Definitely not for the kiddies, tales of womanizing, drug abuse, and other hair metal tropes, along with boasts about the power of heavy metal, have become sing-along anthems at their equally entertaining live shows. It’s not just that drummer Stix Zadinia, guitarist Satchel, frontman Michael Starr, and bassist Spyder adopted the big hair and spandex look, but their clever and explicit songs recall the over-indulgent debauchery of the times. For those who appreciate the band, however, the quartet are a dream come true, a pitch-perfect parody of the eighties’ Hollywood / Sunset Strip metal scene that produced Guns N’ Roses, Quiet Riot, Poison, and Mötley Crüe. Low-brow, crass, misogynistic, outrageous, controversial and offensive: just a few of the terms used by critics to describe Steel Panther. Stix Zadinia discusses the band’s great new record, On the Prowl, and upcoming tour, then takes a trip back to the mid-eighties, before cell phones and social media, when sex, drugs, and rock ‘n’ roll were more than an Ian Dury and The Blockheads song or a Denis Leary television show… it was a way of life.
