In a brand new interview with Audio Ink Radio Podcast, Steel Panther drummer Stix Zadinia talked about the band’s much anticipated forthcoming album titled Heavy Metal Rules and how the album will definitely stir up emotions in the “PC Police”.
Asked if he thinks that the band’s musicianship “gets overshadowed because everybody is into the larger-than-life stage show,” Stix replied (transcribed by Ultimate Guitar):
“You know, that’s a really good question. Maybe, but with this record, when people hear this record, I think that they’re going to hear what you’re hearing on it.”I think this record, I suppose the last couple of records, it is more technical and there are some actual hard parts to play on this record. I think what people don’t realize this: we’re musicians first.”We all started playing our instruments when we were kids, and we’ve come together, and when you are in a band like Steel Panther, the stage show and the live show is so bombastic and big and crazy, maybe it can get overlooked, but I don’t think it will be overlooked when people do end up hearing this record.”
AIRP: Congrats on the new record on the way, ‘Heavy Metal Rules.’ I think the title says it all, it’s an awesome title. Why did you name the album Heavy Metal Rules?
“The title of the album is important to us, and we’ve been saying, ‘Heavy metal rules’ for 30 years. And when somebody said, I can’t remember who it was, ‘Why don’t we call it Heavy Metal Rules?’, it was, like, it was right in front of us the whole time.
“And I can’t believe that we have not called an earlier album Heavy Metal Rules. It feels appropriate this time. We’ve been saying it, so now we’ve permanently etched it in, and I’m really proud of that.”
What are you most excited about when it comes to releasing Heavy Metal Rules?
“For people to hear, like, the nine songs… There’s no filler on this record, there’s no, like, 14-15 songs where three of them or four of them are just, like, fast-forward, skip, skip, skip. I don’t feel like there’s any skippage on this record, I feel like it’s time for a record like this, especially because of all the PC police out there, and I think that this one is gonna feel sharper to people who are super sensitive.
“But we haven’t changed what we’ve done, I think the culture got more sensitive and it’s going to feel, you’re going to go, ‘You can’t say that.'”
How would you describe the writing process for Heavy Metal Rules? Was it different from what you guys have done in the past?
“No, actually. Every band does stuff a little bit differently, and we kind of always have the same MO when it comes to writing. There’s never a deliberate time to go, ‘Okay, now let’s create.’ We are always constantly writing, [guitarist] Satchel is our main songwriter, he always comes up with ideas, I come up with ideas, I’m sending them to him…
“It can start anywhere from being on the road to somebody just going, ‘Oh my god, I just wrote a song,’ or, ‘Hey, we should write a song called this,’ or it’s a riff, it’s an e-mail… we’re always writing, so for us, the process didn’t change, it’s just always going.”
You guys are touring with Heavy Metal Rules and Steel Panther is known as a great live band. How important is the live show to Steel Panther’s success?
“I think that that’s why we’ve been able to have a career. People don’t sell albums anymore – it doesn’t happen, you have all the streaming and nobody wants to buy something that you can get for essentially free.
“If your live show is not killer, people aren’t gonna come back, they’re not gonna come see you the next time. So, to us, it’s crucial that we kill live. We came up playing six and seven nights a week regularly, weekly shows, so going out and playing live and performing, that’s what we do.
“We also have to put records out, so I think as opposed to bands that put records out and then they go to play live to support it because they have to, we go play live and then we put records out also.”
Aside from Steel Panther, who do you think is the most influential hair metal band of all time?
“Oh god, Winger. I think Winger. I mean, maybe they’re not everyone’s most influential band, but definitely mine. I think they were one of those underrated bands because Kip Winger always had a five o’clock shadow, like, that got more attention than his songs.
“If you really listen to a song, they’re not, they’re not easy to play. So for me, maybe Winger would be the answer to ‘Who’s the most underrated hair-metal band?’.”Who’s the most influential hair-metal band? Hold up, I’ll tell you… Probably Def Leppard. They set the bar and they changed the bar, and then they changed the bar again.”
What are your thoughts on the state of rock and metal music?
“I don’t think rock ‘n’ roll is dead, I mean, like, the other musicians we’re out there at the festivals and we’re out there playing, people are buying tickets, they’re coming to the show.
“And I think that rock ‘n’ roll album sales might be dead, people don’t sell those records, but people want to come and have a good time. They want to have that escape and they’re coming to shows and they’re into it and I think as long as you keep putting good records out and good music and good songs, it will stay alive and it will survive.”
