Mikkey Dee

Samuel Barker: You’ve been in Motorhead for over 10 years now, what has made you stick it out in this band?

Mikkey Dee: Well, I wouldn’t stick with any band where I didn’t enjoy it. With King Diamond, we had a great time for many years, the reason I left was because we had different opinions and it wasn’t much fun anymore. That’s why I left Dokken as well; it didn’t work out too well, a lot of fighting in the band. With Motorhead, it seems we’ve found ourselves. We have a really good vibe with the band, we have a lot of fun, it’s great.

Samuel: I notice that everything written by Motorhead is credited to the entire band, does it help with everyone having a say in the band to keep it more cohesive?

Mikkey Dee: Absolutely. Musically, me and Phil write most of the music, but Lemmy writes all the lyrics and we piece it together. We’re all probably equal in deciding stuff, which is good, because otherwise it wouldn’t last.

Samuel: It’s good to have a say in your future.

Mikkey Dee: It is, it’s like a family.

Samuel: Your new record, Hammered, just came out. Is it more fun to get out on the road at the release of the record or after it’s been out a while?

Mikkey Dee: Actually, it’s maybe more fun to have the record be out for a while. That way people can recognize the songs when we do them live and can follow along. Right now, it’s more like a pure promotion for the new album. Though it doesn’t seem to matter too much, we don’t sell massive amounts of records, but the places we play always seem to fill up. Whether we have a new album or not, it doesn’t seem to matter. We don’t really think about it too much, but of course, it’s always great to have a good album out.

Samuel: Motorhead has a constant cycle, a new album, tour for a few years, then record a new album and so on. Is there ever pressure to keep the level of songwriting up album after album?

Mikkey Dee: We write for ourselves and it’s very spontaneous. We don’t sit around and try to have a plan of what direction we want to go or anything, it’s very spontaneous writing. That with the fact we write for ourselves makes it Motorhead.

Samuel: With Motorhead songs appearing on video games like Tony Hawk Pro Skater 3 and on newer comp albums, and looking out the window, there are young kids in line for the show, is it nice to see a new generation of fans coming out to the shows?

Mikkey Dee: I see a definite change; I’ve seen a big change, actually, in the past two years. We seem to pick up a lot of young people now, who are catching on to Motorhead, which is great. That’s all I can say really. It’s great that they get a chance to hear Motorhead while we’re still around.

Samuel: I know, personally, growing up Motorhead was a band I looked up when starting a band, and various other musicians have found inspiration in your music. Is it interesting coming up as a musician, who was undoubtedly in the same position we were in, looking for inspiration, to be used as a reference point for young musicians looking for new ideas?

Mikkey Dee: I really don’t think too much about that, but it’s great to have that. It’s all a bonus for us. It’s great to be respected and to have people look up to us that way. That’s what is going to happen if you stick around long enough and do your own thing. We’ve never sold out. We don’t think about it too much, mostly others think about it. Though, it is a good bonus.

Samuel: What are the differences in doing tours in the states as opposed to tours in Europe? How are the audiences there?

Mikkey Dee: We have a lot bigger crowds in Europe, but we used to say, there are only two types of crowds, those who say “yahoo!” or those who say “boo!” If you talk to a lot of the people out here, they’re as hard of Motorhead fans as the Europeans are, there are just less of them. Of course, when you play a smaller venue like this, it doesn’t necessarily have an effect on us, but it does have an effect on the show. We can’t have a stage show, though we’ve never really had that, but if you have room to be on stage and a decent monitor system and PA, it will sound better, that’s just the way it is. It’s a little easier for us to play in Europe than it is here, but this is fine too. We love this too.

Samuel: You’ve been through a lot of bands in your life; you’ve been a musician for a while, what are some of the songs that made you want to be a musician when you were a child?

Mikkey Dee: Well, there are a lot of elements to add to that. It’s hard to say. It’s been generations since I’ve started myself. I think that a lot of the musicians today start for the wrong reasons. They want to get rich, get famous, sell a lot of records right away and get a record deal. That’s not the case. You’ll have to love you instrument and play it because you want to play it. The idea of having a shot at it doesn’t even come to mind until you grow up. It seems so many bands and musicians start into music for the wrong reasons today. I wouldn’t mention any songs, just sit there and play your instrument. Like what you like, stick to it and have fun. You’re going to get better, that’s all your going to get. There is no shortcut to becoming a good musician.

