Shel Shock, bassist and vocalist with Canadian sleaze-rock troublemakers Powerlöad, told us about his love for a Lemmy line...
Shel Shock: When I was a kid, I used to listen to a lot of hair, metal, and thrash. I got a copy of Metal Hammer that had a DVD of performance videos with it, and it included the song “Killers” by Motörhead from their Stage Fright release.
I was completely hard. No other bands mattered after I saw that. It was so aggressive and punchy. Not to mention all the other bands on the DVD sucked. But I digress, this is not the bassline that blew me away. After I dived deep into Motörhead’s catalogue, I discovered the Jon Peel BBC sessions. In particular, “I’ll Be Your Sister” from those recordings had the most savage, raw, mean bassline I’ve ever heard. The classic era lineup was always a better live band than a recording band, and this was the proof, along with No Sleep ‘til Hammersmith.
When I decided to play bass for Powerlöad, that baseline was my immediate inspiration for my sound being in a three-piece. Honorable mention and as stupid people may find this, the recording of “Louie, Louie” on those BBC tracks as well is off the chain. Lemmy dialed his bass tone back for the first half of the song and then kicks in with his classic MH tone and it hits like a ton of bricks.
Powerlöad's single "Drunk in a Taxi Cab" is out now. The album In the Pocket is out at the end of June.
Photo Credit: STUDIO VON PHOTOGRAPHY
