Steffan Chirazi
Having started rock'n'roll writing at the age of 15, Steffan Chirazi's career could almost look like an old Batman cartoon speech bubble! SOUNDS, KERRANG!, RIP, BAM and SPIN are just a few of the publications he has contributed to over the years. He is the editor of Metallica's own in-house publication So What! and lives in San Francisco with his family.
97 articles
List of articles in the library
Interview by Steffan Chirazi, Sounds, 10 November 1984
THE AVARARD Hotel is a very grand affair. Tucked deep into the heart of Lancaster Gate, it is resplendent with all that is associated with ...
Interview by Steffan Chirazi, Sounds, 8 June 1985
King Kobra: one big boa, or more bite than venom? Steffan Chirazi bares his fangs and finds these ...
Michael Bolton: Bolton Lightning
Interview by Steffan Chirazi, Sounds, 15 June 1985
Michael Bolton — Big in America, but still hiding in the UK's import racks. Steffan Chirazi tracks the keyboard wizard to New York ...
Live Review by Steffan Chirazi, Sounds, 29 June 1985
THIS IS the second Dark Age. It's gotta be. Either that or it's a farmyard. Either that or it's a British festival. Oh oh, it's ...
Interview by Steffan Chirazi, Sounds, 19 October 1985
In the red corner, bobbing and weaving and humming like a Tiger Moth, WASP come out fighting. Over on the blue side, STEFFAN CHIRAZI stings ...
Report and Interview by Steffan Chirazi, Sounds, 15 February 1986
Pure metal butchery... STEFFAN CHIRAZI gets his mouth burnt and his ears scorched as he gatecrashes the LA studio where the fearless METALLICA are recording ...
Megadeth, Motörhead: Motörhead, Megadeth: Kaiser Centre, Oakland
Live Review by Steffan Chirazi, Kerrang!, 13 November 1986
'Head Over Heels! ...
Slayer: The Stone, San Francisco
Live Review by Steffan Chirazi, Kerrang!, 27 November 1986
Slatanic Slaughter ...
The Beastie Boys: Beast Fiends
Interview by Steffan Chirazi, Kerrang!, 19 March 1987
STEFFAN CHIRAZI goes in for the ill with Metal/rap crossover crazies the BEASTIE BOYS ...
Tesla: The Spectrum, Philadelphia
Live Review by Steffan Chirazi, Kerrang!, 28 November 1987
TESLA, IN two years time, will be enormous. That isn't a comment born of prejudice or payola, it's one born of fact; facts that I ...
Interview by Steffan Chirazi, Kerrang!, 11 March 1989
At the Manchester Apollo on March 8, ANTHRAX kicked off their headlining State Of Euphoria world tour, having already opened for Ozzy in the States, and won a ...
Metallica: For Whom the Bell Tulls
Interview by Steffan Chirazi, Kerrang!, 18 March 1989
You just can't get the staff these days. Ask the people who run the Grammy Awards — they can't tell Jethro Tull from Heavy Metal. ...
Metallica: For Whom The Bell Tulls #2
Interview by Steffan Chirazi, Kerrang!, 25 March 1989
In the second part of our special feecher on Grammy loozers extraordinaire METALLICA, STEFFAN CHIRAZI probes the conception and production off the 'One' single and video, yet ...
Danzig: Ask a Stupid Question...
Interview by Steffan Chirazi, Kerrang!, 22 April 1989
...and GLENN DANZIG will hang, draw and quarter you, or at least hang up on you. Fearsome and blunt, the "learned, warm individual" touches on ...
The Beastie Boys: Beastie Boys: Rap Like a Beast
Interview by Steffan Chirazi, Kerrang!, 19 August 1989
After their anarchic and antiheroic debut Licenced To Ill debut, the BEASTIE BOYS laid low and the sensible world breathed a sigh of relief. But ...
Mötley Crüe: Putt at the Devil
Interview by Steffan Chirazi, Kerrang!, 9 September 1989
At a Los Angeles Valley golf club MÖTLEY CRÜE singer VINCE NEIL is about to mutter something to his caddy, STEFFAN CHIRAZI... "Steff, dude," he ...
