After Lemmy’s death on December 28th, 2015, the story of Motorhead came to a close. However, this was not the end of Phil Campbell’s musical story. Phil is currently working on a project with his three sons Dane, Tyla, and Todd called: Phil Campbell and the Bastard Sons. Heading in a more hard rock direction, the four piece is set to release a self titled EP in November. I recently had the honor of speaking with Tyla about this new project and his thoughts on Lemmy.
How did this band come to be?
It was at a huge fiesta years ago. We hired a live band and my brothers, my father and I decided to have a jam. This gave us the idea to be a new band with a sorta party atmosphere.
How would you compare the band’s sound?
We are going for that rock n roll sound. I feel fans of Motorhead should enjoy it. In this project Phil has more freedom to write what he wants. Motorhead fans will like it and I feel we will make new fans.
I noticed, from what I heard, you guys sound a lot less metal than Motorhead. Then again Lemmy always considered Motorhead to just be a rock band.
That is true. We are more rock and roll but we are still pretty heavy, but yeah just stripped down rock n roll.
How is the writing process going for your upcoming EP?
Our EP is just about finished. We recorded, mixed and mastered it in about 2 weeks. We had Motorhead’s mixer and producer, Cameron Webb work on it. I’m sure alot of Motorhead fans will get a familiar feel. That’s the plan and I hope to get a new album out next year.
Do you have a name for this album yet?
No we don’t have a name yet. We wrote a couple of riffs for the album and hope to finish it all up next year. I’m sure father will think of a clever joke of an album name.
Any touring plans?
We are soon going on a European tour, then a full UK tour and then a show in Germany with Saxon. So we will be pretty busy. Hopefully we will be able to tour the US next year. That will be great I think.
Too bad you can’t jump on next years UFO/Saxon tour.
Father was just talking about how cool it would be to do that. He loves both bands so that would be a great tour.
How is it like being a new artist playing a festival as huge as Wacken Open Air?
I’ve played a few big festivals in the UK, but this was my first international one. It was a great experience playing with my Dad and brothers in front of so many people. I hope to hit the festival circuit next year.
How was your relationship with Lemmy?
Lemmy is what I’d call a true gentleman and a very intelligent man. My favorite memory of Lemmy has to be when we were in Jim Marshall’s house. My brother and I were stuck on this hard question during a game of trivia and then Lemmy comes in and answers all of the questions right. He was a really great guy. He was the living embodiment of rock and roll. The last true rock star.