Phil Campbell provided the roaring guitar to the loudest band in the world, the mighty Motörhead, for over 30 years.
No mere mortal could have done this. Stand shoulder to shoulder with Lemmy for three decades, pummelling eardrums into submission, the world over in service of the mighty power of rock and roll.
When Lemmy left us in 2015, he still had plenty left to say. And so did Campbell. The Welsh guitarist wasn’t ready to hang it up. And buoyed by the support of his three lads, all of whom are musicians, he formed Phil Campbell and the Bastard Sons. This is a band that keeps those classic Motörhead songs right where they belong, on the stages of the world being played very, very loud.
Phil Campbell & the Bastard Sons Tour Dates
- 16 Sept – Perth, The Rosemount
- 17 Sept – Adelaide, Lion Arts Factory
- 19 Sept – Brisbane, Eatons Hill
- 20 Sept – Sydney, Manning Bar
- 21 Sept – Melbourne, Northcote Theatre
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Their most recent album is 2023’s Kings of the Asylum (featuring vocalist Joel Peters, who doesn’t try to be Lemmy but good lord does he come from the same raspy vocal tradition). And finally, for the first time since 2011 when he was last year with Motörhead, Campbell is coming to Australia to play for us.
“It’s the first time we’ve been down there”, Campbell says down the line from his home in Wales. “We are gonna try and mix the set up. We’ve done a few extra Motörhead shows this year because obviously it’s the 50th anniversary of the band. Generally we go out just playing our own material and we always throw in two or three Motörhead songs in our set because people won’t let me leave a stage without hearing Ace of Spades and a couple of others. We’ll try and mix it up and make sure everyone’s happy.”
So we can likely expect a little more of a balance between Motörhead and Bastard Sons material on this first Aussie tour, but this is no Motörhead cover band. There’s an energy, a modern heft and wallop that Campbell and Co impart upon material old and new.
“That’s because my kids are in the band and that’s another generation, so we’ve got their influences as well, and their techniques. And they also came to see Motörhead millions of times as well, and my eldest boy Todd, who, he’s our producer, he’s incredible. He has some of the best ears in the business and he keeps it exciting. It’s a mixture of like two generations basically, which helps things along and keeps the creativity going.”
It makes sense: these are players who have cut their teeth on the continuing evolution of rock and metal, backing a rock veteran who who circled the world many times over playing alongside the bands he’d helped influence. It’s circular and self-perpetuating.
“Todd writes the bulk of the the original material,” Campbell says. “He just pips me to it. Any of us could come in with an almost completed song idea or just a riff; there’s no rules really. Then whatever we’ve got to work with, we try and expand on that and keep messing about with it and change the drum patterns or change the bass pattern until we’ve got something we are really happy with. You know, just start with a riff or a beat and just see what everyone’s playing.
“And it moves around like a snake. Jamming is a wonderful thing. Lemmy used to love to jam as well. Listen to a lot of the Hawkwind material, some of them extended songs there, they’re just jamming away til one of ‘em nods their head or you do a particular drum fill and you know it’s time to change.
I tell Campbell that I interviewed Lemmy for this very magazine many years ago, and that he was especially effusive about his love of old rock and roll. Little Richard. Elvis. “I think Little Richard and Lem, the two of them are like pure essence of rock and roll,” Campbell says.
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“You don’t get more rock and roll than them two guys don’t think.” Those personalities that are just absolutely themselves? “Yeah. It is all changing now, isn’t it? The business, unfortunately, it’s not the same anymore. Yeah. The, the world is not the same. You can’t do, you can’t get away with anymore!
“Like, you go on stage now and as soon as you walk on stage, like there’s like 80 cameras, phone cameras, people at their phones, they’re not living in the moment anymore. I’d almost like to to say like, ‘Okay, there’s one song you can do tonight. When the song comes, then you can film it for the song.’
“But also, those videos are gonna sound and look like crap! The sound will be awful because bands are loud. The vision will be awful because there’ll be some guy holding up a pint walking across in the middle of it!
The talk turns to guitars because of course it does. Campbell has played many a fine instrument over the years, including a gorgeous vaguely Explorer-esque sunburst LAG signature model with Seymour Duncan pickups.
But for now his main rides are a pair of Gibson USA Slash Les Paul signature models (an Appetite Burst and a Jessica, for those playing along at home).Campbell keeps these guitars stock. “They’re just as they came and the Jessica one is brutal,” he laughs.
“It’s non-weight-relieved and it’s really heavy, but it sustains for ever.” Any other fun pieces in the collection? “Oh well you tell me, I’ve got an original 1957 Black Beauty with a Bigsby, one of the ‘Fretless Wonder’ ones. It’s unbelievable. I bought that in Emerald City Music in Seattle about 25 years ago. I got quite a few vintage ones. I’ve probably got all about 120 guitars all together, but I wouldn’t really get rid of any of ’em. I like them all in some particular way.”
Campbell is a Marshall man through and through, although when touring makes the full stack impractical he turns to a Line 6 Helix floor processor. “I’m the most untechnical person in the world,” he offers.
“My boys helped me up with it. I can’t even put a string on a guitar anymore! I could when I was younger but if I had to restring a guitar today it’d probably take me two days. But the Helix sounds great. It’s got my Marshall sounds on there. That’s all I’m going for, that rock and roll sound. And I’m not a heavy metal player. Really. I never was. I don’t think Motorhead was ever a heavy metal band. We were rock and roll band that played loud. Lemmy thought the same as well.”
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