Faster Pussycat: Let Sleeping Pussycats Lie
Interview by Steffan Chirazi, Kerrang!, 7 October 1989
First, the good news: 70 per cent of the people in Troy, Michigan like LA sleazeballs FASTER PUSSYCAT. The bad news? The rest of them ...
Faith No More, Metallica: Metallica, Faith No More: Kalifornia Kreamin'
Report and Interview by Steffan Chirazi, Kerrang!, 21 October 1989
In a power-package guaranteed to lay waste to most of the Free World, never mind the state of California, METALLICA signed up their Bay Area ...
Joe Satriani: Still Flyin', Still Dreamin'
Interview by Steffan Chirazi, Kerrang!, 25 November 1989
When he was just a little-biddy boy, ace widdlist JOE SATRIANI used to have weird dreams, dreams where he was flying around in "this blue colour" which ...
The Red Hot Chili Peppers: Red Hot Chili Peppers: Milk Men
Interview by Steffan Chirazi, Kerrang!, 10 February 1990
Spicy US quartet the RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS are currently deliverin' vitamin-packed daily doses of their latest album, Mother's Milk, to the troops up and ...
The Melvins: Melvins: Ozma (Boner advance tape, import) KKKK
Review by Steffan Chirazi, Kerrang!, 3 March 1990
I WAS recently discussing, with Bill Ward, how sad it is that everything recorded these days is stuffed choc full of gizmotry and is often ...
Faster Pussycat, Mötley Crüe: Mötley Crüe, Faster Pussycat: Oakland Coliseum, California
Live Review by Steffan Chirazi, Kerrang!, 10 March 1990
Crüe-sin' for a brüe-sin' ...
Metallica: D'ya Wanna Sandwich?
Interview by Steffan Chirazi, Kerrang!, 26 May 1990
JAMES HETFIELD'S huge truck is parked outside STEFFAN CHIRAZI's San Francisco abode. Its owner is inside the house, stepping over our scribe's carpet off half-eaten ...
Interview by Steffan Chirazi, Kerrang!, 14 July 1990
MEGADETH's next album will be called Rust In Peace. Produced by MIKE CLINK at LA's Rumbo Studios, it's the first Mega-LP to feature the talents ...
Testament: Last Will and Testament
Interview by Steffan Chirazi, Kerrang!, 29 September 1990
TESTAMENT are back with a bang. Their new LP Souls Of Black is their fiercest output yet, full of the heavy riffs and gritty vocals we've come ...
GBH, Haircut 100, Judas Priest, Metallica, Musical Youth: Metallica: Taking the Mick
Interview by Steffan Chirazi, Kerrang!, 22 December 1990
He's very large, he's very hairy, he's got a massive... motorbike — and he's been soundman to some of the greatest acts in Metal. GBH, ...
Interview by Steffan Chirazi, Kerrang!, 26 January 1991
"A cuddly bear-cum-Santa Claus", "the Vesuvius of entertainment" and a man with an unfeasibly pronounced Texan drawl who 'really doesn't care a whole lot in ...
Slayer: Kaiser Centre, Oakland CA
Live Review by Steffan Chirazi, Kerrang!, 2 February 1991
SATURDAY JANUARY 12, 1991. History is made. Seriously. You had to be there to fully understand, and I'll do my best, but mere printed adjectives ...
Interview by Steffan Chirazi, Kerrang!, 23 February 1991
SLAYER guitarist JEFF HANNEMAN is into war, the hardware and the psychology, plain and simple. But since January 15, and the commencement of hostilities in ...
Tad: Mad, Tad and Dangerous to Know!!
Interview by Steffan Chirazi, Kerrang!, 23 March 1991
With a new LP 8-Way Santa ready to shred your eardrums at any moment, TAD are back with a vengeance. It might be a dangerous ...
Helmet, Tad: Tad, Helmet: Kennel Klub, San Francisco
Live Review by Steffan Chirazi, Kerrang!, 30 March 1991
HONESTLY, THEY looked like nerds up there. White boys not unlike those little Beasties in appearance, yet from their instruments came a hellishly heavy din. ...
