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Steffan Chirazi

Steffan Chirazi

Having started rock'n'roll writing at the age of 15, 46-year old ex-pat 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, and for the last 14 years he has been the editor of Metallica's own in-house publication, So What! magazine. He lives in San Francisco, CA with his family.

89 articles

List of articles in the library

By date | By artist | Most recently added

Alice in Chains: Sick Men...

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 ...

Anthrax: 'Euph Control

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

Blackfoot, Deep Purple, The Mama's Boys, Meat Loaf, Mountain, The Scorpions, UFO: Deep Purple, The Scorpions, Meat Loaf et al: Knebworth Fayre, Knebworth, Hertfordshire

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 ...

Black Sabbath, Celtic Frost, Deicide, Judas Priest, Led Zeppelin, Mercyful Fate, Ozzy Osbourne, Slayer, Venom: Dancin' With The Devil

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 ...

Black Sabbath, Coal Chamber, Faith No More, Fear Factory, Machine Head, Marilyn Manson, Ozzy Osbourne, Slo-Burn, Type O Negative, Vision of Disorder: Ozz-Fest: California Screaming!

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 ...

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 ...

Bon Jovi: Dominion Theatre, London

Live Review by Steffan Chirazi, Sounds, 8 June 1985

By Jovi! ...

Boo-Yaa T.R.I.B.E., Ice-T, Ministry, Porno for Pyros, The Red Hot Chili Peppers, Soundgarden: 'Looza Takes All

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

Danzig: Black Gold!

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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' ...

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, ...

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, ...

Goldie: Saturnz Return (FFRR, $16.98) ****

Review by Steffan Chirazi, San Francisco Chronicle, 1 February 1998

Goldie Takes A Dark Journey ...

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 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 ...

King Kobra: Snakes Alive

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 ...

Korn: Hoots Bloody Hoots

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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. ...

Machine Head, Napalm Death, Obituary: Napalm Death, Obituary, Machine Head: The Palace, Los Angeles CA

Live Review by Steffan Chirazi, Kerrang!, 24 September 1994

Death Metal kings Napalm Death and Obituary slay LA! Monstrous Machine Head march on! ...

The Mad Professor, Massive Attack: Massive Attack v The Mad Professor: No Protection (Gyroscope/Caroline, $16.98) ****

Review by Steffan Chirazi, San Francisco Chronicle, 28 April 1996

Mad Professor Mixes Some Magic ...

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 ...

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 ...

Megadeth: 'Deth Warmed Up!

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?! ...

Megadeth: 'Deth Warmed Up! #2

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 ...

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 ...

Megadeth: Peace of Mind

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 ...

Megadeth, Motörhead: Motörhead, Megadeth: Kaiser Centre, Oakland

Live Review by Steffan Chirazi, Kerrang!, 13 November 1986

'Head Over Heels! ...

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 ...

The Melvins: Gods of Thunder!

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! ...

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 ...

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! ...

Metallica Killed 'Em All!

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 ...

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... ...

Metallica: Come Out and Play

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

Metallica: Massive Attack!

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 ...

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 ...

Metallica: Stir Crazy!

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 ...

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 ...

Metallica: Thrash on Delivery

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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. ...

Nine Inch Nails: Techno Fear!

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

Ted Nugent: Out Of Control (Epic/Legacy import E2K 47039) KKKKK

Review by Steffan Chirazi, Kerrang!, 14 August 1993

THE NUGE IS HUGE! ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

Poison: Scarred but Smarter

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, ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 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 ...

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 ...

Screaming Trees, Soul Asylum: Soul Asylum, Screaming Trees: Greek Theatre, Berkeley CA

Live Review by Steffan Chirazi, Kerrang!, 18 September 1993

Seeking Asylum... ...

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 ...

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 ...

Slayer: The Brothers Grim

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 ...

Slayer: At War with Slayer

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 ...

Slayer: Angels of Def!

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

Slayer: The Stone, San Francisco

Live Review by Steffan Chirazi, Kerrang!, 27 November 1986

Slatanic Slaughter ...

Soundgarden: Gardeners' World

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 ...

Soundgarden: Gardeners' World

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' ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

Tool's Paradise

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 ...

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 ...

WASP: Buzz Sore?

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 ...

ZZ Top: Recyclopedia Salesmen

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 ...

List of genre pieces

Def American: Let it R.I.P.!

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' ...

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 ...

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