Steel Panther
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By Ben Doy
In one month's time glam metal favourites Steel Panther are heading to our shores for one show at The Powerstation in Auckland.
Consisting of Michael Starr (lead singer), Satchel (guitarist), Lexxi Foxx (bass) and Stix Zadinia (drums), the band are touring to promote the release of their Live Acoustic record and feature film, 'Live from Lexxi’s Mom’s Garage.'
I spoke with Lexxi Foxx on the phone for a good old fashioned conversation about sex, drugs and rock n roll.
How did Steel Panther initially form?
Well we were called a couple of other band names to start with, but us four started a while back. Michael and Satchel found me in a salon. There's a whole bunch of things and we were really high at the time... not that we aren't now. We're getting old now and the memory is going a bit, but for the most part we met a long time ago and we just couldn't really figure out what we wanted to do and how to go about it. We just thought it would be a cool idea to make heavy metal songs, and we all look bitchin'... probably me the most. You know, I do a lot of drugs so I stay skinny. But we all take care of our hair and use enough make up to cover up most of the wrinkles.
But the four of us have one thing in mind and that's to do bitchin' heavy metal songs and look bitchin'.
You mentioned you had a few different names to start with, how did you decide on Steel Panther?
Steel Panther? We thought 'How metal is that?'. Steel is so bitchin', and then we had to put in an animal, and panthers are supposed to be like the most fierce cat that is out there, so we thought Steel Panther. That's pretty much what we did. There's White Lion and there's Whitesnake and there's Def Leppard... so we thought we'd fit in with that kind of vibe.
Do you remember Steel Panther's first show?
No. I was so scared and I was totally wasted so I don't remember it. But everyone said it was a good show. It was a long time ago and I couldn't hear anything, I was wasted and I was gonna laid afterward.
How do you come up with the songs?
Basically Satchel writes a lot of them out of personal experiences, or sometimes he'll write a song about myself or Michael - his was 'Gangbang At The Old Folks Home' and mine would be 'Pussy Whipped' because I was in a relationship for two and a half weeks and it was a long time so the guys were all really concerned about it. So Satchel basically comes to us with ideas and we'll go to the studio... I'll have some ideas but they don't usually make it on the record. Satchel comes up with most of the things and bass parts and things like that. And that's fine because I don't really care about how good I play or anything. I just care about how we all look and we all look bitchin'. And that's part of getting chicks too because the reason we do what we do is for drugs and chicks.
Have you received any backlash over any of your lyrics?
We actually haven't... the people that we would receive backlash from don't really listen to heavy metal, like Kanye West. But Blink 182 put us on their web page, they like heavy metal and what we do so we didn't get a backlash from them, they thought it was cool that we brought their name up. But Kanye probably doesn't know we exist and that's totally fine with me you know?
You arrive in New Zealand for a show this June.
Yeah I'm super excited. The guys from Flight Of The Conchords, they'd come see us when we first started at the Viper Room when they were just starting to get their deal in the US. They would come to our shows a lot. If Jermaine is out there the same time that we're there he's going to show me around a little bit. I don't know if we've played there once or twice, but we were flying over New Zealand and I could not believe how beautiful it was. So I'm super excited and if it's not Jermaine Clements I hope that someone can show me around because it looks so beautiful.
How long does it take you to get ready for a show?
I take probably the longest. I care about how I look so I put on the most make up and do a little bit more primping than those guys do. I'll manscape and look nice for the ladies. I know some guys don't do it now because the 80s are gone, but we're bringing back that style of what chicks really dig.
So to answer you question it takes a long time.
Do you have a favourite song that you perform live?
You know what, sometimes they change. We have a new song called 'That's When You Came In'; we have that on the 'Live From Lexi's Mom's Garage' album. But all the songs we Iove playing really. When we go to see you guys we're going to change some things around, but I also like playing 'Ten Strikes, You're Out'. We should also have some new songs that we're going to play on this tour. We can't wait!
Steel Panther
Sunday June 26th: The Powerstation, Auckland
Tickets via AAA.Ticketing