Why I Love... Motörhead by Dez Fafara

LEMMY IS GOD: “Lemmy is the ultimate frontman. An icon. Everyone else in the band is up to par as well, and iconic in their own way. Every time I run into Lemmy he’s a complete gentleman. Every single time! I wore a Motörhead t-shirt for the first three or four years of Devildriver’s existence, and one time we were playing with them and I managed to get all of them to sign it!”

NOBODY DOES IT BETTER

“Every Motörhead song has its own groove, man. Nobody does that particular sound like they do. Everybody else who’s tried is obviously just copying them. I love Lemmy’s voice, too, especially that low, guttural vocal, plus the cadence that he uses rhythmically, when he writes lyrics, is amazing.”

MOTÖRHEAD ARE ROCKERS FOR LIFE

“Lemmy listens to so many kinds of music. One of the most famous quotes I heard from him is when he was asked what kind of music he liked. He just answered, ‘Good music!’ Like him, I grew up listening to 1950s rock’n’roll and I love all that stuff. It’s so great that he has those influences. He loves the Ramones too: when I first heard Motörhead in the 80s, I thought they were a punk rock band until I saw a photo of them.”

THEY ARE POETS… AND THEY KNOW IT

“You can’t beat the lyrics. ‘I am the one, Orgasmatron /The outstretched, grasping hand…’ I mean, oh shit! Then he gets into that second line, ‘My image is of agony / My servants rape the land…’ When Lemmy writes, he’ll use words like ‘obsequious’ and ‘clandestine’ and the songs are so well-written. You can’t fuck with Orgasmatron or Ace Of Spades, know what I mean? But then again, I love Snakebite Love from later in their career as well. I like the new album, Aftershock, too. Y’know, I love everything Motörhead have ever done.”

LEMMY GIVES OFF GOOD VIBRATIONS

“Lemmy is a cool, down-to-earth guy. You’ll run into him at the Rainbow [legendary Hollywood boozer] and he’ll say ‘What’s up? Let’s have a drink!’ He’s humble, but when you’re standing next to him you can feel the vibrations coming off the dude, just from where he’s been and what he’s done and what’s he’s gone through. He’s a family man, too: I remember being backstage with Lemmy and his son and seeing them talking… I thought, ‘Man, that’s awesome!’ because I love hanging out with my three sons, too.”

THEY DO IT ALL FOR LOVE

“These days, everyone knows that anyone who does any kind of underground art –whether it be blues, metal, painting, sculpture, whatever – does it for the love of it. Lemmy lives really humbly in an apartment over by the Rainbow, because he doesn’t feel that he needs a huge house to show off. That’s very cool.”

THEY HAVE STAYED THE COURSE

“Motörhead have shown anyone who plays in a band that you need to stay true to what you do, to what you love. When Motörhead first came out, they were doing something totally different to everybody else – and they still are. They continued along their path and became iconic. It’s unbelievable how many records they have. But that’s the lesson: just stay the course, man.”

_Motörhead tour the UK with punk rock icons The Damned in November. Dez and the reunited Coal Chamber will release a new album in 2015 _

Joel McIver

Joel McIver is a British author. The best-known of his 25 books to date is the bestselling Justice For All: The Truth About Metallica, first published in 2004 and appearing in nine languages since then. McIver's other works include biographies of Black Sabbath, Slayer, Ice Cube and Queens Of The Stone Age. His writing also appears in newspapers and magazines such as The Guardian, Metal Hammer, Classic Rock and Rolling Stone, and he is a regular guest on music-related BBC and commercial radio.