Steel Panther singer Michael Starr was recently asked about his thoughts on cancel culture and if it impacts his band, given their often over the top satire and subsequently controversial lyrical content. Speaking with The Metal Voice, Starr referenced the shitstorm that followed the release of their ‘Pussy Melter’ guitar effect back in 2018.
Members of Japanese Breakfast, Braids and more publicly railed against the band and TC Electronics for releasing that effect, with the aforementioned company eventually pulling the product in response.
The band would go on to double-down and release a limited edition physical effects pedal of the ‘Pussy Melter’, quickly selling through all 10,000 units. Speaking to The Metal Voice on the band’s experiences with cancel culture and the above, Starr offered:
“…The only push back we got was for a plug-in that Satchel designed called the ‘Pussy Melter’ and it was on the TC electronics website and a girl guitar player saw it and she got extremely offended by it. She wrote the company and (the company) took the plug-in off because one person was upset with it.
So Satchel came up with the idea and said why don’t we just make a guitar pedal? So we got into the guitar pedal business. And that thing flew off the shelves so quick, cause people were trying to cancel us. We only made 10,000 of them, just a small order of them, a limited edition. And we sold them all in two weeks.
So somebody tried to cancel us, or a subcategory of us and it kind of backfired on them. Anyways my point is people that come to our shows, they know what to expect. No one walks off the street and says ‘ohh that looks like a fun show, I’m going to go in buy a ticket and go, I am so offended by them saying fuck or whatever.
People that come to our shows know what they are coming into. They know they are coming to a show where they are going to laugh and hear some profane, politically incorrect humor. I think everyone’s there for the same party.
So we really haven’t experienced any of that cancel culture. Our shows have been selling out on this tour and I would like to attribute it to how great my hair looks but it’s not that it is more like people are sick of not being heard. People are sick of getting bullshitted and they want something they can count on.”
Steel Panther continue to tour on their latest album “On The Prowl“, which saw a release this past February. You can find them out at the following shows.
With Crobot and Tragedy:
03/24 Indianapolis, IN – Egyptian Room
03/25 Chicago, IL – House Of Blues
03/26 Bloomington, IL – The Castle Theatre
03/28 Milwaukee, WI – The Eagles Club Stage
03/29 Minneapolis, MN – The Fillmore
03/31 Lincoln, NE – Bourbon Theatre
04/01 Denver , CO – The Fillmore
04/02 Salt Lake City, UT – The Depot
04/04 Portland, OR – Crystal Ballroom
04/06 West Hollywood, CA – Whisky A Go Go
04/07 West Hollywood, CA – Whisky A Go Go
04/08 San Diego, CA – House Of Blues
Steel Panther:
05/14 Glasgow, UK – O2 Academy
05/15 Newcastle, UK – O2 City Hall
05/17 Manchester, UK – Academy
05/18 Birmingham, UK – O2 Academy
05/20 London, UK – O2 Forum Kentish Town
05/21 Bristol, UK – O2 Academy
05/23 Leeds, UK – O2 Academy
05/25 Belfast, UK – Ulster Hall
05/26 Cork, IRE – Cyprus Avenue
05/28 Dublin, IRE – Vicar Street
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