AMZ — Do you like to do interviews?
MD — Yeah, it's all right. It's fine. I like doing interviews. It's just that sometimes it's not the perfect timing for it. If the interviewer has done their homework, then yes.

AMZ — What is the mental state of Motorhead these days?
MD — Mental state I'd say is very good actually. It's all as crazy and fuckin' nasty as it's always been I suppose. At least since I've joined the band. It's nutz, but it's very good. We sound better than ever I think.

AMZ — How's the reaction been so far to the release of "Everything Louder Than Everyone Else"?
MD — Amazing. Great. Better than I expected. I knew a lot of fans where waiting for this album because for the last couple of years we've been talking about a live record. And we did a shot at it two years ago, but they fucked up the recording so bad in Germany we couldn't use any of it. We shot a video and audio so we were going to release the live CD with a live video as well. But they fucked it up so we couldn't use it. So we waited another year and it turned out really good. It seems like it's going down with a storm.

AMZ — What does this live album offer fans that previous live (Motorhead) albums might not have?
MD — A hellova a lot more songs, that's for sure. Better sound quality, I think. Better performance. Y'know each album has got it's own charm. This one's got 25 songs, so it's long. It's a triple vinyl, so they get a lot of value for their money.

AMZ — This was released on vinyl?
MD — It is in Europe.

AMZ — Can't get it in the US?
MD — Import and stuff eventually.

AMZ — Motorhead has survived many of its contemporaries over the years, especially considering some of the revolving lineups. What do you think it is about Motorhead that has allowed it to survive this long without compromising the original direction?
MD — That's exactly why. There's no compromising in this band. There's never, ever, ever, and I mean ever, been a question of selling out in any way. I mean, if you can stand tall for the first 10 years through the band without compromising, then you're in. Then it becomes easier actually because then you just do what you gotta do. Do your own thing. If you don't compromise, and stick to your own guns, and write whatever, like we like to do, because we do write for ourselves first and everyone else second, then I believe it's worth something. For each year you gain credibility and strength even if your bank account is not going to be as fat and glamorous. We don't believe in compromising Motorhead's music. There have been a lot of chances to do that actually. I know many of our songs since I've joined the band that we could have wrote differently, so it would suit the radio a lot better and so on, but naw, fuck it. If they don't want to touch it then fine.

AMZ — I think that's something that a lot of true fans admire about Motorhead.
MD — That's what I'm saying. You just gain strength.

AMZ — How do you think the music industry has changed since Motorhead first began?
MD — It changed from being something like a band was a bunch of guys that were artists and they played and wrote whatever they thought was good, and they came out with a record, and if someone else liked it that was great. Today it's too much business involved in this whole situation. Today record companies and management and managers and different companies, they create these blocks of bands and it's just a product to make money. It's just a money making machine. If you are successful in music and sell a lot of records you make a lot of cash, and that's what these assholes know. So they just create a lot of different formations. I mean look, Spice Girls and Backstreet Boys and all that. Kids go nuts over it. Fine that's great. But it's a pity that when these kids grow up to be my age or so and start thinking back "What did I grow up on? What kind of music?" They're gonna go "Man, I can't believe that that was my whole life for like ten years. All these shit bands." They're going to feel sorry for themselves.

AMZ — How was touring with the OzzFest?
MD — It was very good I thought. It was great. We were headlining second stage and it was an honor to be on that OzzFest.

AMZ — So what do you think of big glorified package tours like OzzFest and Family Values? Do you see that as the industry trying to sell and package it or do you see it more just like bands getting together from a common ideal?
MD — A lot of these bands have a hard time (including ourselves) to tour on our own really. A typical example is Motorhead/Black Sabbath. We were with Sabbath in '94 & '95 here in America and in Canada. Sabbath went out on their own and they couldn't do too well and neither could we, but together it seemed to draw like triple what we could get on our own. We played Universal Amphitheater here. If Sabbath played on their own they'd probably play House of Blues, and if we played on our own we'd probably play the House of Blues or here (the Palace). But together it seemed to draw a lot of kids. I'm for it, y'know, but it's nice to be on your own tour like we are right now.

