THIS MONTH

BassPlayer.com >> This Month >> The Head Cat's Lemmy Kilmister & Djordje Stijepovic

Images

External Weblinks

Attack Of The Two-Headed Cat

The Head Cat's Lemmy Kilmister & Djordje Stijepovic

By Greg Olwell | October, 2007

Bandleaders need side projects. For Sting, it was a lute record. For Motörhead’s hard rock/thrash icon Lemmy, it’s the Head Cat, his vintage rock & roll cover group with Stray Cats drummer Slim Jim Phantom. On the group’s debut, Lemmy Kilmister applied his gravelly voice to some of the finest ’50s rock songs, like Johnny Cash’s “Big River” and Buddy Holly’s “Not Fade Away,” while strumming an acoustic guitar. For live shows, however, Lemmy has switched to a more familiar weapon—his signature Rickenbacker bass—and added a second bassist, Serbian transplant Djordje Stijepovic, on upright. But Lemmy fans needn’t fret that this early rock & roll revival will overtake Motörhead’s 30 years of thrash: “It’s something I do for fun in my spare time between Motörhead tours,” says Lemmy.

Lemmy

How did you start recording early rock & roll songs?
Me, Slim Jim, and a few others were working on an Elvis tribute album [Swing Cats, A Special Tribute to Elvis, Cleopatra, 2000]. While we were hanging around, I was playing ’50s rock songs on acoustic guitar, and the other guys knew them all. We ended up recording songs by Buddy Holly, Johnny Cash, and Eddie Cochran. That era of rock is what I grew up on. If it sounds old-fashioned to you, fuck you, I was there—it doesn’t sound old-fashioned to me!

Why switch back to bass when you already had another bass onstage?
I’m no good on guitar [laughs]. I tried playing the songs on bass, and it worked.

Has playing with another bassist changed your approach to the songs?
Not at all. I don’t play what he’s playing, and he doesn’t play what I’m playing. It’s marrying two different eras of bass playing. I play bass like a rhythm guitar, anyway, so we stay out of each other’s way. Also, my tone is very top-y and he uses more of full upright bass tone.

What’s your setup?
I’m playing my signature Rickenbacker. I always have the pickup switch on the treble end, but it’s really about the amplifiers: They’re all full on, so it’s pretty loud. I prefer vintage Marshalls because I think they push out more and do it in a sleazy way. Sleaze is good for rock & roll. You don’t want it too clean.

Djordje Stijepovic

What’s it like playing bass alongside Lemmy?
The way Lemmy plays gives us a huge sound, especially when I play slap bass. With two bass players, you have to watch out for clashing notes, so I play more basic lines. Lemmy listens to what’s going on around him, so if I’m playing something in one octave, he’ll play in another.

What kind of lines are you playing behind him?
I play a lot of slap on the rockabilly songs, but we also have some more straightahead rock songs where I’ll play a basic eighth-note rock line.

Lemmy has an overdriven, guitar-like sound. What do you do to make your sound fit?
I use a big Ampeg rig because he’s so loud. I also use steel strings and a magnetic pickup so I can get it loud enough without feedback. The magnetic pickup also helps give us more of a rock sound.

CAN BE HEARD ON

The Head Cat, Fool’s Paradise [Rock-A-Billy, 2006]
Motörhead, The Essential [Metro Doubles, 2007]

CURRENTLY SPINNING

Lemmy
Evanescence, The Open Door [Wind-Up, 2006]
“I think it’s excellent: the arrangements, the songs, and the playing.”

Djordje
How Low Can You Go? Anthology of the String Bass (1925–1941) [Dust to Digital, 2006]
Taraf de Haïdouks, Taraf de Haïdouks [Elektra/Asylum, 1999]

GEAR

Lemmy
Rickenbacker 4004LK Lemmy signature bass, Rickenbacker 4003; ’70s Marshall JMP Super Bass II 100-watt head and 4x12 cab

Djordje
King Doublebass Slap King upright with Thomastik Spirocore mediums and EMG magnetic pickup; Ampeg SVT head and 8x10 cabinet