In a new interview with WRIF radio station, Michael Starr responded to the haters.
“Well, I’m not in the business of burying hatchets with people that have resentment towards me, ’cause that’s on them, dude,” he said when asked if he ‘buried the hatchet,’ with any musicians that didn’t like his band. “Anybody you usually run into is not going to confront you and go, ‘Hey, man, I hate your band.’ They’ll just either ignore you or go, ‘Hey, what’s up, bro?’ So, whoever doesn’t like the band — everybody is entitled to their own opinion.”
He continued: “Art is subjective, man. And if you don’t like our art, then go listen to somebody else. Who cares, right? So, we developed pretty thick skin. When we were walking through festivals for our first time in spandex, people were looking at us going, ‘Who is this band? Who are these guys?’ And then we developed even thicker skin when we opened up for Judas Priest for 10 weeks in America. So, yeah, we’re okay with it and we get it and we understand it, but we still rock.”
The band’s public feud with another rock band might have sparked the question. Five years ago, Steel Panther got into a public feud with Mötley Crüe after Starr and drummer Stix Zadinia were asked which musician from the past they’d like to bring back. “I’d bring back Vince Neil,” Starr responded. Zadinia added, “He’s not dead.” Starr then clarified, “I’d bring back Vince Neil from back in the day because that guy is dead.”
When news of Steel Panther’s comments spread, Mötley Crüe bassist Nikki Sixx tweeted, “The singer in Steal Panther [sic] can go f*ck himself… wanna-be band putting down Vince Neil?” A fan then mentioned that Steel Panther sometimes plays Mötley Crüe songs at their concerts. Sixx responded, “That’s why they are assholes. Backstabbers.”
Guitarist Satchel also acknowledged that not everyone is keen on his band. He added that during their tour with Mötley Crüe and Def Leppard, Mötley Crüe hated them but Leppard loved them.