Motorhead pay tribute to late engineer ‘Hobbsy’

Motorhead have paid tribute to their longtime sound engineer Dave ‘Hobbsy’ Hilsden who has died.

Hilsden had been an integral part of the group for three decades and filled in several positions with the band including accountant, tour manager and crew boss.

Guitarist Phil Campbell broke the news on Twitter, saying: “Our longtime engineer Dave Hilsden aka Hobbsy has sadly passed away. He gave 30 years of his life to Motorhead. He was a good guy. RIP.”

And on their official Facebook page, the band paid tribute to Hilsden, calling him a “treasure.”

The statement reads: “All of us in the Motorhead family send our condolences to the Hilsden family. Hobbs was a treasure, a unique and wonderful man. He will be sorely missed.”

Speaking on the Motorhead DVD Stage Fright which was released in 2005 to mark the group’s 30th anniversary, Hilsden revealed why he had stayed with the band over the years.

He said: “I really like the band. I really like Lemmy – he’s an amazing guy. That’s why I’ve stayed with them for so long. I don’t listen to their records, but I love them live.”

Along with his work with Motorhead, Hilsden worked with Black Sabbath and Doctors Of Madness.

Last month, the band released video snippets from the studio as they continue to work on their 22nd album.

Scott Munro
Louder e-commerce editor

Scott has spent more than 30 years in newspapers, magazines and online as an editor, production editor, sub-editor, designer, writer and reviewer. Scott joined our news desk in the summer of 2014 before moving to the e-commerce team in 2020. Scott maintains Louder’s buyer’s guides, scouts out the best deals for music fans and reviews headphones, speakers, books and more. He's written more than 11,000 articles across Louder, Classic Rock, Metal Hammer and Prog and has previous written for publications including IGN, the Sunday Mirror, Daily Record and The Herald, covering everything from daily news and weekly features, to video games, travel and whisky. Scott's favourite bands are Fields Of The Nephilim, The Cure, New Model Army, All About Eve, The Mission, Cocteau Twins, Drab Majesty, Marillion and Rush.