Meet the man behind THAT Lemmy fire pit

Lemmy fire pit

Last week you might have noticed a certain rock ‘n’ roll hero blasting fire from within his face. No, Rammstein weren’t involved this time, it was the work of Sjaak Klein Heerenbrink, a heavy metal fan from Holland, who runs Kustom Fire Pits. His Lemmy fire pit took the internet by storm, ratcheting up over seven million views on Facebook at the time of writing. It’s a very metal tribute to one of music’s greatest heroes.

So how did the flamethrowing effigy come to be? Well, it’s not actually the first one. Sjaak reveals to Metal Hammer that he actually made two Lemmy fire pits before this one following customer requests.

But how do you get into making fire pits?

“Well at the beginning of 2014 my buddy wanted a fire pit so we made one together,” says Sjaak. “The thing had three slash-cut exhaust pipes, and I used some old car parts for hinges and handles – the thing burned like a jet-fuelled crematorium. I borrowed his fire pit for my birthday and as a thank you I welded a skull to it, along with some chains and spikes to give it a rough touch. It made him very happy, but I thought I could do better. Now I’m working on number 82 and I still haven’t got my own Kustom fire pit.”

Even though Sjaak has made an inspirational homage to one of the best to ever do it, he admits he’s not a superfan by any stretch.

“I know Motorhead a bit, but I grew up with Iron Maiden and Metallica. I was was never someone who followed a band, a brand, a club or anything. I’m bad with band names but if it sounds good, then it sounds good – especially when I’m riding my bike.”

What would Lemmy make of his face immortalised as a fire pit?

“From what I have heard and learned from all the comments, Lemmy wouldn’t give shit about that,” Sjaak says. “I like to think he would be a little bit proud. I would be, and I am when I see fire pits inspired by my ideas around the world.”

Sjaak doesn’t have any more plans to do rock ‘n’ roll inspired fire pits, often opting for monsters, skulls and tikis. Although if you do you have a request, hit up Kustom Fire Pits. 1000 metal points to the first GWAR fire pit we see.

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Luke Morton joined Metal Hammer as Online Editor in 2014, having previously worked as News Editor at popular (but now sadly defunct) alternative lifestyle magazine, Front. As well as helming the Metal Hammer website for the four years that followed, Luke also helped relaunch the Metal Hammer podcast in early 2018, producing, scripting and presenting the relaunched show during its early days. He also wrote regular features for the magazine, including a 2018 cover feature for his very favourite band in the world, Slipknot, discussing their turbulent 2008 album, All Hope Is Gone.