Cover Story: Steel Panther • Can’t Stop The Rock
Steel Panther
When it comes to Steel Panther, no subject matter is off-limits.
The Los Angeles “hair metal” revivalists don’t hold back — or sugarcoat anything — when creating the band’s humorous, tongue-in-cheek lyrics. Tracks such as “Asian Hooker,” “Fat Girl (Thar She Blows),” “Big Boobs,” “Weenie Ride,” “Glory Hole,” and many more prove that the band has no filter when it comes to their song lyrics.
Featuring vocalist Michael Starr, guitarist Satchel, drummer Stix Zadinia, and new bassist Spyder, Steel Panther’s parody of the ’80s metal style has gloriously entertained fans for almost a quarter of a century. The band has won over a massive International fan base and is on the path to becoming one of the “Biggest rock ’n’ roll bands in the World” (to quote the band itself). The band members themselves are moronic-yet-lovable lunkheads… and that’s precisely what their fans expect from them.
Steel Panther’s overt raunchiness displays no fear of saying anything, while also not conforming or curtailing their lyrics to get radio air play—not that they need it anyway. In light of the #MeToo movement and this current “cancel culture” scene, Steel Panther doesn’t censor their behavior for people who don’t get their humor. That’s the beauty of Steel Panther’s shtick. “I seriously believe that because we started doing what we do before the silly “Karen” BS, I feel like we’re sort of grandfathered in,” Stix says with a chuckle during a recent phone interview while playing a round of golf. “We have a pass from most of the rock world, and maybe we fly under the radar just enough not to hit popular culture. But it’s pretty great because we don’t have to play within any boundaries.”
According to Stix, you can say whatever you want in Steel Panther land — which is as un-politically correct as possible. “We do what makes us feel good; we do what makes us laugh. You can be how you want, look how you want, and act how you want. (As long as you) don’t hurt other people, you can say all sorts of weird stuff, and we’re cool with it.”
IN THE BEGINNING
Formed as Metal Shop in 2000 with a name change to Metal Skool, then finally settling on Steel Panther in 2008, the quartet became massively popular and began getting name recognition on the Los Angeles Sunset Strip by continuously selling out landmark clubs such as the Roxy, the Viper Room, and the Key Club, in which they held down a Monday night residency for years by playing ’80s cover tunes. Ray Luzier (Korn, ex-David Lee Roth, KXM) became the drummer shortly after Metal Shop formed and remained with the band for six years until his David Lee Roth touring schedule interfered. “They were jamming at the Viper Room with Ray in the band, and he was doing some really cool stuff,” Stix remembers. “Then Ray got busy, and I seemed to fit in, and it’s been this way since 2003. I was friends with all those guys, and we all played in similar circles, and we all played around the Sunset Strip. I was aware of them, and I used to go to the show, and it just so happened that the way the stars aligned, I became the drummer.”
In 2003, still under the moniker of Metal Shop, the band released its first EP called Hole Patrol. After Steel Panther’s successful residencies, the band opened for many legendary bands before becoming headliners themselves. Supporting bands such as Mötley Crüe, Def Leppard, Judas Priest, ZZ Top, KISS, and Guns N’ Roses were great stepping stones in Steel Panther’s nascent career. With the band’s first headlining tour in the States commencing in 2014, Steel Panther has never looked back while turning the stages into one big raunchy party. “We have done what we have set out to do, which was we wanted to become an international touring band that was able to sustain our lives through playing killer songs,” Stix confesses. “And to have achieved that… I wake up, and I feel lucky every day that I get to rock and be in Steel Panther. There’s only one drummer job in Steel Panther in the world, and it’s mine. It is never lost on me.”
As Stix informs me, whatever success Steel Panther has earned thus far, they did it the right way by paying their dues. “I love that we did it the hard way,” he says. “We did it through the worker man’s way. Nobody’s daddy worked in a record company. To have toured with the bands we’ve toured with and done what we’ve done so far—since we’re not even close to being done—I feel super stoked about it.”
HAIR METAL REVIVAL
Technically, the hair metal revival began somewhere in the late 1990s/early 2000s, and Steel Panther were one of the frontrunners of this new movement. The band needed to bring back that ’80s metal essence by making this oft-maligned genre interesting again. Signing with Universal Records for their 2009 debut full-length album Feel the Steel was a sign of good things to come for the band. Steel Panther wasn’t just a part of the revival. Still, they almost single-handedly spearheaded the whole interest in the genre again and gained heaps of praise from well-known celebrities and established metal musicians such as Scott Ian of Anthrax, who stated that what Steel Panther are doing is awesome.
In addition, modern hair metal bands such as Reckless Love, Crazy Lixx, Hardcore Superstar, Santa Cruz, and Crashdiet, among others, have helped the scene climb well into the 21st Century. “I’m gonna be bold right here; we were at the tip of the spear for the revival,” Stix states. “We’re not part of the original, because that was the Mötley Crües and the Def Leppards — and they did it amazingly. Long after heavy metal had sort of died, we were basically the only band out there. I mean, there were heavy metal bands—the Warrants and the Whitesnakes—but it got a little quiet, and there was this new music that came in.”