The Red Hot Chili Peppers, Rick Rubin: The Red Hot Chili Peppers: Now That's Blood Sugar Sex Magic!
Interview by Steffan Chirazi, Kerrang!, 21 September 1991
After a long series of wrangles with their former record company EMI, the RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS are back! They're back with a new Rick ...
Interview by Steffan Chirazi, Kerrang!, 31 October 1991
With their devils, of more accurately CC DeVille, exorcised, POISON are ready to add thoroughbred musicianship to mass popularity. With a new guitarist, Richie Kotzen, ...
Interview by Steffan Chirazi, Kerrang!, 16 November 1991
The giant leap from New Jersey street punks to international HM stars seemed but a small step for the mighty SKID ROW — but in ...
Nirvana: Smells like... Bullshit
Interview by Steffan Chirazi, Kerrang!, 8 February 1992
Nevermind has been at Number One on the Kerrang! Album Chart for a month. Stateside it's the same plus Double Platinum, and worldwide the video ...
Faith No More: Testing Your Faith
Interview by Steffan Chirazi, Kerrang!, 22 February 1992
Recording their third studio LP — currently in the mixing stage and titled Angel Dust — was always going to be a trying time for ...
Interview by Steffan Chirazi, Kerrang!, 4 April 1992
Life for Seattle grungemeisters SOUNDGARDEN has changed dramatically in the last 12 months. Going from self-confessed underdogs to playing arenas to crowd hysteria while supporting Guns N' ...
Report and Interview by Steffan Chirazi, Kerrang!, 4 April 1992
LIFE FOR SEATTLE grungemeisters Soundgarden has changed dramatically in the last 12 months. Going from self-confessed underdogs to playing arenas to crowd hysteria while supporting ...
Mötley Crüe, Vince Neil: Crüe Love Don't Last
Interview by Steffan Chirazi, Kerrang!, 9 May 1992
When the news broke in February that VINCE NEIL had 'parted ways' with seminal LA rockers MÖTLEY CRÜE, many thought it was a publicity stunt. ...
Interview by Steffan Chirazi, Kerrang!, 30 May 1992
Available on import now — on Zoo through RCA/BMG — is a ferocious little mini album called Opiate by hate- and anger-inspired quartet TOOL. Opiate ...
Overview by Steffan Chirazi, Kerrang!, 4 July 1992
STEFFAN CHIRAZI charts the history of all those supposedly Satanic bands — anyone out there remember VENOM and their 1982 classic Black Metal, or the ...
Kyuss: "We don't wear tight Spandex!"
Interview by Steffan Chirazi, Kerrang!, 10 July 1992
... claim Palm Springs-based KYUSS, a band who cause STEFFAN CHIRAZI to turn from a reasonable human being (?!) into a "pant-shitting, dribbling wreck"! With ...
Metallica: "Metallica Is Our Life..."
Interview by Steffan Chirazi, Kerrang!, 1 August 1992
Admits its reluctant frontman JAMES HETFIELD, "but it's not the only thing we enjoy doing." While drummer LARS ULRICH enjoys playing the party animal till ...
Report by Steffan Chirazi, Kerrang!, 8 August 1992
The LOLLAPALOOZA II festival winds its way around America with a bill as exotic as its name. Red Hot Chili Peppers, Ministry and Pearl Jam ...
Metallica: The Rise of an Egotist
Interview by Steffan Chirazi, Kerrang!, 8 August 1992
METALLICA started out as renegade Thrash bandits, but they've sold almost 10 million copies of their self-titled fifth album. They are now touring American stadiums ...
The Red Hot Chili Peppers: Red Hot Chili Peppers: Red Hot 'n' Blue
Interview by Steffan Chirazi, Kerrang!, 8 August 1992
The last few months have been pretty hard to swallow for the RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS. They've had to cope with the rising tide of ...
Kyuss: "Basically, We're Four Nerds..."
