Stix Zadinia (Steel Panther) – An Xperience Interview

Stix Zadinia (Steel Panther) – An Xperience Interview – by Rob Smittix.

RRX: Stix, man. How’s it going?

Stix Zadinia: Rob, if it was any better … I almost sounded like I said if it was Eddie Vedder. If it was any better, it would be perfection. It’s just shy of that. How are you?

RRX: Good man. I love the positivity. We need that in this world.

SZ: Dude, I agree with you, man. The world feels crazy right now, more crazy than it’s ever felt, and to that end, I think that the only therapy for Earth is more Steel Panther.

RRX: I couldn’t agree with you more on that. Steel Panther is always fun and always seems like it’s a party. Does the party ever end?

SZ: It doesn’t end. I mean, honestly, when I get home after a tour … I hate to say it, but it just keeps going.

RRX: (Laughs) You do have to do things in moderation. Are you a coffee drinker?

SZ: You know what? It’s funny you ask that, Rob, because I have never had a sip of coffee, and that’s no BS. Never done it. All my friends are like, dude, you gotta try coffee, and I’m like … bro, I’m so deep in this game of life … now I’m just doing it to piss everybody off.

RRX: That’s wild, man. I don’t even know where that came from, but that is definitely information people do need to know about. And yeah, how are you gonna try it now? It’s too late in the game.

SZ: Dude, I can’t! It would be so anticlimactic because all my friends were like … dude, you gotta try coffee. I’d be like, you know what? OK, I tried coffee. They’ll go, alright, cool, and then we would just move on to something else. So I’m just holding on to it because it makes me happy.

RRX: Understandably so. Yeah, I think I asked that because I’m actually drinking yesterday’s coffee. It’s good enough.

SZ: Nice.

RRX: So we’re very excited to have you come to Albany again, Empire Live on April 25, and this is the Twenty Twenty $ex Tour. What are we to expect in 2026 with Steel Panther?

SZ: Well, you know? If I told you a bunch of stuff that was gonna be different, like … hey man, this time around, you can expect us to get super deep and super philosophical, we’re gonna talk about the world, life, politics, and religion. Dude, NO! Not even close. What you can expect is more debauchery, more escape, more just letting it fly, more boobs, more ass, more all the things that make the world the greatest place in the solar federation. You can expect Steel Panther in full effect. We’re not taming it. We’re not going to mellow it out. We’re just coming in, and we’re going to rock your balls. We’re gonna play heavy metal, and we’re gonna let people let their hair down and just have a great time. We’re gonna play a bunch of songs from a bunch of records. And we may even play a new song that has not been heard. We may or may not, Rob.

RRX: Well, I’m hoping that you do, so that mystery is in the air. I guess we’re just gonna have to find out. People are gonna have to get there.

SZ: Yeah, the only way you’re really gonna know is if you buy a ticket. We never started this band for any grand reason other than we love heavy metal and we love chicks, right? And we love to party. That was the mantra when we started. We still love all those things, but the world has become this crazy place. It just so happens, it’s worked out that our band is a place where you can come forget about the BS that is every day. For a lot of people, it’s a job they don’t like, a situation, money problems, whatever … relationship issues. You come to Steel Panther, you’ll forget about it all for an hour and a half to two hours, and you’ll have a great time. That’s kind of what we have turned into, the escape from the everyday BS!

RRX: And you mentioned boobs. Everyone loves boobs, everyone on the planet, you love them from day one.

SZ: They’re the nectar of life.

RRX: They are, by the same token, you know? I feel it’s very hard for a guy to shoot his shot these days. In the aspect of … he shoots his shot, he misses, and then she goes on social media and says, “Oh, this creep!”

SZ: Dude, it sucks. I hear you, bro. It’s terrible because how are you supposed to meet somebody?

Let’s face it, this is the reality. Like, how are you supposed to go meet somebody? And if they’re not into you, what are you supposed to do? You gotta say hi. You gotta give your shot like you said.

RRX: You do. You should only become a creep after you try more than twice. If she says hell no the third time, then you’ve earned that creep status.

SZ: You know what? I agree with you. I totally agree with you, dude. You’re right on time.

RRX: Hey, I gotta say, man. You actually have one of my favorite quotes. “Let’s kick today’s ass right in the balls!” I love it. That is the way to live.

SZ: (Laughs) Dude, I love that you know that quote! It’s a solid one, you know?

RRX: Words to live by.

SZ: They are words to live by … It’s just like dude, you know what?  Let’s grab it, beat its ass, and go.

RRX: My wife has this little sign next to the mirror, and it says, “You didn’t wake up today to be a weak ass b**ch.” I look at it often and agree, but I like your quote even better.

SZ: Dude, I appreciate that. Her quote is a great quote, and the fact that you like mine better makes me very happy. I’m honored. Appreciate it.

RRX: Well, speaking of an honor, I appreciate you talking to me here today. Anything else that you wanna say to the people to encourage them to come out? Anything that you wanna put out there to the world?

SZ: I’ll just say, “Albany, it’s time.” Come out of the snow. Well, hopefully it’ll be melted by then. But come out, have a great time with Steel Panther. We’re gonna make sure that you guys don’t leave disappointed and that everybody has a great time. And who knows? Maybe that chick you’ve been trying to get at will say yes.

 

 

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