Steel Panther’s Satchel says bands should take notes from Deep Purple: “The boomers got it right, okay?”
The guitarist also explains which Van Halen and Rush albums inspired him as a teenager.
Satchel image: Kieran Frost/Getty
Deep Purple image: David Warner Ellis/Getty
Steel Panther’s Satchel has explained how “boomer” bands including Van Halen, Rush and Deep Purple influenced him, and claimed that modern artists should follow their lead if they want to hold people’s attention.
The guitarist was speaking as part of a new interview with Loudwire yesterday (23 February) when he shared which albums inspired him most as a teenager.
It was Deep Purple’s 1972 album Machine Head that ranked as one of the guitarist’s favourites. Discussing the release, Satchel not only praised the songs for their timelessness, but insisted that the album was so well received due to its shorter length – something that new artists have since neglected.
“You can’t get tired of Smoke on the Water. I’m sorry. It is what it is for a reason. It’s only got seven songs [whereas more modern albums,] they’ve got like 17-18 songs on them,” he explained.
“More than ever, a band should be cutting songs out. Cut out the fat. Put like 6 or 7 songs on [because] people don’t have the attention span [for anything longer] …The boomers got it right, okay?”
Elsewhere in the interview, the guitarist proceeded to share other 1970s releases that inspired him – including the 1978 Van classic, Eruption and Rush’s 1976 album, 2112.
“I think I heard Eruption before I picked up guitar and I just thought ‘Well, I guess I shouldn’t really play guitar because this guy just did everything that you could do on a guitar,’” he said. “[EVH] was a great guitar player and a big influence on me… and a big influence on an entire generation of rockers.”
“[Then with 2112,] from the very first notes of that record, you cannot stop listening,” he later added. “Neil Peart really did a great job of putting it to lyrics and the whole band does such an amazing job… They’re really some of the greatest musicians of a generation.”