I’m good enough for Lemmy – but not for my kids

Lord Axesmith: Campbell with Lemmy

Motorhead guitarist Phil Campbell isn’t allowed to play with his children’s bands any more, he’s revealed.

The Welsh-based musician has three offspring and he used to jam alongside as they learned their chops – but he says those days are long gone.

Campbell tells CityBeat: “They’re doing really good. I have some children in a band called Straight Lines – they have their second album out and they’re doing a lot of shows.

“Another is in a band called Inside the Trees, but they changed their name to the People’s Poet and they’re recording now. It’s a quite different kind of music. They’re all doing really well.”

Asked if he ever gets involved with their projects, he says: “I used to when they were younger, but they won’t let me play any more. I’m not good enough.”

Motorhead are midway through their own US tour, which Campbell says is only just warming up. “We had a good party the other night – a costume party,” he says. “Lemmy and his assistant went as the Blues Brothers. I dressed as a clown and MIkkey Dee dressed as a frog.”

But the band’s celebrated practical jokes will wait until later in the trek. “We’re just too busy to get wild at the moment,” he explains. “We leave that for the end.”

Campbell purchased the 500-year-old title Lord Axesmith, which he says now appears on his credit cards. “It’s a bit of fun when the crew has to call me ‘my lord,’” he reports.

“When we’re at restaurants and they ask for the name of the party, if you say ‘Lord Axesmith’ then you know they’ll give you a good table.”