It’s No Joke – Steel Panther’s Success Has Been Hard Won

For a little while, it was difficult to say whether Steel Panther was an overt parody of the 1980s hair metal movement, a tribute to that era, or somewhere in between. After more than 15 years, it’s safe to say that Steel Panther is really much more than a simple parody or tribute band.

Yes, they have somewhat exaggerated some of the components of the 1980s scene, which was not only dubbed hair metal, but also sleaze rock, with its mix of glam looks, suggestive lyrics laced and party-all-the-time antics. But anyone who grew up and followed that scene in real time, if they’re being honest, would say that in many instances Steel Panther is only a slight – very slight – exaggeration.

What has truly allowed the band to endure the slings and arrows of critics, build a huge and loyal fan base around the world, engender the respect of their contemporary peers and even many of the bands who were the progenitors of the 1980s hair metal scene, is the fact that Steel Panther is quartet of excellent musicians, songwriters and showman, who write music that is, admittedly deliberately suggestive and politically incorrect, but nonetheless compelling, catchy and well crafted.

“I don’t think you could be in Steel Panther and not have loved 1980s heavy metal. We all truly love that music, and it’s the only reason why we can do what we do because if we were just actually making fun of the genre we would be hokey, and we wouldn’t have lasted. But if you go back, if you were really in a band back then, you knew what it was really like to have a stripper support you, and I am not even making a joke. You know what it was f***ing like to have six people at your shows and then you also know what it was like to have throngs of people loving and getting off on what you did. And we celebrate that time because it was such a f***ing great time; such a party. And we don’t want the party to stop. We are here to f***ing rock,” said Steel Panther’s drummer Stix Zadinia, real name Darren Leader.

“We have been hammering away so hard that I think we have broken down most of the people who were initially on our case. In the beginning there were so many people who were saying, ‘you can’t do heavy metal and smile at the same time. It’s not f***ing cool.’ But there were also a lot of people who supported what we were doing. But my thinking is that you don’t have to like it and I understand – not everybody likes everything and I get that wholeheartedly. But you cannot say that the band sucks because we just f***ing don’t. After all these years, it’s kind of funny because we like to have a good time and so do the fans, and if you hate on us, then you just come off as kind of douchy now.

“If we didn’t play our instruments well, if the show was really mediocre and if the songs are crappy, it wouldn’t have any f***ing legs. But because we’re all actual good players and we represent what rock and roll is all about – entertainment and an escape – you listen to it, or come to the shows and it takes you away from your regular shit. There’s metal music that makes you angry and escape and there’s metal music that makes you want to have sex and escape that way. Whatever it is for you, that’s pretty much the purpose of rock and roll.”

Steel Panther’s formative years were on the Sunset Strip in Los Angeles when the future Stix got together with eventual bandmates Ralph Saenz (vocalist Michael Starr), bassist Travis Haley (aka Lexxi Foxx) and guitarist Russ Parrish (Satchel). The band initially did covers 1980s hair metal bands and some of the members were also part of a Van Halen tribute act.

The band’s reputation for over the top showmanship and their outrageous look garnered them increasing mainstream media attention in the early 2000s, including appearances in a Discover Card commercial, on the Drew Carey Show, on Gene Simmons Family Jewels and the dramatic series Las Vegas.

Up until that point, around 2007, they were known as Metal Skool. In 2008 they became Steel Panther and went into the studio to record their first album under the new moniker, Feel the Steel, which came out in 2009. As Metal Skool they released an independent album called Hole Patrol in 2003. Balls Out would follow in 2011 and All You Can Eat in 2014.

Steel Panther’s latest album, Lower the Bar, came out earlier this year. The band is currently on tour in support of the album and will be coming to Toronto to Rebel on Dec. 6 after dates in the U.S. southwest and west coast.

Stix said Steel Panther is not really as contrived as one may suspect, especially when it comes to the songwriting.

“We’re one of the most organic bands you will ever meet. We are one of those bands where we write all our own songs and we do it the same way every other band who writes their own stuff does. And we are genuine players, we are genuinely friends, we are genuine business partners, we are the genuine owners of the band and everything we do is legit and authentic. When you put a band together, no matter who you are, even the Beatles, you go ‘hey we’re all like-minded musicians and these are the kinds of songs that we came up with together.’ We’re like that, man. We hope people like them and we hope people dig the product that we’re putting out there, both on record and on stage. Every band is like that which means every band is a little contrived to a certain degree,” he explained.

