In a new interview with Matty Roberts of the Percussion Discussion podcast, former GUNS N’ ROSES drummer Matt Sorum once again reflected on the experience of filling in for MOTÖRHEAD‘s Mikkey Dee on 13 shows during the latter band’s 2009 U.S. tour. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “That was just a pummel — a punk rock, rockabilly fucking metal pummel. [Late MOTÖRHEAD frontman] Lemmy never liked to call it metal. Lemmy liked to roll on rock. The interesting thing about that band was the volume. It was basically more about, what kind of energy are you gonna bring? And I say this to drummers: it’s your job, as a drummer, to kick the band in the ass. You’re setting the pace, pushing with volume and energy. You’re not back there fucking tickling them. It’s like you’re fucking throwing it into the energy of what the night is going to be for the audience.”
Matt continued: “I remember when Lemmy would say, ‘We are MOTÖRHEAD and we play rock and roll.’ And it’s fucking on — game on. It’s, like, ‘Fucking let’s go.’ And as a guy that’s done a lot of live shows, as a drummer, I have to harbor that energy. And now I spend most of the day doing that. Making sure I’m relaxed is probably one of the best parts for me of what I need to do to prepare to do a live show now, at my age and everything. I don’t like to be around too many people, ’cause it sucks my energy. And my energy is… Everything I wanna bring to the stage is important to keep it as much as possible. So if I sleep in a little bit, I’ll sleep a little bit more, I’ll wake up, try to stay quiet, and then I’ll have some food and then I’ll do a soundcheck and then maybe go back and relax some more. Maybe if I was on tour, I’d crawl in my bunk. I can’t run around all day like I used to. I’ve gotta really focus and then keep myself in good shape and then get up there and fucking kill it. The whole game is to get up there and throw down. And when I did that with MOTÖRHEAD — fuck! By gig four, my hands were fucked. I was, like, blistered up. I was like, ‘Man, Lemmy, I’m soft. I’m outta shape.’ But, man, what a legendary moment in my career. I’ll never forget it, that they even asked me.”
Sorum went on to say that he is “so happy for Mikkey” that Dee landed the drummer gig with the SCORPIONS nearly a decade ago, shortly after Lemmy‘s death. “Fucking great,” he said. “I went and saw ’em in Vegas, and I just love Mikkey. Now there’s a guy that can fucking go out all night, tear it up. The next day he’ll have 50 people backstage and goes on stage and kills it. I was out with him in Vegas… I don’t drink anymore. We were out till, like, four or five in the morning. And I was hanging with him. I’m, like, ‘Dude, you’ve got a show tomorrow.’ He’s, like, ‘Yeah, whatever.’ [Laughs] Some guys can do it. I can’t do that like that anymore. But I used to.”
Sorum previously talked about his MOTÖRHEAD stint during a January 2019 appearance on “Trunk Nation LA Invasion: Live From The Rainbow Bar & Grill” on SiriusXM. He said at the time: “Lemmy called me up… He actually texted me, and I could hear his voice through the text: ‘Matt, I need you to play drums.’ And I actually texted him back. I wrote, ‘Why me?’ I don’t know why I said that. And he wrote back, ‘Dave Grohl‘s not available.’ Lemmy wasn’t a guy to mince words; he’d tell you the truth. I loved that about him. And I texted him, ‘When are we rehearsing?’ And he wrote back, ‘We aren’t.’
“I got a DVD [of MOTÖRHEAD‘s performance at the] Wacken [Open Air] festival,” he continued. “It came in the mail, like the next day, [via] FedEx. And he said, ‘Learn the Wacken show.’ And I learned it. And then I met them at the 9:30 club in Washington D.C. We soundchecked and I played that night… And it was amazing. For a drummer, though… it got confusing, ’cause there’s a lot of MOTÖRHEAD songs that have that sort of thunderous rock kind of beat happening underneath, and I just needed to kind of decipher that. But, obviously, playing ‘Overkill’ and ‘Ace Of Spades’… Then I had to learn the newer stuff that Mikkey did, like ‘[In The Name Of] Tragedy’, which some of that stuff was, like, ‘Wow!'”
According to Sorum, playing a full set of MOTÖRHEAD songs was a physically challenging task. “It was a very energetic, high-energy set, and I loved it,” he said. “And I still remember it like yesterday. Especially being on the bus with Lemmy. He’s just got great stories. He knew everything there was to know about every civil war. We’d be driving down the highway through the Midwest, or in the South, where they had battlefields. And he’d point. He’d go, ‘Over there was the battle of…’ you know, whatever, and he knew everything about it. Not only the Second World War, First World War, but the American Civil War. So he was a history buff.”
Matt went on to say that playing with MOTÖRHEAD was “one of the greatest experiences that I ever had” and “probably one of the greatest tours of my life. I had so much fun with those guys,” he said.
When Lemmy died in December 2015, Sorum penned a heartfelt tribute to the MOTÖRHEAD leader, saying that the world “lost the greatest badass in the history of rock ‘n’ roll. He was a man who lived his life with no apologies and lived the dream of a life on the road playing music to thousands of fans worldwide. Lemmy loved rock ‘n’ roll and his fans. Never took them for granted and rocked as hard as he could night after night.”
Sorum recalled meeting Lemmy for the first time in 1989 at a London club called St. Moritz. “He opened his arms to me as I was new to the big leagues at that point,” he said. “I felt accepted by him and that meant everything to me. The years ahead with GUNS N’ ROSES, THE CULT and VELVET REVOLVER and travels on the road, it was always a good time crossing paths with him. Likes pirates on sailing ships. He was someone that carved the way and we followed by example. Stick to what you believe in, never waver and everybody else can fuck off.”
Matt also credited Lemmy with teaching him “to respect myself and have respect and gratitude for the life we’d been given. He will always remain in my heart as a guide to push on. Take no prisoners and never give up.”
Sorum, who replaced Steven Adler in GUNS N’ ROSES, recorded the highly successful albums “Use Your Illusion I” and “Use Your Illusion II” (both 1991) and “The Spaghetti Incident” (1994). He also supported the group on the “Use Your Illusion” tour and can be heard on GUNS N’ ROSES‘ “Live Era: ’87-’93” (1999) and “Greatest Hits” (2004).
Sorum was among the GUNS N’ ROSES members who were inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in April 2012. He, Adler, guitarist Slash and bassist Duff McKagan attended the ceremony, while singer Axl Rose and founding guitarist Izzy Stradlin stayed home.
The musician, who has also played with THE CULT, VELVET REVOLVER and HOLLYWOOD VAMPIRES, is not involved with GN’R’s hugely successful reunion tour, which features Rose, Slash and McKagan alongside drummer Isaac Carpenter, keyboardist Dizzy Reed, guitarist Richard Fortus and second keyboardist Melissa Reese.
Sorum‘s autobiography, “Double Talkin’ Jive: True Rock ‘N’ Roll Stories From The Drummer Of Guns N’ Roses, The Cult, And Velvet Revolver”, arrived in May 2022 via Rare Bird Books.