Interview by Steffan Chirazi, Kerrang!, 6 February 1993
Claims KYUSS guitarist JOSH HOMME. The band's sound is impossible to categorise — although Sabbath comparisons abound — their bass player is shoeless with "a ...
Interview by Steffan Chirazi, Kerrang!, 15 May 1993
Alice In Chains are exploding! With two killer new tracks in the can and a major slot on the upcoming Lollapalooza tour lined up, the ...
Metallica: Achiel Eeckloo Rockweide, Torhout, Belgium
Live Review by Steffan Chirazi, Kerrang!, 24 July 1993
NOWHERE LEFT TO ROAM... The Big K!'s STEFFAN CHIRAZI gets all doe-eyed as METALLICA round off their current world tour, and files this final live report... ...
Interview by Steffan Chirazi, Kerrang!, 24 July 1993
METALLICA, the biggest Heavy Metal band on the planet, have just finished a tour that has seem 'em play to an estimated 4.3 million people ...
Ted Nugent: Out Of Control (Epic/Legacy import E2K 47039) KKKKK
Review by Steffan Chirazi, Kerrang!, 14 August 1993
THE NUGE IS HUGE! ...
Report by Steffan Chirazi, Kerrang!, 18 September 1993
When they do it in LA, they sure know how to do it properly!... Even when it comes to the funeral of a miserable bleedin' ...
Interview by Steffan Chirazi, Kerrang!, 18 September 1993
With the promise of a new studio album by Christmas, SLAYER will be one of the first Metal acts to emerge on RICK RUBIN'S re-christened ...
Screaming Trees, Soul Asylum: Soul Asylum, Screaming Trees: Greek Theatre, Berkeley CA
Live Review by Steffan Chirazi, Kerrang!, 18 September 1993
Seeking Asylum... ...
The Germs, Nirvana: Nirvana: Lounge Act!
Interview by Steffan Chirazi, Kerrang!, 11 December 1993
Forget all the bullshit! Forget the scandal! This is the real NIRVANA! Mellow! Happy! And capable of lounging Stateside arenas without baulking! In a Big K! exclusive, ...
Interview by Steffan Chirazi, Kerrang!, 8 January 1994
They're buddies of Kiss' Gene Simmons, and Kurt Cobain! They're fans of Venom and Judas Priest! And they rock hard! They are MELVINS! STEFFAN CHIRAZI worships the new Metal Gods! ...
Interview by Steffan Chirazi, Kerrang!, April 1994
Violence! Paranoia! Misery! Welcome to the nightmare world of NINE INCH NAILS! STEFFAN CHIRAZI gets inside the head of mainman TRENT REZNOR to discover the ...
Interview by Steffan Chirazi, Kerrang!, 21 May 1994
There's a new vibe about MEGADETH in 1994 — they're happy, mellow, positive. They actually like each other, goddammit! What the hell's gotten into 'em?! ...
Interview by Steffan Chirazi, Kerrang!, 28 May 1994
Right now, MEGADETH are as strong and happy as they've ever been — yet incredibly, they were close to splitting up just a few months ...
Pantera: In a Darkened Room...
Interview by Steffan Chirazi, Kerrang!, 28 May 1994
...is where PANTERA frontman PHIL ANSELMO gets his head together — away from the pressures that come with a US Number One album. What is ...
Mötley Crüe: Tennessee Theatre, Knoxville, Tennessee
Live Review by Steffan Chirazi, Kerrang!, 30 July 1994
SPARE A thought for poor ol' Nikki Sixx, will ya? Suffering for years in limousines and jets planes the world over, enduring the tortures of ...
Pantera, Prong, Sepultura: Pantera, Sepultura, Prong: Irvine Meadows, Irvine CA
Live Review by Steffan Chirazi, Kerrang!, 30 July 1994
FAR BEYOND HEAVY! The mightiest Metal package tour of the year rumbles through California on World Cup Final day — will PANTERA be victorious, or can ...
Live Review by Steffan Chirazi, Kerrang!, 24 September 1994
Death Metal kings Napalm Death and Obituary slay LA! Monstrous Machine Head march on! ...
