Stereoboard Speak To Steel Panther Ahead Of The Release Of Brand New Album 'Balls Out' (Interview)
Tuesday, 25 October 2011
Written by Heather McDaid
Steel Panther are, as cited themselves, ‘the greatest heavy metal band of all time’. Let’s not dispute this fact. If you’re unfamiliar with their full repertoire, chances are you’ve heard ‘Death to All But Metal’, the track in which they happily open with the lyrics “Fuck the Goo Goo Dolls, they can suck my balls”. Following 2009’s triumphant studio debut as this current namesake, ‘Feel The Steel’, the spandex-loving foursome are in the final stretch of the run-up to the release of their sophomore record ‘Balls Out’.
With mere days left until the album’s release, Steel Panther drummer Stix Zadinia took a little time out to talk heavily about their upcoming release, why they’re the best heavy metal band to ever walk the planet and why on earth they decided to have Nickelback’s Chad Kroeger on their album.
“We do these weekly residencies. We do these weekly shows throughout the year unless we go on tour,” begins Stix, talking about how they’ve been spending the run up to their anticipated release. “Actually, coming up we have a whole lot of touring coming up. But right now, because this record’s not quite come out yet, we’re not on tour yet. We will be doing a lot when the record comes out. We will be going everywhere – all over the world and stuff, so we’re very excited.”
After a back and forth with this question due to Scottish accents being relatively nightmarish on the phone, we finally turn to an in depth look at their new record. “With ‘Feel The Steel’, we had a long time to make that record. Then once that came out, we didn’t think about this record until a good year into it,” explains Stix, referring to the way the band approached the album. “We were so excited about the fact that we had a record out, then we started thinking... Well, Satchel – our guitar player – had been writing, but the rest of us were just really excited that we had a record out to begin with. Then one day it was like, 'Hey guys, we’ve got to do another record' and we were like 'Hell yeah!' He had been writing songs, so we just started working in the studio and we swore to put together a record that had a little bit of everything that we wanted to talk about, that we wanted to say with regards to subject matter. We wanted to make sure we covered all the stuff that was important to us like too much sex, drugs, partying and all that stuff, you know?”
Judging from their song titles ('Supersonic Sex Machine', 'Just Like Tiger Woods', 'It Won't Suck Itself' 'Let Me Cum In', 'Weenie Ride'; we could go on...) it’s a fair assumption they succeeded in touching on those topics. Comparing this release to their acclaimed debut, Stix begins, “I would say that the biggest difference is that on ‘Feel the Steel’ there were a lot of songs and parts of songs that are very reminiscent of songs that you have heard before. On this record, I think it’s a lot more Steel Panther; there’s not as much explaining through the riffs what kind of band you are. It’s like ‘Okay, this is Steel Panther’ – it’s a more... It’s hard to put it in words! I think because we had our first record out, we really had to be like ‘check us out’. We weren’t able to just put the record out and not give a fuck. If we were getting the point across that we are a heavy metal band, we just put the record out that we felt would be the best record.”
For this record, the band worked with the producer Jay Ruston, who has worked with Anthrax and The Donnas as well as on Steel Panthers debut release. “It was very intentional. We love working with Jay Ruston,” says Stix. “Traditionally producers will have a little tweak on your songs and suggests parts here and there, but with Jay it’s more like he’s able to capture our sound and he records us, mixes it, he produced it. He’s able to get that sound from the writing to the record the way we want it to go. He’s badass, man. He definitely sees it like us, which is so cool because it’s the best for us.”
Turning from their producer to their collaborators, the band have had quite lot of names linked to this release. Although not all names intended for the release made the final cut for various reasons, Stix focuses in on one collaborator in particular... “You know, on this record we had Chad Kroeger from Nickelback, who a lot of people don’t exactly want to see on our record,” he laughs. “A lot of people were like ‘Why would you have Chad Kroeger from Nickelback on your record if you’re in Steel Panther?’ That’s exactly why we had him – because we’re Steel fucking Panther, so fuck you!”
“We went over to his house in Vancouver and we wrote a song called ‘It Won’t Suck Itself’ and we chilled, smoked weed all day; we wrote, recorded and it was really fun,” he continues. “He’s a good guy, man. It was a really fun writing experience. We needed Chad, we needed a neat way to record it, we needed him for this song. It was like some double whammy of awesomeness. It’s been really cool.”
