Motörhead’s Phil Campbell recently joined Appetite for Distortion and discussed how watching newly released concert footage affected him, coping with Lemmy Kilmister’s absence, and the brotherhood they had for so many years.
Losing a bandmate is always tough, and when that bandmate also happens to be a close friend, things might get even more challenging. Mick Fleetwood, for instance, had previously remarked that taking the stage to pay tribute to the late Christine McVie was a double-edged sword because it was both quite upsetting and pleasant to honor her memory.
Phil Campbell also seemed to share Fleetwood’s take on paying homage to a friend as he stated that it was both sad and pleasant to watch any live footage of Motörhead performing on stage. It could be challenging to cope with the frontman’s absence, but it was also an excellent way for Kilmister’s legacy to carry on.
The guitarist then discussed that since the band played together for so long, they had a unique brotherhood. Campbell missed that special kind of friendship, but the newly released videos and live footage were also a way for that fellowship to live on, as they reminded him of the moments he had long forgotten. They also allowed fans to get close to Motörhead as they could.
Campbell on whether Motörhead’s newly released videos make him feel sad or pleased:
“It’s a bit of both, sometimes. You know, especially when you can see them smiling and joking on any footage, that’s always nice. The other times, you get a different feeling, like it makes you sad. But it’s great to have it out there, and we were, like, kind of a unique brotherhood together, especially the three [Campbell, Michael Burston, and Kilmister] of us, for so many years playing together.
I can cope with seeing it all again. There’s a lot of stuff and people together all the time. The stuff I wouldn’t need, even forgotten about it, that I wouldn’t have seen before. So, it’s all good in the end, I guess.
It’s good for the fans to see what it was like as much as they can see you, of everybody was like about. I mean, nobody will ever know what it was like unless you were actually in Motörhead, but you can go kind of close-ish, I guess. I wrote both cut out for people and whatever.”
The recent releases of Motörhead boxsets or concert footage didn’t bother Phil Campbell as he felt that it was a way for him to reconnect with Lemmy and his band. They were important reminders of what the act had been through together and their brotherhood. The newly-released footage also allowed the audience to take a peek into Motörhead’s inner dynamics. So, even though it upset him at times, it was all good in the end.
