STEEL PANTHER drummer Stix Zadinia says that the band has been using the coronavirus downtime to work on new music. "Satchel [guitar] has been on a writing tear," Stix tells "Dr Gong's Drumcast" in a new interview. "He's writing these great songs. I wish I could even tell you the titles — they're so good." According to Stix, he and his bandmates are discussing the possibility of releasing an EP next time around instead of a full record. "We've done five full-length records," he said. "We're talking about doing EP, 'cause we can do that quicker. And then we can put out another EP sooner. Instead of waiting so long between putting something out, we can do it in a shorter span of time. And I also feel like because of the way music is consumed these days that there's a lot of songs on a 10-song record that just don't get attention." As for a possible release date for STEEL PANTHER's new EP, Zadinia — whose real name is Darren Leader — said: "I feel like it's first quarter of next year, if we're gonna do it. We're writing — we're writing our ass off. I'm actually gonna go out to Vegas and write with Satchel for a few days. He's in Vegas, and we're just gonna go jam and see what happens. He already has eight or nine songs that are done, and they're bitching." STEEL PANTHER will take a break from writing music to stage another virtual concert event, "Rockdown In The Lockdown", on Sunday, August 16 from the Drum Channel Studio at Drum Workshop, located in Oxnard, California. "Rockdown In The Lockdown" is being sponsored by Monster Energy, and all tickets and VIP upgrades are available here. STEEL PANTHER's latest album, "Heavy Metal Rules", was released last September. 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.
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