Samuel: Well, what was the defining moment that made you realize that music was something you wanted to be a part of?

Mikkey Dee: I was seven years old when I went to see Deep Purple and that was it. That’s when I said ‘Oh my God, this is so cool.’ My mom took me, or I took her, because I couldn’t go by myself. That was it, I just knew how it was and what was out there. You could actually be on stage and be performing, it was just amazing. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to do that, drums were a hobby of mine for years. I was totally sure I was going to be an athlete, a hockey player or football player. I did a lot of sports when I was younger. Drums were a hobby, then they started taking over more of my time and it became like a job. I spent more and more time playing. Then, there it was. Before I knew it, it was ‘Fucking hell, I’m a drummer now.’

Samuel: Seeing the big Deep Purple show and envisioning music as that, was it difficult to keep focused on your goal coming up on a smaller stage? Like here, if you don’t have a certain sound, you’re nowhere. Was it hard to stay on track?

Mikkey Dee: That’s the US for you. Europe is not as, the rest of the world is not as focused on what is happening now, it seems to be that way here. It’s harder here, because you play what the industry wants you to play or you can’t get ahead at all. Which is really shitty, they’re killing themselves.

Samuel: Well, coming from Europe and a culture, which caters to the arts more, was it helpful in allowing you to focus on what you wanted to play, instead of what people wanted to hear rather than the US idea that everything must somehow generate money?

Mikkey Dee: That’s the whole point here. That’s the wrong reasons to do this. To make money off what you do, if you manage to become a good musician and start a good band and tour to make money, that’s great. However, that’s not the reason you should play. I don’t know why that is here. It seems fan and bands here seem to like the flavor of the quarter. You can’t like more than one band or music. If you go to Europe, you find someone who likes Motorhead and also listens to Mudvayne or listens to some Mariah Carey tracks. They like a lot of music and a lot of bands. It’s not like just because a band isn’t happening anymore or isn’t big on campus anymore, that you have to stop liking them. These bands today have short life spans, they do one, two, maybe three albums and they’re done. That’s the problem here. We try not to think about it. We are not effected by this beyond the fact that we’ll never be a campus band and we’ll never sell, suddenly one song will 11 million records. We’re not out to do that either. We could have sold out and wrote some more radio friendly songs here and there and actually sold a lot more album, but forget it, it’s not us.

Samuel: So it’s more important to write what you want to play rather than what the industry wants to hear?

Mikkey Dee: Yeah, because I’m stuck with myself, I’m the one who is supposed to play this shit for the rest of my life. My career is this. If I wrote stuff I didn’t really like and we wrote albums too poppy or anything that wasn’t Motorhead, we’re the ones who have to be out here playing this shit. We could have a bigger bank account, but we’d be forced to play the shit. It's all a bonus. It’s great to be able to live off what you do, there’s no doubt about that. It depends on how hard you are willing to go on that. Do you want to become a super millionaire, sit on your ass and do nothing? This is what I like. Even if I had $100 million, I wouldn’t stop doing this. It’d be like if someone told me I couldn’t eat pizza anymore or if I had to stop breathing.

Samuel: One thing I like about the band is that after being around for so long, you still answer questions that fans send into your website.

Mikkey Dee: I have to be honest, I suck, I’m the worst one. I give all the credit to Phil and Lemmy on this one. Lemmy is really good at this, and Phil too. I suck, I’m the worst. I’ve got to shape up.

Samuel: Is it nice to be able to have the chance to be the first hand voice of the band, rather than having other people speak for you?

Mikkey Dee: This will never go away with a band like Motorhead. We’re close, we’ve as close as the crowd out here, we go out into the crowd, have beers and hang out. As long as people behave, it’s great. When people start to climb all over you, we’ve got to get the fuck out of there. We’re no rock stars, we don’t act like that.

Samuel: Yeah, when I walked in, I noticed Lemmy on the Blackjack game inside, while most bands are all secluded in the back.

Mikkey Dee: We’re not like that, as long as people behave, we’re right out front.

Samuel: Anything you’d like to add?

Mikkey Dee: There will be a video out shortly from the new album, it will be Brave New World. I suppose that will be a single as well. That video was recorded in Germany. We will be touring up until Christmas. It’s great to back in the US touring, even if the tour is still early.

Samuel Barker is Senior Editor. Contact him at suma@rockzone.com.