Recently, Loudwire released a video clip featuring Steel Panther guitarist Satchel discussing some of his favorite teenage albums. The first album that Satchel mentioned had a major influence on him was Deep Purple’s legendary “Machine Head” from 1972. He recalled (transcribed by Killer Guitar Rigs):
“I had older cousins that played that for me while we all sat around and did cocaine. That was the one with ‘Smoke on the Water.’ And I know everybody says ‘Smoke on the Water’… ‘We’re tired of that song…'”
“You can’t get tired of ‘Smoke on the Water’! I’m sorry, it is what it is for a reason. It’s only got seven songs, by the way. A lot of records come out, they’ve got like 17, 18 songs on them.”
“More than ever, a band should be cutting songs out. Cut out the fat. Put like 6 or 7 songs on. People don’t have the attention span. Deep Purple figured it out in 1971 or whatever it was. [It was 1972.]”
Going more into the matter, it’s only obvious that there’s going to be some Van Halen in there as well. For Satchel, the band’s self-titled debut record was a game-changer. However, he almost ended up not taking up the guitar because of it. Satchel offered:
“One of the next albums that I remember hearing before I even picked up a guitar was ‘Van Halen I.’ I think I heard ‘Eruption’ before I picked up guitar and I just thought ‘Well, I guess I shouldn’t really play guitar because this guy just did everything that you could do on a guitar. But I picked it up anyway and now I’m making dozens of dollars a week.”
He also added:
“We’re carrying the torch. Eddie passed the torch and we said, ‘You know what? We’re gonna keep on rockin’ for you, Eddie.’ Because somebody’s gotta keep on rocking. And I’ll be dead very soon, in the next few months, and I’m gonna pass the torch to some other kids.”
“He was a great guitar player and a big influence on me and a big influence on an entire generation of rockers. So we’re gonna keep on rockin’ because Eddie told us to, basically.”
Another album that he mentioned was Rush’s “2112.” But while discussing this masterpiece, Satchel reflected on how all the albums that he mentioned so far are all “boomer” music. But that’s not a bad thing according to Satchel. Quite the contrary. He explained:
“The next album I would say that had a really big influence on me was the band Rush and ‘2112.’ So far, every record that I’ve named, people are like ‘Oh, okay… Okay boomer.’ Right?”
“Yeah. Yeah, boomer. The boomers got it right, okay?”
“‘2112’ by Rush was an incredible record for a lot of reasons. From the very first notes of that record, you cannot stop listening. This entire record was inspired by a book by someone named Ayn Rand. And if you’ve ever read Ayn Rand, set out and read some of her books because it’s really boring.”
“Neil Peart really did a great job of putting it to lyrics. And the whole band does such an amazing job. They’re really some of the greatest musicians of a generation.”
“And that’s a very influential record on me, as well as all the boomers out there, all us old musicians. So we all learned every note. And if you’re a kid now and you’ve never heard ‘2112,’ go listen to it in its entirety and learn all the parts on whatever instrument that you’re playing. Because it’s not gonna be easy.”
It’s been some time since Steel Panther parted ways with their bassist Lexxi Foxx. Although the band planned to bring someone from the fanbase after going through this massive selection process, they ended up taking a guy known as Spyder.
In a recent interview, Steel Panther frontman Michael Starr looked back on the band parting ways with Lexxi and bringing Spyder in. He said:
“We’re all sad that [Lexxi] left, but we love him and we wish him well. ‘Cause he’s a great guy. Him and I, we’re still in contact.”
“And he’s very happy. He has a new baby and a wife. He’s doing really good. So I’m really happy for him.”
Reflecting on Spyder, who officially joined the lineup in 2022, Starr said:
“He’s amazing. He’s a great asset to this band and this brand. He’s not only a great friend… And Lexxi knows him very well too as well, ’cause he used to fill in for Lexxi.”
“So Spyder’s been around for a long time. We know him really well. And he keeps the peace in the band, man, ’cause Satchel [guitarist] and [drummer] Stix [Zadinia], they go at it…”
Starr also reflected on Spyder’s tenure as a touring musician with the band before making it official:
“We did a five-week European tour with Spyder. He wasn’t the [official] bass player at that time; we were still trying people out.”
“And after we did that tour, we decided that he was the guy. So the first official tour as a brand new member of Steel Panther went amazing. The response from the audience was positive.”
Nonetheless, the guys in Steel Panther still miss Lexxi Foxx. At least that’s what Michael Starr said:
“We always address the elephant in the room, because why not? We all miss Lexxi. And it just happened. So here we are at this point. Are you with us or are you not? And everyone was with us. So it was great, man. Feels like we didn’t even miss a beat.”
Nonetheless, they’re focused on the future and their work with Spyder. Starr added:
“Spyder is having the time of his life. It’s really cool to see what that’s like for somebody. ‘Cause all four of us, before Lexxi had left, we had worked this brand to where we’re at now.”
“We’ve done a lot of stuff, which is super exciting and has been fun. But we’re repeating some of the bigger landmark things that we’ve done.”
Photo: S. Bollmann (Steel Panther Rockharz 2022 20)
