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STEEL PANTHER's MICHAEL STARR: What Separates Us From A Band Like SPINAL TAP

October 24, 2014

Brian Aberback of Patch.com recently conducted an interview with singer Michael Starr of Los Angeles glam-metal jokesters STEEL PANTHER. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

Patch.com: Would you say that your high-caliber musicianship sets you apart as being more than a simple novelty act? Your songs are hilarious and in many aspects you're a modern-day SPINAL TAP, but you're also serious musicians.

Starr: Absolutely. That's one thing that separates us from a SPINAL TAP. We take what we do extremely serious as far as musicianship is concerned. Singing on key, playing onstage, getting the audience involved, having charisma. But at the same time, we have a lot of fun. We do care, but we don't care. We're not faking it, but we're having fun. I think that's one of the things that has really propelled us. We have nothing to lose.

Patch.com: Who were you favorite bands back in the glory days?

Starr: My favorite band was VAN HALEN. They were great musicians and David Lee Roth was an amazing performer. He would crack jokes onstage. It was a fun experience. If you went to see the band, it was a party. Jani Lane with WARRANT would crack jokes onstage, change words in the songs. It was fun. Those were the bands I was always drawn to as a kid. This is why we're doing what we're doing. The four of us in the band all feel the same way.

Patch.com: You may be playing to fans that don't know STEEL PANTHER on the JUDAS PRIEST tour. Does that change any aspect of your performance?

Starr: Not really. We pretty much forge forward the same way we would do it in front of a crowd that knows who we are. We've had a lot of experience playing festivals before a bunch of people that have never seen us and we just do what we do, no matter what. It's challenging too, because you have to realize that just because they're not screaming your songs, it doesn't mean they don't like you. Usually by the end of our show, people are fans or hate us. Nobody leaves our show going, "They're pretty good." They just go, "I hate them" or "I love them."

Read the entire interview at Patch.com.

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