Brendon Small, creator of the Cartoon Network/Adult Swim’s Metalocalypse is a busy man these days. Not only in the midst of the second season of the show, but he is out touring behind the multimedia experience that is Dethklok “Deth Tour” rolling through the States right now. The fans of the hit cult show on Adult Swim went out in droves and bought the cartoon band’s  The Dethalbum which became one of the top selling metal records of the past year. During the interview with Brendon, we discussed the inner workings of the show, as well as what to expect on the tour. Here is my interview with Brendon:

MyCityBuzz: Where did the influences for the look and mannerisms of the band come from?
Brendon Small: The influence of the band in general came from death metal and those type of bands. When thinking up the lead singer on the show (Nathan Explosion), we thought about the band Cannibal Corpse and their lead singer (George “Corpsegrinder” Fisher) and thought he was large enough and had that presence to make it work. When we thought of Skwisgaar (Skwigelf; guitarist in Dethklok), we looked at Swedish guitar shredders like Yngwie Malmsteen and people like that. Him and Toki (Wartooth; rhythm guitarist) are always battling because in the metal world, the Swedes look down upon the Norwegians. With Pickles (The Drummer), we looked to the archetype of guys like Roger Taylor of Queen; kind of his look, not so much in his actions. You want to make the characters look human and their actions believable, instead of having abstract looking characters and cardboard cutouts, things like that.

MCB: With the band’s toys (helicopter, etc), did you want the band to seem like superheroes as well?
BS: Not really, with these guys we wanted to show that money buys everything. They kinda have a Howard Hughes situation going on. They can buy everything that they want and do just about anything they want. They come off as spoiled f---ing brats at some points. Some of the ideas that they have on the show are completely insane. These guys aren’t superheroes, they’re super ego-maniacs. The show is as much about the life of celebrities as it is about metal.

MCB: How do you feel the show fits in with the rest of the shows on Adult Swim (Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Robot Chicken)?
BS: I’m not too sure. I haven’t paid too much attention to the other shows on the network. I’ve seen Robot Chicken once and it looked like more sketch related versus an actual show with characters. I think Aqua Teen is great because it is always as weird as it wants to be. When I finish an episode, that’s it, very rarely do I ever go back and watch it when it's on TV. Maybe if there was a movie, it might be a different story, but I feel that the when the show is completed, that is the way I want it to be like.

MCB: As a music fan, what were you influences when you were growing up?
BS: When I was younger, I always loved Queen. It was big, epic and bombastic rock. It was always filled with drama and immediacy and pulled me off. I was always a big Who fan as well, but got into the thrash stuff like Metallica and shredders like Joe Satriani and Steve Vai. I even got into movie score music from John Williams (“Star Wars,” “Raiders Of the Lost Ark,” etc) and rock operas like “Jesus Christ Superstar.”

MCB: Has it been difficult to translate the characters to a live setting?
BS: When putting something like this together, the only thing that is difficult is getting the time and money to make it right. With something like this, you have to be comfortable about the vision for the show. We have a large screen of the band, with the four guys in the band playing below it. Our drummer has a click-set, which matches the actions and scenes of the characters with the songs. We’re scoring a movie, more or less. I would rather try to do it this way than try to have a real human version of Dethklok out there. If we did that, it would just be embarrassing for me. Doing it the way we have done it, it has been really satisfying and the guys in the band are great to play with.

MCB: Will there be any new unreleased material during the shows?
BS: All the songs in concert will be from The Dethalbum. I’ve written tons of new songs, but between the tour and the second season running right now, it's been tough to get back into the studio to do it. I am going to have to block off some time in the near future to record the new songs for the next season or another album.

MCB: On the show, the economy around Dethklok has the 12th highest GDP in the world, right below Belgium. When you see the band cracking the Top 10?
BS: (laughs) Probably after their next record. Right now on the season, the band is trying to record an album underwater. If that’s huge, I can see them going to number 10.

MCB: What should people not familiar with the show expect if they come to the live show?
BS: True metalheads will love it, there’s enough death metal for them. But if someone’s never been to a metal show, there is a energy unmatched with any other type of music. Plus, there’s a lot of comedy thrown in with the music during the set as well. And there’s always a curiosity factor thrown in there as well, but in the end it's not all about metal, it's about comedy and most can relate to that.

Don't miss Brendon Small and the animated guys in Dethklok on The Deth Tour this summer. For dates and tickets checkout Ticketmaster.com. The second season of  Metalocalypse is currently running on the Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim block, check local listings. Additional dates can be found at MySpace.com/dethklok.