PunkNews.org recently conducted an interview with MOTÖRHEAD mainman Ian “Lemmy” Kilmister. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.
PunkNews.org: MOTÖRHEAD has a very unique, identifiable sound. They’ve never released, say, a rock opera or techno album. Why?
Lemmy: Well, ’cause if you have a good sound, why fuck with it? I always thought that we sounded good. We’ve done some experimental pieces. “1916” is experimental. We did that track with Ozzy [Osbourne]. Mostly rock and roll is what I wanted to do, so I did it. It’s what I want to do, so I still play. We’ll always do what we want to do. I don’t give a fuck about what other people think we should do.
PunkNews.org: You’re known as a great lover of women, but you’re also known as a great lover of women in rock music. You’ve been very vocal of your support of Joan Jett, Skin of SKUNK ANANSIE, and many others. In punk rock, it seems there is a disconnect between appreciating a woman’s talents and appreciating her attractiveness. Can one appreciate a female musician’s attractiveness without objectifying her?
Lemmy: Well, why the fuck can’t you do it? Is that impossible? There are certainly people who have an axe to grind. Someone might be bitching about it, but I don’t care. I never objectified women. I’ve always been honest. I treat people as I expect to be treated. Women, they’re the same as me with tits. If they want to be crazy, well, that’s all right, because I’m a little crazy myself, sometimes. If they want to play rock music, that’s great, because I like to play rock music, too. You should treat people the way you like to be treated. If it’s good art, then it’s good art. Shit, I like women.
PunkNews.org: Certainly, you’re a rock legend by now, but, unlike some other rock legends, you seem to be portrayed as a very human person, unlike, say, Kurt Cobain or Janis Joplin. Why do you think people think of you as a person as opposed to an ideal?
Lemmy: People approach me all the time, but I don’t always get noticed. It’s ’cause when I go out, I don’t have two bodyguards with me. I just go out by myself. People that go out with bodyguards baffle me. No one would notice them without them. It’s really an attention thing, isn’t it? It’s a ploy to get noticed. I’ve never had a problem with it.
Read the entire interview from PunkNews.org.