MÖTLEY CRÜE's TOMMY LEE: 'I'm A Pretty Easygoing Motherf**ker'

Scott Kara of The New Zealand Herald recently conducted an interview with MÖTLEY CRÜE drummer Tommy Lee. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

The New Zealand Herald: How do classic songs like "Too Fast For Love", "Girls Girls Girls" and "Kickstart My Heart" stack up for you these days?

Tommy: They still — in fact, maybe not so much the earlier ones, but later on, as we refined what we were after — have stood the test of time. Songs like "Kickstart My Heart" and "Dr. Feelgood". After you've been in the studio, you tour and see the fans and play it live. I think it probably took us about an album or two for us to figure out what worked and what didn't work — and the sound that we were looking for and what we wanted to say. So I would say by the time we hit [the album] "Dr. Feelgood" [which also had "Kickstart My Heart" on it], we were right on point. That was when we knew exactly what the fuck we were doing. And there was lots of experimentation along the way, which I loved.

The New Zealand Herald: There has been much said about you being a bad boy over the years. So what is the real Tommy Lee like?

Tommy: People tend to grab things that make more interesting reading. But you know, yeah, I've had a few speedbumps in my life. And when you say "bad boy," yeah, I like to have fun, but I'm not a bad person. Sometimes, I guess, the only thing that bothers me is that it overshadows my musical talent. But other than that dude, I'm a pretty easygoing motherfucker.

The New Zealand Herald: So what does music mean to you now, and how has that changed over the years from "Too Fast For Love" through to the music you are making now?

Tommy: Jesus, I was 17 years old when I recorded "Too Fast For Love", and that's about as green as you can get. We didn't know what the hell we were doing in the studio. I guess I can explain it kind of like the first time a guy kisses a girl and he doesn't have a fucking clue what he's doing. He knows he wants to do it and he makes mistakes, but once you grow up and mature a bit, and you are influenced by other stuff and other kinds of music. When I was 17, I was inspired by completely different things than I am now. So your inspiration changes, your style changes, your life changes, and everything is constantly moving. So for me, I've just always tried to do what moves me. Is it moving me? Is it making me crazy? Is it making me want to jump up and down. Do I feel like smashing something, or dance, or fight, or laugh, or whatever.

Read the entire interview from The New Zealand Herald.