By George Pirounakis

I didn’t know it back then, but chasing Motörhead around Europe as a kid was the best tour school I could ever enroll in.

No seminars, no podcasts, no “how to make it in the industry” bullshit. Just trains, buses, borders, cheap tickets, loud rooms, late nights, early mornings, and that constant feeling that if you really want to be there, you’ll find a way. I wasn’t thinking about careers or futures. I was thinking about getting to the next show.

But that repetition of packing fast, sleeping wherever, adapting, staying sharp and not complaining, burned something permanent into me. The road teaches you whether you listen or not.

The first time ‘(We Are) The Road Crew’ really clicked, it felt less like a song and more like a warning and a promise at the same time. This isn’t glamour. This isn’t comfort. This is work. Invisible work. The kind that only makes sense to the people doing it and means everything when it’s done right.

Years later, standing backstage, counting boxes, solving problems before anyone notices them, running on no sleep and bad food, I realized how prophetic that song really was.

Lemmy wasn’t romanticizing shit. He was documenting a code. Show up. Do the job. Don’t whine. Don’t fake it. Earn your place every single day.

Being a Lemmy fan wasn’t about copying a look or quoting lines. It was about inhaling integrity. No trends. No pandering. No apologies. You do your thing, you stand by it, and you accept the consequences without crying. That mindset quietly shaped how I move today, how I work, how I deal with people, how I draw lines.

Touring doesn’t forgive ego, laziness, or bullshit for long. The road exposes you fast. And somehow, without realizing it, I had already been training for that exposure years before I ever stepped on the other side of the barricade.

Today, looking back at those miles chased as a fan and the miles logged as crew, it all connects cleanly.

Same road, different role. Same values. Same hunger. Same respect for the grind.

Lemmy’s gone, but that example is still painfully alive every time I load in, every time I keep my word, every time I choose work over comfort and honesty over convenience.

Happy birthday, Lemmy. You didn’t just soundtrack my youth. You helped build the spine I still stand on. And for that, I will always be thankful.

  • George Pirounakis is a veteran roadie, merch and tour manager. He most recently toured with Till Lindemann. He is also founder of OneTwoSix Hardcore Clothing.