In the world of rock n‘ roll you’d be hard-pressed to find a man more dedicated to his craft than Steel Panther’s Lexxi Foxx.
The bassist’s commitment to his hairspray and passion for his lipstick and eyeliner is second to none.
Foxx is looking forward to their upcoming Australian tour – the band’s second string of headline gigs in just over a year. But his enthusiasm wanes a bit when he hears the bad news: several Australian states are planning to ban tanning salons.
Foxx, who has always said he would have worked in a tanning salon had he not been a musician, is obviously outraged. “Shut the fuck up! Are you kidding me?”
After taking a moment to recover from the shocking news, the flamboyant musician starts planning how to keep his tan when he arrives Down Under. “I’m glad you told me that! I have to chuck another bag because I got some cans of spray tan that I have to bring now. I’m going to have to bring a buttload of that stuff.”
During their headlining tour last year, Steel Panther kickstarted a revival of 80s rock music in Australia. Their diehard ‘fanthers’ went to the shows dressed in wigs and fake tattoo sleeves.
Does Foxx think wigs & tattoo sleeves are rock n’ roll or fake? “I think it’s cool because it’s bringing heavy metal back. It’s badass if people dress up because the era we’re paying homage to is such a badass era. The 80s were the coolest, man! If people come dressed up that makes me so happy and it makes me feel like we’ve done our job.”
“I have explored the bottom two strings a bit!”The guys from Steel Panther have always been candid about the fact that their bass player mainly joined the band because of his looks. When asked to choose between his music or looking good, Foxx doesn’t doubt his answer for a nanosecond.
“Trying to look bitchin’ is my number one thing. That’s why it’s so good playing the bass guitar, since you rarely have to use more than one finger at the same time. That way I can still hold my hair up.”
The dashing glam-rocker is happy to share one of his diet tips for staying so bitchingly lean. “I like those drugs that make you feel good on the inside & look good on the outside.”
But even for Foxx there are limits to his excess.
“I would never mess with heroin or any of the dark drugs like that. I also wouldn’t mess with doing speed because I don’t want to walk everywhere and be all over the place. I just want to chill.”
Throughout the last few years Steel Panther’s guitarist Satchel has been trying to teach his fellow string-man how to play his instrument. During the recording of their upcoming album All You Can Eat, Foxx has even started to discover a world beyond the top two strings.
“I have explored the bottom two strings a bit! On this next record, Satchel challenged me and pulled my fingers to different strings. He made them go faster and made them do all kinds of weird things.”
In past interviews Satchel often claimed that he recorded all the bass lines for the first two albums, but Foxx is convinced he played all the bass tracks himself on All You Can Eat.
“The other guys would stay back, and then every morning when I got back to the studio it sounded completely different to the previous day. I don’t know what they did, but it always sounded a lot better.”
Being the shred-master that he is, Satchel has an endorsement deal with Kramer Guitars. But why hasn’t Foxx got an endorsement deal yet?
“Funny you say that. We’re working on that right now. We’re looking at a deal for me with something like Revlon or possibly [American hairspray brand] Aqua Net. Nobody is buying Aqua Net anymore, but I could make them so much money if they would just endorse me! So many people see me every night at every show with a can of Aqua Net!”
The first taster of the new album All You Can Eat has arrived with the video for ‘Party Like Tomorrow Is The End Of The World’. The clip features cameos by Walter White Junior from Breaking Bad, Steve-O from Jackass, and Ron Jeremy.
“I do get a fake tan and I do get my butt lasered, and I guess because of that people think I’m gay or whatever”The title of the single gave Foxx an eerie feeling during the video shoot. “I actually thought that ‘end of the world’ shit was going down when we were shooting the video. Satchel kept reminding me that it wasn’t a real thing but I didn’t know for sure. It was a confusing day and only once I woke up the next morning I knew everything was cool.”
It’s a small step from videos to movies. Now that a big screen adaptation of the infamous Mötley Crüe biography The Dirt is underway, will there be a Steel Panther movie as well?
Something seems to be in the works, but obviously not much can be said about it yet. “We’re shopping something around right now. People seem to be interested in following us around with cameras on tour next year.”
The subject of a Steel Panther movie leads to a bit of daydreaming. When asked who he would choose to play him if they ever make such a movie, the musician gets carried away.
“That is such a cool question! I think it should be Elle MacPherson or if we go back in the day then maybe Tawny Kitaen or Cindy Crawford. For the bass playing you could definitely get [former Whitesnake bass player] Rudy Sarzo.”
Could it be possible that Derek Zoolander copied his look? “Exactly! I didn’t have a name for it, but the producers of the film did contact me and asked if it’d be okay if he did that [Blue Steel] look. He then named it a bunch of things. I am listed in the credits if you look closely. I think that’s badass.”
Foxx vehemently denies gay rumours. “I think people just get insecure when somebody takes care of himself. I mean, I get my eyebrows done, I do get a fake tan and I do get my butt lasered, and I guess because of that people think I’m gay or whatever. But I am totally not gay, I just like really hot chicks and I mean that is all I can say about that.”
Steel Panther will kick off their Australian tour tonight in Brisbane.
Steel Panther Australian Tour 2013
Spreading The Disease (S.T.D.) Tour 2013
with support from Buckcherry
FRIDAY 6 DECEMBER BRISBANE, RIVERSTAGE – Licensed All Ages
www.ticketmaster.com.au
SATURDAY 7 DECEMBER SYDNEY, HORDERN PAVILION – Licensed All Ages
www.ticketek.com.au
SUNDAY 8 DECEMBER MELBOURNE, MYER MUSIC BOWL – Licensed All Ages
www.ticketmaster.com.au
TUESDAY 10 DECEMBER ADELAIDE, ENTERTAINMENT CENTRE THEATRE –
www.ticketek.com.au Licensed All Ages
THURSDAY 12 DECEMBER PERTH, METRO CITY – 18+
www.oztix.com.au
