by pep bonet
"My dream was to get to know Motörhead, my worst nightmare was to follow them…"
For almost three years, Pep Bonet followed the band Motörhead. His experience became a unique visual record that captures the soul of one of the best rock and roll bands in the world and includes an impressive collection of rare photographs.
Motörhead is a long-lived and iconic heavy metal band from England formed in 1975. They are widely recognized as progenitors of thrash metal, a fusion of heavy metal and what was soon to become hardcore punk. Consequently they influenced countless rock, punk-rock, and heavy metal bands.
The band members are: Lemmy Kilmister- Bass and vocals, Phil Campbell- Lead guitar and Backup vocals and Mikkey Dee at the Drums.
"When I first saw a selection of Pep’s work with Mötorhead, I realized that every instinct I’d felt had been vindicated. He’d captured the energy, the intensity, the stature and the reverence of the band. He’d found them at their loudest and quietest, funniest and most serious. He’d done what great photographers do and he’d framed Mötorhead, this vitally important, iconic steam train of hard rock ’n’ roll history, this gloriously timeless bastard of a band, as the legends they are. It was the sort of uniquely photo-journalistic-cum-artist portfolio I’d always felt the band deserved, yet always feared they’d never get."
- Steffan Chirazi
England, Ipswich, November 2008, Lemmy's boots on stage during the sound check at the Ipswich Regent theater.
After being sacked from Hawkwind in 1975, supposedly for “doing the wrong drugs,” Lemmy Kilmister decided to form a new band, originally to be called Bastard.
Realizing that this would preclude them from commercial acceptance, he eventually settled on Motörhead, after a song he had written for Hawkwind. His stated aim was for the outfit to be “the dirtiest rock n’ roll band in the world”.
The name Motörhead was derived from a slang term for an amphetamine user. While the band are typically classified as heavy metal or speed metal, Kilmister has refused such labels, preferring to describe Motörhead’s style simply as “rock and roll.”
England, Newcastle, November 2008, Lemmy Kilmister, Phil Campbell and Mikkey Dee having a drink during a live show.
Motörhead’s lyrics cover topics such as war, good versus evil, abuse of power, promiscuous sex, substance abuse, and “life on the road”. Motörhead’s approach has remained the same over the band’s career and still does about 150 shows every year.
Pep Bonet documented their life on the road throughout the world.
Now that the series of epic and adventurous concerts are coming to an end, sounds of rock ‘n’ roll scream loud and heavy in cities like Zurich, Madrid and Los Angeles. It is a memorable occasion as Pep joins the band for their last weeks on the grungy road.
Motörhead is among the cornerstones in the world of rock ‘n’ roll. Since the 80s they have released twenty studio albums, seven live recordings, five compilation albums and five EPs. They are a power trio with steady success since the early days with successful singles in UKs Top 40 chart. As of 2012, Motörhead has sold more than 30 million albums worldwide.