AMZ — You guys have toured the world too many times to count. What's the best venue that you've played?
MD — Ooh... there's a lot of good venues. There's a lot here in the US that I really like. There's a lot in South America. A lot in Europe. I can give you maybe a hundred venues that are a "10" and then I could give you about a thousand that are an "8."

AMZ — Given the power, what laws would Motorhead pass?
MD — None. There are no laws for us.

Mikkey then pointed at my Snot T-shirt.

MD — That was a great band. Snot. Didn't the singer die?

AMZ — Yeah. Dec. 11th (1998). In car accident outside of LA. The dog (Dobbs) on the album cover died to.
MD — Wow. That's too bad.

AMZ — What bands should people be listening to but probably aren't?
MD — Whatever they like. I mean the problem is, I think there's a big problem in the US. It seems like the general audience out there listen only to what's kinda happening right now in the US. It's very easy to steer the US crowd. What's happening in high schools and colleges — that's it. They kinda forget about if they grew up with Deep Purple, suddenly they don't like Deep Purple anymore. In Europe it's different. They pick up a lot of young new bands that they fuckin' love, but they still love Motorhead and Saxon and whatever they grew up with maybe, or some old bands. Here it seems like you can't like more than two or three bands. I can't tell them what to listen to. It's so funny because you tour one summer, and this band and this band and this band are super hot. Selling out everywhere. Everybody fucking loves them. All you hear on the radio is this stuff. And then next summer you come by again and there' four or five other bands that are super-hip. And the same kids just move direction. Now this is it. It just seems like they just need to be liking everything all together, like the whole time. So let 'em fuckin' listen to what they want. If they want to listen to us, that's great, if they don't, well, fine to — fuck off.

AMZ — What's the coolest?
MD — To be on stage.

AMZ — What's the lamest?
MD — Hangover in the tour bus.

AMZ — Any messages to the masses?
MD — Please open your eyes and ears, definitely your ears, and give the new Motorhead a shot. Because there are no rules and there's no cheating when it comes to this band. And that counts for a lot. We are picking up a lot of young people that never really followed Motorhead.

AMZ — That was one of the questions I skipped (I was trying to accommodate Mikkey's tight schedule and last minute coolness of doing the interview). Do you see a lot of new fans?
MD — You see a lot. This is a typical thing. We could be out drinking and I'm hanging in some bar and there's some young kids and it'd be like "oh hey. . .so you play in a band" and it's like "Yeah. Motorhead" "Oh I've heard of Motorhead man. Naw it's not my style" and blah blah blah and then maybe you get these guys on a guest list "Come down and see the show" and they are blown away. They had no idea what it was all about to stand in front of the stage when Motorhead fucking basically start up our engine. Because I don't know what happens but something happens every night when we do a show. We're not the best musicians in the world, and we don't write the best songs in the world. But something happens. I think it's real and it's not compromised. It's not a cheat. And the same guys that the night before said, "Naw, yeah I've heard about you guys but it's not my cup of tea. I think I've heard a couple of songs, like Ace of Spades, but I really don't like it, y'know?" Well that's great, but come and see us now motherfucker. So a word to the public is "Check it out. Go and check it out." Because I'd say you're missing out on real good fucking music. Especially live. We're not a studio band. Live it's a different story. We go out there and fucking burn off so hard and so bad I'd say it's real. It's honest.

After the interview, Mikkey Dee actually thanked me for an enjoyable interview. Being the first time an interviewee thanked me, I was sincerely humbled. And as far as that spark Mikkey Dee was referring to for the live Motorhead experience — he was full on. They may not jump 50 feet in the air at every musical break, but the wall of sound the pummels over you as a live Motorhead show revs up is truly large. There's a good reason Motorhead has managed to stake out such a solid place in rock history. Unless you're already in the know, I suggest educating yourself with a good dose of greasy Motorhead rock-n-roll. It may not be the newest idea on the block, but it's still a damn good one.