Metallica: Don't Tread On Me! Metallica Sue 'Em All In Court Case Spectacular!
Interview by Steffan Chirazi, Kerrang!, 22 October 1994
Gloves off as Metal masters take on record company in legal scrapof the decade! Lars tells all! ...
Report and Interview by Steffan Chirazi, Kerrang!, Spring 1994
IT'S BEEN A LONG time coming, but finally Glenn Danzig has received his first Gold albums, for Danzig's 1988 eponymous Def American debut album and ...
Kyuss: Interview With A Stoner.....
Interview by Steffan Chirazi, Hot Metal, 1995
In the over zealous world of the music business, many younger horses get led to water and made to drink well past saturation. Not Kyuss. ...
Biohazard, Machine Head, Slayer: Slayer, Biohazard, Machine Head: Shrine Auditorium, Los Angeles CA
Live Review by Steffan Chirazi, Kerrang!, 4 February 1995
EXPENDABLE YOUTH! 'Dead' LA crowd spoils Slayer live spectacular! ...
Megadeth: "Are You Trying To Get Me To Say I'm Mad?!"
Interview by Steffan Chirazi, Kerrang!, 18 March 1995
Anarchist! Politician! Spiritualist! Is MEGADETH mainman DAVE MUSTAINE a Metal messiah — or is he just a loony ex-junkie?! We strip away the bullshit for ...
Report and Interview by Steffan Chirazi, Kerrang!, 12 August 1995
Gangs! Drugs! Guns! You name 'em! You'll find 'em all in Oakland, California, MACHINE HEAD'S hometown! It ain't a pretty place, as STEFFAN CHIRAZI finds ...
Sepultura: Roots Radicals! Sepultura — New Album World Exclusive!
Interview by Steffan Chirazi, Kerrang!, 23 September 1995
Brazilian pounders SEPULTURA are holed up in a red-hot rehearsal studio, thrashing out new material for Roots — their eagerly-awaited sixth LP. Naturally, it's going ...
Live Review by Steffan Chirazi, Kerrang!, 7 October 1995
DOUBLE-O HEAVEN! Ozzy Osbourne proves he's right back on form with a storming South American extravaganza! Alice Cooper, Megadeth, Paradise Lost and Therapy? also blast ...
Review by Steffan Chirazi, San Francisco Chronicle, 28 April 1996
Mad Professor Mixes Some Magic ...
Slayer: Confessions of a Teenage Punk Rocker
Interview by Steffan Chirazi, Kerrang!, 25 May 1996
He dumped a cheerleader for punk rock, and he spent his teens boozing, brawling and smashing up cars. He's Slayer guitarist Jeff Hanneman, and he's ...
Porno For Pyros: Good God's Urge (Warner Bros., $14.98) *
Review by Steffan Chirazi, San Francisco Chronicle, 26 May 1996
Porno for Pyros' Urge Doesn't Spark Interest ...
Report by Steffan Chirazi, Kerrang!, 22 June 1996
It's a scorching hot day in California, and Metallica — the world's biggest rock band — have just announced on the radio that they'll be ...
The Jesus Lizard, Ministry: Ministry, The Jesus Lizard: The Warfield, San Francisco CA
Live Review by Steffan Chirazi, Kerrang!, 22 June 1996
SATAN'S CIRCUS SIDESHOW ...
Marilyn Manson: Something Wicked This Way Comes
Interview by Steffan Chirazi, Kerrang!, 5 October 1996
He has shocked America with his sick, sadistic and Satanic music — now MARILYN MANSON is coming to the UK. "Masturbation, hardcore pornography and sleep ...
Marilyn Manson's Murderous Appeal
Interview by Steffan Chirazi, San Francisco Chronicle, 6 October 1996
Twisted persona allows this musician to act out his nightmares on the stage ...
Interview by Steffan Chirazi, Kerrang!, 11 January 1997
To celebrate the New Year, KORN singer Jonathan Davis has invited Kerrang! onto his gleaming tour bus. Here, he is first going to whip out ...
