In a recent interview with the Quietus, Motorhead frontman Lemmy Kilmister revealed how he got his start on bass. Though he was originally a guitar player, a chance opportunity came up with the band Hawkwind after their bassist no-showed.

”I was mediocre at guitar,” Lemmy explained. “I couldn’t play lead to save my life, or yours. I went for a job with Hawkwind as a guitar player but they didn’t need one. The bass player didn’t show up because it was a free gig, but like an idiot he left his bass in the gear van. It was like, ‘Please steal my gig,’ – so I stole his gig. They wanted me in the band, so when someone asked ‘Who plays bass?’ they said, ‘He does’… I’d never played bass in my life. But I must have done something right because I was with them for four and a half years. I found my instrument. I could really play and do something unique on it. Nobody can copy my style – it’s still unique.”

A documentary on the bassist, entitled Lemmy, is set for a U.S. theatrical release sometime mid-January, with a DVD and Blu-Ray release on February 15. The DVD release will span two discs and include four hours of bonus material.