Debauchery & Glamour With Steel Panther

Hide your daughters (or at least buy them a big box of condoms) and get out the hairspray, Steel Panther is blowing through town this weekend like a tornado on steroids! For the uninitiated, Steel Panther is a heavy metal parody band that was formed in 2000 and consists of band members Michael Starr (lead singer), Satchel (guitarist), Lexxi Foxx (bass) and Stix Zadinia (drums). Steel Panther recently wrapped their "Well Hungover" North American headlining tour and started a new residency at the famed Fonda Theatre in Los Angeles on January 7^th and House of Blues Las Vegas on January 8^th. This was after closing the famed House Of Blues in West Hollywood last August, where they ended a 5 year residency, the longest in Los Angeles musical history. Last year, the band also sold out headlining tours in the U.K. and South America. 

Hailing from Los Angeles, the epicenter for rock n’ roll in all its debauchery and glamour, Steel Panther have established themselves as the premier party band, melding hard rock virtuosity with parody and criminally good looks. With three full-length albums, a decade of sold-out residencies, worldwide touring, platinum-level YouTube status and high-profile television appearances on show such as Dancing With The Stars and FOX NFL Sunday, the band is still touring in support of their latest effort, All You Can Eat (Open E Records via Kobalt Label Services), which dropped in April of 2014 to rave reviews. The album bowed at #24 on the Billboard Top 200 Album chart; garnering the band their third consecutive #1 album on the Top Current Comedy chart. 

FINE Magazine got a chance to have an explicit (and not for those underage or sensitive!) chat with drummer Stix Zadinia (with the occasional anecdote from guitarist Satchel) about Steel Panther's current tour, sexual escapades, and excessive hairspray usage.

FM: How was your opening weekend at the House Of Blues in Vegas? 

Stix: Weekend was good man. I don’t remember a lot of it, which means it was good.

FM: That’s a great thing, and then from there you guys bounced up to Idaho?

Stix: Yeah, we were off to Boise. It was killer, it was our first headline show there, and it went off. It was great.

FM: Now you’re coming back to The Fonda Theatre [In Los Angeles} and down here to San Diego on the 23rd.

Stix: Yes, I’m excited!

FM: Did the title of Steel Panther’s third full-length album All You Can Eat, really come from a dream?

Satchel: Believe it or not, the title came from a girl that I was having sex. She fell asleep next to me on the tour bus. She woke up and told me she had a dream that we called the album, All You Can Eat. She was really hot, and she had great breasts. I decided I was going to steal the title from her and not tell her. I kicked her off the bus. She can’t do jack about it. She’s probably living in a trailer park somewhere. It’s a great title though.

FM: The new Steel Panther DVD comes out next month, Live from Lexxi’s Mom’s Garage. You did this one totally unplugged and acoustic?

Stix: It’s funny, I see a few things on the internet… a lot of people [are saying] "Oh, that’s a lot of old stuff, give us something new." And I’m like, "Dude, it is new. We’re not using an electric guitar." For the acoustic set, we called up 4 of the hottest chicks we knew with violins and cellos, and we told them to come down and play some music with us. 

FM: Steel Panther is going to be on the Kid Rock Cruise coming up in March?

Stix: Yeah, unless one of us dies.

FM: I’m sure it will be interesting because you’re on a boat. I know Nikki Lane is on that cruise, and she has come out with a whole mess of hot songs about hittin’ it and leavin’ it. But how do you do that on a boat?

Stix: Well you’ve got to keep your eyes popping and your head on swivel. If you nail a girl on a boat, you’ve got to look around the hallways because you just don’t want to see her afterwards.

FM: You take off this summer for Europe. It looks like you’re going to Germany and Spain?

Stix: Yeah, we’ve got Germany and Spain, and I’m excited, dude. It’s Panther time. I think the world is ready for another dose of Steel Panther.

FM: Do you have to get some sort of special medical check-ups or something before you guys go overseas?

Stix: No, we try to stay away from the doctors as much as possible. We carry our own penicillin—actually, I think we’ll be coming out with our own line of penicillin [laughs]. We’re all about self-medication.

FM: David Bowie's recent death hit a lot of people hard. How big an influence was David Bowie on you guys? I know he did some crazy things all over the map.

Stix: No matter what kind of band you are—whether you’re Steel Panthers, Neil Diamond, or Barbra Streisand—if you didn’t like Bowie, you’re a dick, because that guy was amazing. He changed the game. He was not afraid to do anything musically. He wrote insane songs; he was awesome. 

FM: I’ve got a couple of questions here from some of our readers, they have some great interest in you. One of them is, on a typical tour, how many cases of hairspray do you go through.

Stix: A case has 24 bottles of hairspray, so we usually go through about 4 or 5 cases. You know, that’s in a 3 week period. [If we run out], we’ll send somebody out for more, but usually we have a direct relationship with Aquanet. Aquanet is the brand for Steel Panthers.

FM: The other question we have is do you ever have any issues with your hair getting stuck in a groupie’s braces during oral sex?

Stix: Not me. But I can tell you that Lexxi Fox is not afraid to get down with chicks with braces, and you can take that for what it is. Also keep in mind that he’s pretty hairy downtown, so there’s been a couple of occasions of braces and hair not mixing so well. 

FM: Steel Panther is rolling in to San Diego on the 23rd, and we’re looking forward to seeing you. Which of your favorite songs are you planning on playing for us down here?

Stix: We’re planning on playing hits, like "Just Like Tiger Woods," "Death to All but Metal," "Gloryhole," "Community Property," and "Party All Day." I’m just listing them for you now!

FM: Where’s the best place you can go to and find the time to write all these slamming songs?

Satchel: I do a lot of my writing while I’m taking a dump or I’m in the shower. I’ll jump in the shower once a week, and it happens. I write it down. Lyrics will be written on a chick’s back while I’m having sex with her. Then, everybody does his own thing to the song—or the chick—and the song is great. The music really writes itself. You just let the Lord speak through you.

FM: Any last little statements you want to tell us?

Stix: We’re working on new songs for a brand new full-length record. I don’t have a date [for it to drop] yet, but we’re actively working on it now, and it’s going to be special.

If you were too young and never had a chance to live through the insanely fun period of 80’s glam rock, or even if you want to relive it for a night, then Steel Panther is not to be missed! With shredding licks and wicked lyrics that embrace the sex, drugs, and rock 'n roll lifestyle, then Steel Panther is for you (did we mention this concert will inevitably be a smokin’ babe fest?). Steel Panther is more of an event than any usual show that rolls through for a one night stand – this is a one night stand you’ll be talking about for years to come.

With a new release next month, followed by a week on a cruise ship in March, and finishing a brief US tour before heading off to Europe, Steel Panther offers superb musicianship while simultaneously being hilarious and irreverent entertainment the world can’t get enough of.

For pre-order sales of the upcoming release of Live From Lexxi’s Mom’s Garage, or to get tickets for upcoming events, go to the Steel Panther website.  Steel Panther will be at the House Of Blues on Saturday January 23^rd; tickets are going fast, so don’t lag!

Now, as a special treat, we have a recently released sneak peek from Live From Lexxi's Mom's Garage. Check it out!