STEEL PANTHER drummer Stix Zadinia and guitarist Satchel have once again defended their group against criticism over the guitar effect preset called “Pussy Melter”, saying that “people should take the time to look a little deeper into things before they start kicking up a storm.”
Last July, TC Electronic stopped advertising the “Pussy Melter” after a number of musicians blasted the Danish audio company for using sexist language to title the TonePrint.
BRAIDS‘ Raphaelle Standell-Preston and JAPANESE BREAKFAST‘s Michelle Zauner are among the female musicians who objected to the name and description of the effect, and a petition to remove the product was started by musician Jessica Fennelly.
Following the outcry, the company discontinued the effect, designed by Satchel. TC Electronic also issued a statement, saying: “We recognize that the material was inappropriate… We sincerely apologize.”
In August, STEEL PANTHER announced that it was bringing the “Pussy Melter” moniker back for a new standalone guitar pedal, which they are selling themselves. It comes with knobs labeled “Dirty,” “Sizzle,” “Booty” and “Load,” and is being marketed to “guitarists of all genders,” according to a press release.
Asked in a new interview with Ireland’s Overdrive if he thinks “people just need to relax and stop being so dramatic,” Satchel said: “People are way too sensitive now. We live in an age of social media and people react to things so quickly before they do any research. They just see shit and they react, and that’s exactly what happened with that girl. I can’t remember her name right now. I think the band was called BRAIDS or something like that… Anyway, she saw the foot pedal and it was her first reaction which was, ‘This shouldn’t be here and let’s make it go away.’ She didn’t know what we were about at all.
“That’s part of the problem of the age we’re now living in,” he continued. “People should take the time to look a little deeper into things before they start kicking up a storm. Perhaps if people take a moment to try to understand things then they might find the humor in life and learn to laugh off certain situations.”
Added Stix: “The irony about this whole situation is, had she just seen it and said, ‘That’s not for me,’ this whole thing would have gone away, started and stopped right away. Honestly, that pedal had been already out for a full year and when she started getting all pissed about it, she brought so much attention to it and, in turn, created the best-ever marketing campaign anyone could have hoped for. Her actions created a situation that was more than a guitar pedal. People began to react to her by saying, ‘Hey, just because you don’t like it doesn’t mean I don’t like it.’ It just turned into this huge thing and I’m just so grateful that she handled it the way she handled it because it really shone a light about this über-sensitive generation of people that are constantly being offended by just about everything these days.” Satchel concurred, saying: “I also feel that we came out on the right side of that whole situation.”
Continued Stix: ‘We talked about the best way to respond to this situation. We could have easily gone, ‘Well, fuck you,’ but that would have just made things more complicated.” “We just let our fans go crazy instead,” Satchel chimed in.
The drummer went on to say: “It was amazing to see the reaction from all over the world. Our fans and even people that are not into STEEL PANTHER all rallied together and became fans because they wanted to defend the right to freedom of choice.”
Satchel recalled: “When it got so heated, there were so many people that wanted to buy the ‘Pussy Melter’ as a direct protest to anyone that tries to tell them what to do. It was a direct action against these type of over-sensitive people that expect everyone else to like what they like and basically live how they choose to live their lives. It was amazing to see.”
Asked if they thought about sending a card to Standell-Preston to thank her for the free publicity for “Pussy Melter”, Stix said: “We also thought about that and it would have cost us 67 cents to send, and at the end of the day, fuck that. [Laughs]”
