STEEL PANTHER's SATCHEL On Concert Industry Shutdown: 'It Sucks For Fans, But It Really Sucks More For The Musicians'

STEEL PANTHER guitarist Satchel (a.k.a. Russ Parrish) has lamented the devastating impact the coronavirus pandemic has had on the music industry, with canceled concerts, tours and music festivals, all leaving hundreds of thousands of crew members out of work.

"It sucks when the government shuts everything down completely and you're at the whim of politicians," the guitarist told Metal Matt in a new interview (see video below). "'Cause, basically, our industry, the music industry, is done until people deem it okay to do that again, which sucks for musicians. It sucks for fans, but it really sucks more for the musicians, 'cause a lot of people make their living in the music business. And all these major venues are gone.

"Don't get me wrong — I don't feel bad for [concert giant] Live Nation," he continued. "The dude who's a billionaire who owns Live Nation, he's gonna get by. But the roadies and the people that work at the venues and pretty much all musicians at this point… Unless you're Dave Matthews and people like that who are out there going, 'Stay in your house' — those guys are all millionaires 'cause they made a lot of money during a time when you could sell records. But everybody who's a musician now who's a relatively new artist — in the last 20 years, I mean — most of them, besides Britney Spears and Justin Bieber, are touring musicians, and they go out and make money by rocking. When the venues are closed, and they're gonna be closed indefinitely, that means that you have to do something else. And most people don't know how to do anything else, 'cause we're musicians — we're not very smart."

Earlier in the month, STEEL PANTHER was forced to amend its virtual concert plans due to a rise in COVID-19 cases throughout the United States. The band also released a re-worked version of its song "Fuck Everybody", from STEEL PANTHER's latest album "Heavy Metal Rules", now re-titled "Fuck 2020". The newly recorded version includes updated verses that reflect the insanity of this year.

"Heavy Metal Rules" was released in September 2019. The disc, which is described in a press release as a "heavy metal version of a self-help manual and ultimate party album combined," was once again produced by Jay Ruston, who collaborated with the band on all of its previous recordings, including 2017's "Lower The Bar".

STEEL PANTHER specializes in imitating and exaggerating the less flattering aspects of 1980s hair metal, with unrepentantly crude, non-PC sexual content as a favorite lyrical theme.

The group's music has been described as "VAN HALEN meets MÖTLEY CRÜE meets RATT meets 'Wayne's World', complete with operatic shrieks, misogyny, shredding guitar solos and libidinal overdrive."

Twelve years ago, STEEL PANTHER changed its name from METAL SKOOL to its current moniker and shifted the focus of its act from '80s metal covers to originals.