Rammstein guitarist Richard Kruspe recently spoke to EMP Rock Invasion about Motörhead’s Lemmy Kilmister and revealed his thoughts on the late singer’s work ethic.
Although Richard Kruspe is mainly known for his work as the guitarist of Rammstein, he is also the lead singer of a US-based industrial metal band named Emigrate. He began working on the band in 2005 by writing songs with his former wife, Caron Bernstein. It was during the time when Rammstein had taken a hiatus from touring and recording.
After releasing sneak peeks of several songs on their official website, Emigrate released their self-titled debut on August 31, 2007, in Europe and January 29, 2008, in the US. As Rammstein reunited in the fall of 2007 to work on their ‘Liebe Ist Für Alle Da’ album, Kruspe had to put Emigrate aside.
On June 24, 2011, the band announced they were working on a new album. The recordings of this new Emigrate record took three years, and the band ended up releasing ‘Silent So Long’ on December 9, 2014. The album featured guest appearances from renowned artists like Lemmy Kilmister, Jonathan Davis, and Marilyn Manson.
In ‘Silent So Long,’ Kilmister sang vocals on the song ‘Rock City.’ Recalling the recording process, Kruspe told EMP Rock Invasion that they had decided to approach Kilmister for vocals. However, the singer was in poor health, so the chances were low. However, as Kruspe said, Lemmy still managed to record vocals despite his health condition. So, it seems like the late singer had a strong work ethic.
During the conversation, Richard Kruspe said the following about the making of the song ‘Rock City’:
“It was an interesting journey. For example, I had that acoustic song, a pop song, and didn’t know what to do with it. I came to the rehearsal, played it to the guys, and asked, ‘Hey, what are we going to do with this?’ Mikko from Apocalyptica doubled the beat and just worked on it.
So, we jammed to it, and it sounded like a mixture of Motörhead and Depeche Mode. And then I thought about who to ask: Dave or Lemmy? We decided on Lemmy, but it quickly came through that he was very sick at that time and canceled live shows. So, the odds were pretty low that he’d sing.
I was lying in my bed in the morning, and I suddenly heard a ‘click.’ E-mail arrived. I opened it, and the track with Lemmy was there. No explanation attached, nothing. I listened to it, and for me, it was like Christmas, Birthday, and Easter at once. I was jumping on the bed and was totally happy. These are the moments that you’ll never forget.”
Below, you can watch the interview and listen to the Emigrate song ‘Rock City.’