Originally, one of the key names linked to the record was Def Leppard’s Joe Elliott. “That’s a good idea. That’s a really good idea,” exclaims Stix following the suggestion of collaborating on tour. “We had some scheduling conflicts so we weren’t able to do it... man, that’s a really good idea. That’s a really great idea to have him on stage and maybe play a song. That’d be so cool. He would’ve been perfect for the song we had him down for. You know, Joe is just a whole class act, I gotta tell you.”
As the album is set to be unleashed into the world imminently, what tracks should we really be looking out for? “I would say pay attention to a song called ‘Tomorrow Night’. There’s also a ballad called ‘Weenie Ride’, which I’d like to think will touch a lot of hearts,” he laughs. “I think... I don’t know man, there are so many good songs on the record. I truly am very, very proud of this record. I’m so excited for it to finally come out and for people to hear it, you know? I had this concern that it would be considered mediocre, but I’d be like, ‘You have to listen to this one song’, because even if the rest of it was considered crap, I’d be focussing on that one song. I think of the whole album, this song kicks so much fucking ass. You can just put it on and get ready because your ballsack is going to explode.”
Naturally, aside from the album’s release, there’s a mammoth event due in Steel Panther’s camp. The band will embark on a UK tour in support of Def Leppard and Motley Crue at the tail end of 2011. And the world’s most ridiculous question... are they looking forward to it? “Yes,” he says simply. “I don’t really know how to add on to that. The answer is absolutely. It’s an opportunity for us to get in front of thousands and thousands of people and fucking deliver heavy metal right to their faces. You don’t get opportunities like that a lot. And we’re going to grab that chance as hard as we can and just kill. I cannot wait.”
Obviously heavily involved in heavy metal, he touches on who his musical icons are... “Well, Led Zeppelin, Judas Priest, Black Sabbath, Motley Crue, Iron Maiden, Dio... I just love heavy metal. AC/DC... I’m trying to think. Like I said, I’ve just woke up and my brain hasn’t woken up yet. Let’s see... God! Of course, I’m forgetting Def Leppard. I mean, when ‘High ‘n’ Dry’ came out; fuck, that’s a great record.”
“If somebody hadn’t heard of us and I was supposed to sum us up, I’d like to say that we are quite simply the best heavy metal band that you have ever or will ever hear,” he begins. “We’re just that good. Just be ready. If you don’t prepare yourself properly, then you will explode. You’ll bubble down when you hear the music coming out of the speakers.”
“You know, I’m just like everybody else. I’m a regular guy and I just happen to rock extra hard,” he continues. “I rock extra hard, I party extra hard. I just love to play heavy metal. I think I’ve just had the good fortune of being in a band and it’s totally bitchin’ and I think people don’t always get how awesome that is for me. It’s like ‘fuck, man; that’s so gnarly. How do you live that kind of life?’ I’m just like you, I just happen to be proud to wear spandex.”
The remainder of 2011 obviously looks bright for Steel Panther, but what should be expect beyond this year? “A European tour. We are going to Australia in February for Soundwave Festival, but then the fans can expect a European tour in March. We should be starting in Norway, coming down all the way through Europe then ending up the in UK. That will be a headlining tour, so definitely one to check out. Hopefully we’ll be back for festivals, but I don’t know which ones. We’re actually starting to write for the next record and this one’s not even out. We don’t want another two years; we want a year and a half.”
“You know, fuck it,” says Stix. “What I really want to say, honestly, is thank you. Thank you for letting Steel Panther be part of your lives. If I’m being honest, I think you’re probably better off for listening to us because we’re the perfect band for you to put on if you just want to fucking escape and rock out. Hopefully you can forget any bullshit you’ve got going on, but we’re just fucking appreciative that you guys want to listen to us. It’s just great.”
And while we can all agree that Steel Panther is unequivocally the best heavy metal band you will ever hear, we can also agree that this is the best Steel Panther interview you will ever read. If you’ve taken one thing from this, just be sure to prepare yourself appropriately for ‘Balls Out’ as, like Stix said, your balls may just explode.
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Originally, one of the key names linked to the record was Def Leppard’s Joe Elliott. “That’s a good idea. That’s a really good idea,” exclaims Stix following the suggestion of collaborating on tour. “We had some scheduling conflicts so we weren’t able to do it... man, that’s a really good idea. That’s a really great idea to have him on stage and maybe play a song. That’d be so cool. He would’ve been perfect for the song we had him down for. You know, Joe is just a whole class act, I gotta tell you.” 
