Steel Panther on #MeToo + PC Culture: ‘We’re Not F–king Changing for Nobody’
Steel Panther aren’t changing for anybody, not that we’d expect them to. In a new interview regarding the #MeToo movement and the modern wave of political correctness, drummer Stix Zadinia affirms that Steel Panther are sticking to their guns.
The Panther ran into controversy last year when the band’s ‘Pussy Melter’ guitar pedal offended the Twitterverse, namely Braids guitarist Jessica Fennelly. The metal community backed their hair metal heroes, buying every single ‘Melter’ from Steel Panther’s webstore.
When the Classic Metal Show asked if #MeToo made it more difficult for Steel Panther to be Steel Panther, the drummer answered, “There's no way that this band, that any one of us four, would ever consider going, 'You know what, guys? Maybe we should tone it down so we don't bum anybody out.' It's the whole reason we fucking started playing music, man. There's a freedom about being in Steel Panther that we can say what we want, how we want. And the way that you feel about it as a listener, that's exactly what we're going for. We want people to fucking feel like they can just let their fucking hair down with Steel Panther. That was very intentional. We're, like, 'We're not fucking changing for nobody.'"
Stix continues, "Look, I get it. If you don't like something, that's totally fucking cool. If you don't love Steel Panther, or you hate us, it doesn't matter and everyone's entitled to however the fuck they feel. But the problem was, when people start going, 'I don't like that, so I'm gonna try to make sure nobody else has access to it,' that's where we fucking stood our ground. We said, 'Fuck that!' And that's what we were kind of railing against. That somebody was offended, I get it — that's cool. Not everything is for everyone … We can all agree on some certain shit that's not acceptable, and there is some shit that crosses the line, but 'Pussy Melter' is not one of them."
Steel Panther will spread their seed across the U.S. once again this fall, so for their full list of tour dates, click here. The band's newest album, Heavy Metal Rules, will drop Sept. 27.
See Steel Panther in the Top 50 Metal Bands Who Released Their First Album in the 21st Century