers and record on to reel-to-reel tape.

"As it turned out, Elvis was a tape engineer for the whole beginning of his career, and he switched to digital because of the demands of the new groups that are around at this point," Slash says. "So he was jumping at the chance to be able to record old-school. It turned out to be a really great creative marriage."

Considering the now-archaic recording method Slash wanted to use, it's amazing that Baskette and the band were able to record the 17 songs on World of Fire so quickly. They entered NRG studio in Los Angeles to work on the basic tracks in April 2013, and were done by May. The most difficult part of the process for Slash was deciding on the right running order.

"Getting the tracklist together took me two and a half weeks," Slash says. "For me, that's such an essential part of listening to a record. Regardless of the era we're in where a lot of people listen to stuff online and don't listen to a record as a body of work, I still listen to stuff in an old-school way, which is one end of the record to the other. And that, to me, is still important and challenging. Everything else was fun and easy."


Source: music.yahoo.com

Lincoln Steampunk Festival

Hundreds attend Europe's largest steampunk festival in Lincoln

Continue reading the main story

More than 2,000 people are taking part in Europe's largest steampunk event.

The annual Lincoln festival, now in its sixth year, attracts people from around the world wearing pseudo-Victorian costumes.

The event, known as The Asylum, takes over the castle grounds and surrounding historic buildings for three days.

Steampunk has been described as "nostalgia for what never was" and draws on a wide variety of influences from HG Wells to comics.

One of the main themes is to be courteous, with any disputes settled with Tea Duelling - who can keep a dunked biscuit in the tea the longest.

Other events taking place in Lincoln include Whacky Races - Victorian styled go karts - and the Mad Hatters Tea Party - in which people have to drink tea as they are asked to move around a room and introduce themselves to fellow steampunkers.

Participants also hurled "polite" abuse at each other as they met near the city's castle - they then shook hands and asked "how do you do?".

Co-founder of the event Karen Grover explained what steampunk is about.

She said: "It is many things, but if you take the Victorian aesthetic and their technology, then put it into a future setting.

"Within that we have a music scene, lots of people making their own outfits and the gadgets that go with them."

However, she said the main purpose was for people to join in and enjoy it.

"This is an event you can bring your grandmother, or five year old children along to, it's for everyone," she added.

Modern objects are also given a steampunk twist by adding clockwork or steam power.

Source: bbc.com

A $7,300 Steampunk Coffee Maker...

...That Looks Like a Gothic Church!

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While the rest of the high brow coffee world becomes more and more minimal in design, Dutch Lab continues to release ornate slow drip coffee machines, like the Art Nouveau model seen here. DUTCH LAB

As if suffering from a Frappuccino-induced hangover, the high-brow coffee world has become an exercise in minimal design: Blue Bottle Coffee sells its $5-a-pop cups in Apple-inspired retail stores. Some of our favorite new pour-over coffee makers are so pared down they’re nearly invisible. Even the very definition of pour-over and/or cold-brew coffee—an analog technique that uses either piping hot water or a steady cold drip to draw out complex flavors in coffee beans—is really about getting back to basics.

The Gothicism.  Dutch Lab

Source: wired.com

The team at South Korean design studio Dutch Lab, however, is going against the grain by releasing maximalist designs, each one more ornate than the last. Their latest is the Gothicism coffee maker: an intricate laser-cut shrine dedicated to the art of slow-drip cold brew. This thing is a $7,300 temple of laser-cut aluminum panels, brass needle valves, and borosilicate glass tubes that can brew three one-liter pots of cold brew at the same time.

The Dutch Lab line includes pieces inspired by the Eiffel Tower in Paris and Big Ben in London, but Gothicism, for all its spires and rose windows, wasn’t technically modeled off an existing building. Dutch Lab is enamored with the steampunk genre (“It represents the ongoing development of the present era we are all living in,” says Ines Heu of Dutch Lab) and says the coffee maker is a sci-fi nod to the Victorian era’s “Gothic ambiance.”

That said, it’s not steam powered. Because the cold brew process just needs gravity (and a lot of time), Gothicism is totally analog. Espresso aficionados might want to compare it to the Alpha Dominance Steampunk—another coffee-making beast that uses digital controls to achieve a consistently perfect brew—but the brewing experience is likely less suited for a bustling coffee shop than it is a museum.

Check out Gothicism and Dutch Lab’s lavish offerings, here.

Morgan SP1 - A Steampunk Dream

Morgan is getting into the car-personalization business with its new Special Projects Division, unveiling that group's first product at the Salon Prive show currently taking place in London. Called the SP1, it looks like the perfect car for fans of Steampunk.

Morgan's signature anachronistic styling is embellished with BMW i8-like doors and solid alloy wheels. Inspired by the 2009 LifeCar concept, the SP1 features aluminum bodywork hand formed over ash and African Bubinga wood, and a steel chassis.

The interior is even more fantastic, with a highly-stylized mix of wood and aniline leather that would look just as good lining the inside of an airship. There's even a row of roof-mounted toggle switches the driver must flick to "prepare for flight" before starting the engine. It's not all retro cosplay, though. The SP1 is also equipped with an infotainment system built around a dashboard-mounted iPad.

Power is provided by a 3.7-liter Ford V-6 of the type used in the Morgan V6 Roadster. For this bespoke car, it gets a tuned engine-management system and sports exhaust, and there's unique suspension tuning as well.

The SP1 was built for an individual customer and thus won't go into series production, but it shows the capabilities of Morgan's Special Projects Division. The group will likely take on similar projects from buyers who want a car that's literally like nothing else on the road.

Personalization programs are becoming popular now, as carmakers seek to attract wealthier buyers who don't want to get their next car off the rack. Aston Martin recently launched its Q personalization division, while Jaguar Land Rover's Special Operations unit will oversee everything from one-off builds to limited-production models like the F-Type Project 7.

Source: motorauthority.com