When the Nirvanas, the Soundgarden, Alice in Chains, and the Pearl Jams took over the music world in the early ’90s with their new brand of music called Grunge, the ’80s metal scene was virtually wiped out. However, Steel Panther took their chances. “When alternative and grunge became very popular and heavy metal kind of went down for a while, we never veered off (our path),” Stix says. “We stayed super active, and the residencies drew in celebrities. Then, the people would come to see us; they’d come to see what kind of craziness was happening on stage in Hollywood. I think that because of the time our weekly shows occurred and all the other things, I feel like we were part of the revival. Not the whole reason—because the genre is the reason—but I think that we contributed to it.”
SHOT OF ROCK
With the band’s comedy aspect sometimes overshadows the band’s musicality, where their image and funny parody lyrics get more recognition than the tight precision metal that they are performing. In fact, *Feel the Steel* debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Comedy chart and only peaked at No. 98 on the Billboard 200 chart. Thus, many people were under the impression that Steel Panther were nothing but a “joke band.” Steel Panther songs may poke fun at the ’80s glam/hair metal genre, but the band members are seasoned musicians who take their music seriously. “I don’t really care if you take us seriously or if you take us as a joke or however you take it… as long as you take it,” Stix admits. “I play rock and roll drums. Let’s look at any drummer in any band… let’s take Tommy Lee, or we can take Tommy Aldridge. They’re going to want you to listen to their band no matter what. Even if you’re like, ‘Ooh, I love the costumes, and look how flashy it is. And look at the big boobs.’ They don’t care. They’re not out there going, ‘Oh man, I really want you guys to think that I’m super awesome.’ No, it’s about the band; it’s about the collective. It doesn’t matter how people enjoy you. As long as they enjoy it, I’m cool with it. And for those people that think we are a joke band, it doesn’t matter to me.”
As the band has gotten older and has become more popular, they can afford the luxury of touring a little bit less and resting their old bones during the downtime. For a band that used to be out on the road for nine to 11 months out of the year, they now tour about six to seven months, which allows Steel Panther to pay more attention to putting on a high-energy show.
ON THE PROWL
While on tour, Steel Panther let the rockin’ do the talkin’.’ A Steel Panther live show is a brilliant, non-stop raunchfest and stand-up comedy show all rolled into one. The band’s signature songs such as “Eyes of A Panther” and “Death to All But Metal” wildly energize the crowd, while massive singalong anthems such as “Eatin’ Ain’t Cheatin,’” “Hell’s On Fire” and “Party All Day (Fuck All Night)” guarantees ample crowd participation. The band’s live setlist also usually consists of the catchy power ballads “Oklahoma Girl” and “Community Property,” which are massive fan favorites.
The band’s current US tour begins on Nov. 20 in Huntington, NY, and ends on Dec. 20 in Orlando, Fla., with an in-between stop in Chicago on Nov. 26 at the House of Blues and The Rave in Milwaukee on December 1. There are two things that Stix and the band like most about playing in Chicago… “Your pizza and your women,” he exclaims. “I think Chicago’s got some really good-looking girls, and you guys make great deep-dish pizza. Those are the two things… besides the rocking crowds! And that House of Blues is really… I love that House of Blues. It’s obviously beautiful. Every time we go to Chicago, it’s usually sold out and amazing. It’s an amazing place to play rock and roll.”
In 2021, original Steel Panther bassist Lexxi Foxx left the band permanently and joined the “smashup” band Hollywood Gods N’ Monsters shortly after. However, before his exit, current bassist Spyder — who was the acting tour manager of Steel Panther at the time — stepped up to fill in for Lexxi in 2018 for a few shows before becoming a permanent member. In fact, Spyder’s first fill-in show with Steel Panther happened to be in Chicago at the House of Blues. “Lexxi had to go do what Lexxi had to do—that’s the long and short of it,” Stix says about the former bassist’s departure. “In any band, it’s like a marriage. It’s like I’m married to three middle-aged dudes, and everybody’s got their own kind of life lane that they want to walk down. And I think Lexxi just thought it was time for him to go. So we got Spyder. We’ve known Spyder since the nineties, and it just made sense. He’s an amazing bass player, a killer dude, and it’s been fantastic.”
Steel Panther’s last album, 2023’s On the Prowl, continues the band’s high-powered humorous dynamic with memorable gems such as “Never Too Late (To Get Some Pussy Tonight),” “Friends With Benefits,” and “Is My Dick Enough.” Although *On the Prowl* might not warrant the same success the band’s first two albums achieved, Steel Panther is as strong as ever in 2024. Although Stix promises a new Steel Panther album soon, he can’t predict when that will happen. “We have a couple of projects in the works; I don’t want to divulge exactly what they are, but they’re going to be really exciting for our fans,” he says. “We’ll be putting some stuff out there to tour behind and get behind, and I think people will totally appreciate what we’re doing. It’s an exciting time to be in Steel Panther as far as new stuff goes. We’re always writing and always working on stuff. There will be a new record; I just don’t know when.”
As the band awaits the first date of this upcoming tour, Stix — an avid golfer and fisherman —is taking it easy during the time off. However, as our interview began to wrap up, the Steel Panther drummer had some last words for our readers. “We’ll be getting ready to go crush it for people who want to come buy tickets. I feel like anybody reading this, if you wanna have a great time and you don’t wanna miss the party, get tickets to the House of Blues for sure!”
-Kelley Simms
Appearing 11/26 House of Blues; 12/1 The Rave, Milwaukee.
Category: Cover Story, Featured, Monthly
