Mikkey Dee – Motorhead – Interview Exclusive
Written by Rich Hobson
Thursday, 09 February 2012 05:00
How do you know when it’s turned winter? Can’t be the weather changes (here in the UK; you can expect snow anytime from December to July). And it can’t be the Christmas decorations popping up in shops (they’re there from August). So instead it falls to one, fool-proof, 100% method of checking – look at the local gig listings. Chances are, if you find a notable enough venue in the UK the relentless touring machine that is Motorhead is making its annual November stop to your local venue, and the winter season is truly upon us.
Last year’s Motorhead tour saw the band taking support from legendary punk acts the Anti-Nowhere League and openers UK Subs, filling out a line-up of legendary acts that promised to fill venues throughout the country. With this being the 9th and 10th time I’d seen the band live (booking both the local and Hammersmith shows) it was about high time I tried for an interview with the band, and legendary drummer Mikkey Dee kindly obliged.
Dee is the furious tempest that grounds contemporary Motorhead, and has done now for nigh on 20 years (2012 marking his 20th year with the band), playing on 11 albums (and no doubt 12 before this year is out) as well as various live releases including THE definitive live record, ‘Everything Louder Than Everything Else’ (which makes ‘No Sleep ‘Till Hammersmith’ sound like an Osmonds show – well to my ears anyway). Catching up with the legendary drummer recently, Dee was relaxed and in “calm before the storm” mode, with less than an hour to go until he turned into a human Gatling gun onstage.
How was 2011 for you and the band?
We had a very, very hectic year – that’s for damn sure. We hit the US twice, Europe twice, Asia… South America, Australia, in just one go… but so far, so good.
It must have been a strange year for you as a band as well, what with the death of (ex-guitarist) Wurzel, especially with the set at Sonisphere the same day the news broke – was it difficult to play that show, were there any doubts?
Well… Wurzel left in ’95; we were sad of course, but then again Wurzel hasn’t been with us since then. We were all very sad that he died, but y’know, the show must go on. There was no doubt about us playing that day, so we dedicated the set for an old friend.
You’ve been in Motorhead for almost 20 years now (since 1992), how would you say things have changed since you joined?
It’s changed a lot; we changed our music a little bit, we changed everything a little bit. And obviously I’m a completely different drummer to how Phil Taylor was. I think we changed for the better, the band has gone through a few different phases but I think we’ve done really well, not because of me joining the band, but maybe because they got a kick in the ass, and I got a kick in the ass and together we’ve managed to write good songs and be a good live band.
In a past interview you mentioned that it was you and Phil who write most of the music, does that include the slower tunes like ‘One More Fucking Time’ and ‘I Ain’t No Nice Guy’?
Well, Lemmy’s been writing a lot of the slow stuff, we haven’t done anything for a while actually… There’s not really a particular order we write in, I think Lemmy wrote some of the slower stuff.
Was it a challenge to write more melodic songs for a band that is predominantly known for being louder than loud?
We’re very, very… limited, if you will, to what we can do. There’s nothing wrong with melodic, but it’s a very fine line. Motorhead’s supposed to be dirty and we’ve gotta write songs within our framework. We could go out and write a completely different album and call it ‘Motorhead’, like a lot of other bands do and try to experiment but that would be wrong, we like writing Motorhead songs.
Motorhead weren’t the first “legendary” band that you drummed for, having a stint with King Diamond (1985 – 1989), how would you say the approach differs between being in a band like King Diamond to Motorhead?
I don’t know, I don’t see it that way – to this day people ask me what it’s like to play with Lem, because he’s such a legend but I don’t see it that way – he’s a friend and a bandmate. I’m just very glad I made such right choices. I stick to bands where I’m happy. The days with King were fantastic, but when I didn’t enjoy that anymore I moved on and played in a so-called “all star” band with Don [Dokken]… John Norum, Peter Baltes and Billy White, which was a fantastic… “school”, if you will and then I realised I really belong in the heavier division. So when me and Lem started talking again about maybe me trying out it was just perfect, he had asked me a few times beforehand.
Motorhead have always been a band who stands against people who abuse power, what is your take on the current global climate?
We did a video where we beat up the bankers, ‘Get Back in Line’. People can sing and write songs about pretty much anything they want but me, I know this band and we write music for entertainment, not necessarily for messages. There might be the occasional message, but we just couldn’t give a rat’s ass. It’s not aimed in a direct political way or a “green” way – we like to entertain people.
In terms of drummers, who do you rate as “legendary”?
Oh god, there’s so many out there! For instance, Ian Paice of Deep Purple, Brian Downey of Thin Lizzy, Steve Smith the old Journey drummer… Neil Peart, Rush. It’s just, when you go back to the old bands, who’s still playing?
Are there any contemporary drummers that you rate highly?
Oh god yeah. There are a million, million guys out there. I see so many during the year.
Lemmy mentions in his book that there’s an underclass of people who seem to stop registering new material after ‘Ace of Spades’, if you had to pick one of the new records to sway their opinion, which one would it be and why?
I’m gonna have to go against Lem on this one – I’m talking more to people, I’m out in the bars but Lem can’t go around naturally, like I do for obvious reasons. I don’t think it’s about ‘Ace of Spades’ anymore, before the last UK tour I got a bunch of mails about “please play a really modern set”, and I can disappoint these guys by saying we don’t really have that modern a set. We always try to pick stuff from over the years, but it’s almost impossible – we could play a 6 hour set and not even scratch the surface!
Talking of records, last year there was the idea to record every show you guys played on the tour then release them as official bootlegs, but at the last minute the idea was cancelled – are there any plans to resurrect the idea for future tours?
It was a bit of a pain in the ass. I think we should do it, and it’s a really good idea but it’s very demanding with all the recording and touring so this year we won’t be doing the same thing. There might be a few here or there, like the videotaping in Manchester on the UK tour.
Most people rate ‘No Sleep Till Hammersmith’, but my favourite is always going to be ‘Everything Louder Than Everything Else’, are there any plans to release a new, official live album?
Well the DVD’s out (‘The World Is Ours Vol1’) and it’s not really about live albums; today it’s about DVD recordings and it’s a bonus or additional deal on the live record. I think that just the live albums might have reached the end of its day… which is unfortunate as they’re some of my favourite.
Since you’ve joined the band there have been numerous documentaries and coverage of the band and Lemmy – how would you describe the experience of having someone document your every move?
I’ve no problem with that, it’s just that it’s getting a little old, y’know? We’ve done a lot of stuff over the years, in other countries as well, where they follow us around and I have to say sometimes it’s a pain in the ass. We tour so much that sometimes it’s just like we need a few seconds to ourselves. You can give a bit but not all the time.
What are your plans for the next 12 months?
Well actually we’r just into the ‘Gigantour’ in the US, which will take us into March but we don’t really know what’s going on yet. There’s a few things planned for spring, and then June we’ll start the festivals again [the band have already been announced for several European festivals, no UK dates as of yet] and there might be some more US dates, then back to Europe. We always do the November UK tour, and with all this shit we’re probably gonna try and get another record written too.
What are the plans for a follow up to ‘The World Is Yours’?
Well normally me and Phil head to LA to start writing, round about now, which we always do so the writing’s gonna have to be done in the spring. There’s going to be a record but it’s probably gonna be 6 months on our usual – we usually release a record every 18 months but I’d put another few months to that.
Photographs courtesy of Robert John Photography