Korn, Metallica: Metallica, Korn: Arco Arena, Sacramento, CA 5/5
Live Review by Steffan Chirazi, Kerrang!, 18 January 1997
EXPLOSIVE! METALLICA AND KORN DOUBLE DETONATION ...
Report and Interview by Steffan Chirazi, Kerrang!, 12 June 1997
The greatest show on earth has FEAR FACTORY, MANSON, TYPE O, MACHINE HEAD and COAL CHAMBER on one bill — and it's just destroyed America. This ...
Interview by Steffan Chirazi, Kerrang!, 23 August 1997
On the eve of their headlining appearance at Reading '97, METALLICA have one more battle to fight with Load. In the blue corner, Planet Rock's ...
The Prodigy: Anarchy In The US!
Interview by Steffan Chirazi, Kerrang!, 23 August 1997
With a Number One album and a headlining spot on Lollapalooza '97, THE PRODIGY are America's most wanted right now. Which means mainman Liam Howlett ...
Metallica: Souls of a New Machine
Interview by Steffan Chirazi, Kerrang!, 30 August 1997
The Plant Studios, Sausalito: METALLICA are holding their final inquest into the Load album and working on its successor. Time to find out exactly how ...
Interview by Steffan Chirazi, Kerrang!, 10 January 1998
Best Band, Best Album, Best Single, Best Live Gig — METALLICA swept the board in this year's Readers' Poll. At home in California. James Hetfield ...
Goldie: Saturnz Return (FFRR, $16.98) ****
Review by Steffan Chirazi, San Francisco Chronicle, 1 February 1998
Goldie Takes A Dark Journey ...
Armand Van Helden's Sampleslaya: Enter the Meat Market (Columbia/RuffHouse Records, $15.98) ***
Review by Steffan Chirazi, San Francisco Chronicle, 1 March 1998
Traditional Hip-Hop, East Coast Style ...
Retrospective by Steffan Chirazi, Paul Elliott, Kerrang!, 9 May 1998
On April 20, FAITH NO MORE announced that they had split up. This is the story — and the last words — of the band ...
Interview by Steffan Chirazi, Kerrang!, 16 May 1998
The world of SLAYER is a bleak, gore-drenched place populated by deviants, lunatics, mass murderers and war criminals. You'd expect nothing less from men who've ...
Pantera: The Great Southern Trendkiller
Interview by Steffan Chirazi, Kerrang!, 20 June 1998
Racist, junkie, violent thug — PANTERA singer Phil Anselmo has been called all these things and more in recent years. Today, in New Orleans, it's ...
Sepultura, Soulfly: Sepultura: Greene Machine
Interview by Steffan Chirazi, Kerrang!, 25 July 1998
In December '96, Andreas Kisser, Paulo Pinto and Igor Cavalera contemplated breaking up SEPULTURA after their bitter split with Max Cavalera. This is the story ...
S.F. Club Scene Emerges From Underground
Report by Steffan Chirazi, San Francisco Chronicle, 25 April 1999
FOR THE electronic music lover or the curious night owl, San Francisco has something to offer seven nights a week, 365 days a year. Working ...
Marilyn Manson: Moral Minority
Interview by Steffan Chirazi, launch.com, 1 September 1999
IF YOU DIDN'T see Marilyn Manson at some point in 1997, you either spent 12 months in a commune in the Canadian wilderness, or it's ...
David Bowie: Portrait of the Artist: David Bowie
Interview by Steffan Chirazi, SOMA, October 1999
He makes music. He acts. He paints. He makes sculptures. David Bowie sits and talks for 'hours...' with Stefan Chirazi about how it all comes ...
James Brown: Ten Commandments: The Gospel According To James Brown
Interview by Steffan Chirazi, Q, May 2006
Soul Brother Number One, 72 ...
Lemmy: Motörhead's Lemmy Kilmister: The Man Behind the Myth
Memoir by Steffan Chirazi, Revolver, 28 December 2022
Author Steffan Chirazi remembers his generous, whip-smart and impeccably mannered friend. ...
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