Altering DNA: The song that changed how Duff McKagan heard music
Any rock legend usually has that one DNA-altering moment where everything changes. Everyone has their favourite that they love to crank up in their car, but these anthems had a chemical effect on people when they heard them for the first time, making them fully devoted to the genre for life. Duff McKagan may have had a far more eclectic taste in music than most of his peers on The Sunset Strip, but nothing could get in the way of him and rock and roll stardom once he heard Motörhead.
For anyone who’s ever listened to the roaring bass of Lemmy Kilmister, though, there’s something that activates in their mind. He was never trying to write the greatest songs, but what came out of albums like Overkill and Ace of Spades is the kind of music that speaks to the inner reptile inside of everyone, making them want to crank up their amplifiers and piss off their parents with how loud the music was.
But what is it about Lemmy’s rock and roll engine that could make people fawn over them so much? They never claimed to reinvent the wheel whenever they played, and most of the songs that they were writing followed the traditional rock and roll formula, so what made it special? Simple: it’s because they meant it.
From the minute Lemmy started the band from the ashes of the psychedelic outfit Hawkwind, his goal was to make the kind of music that excited him when he was a kid, from the manic sounds of the MC5 to the reckless abandon of Little Richard. He couldn’t have known that the world of hard rock was at his feet, but McKagan felt himself change when hearing ‘Ace of Spades’ for the first time.
Speaking with Louder about hearing the song, McKagan was purely transfixed by what he heard, saying, “When ‘Ace Of Spades’ came out on seven inch it was like, ‘Holy fuck!’ It showed us that there was a whole new direction we could go in. I don’t know any rocker for whom this song didn’t change their trajectory and perspective”.
Considering McKagan was born and bred in the punk rock tradition, the ingredients for the genre are all there as well. Lemmy always claimed that the band was just a rock band that happened to play incredibly loud, but really think about it. Loud guitars, gravelly vocals, and not giving a rat’s ass about what anyone says about you? Sounds like the beginnings of a punk band, doesn’t it?
Given how McKagan would use his bass going forward, it’s no wonder that he took a lot from how Lemmy approached his playing as well. Primarily a guitar player first, Lemmy always favoured chords before anything else, getting a crunchy sound to fill out the rest of the group whenever he played.
If you listen to the first Guns N’ Roses record, McKagan is practically doing the same thing, only putting a little more melodicism between the riffs, like the singalong bassline at the intro of ‘Sweet Child O’ Mine’. Lemmy might be one of the last role models most parents want their children to follow, but when you look at how he revolutionised rock, anything was possible if you followed his lead.
