In a recent interview with Everblack podcast, Steel Panther drummer Stix Zadinia revealed if he and his bandmates have been impacted by ‘cancel culture.’
“I think that we built this band on being irreverent, we built it on not giving a f*ck, and people who are fans of our band generally, they celebrate that fact,” he explained. “So I feel like there’s a very conscious choice on our part to not follow the trend and not try to go be politically correct, ’cause that’s the antithesis of our band. That wouldn’t be organic and it wouldn’t be natural for us.”
“And the minute we start to do that, everybody who likes us for what we stand for and what we represent, which is freedom to say whatever the f*ck you want, not hurt anybody, but just go be a freak, and the minute we do that, then the people who like us for that, they’d be bummed,” the drummer continued. “They’d be, like, ‘Oh, that’s not my band anymore.’ And we are forever grateful for people who are on the Steel Panther bus. And to change the bus just because there’s some people out there going, ‘Oh, you can’t say that. You’re gonna hurt people’s feelings’ — f*ck off. Don’t listen.”
Steel Panther has faced backlash for their controversial and often criticized lyrics over the years. However, it seems like they don’t mind 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,” Michael Starr said during an earlier interview when asked if he ‘buried the hatchet,’ with those 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.”
Starr went on to say that people who attend Steel Panther concerts know exactly what to expect, including stage invitations for girls to flash their breasts and lyrics that often objectify women and put down everyone.
Even with the backlash they receive, they continue to actively tour for their fans. The rockers are to play a show on September 4 in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Their tour is scheduled to end on December 13 in Orlando, Florida.