STEEL PANTHER have left sex rehab to make their new record.
In a post - #MeToo world, have the guys changed their sleazy ways? No
THE WORLD AROUND Steel Panther has changed a lot since 2017’s
Lower The Bar, but have our beloved debauched glam metal legends adapted with it? We caught up with axeman Satchel to find out if their fifth studio venture is fully 2019-proof after a challenging few months for the members… and their members.
How’s this year been for the Steel Panther guys so far?
“It’s been rougher than most years because our bass player Lexxi [Foxx] went into sex rehab. He’s a sex addict and I didn’t think that was a thing, I thought it was just an excuse to have sex all the time. He started attaching electrical nodes to his balls and it got wacky, but he’s OK now. Our singer also had a node shaved off his vocal cords earlier in the year so we had to reschedule some shows, which made it take a little longer to record the new album. The good news is nobody’s died and those guys are still in the band. The good thing for me is they work for cheap, $150 a week, so that means I can buy more cocaine for myself.”
How ready is the next Steel Panther record?
“We’re almost done with it, we have a couple more vocals to finish up and we’ve already begun mixing. If you’re into Steel Panther, you’re gonna be into this record. I think it’s gonna be one of our best records, I think all of our records are great but that’s probably because I’m in Steel Panther. There’s even a couple of songs in there that were due to go on the last record but didn’t make it – just when I think I can’t write another song about sex, it seems to flow out of me.”
If this new album was a woman, what would she be like?
“She would be very slutty with lipstick smeared across her face, she would be stumbling off our tourbus with one of her shoes off and her panties hanging around her ankles… pretty much like every other Steel Panther record.”
Is it going to be a jam-packed record? “There aren’t a lot of songs – there’s about nine tracks but they’ll all kickass. I feel albums with 14-15 songs can be a lot for people to listen to, so we’re not doing that this time. A lot of kickass albums when I was a kid were shorter – Van Halen’s 1984 and Boston’s first record didn’t feel short, they felt like great records.” How much lower can the bar get after Lower The Bar?
“It can only get lower, trust me. We’re in an age where nobody buys records anyway, we never make money off records so it truly is a labour of love. We only make money by selling cocaine and shirts, so we could stop releasing records and we’d still draw crowds because we’re the greatest live band out there, I don’t care what anybody else says. Every record feels like a gift to the fans who love us and it’s one more way to spread the word of Steel Panther because, let’s face it, we’re never gonna be on the fucking radio. When people hear our records, they think, ‘Fuck, I’ve really got to see this band live because they’re gonna fuck my mom.’”
Has the #MeToo movement changed the band’s songwriting approach?
“I don’t really give a fuck. There’s a bunch of people out there who feel like I do – if I say something that offends you, don’t listen. For us, all this political correctness has shown that a lot of people want to say whatever they want and laugh about it. Our Pussy Melter foot pedal is about those people who want to shut you up because they’re offended by what you say. If people don’t want to hear it, they’re welcome not to come to our shows, and the people that do are my kind of people and I can’t wait to meet them!”
THE NEW STEEL PANTHER ALBUM IS OUT LATER THIS YEAR