Interview: Brendon Small finds his niche

By BARRY THOMPSON | April 24, 2012

WAS HOME MOVIES — YOUR BREAKOUT SHOW ON ADULT SWIM— AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL? No. I played soccer, but none of those characters really existed. It was due to total laziness that my character's name was "Brendon Small." It was advantageous for me. I couldn't get fired from that job, because I was Brendon Small.

WHEN YOU WERE FIRST WRITING MUSIC FOR METALOCALYPSE, DID YOU EVER SAY, "HEY, MAYBE I'LL TAKE THIS THING ON TOUR AND BECOME A ROCK STAR MYSELF?" I get to play guitar a lot, and that's why the show exists. Metalocalypse is about me dusting off my guitar case and falling back in love with my guitar. My goal was to, hopefully, write a song every episode and have enough material at the end of the season to elongate the songs, figure out some different twists, turns, and surprises, and put out a physical record. Then I could say, "Hey, look, I did this record and it sounds cool and I like it." It's like anything else I do. I don't expect an audience to flock to it, ever.

SEASON THREE WAS ALL HALF-HOUR EPISODES. WHY DOES SEASON FOUR RETURN TO THE 15-MINUTE FORMAT FROM THE FIRST TWO YEARS? The story I wanted to tell this season was better served that way. There's also another thing. Metalocalypse is an incredibly labor-intensive show, because there're only three of us working on it. When you're writing the show, doing the voices, and you're accountable for every frame, there's a lot of administrative stuff. . . . Can you hold on for one second? I've got a guy calling me.

OKAY. (Pause . . . . ) Sorry about that. What was I saying? Rock and roll? Guitars are cool? ^

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