“We’re very organic in most of the things we do. There wasn’t a lot of pre-planning or trying to guess what people wanted. This is just what happened when we get together, and I think people get that we’re not bullshitting them. Nobody wants to feel like they’re getting taken for a ride, and I think what we provide is legitimate happiness. And, at the end of the day, it really comes down to the songs. If your songs aren’t killer, you don’t have a band, you have four guys who look the way we look and that’s it. The songs have to be great.”

Even though in some circles Steel Panther is still classified as a parody band, there is no doubt that the band is all about having fun and being entertaining as only the best bands of the 1980s hair metal scene could be. But that being said, as Stix has already alluded to, they take their music, their stage show and giving fans value for their dollar very seriously.

“I like to say that we are dead f***ing serious about not being dead f***ing serious. When it comes time to put the set list together, when it comes time to put the show on, it’s f***ing go time. It’s important to us to make sure that everybody who has spent anywhere from a dime to $100 on us gets their money’s worth. There’s no substitute for giving them that experience. You can’t just tell them, ‘aww we had a shitty show, so suck our dicks.’ You want people to keep enjoying what you do, so all you have is your reputation. We’re deadly serious about rockin’. We get paid to throw down and it’s a good job.”

Steel Panther’s fan base is pretty wide. It’s not just fans who are reliving the 1980s vicariously through the band members and their bacchanalian demeanour on and off stage.

“We have the 45 to 50 year olds who were there during that era, but don’t have any current bands leading the charge, although they do have some of the bands from then that are still around like Ratt and Dokken. That was their shit, so now there’s Steel Panther which is actually a current band doing that style of music. But then you have 18 and even 16-year-old kids coming to the shows and we are their band because we are not politically correct. We say the shit people would like to be able to say publically but can’t because we’re in such a kooky time,” Stix said.

“We don’t give a f***, we just say it. We like to party and we are not ashamed of it. We love pussy and we’re not ashamed of it. So we say those things directly and I think that represents a refreshing outlook for a lot of the younger kids and a lot of the people who went through it the first time. They’re like ‘f*** yeah, that’s my jam.’”

While many within the rock and roll world ‘get’ Steel Panther, with Slipknot/Stone Sour frontman Corey Taylor being a particularly fervent fan, not everyone was as friendly and accommodating, according to Stix. One of the biggest bands of the hair metal era, and one of the biggest hard rock bands of any era, Motley Crue, wasn’t particularly enamoured of Steel Panther’s take on the 1980s.

“Tommy Lee and Nikki Sixx did not like it when we went on tour with them in 2011. And that was the only time that we really felt unwelcome. The thing with those guys is I think they thought we were actually making fun of them directly. And I just gotta chalk that up to their egos being too big, because nothing that we do has anything to do with them directly. But we ended up doing the tour and it went off great and everything was totally fine,” he said, adding that it was a European tour and that Def Leppard was actually the top billed band on the jaunt.

“Leppard was fully supportive of it. They were amazing dudes and I am not kidding you that on the first day of the tour they knew every single one of our names. And when you’re Def Leppard you don’t have to do that. It’s just a testament to the kind of dudes those guys are, all of them. They and their crew were very, very generous. And I think we’re very accepted now. I mean, Judas Priest took us on tour with them and now we’re out with Stone Sour, which is a heavy band that is taken pretty seriously. We have worked to become sort of a rock and roll staple. Corey is a huge fan and all those guys in Stone Sour are super cool. If a dude like Corey Taylor, who is in Slipknot and Stone Sour can appreciate what Steel Panther does, then I think even the most hardcore metal fan should at least give it a shot. We may not be your cup of tea, but you can’t just write us off before you’ve given us a fair shake.”

For more information on Steel Panther and the band’s ongoing tour, visit http://steelpantherrocks.com.

• Jim Barber is a veteran award-winning journalist and author based in Napanee, ON, who has been writing about music and musicians for a quarter of a century. Besides his journalistic endeavours, he now works as a communications and marketing specialist. Contact him at jimbarberwritingservices@gmail.com.

 

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