ROCKET Interviews Director Chris Lee of METAL GRASSHOPPER

Metal icon Philip H. Anselmo puts delusional manchild Dave Hill through his special brand of heavy metal bootcamp in a web series that will make even the most jaded break out into fits of uncontrollable laughter. The Metal Grasshopper series is now on Episode 5, a “Vulgar Display of Feelings”, where Philip H. Anselmo agrees to undergo group counseling with Dave, in an effort to rescue the goat that also happens to be Anselmo’s grandmother. There’s not a dry seat in the house as Dr. Joe Randazzo aids Anselmo and Hill in an exploration of their feelings. Any fan of good old fashioned comedy will love this odd couple of pure metal mayhem.

ROCKET: Who came up with the brilliant idea for Metal Grasshopper?

CHRIS: You know that was a combination of me and Dave Hill … probably drinking was involved. (Laughs) In fact, I am sure drinking was involved. It was one of those things where we laughed about it and then said “Hey, we should actually try and do that…”

ROCKET: I love seeing Phil like this – unless you’re a real hardcore fan like me most people don’t know him to have a great sense of humor. He can be really funny behind the scenes.

CHRIS: That was one of the impetus for me working with him. I got to know him as ‘that guy’. I mean, the guy is the funniest motherfucker in the world.. I said to him “Yeah, if you’re interested in doing comedy I think you would be really good at it!”

ROCKET: Yeah, Phil really seems to have a natural talent for this.

CHRIS: And Dave is a comedian, you know… so he is really good too. Dave is the rock there… keeps it all together. It’s a pretty crazy dynamic the two have going.

ROCKET: Absolutely. So who does the writing?

CHRIS: Dave and I wrote outlines… not a script. We kinda knew Phil was gonna say what he wanted about the subject so we just tee him up and let him go.

ROCKET: So there is improv going on?

CHRIS: Yeah, it’s like okay Phil you have to teach Dave to do this… and he just runs with it!

ROCKET: Where are you filming it?

CHRIS: Most of it was shot at Phil’s place and some in and around the city of New Orleans. When you see that bedroom we didn’t set dress that room.

ROCKET: (Laughs) I’ve seen a bunch of pictures of Phil’s home, on the inside, though I never been inside actually.. and it looks like a place Vincent Price would have lived in during the 50’s or some shit!

CHRIS: (Laughs) Absolutely. He is a Vincent Price character! I would love to see him grow that goatee!

ROCKET: What has your experience been like working with Philip H. Anselmo?

CHRIS: Yeah, the back story on that is I am married to former White Zombie bassist Sean Yseult .. those guys toured together. He treats her like his little sister. Which makes me like his brother-in-law. He was really welcoming. You know I only really got to know him back about 3 or 4 years ago. So I got to know the happy Phil, the goofy Phil. I never really encountered when he was on the pain pills. From the back surgery and all that stuff. I always heard from Sean that he was the funniest guy you’d meet. And that’s the guy I met.. so it went good.

It was really cool to see him kick so much ass.. because when you point a camera at someone you never know how it’s gonna work out. But the guy has been performing all of his adult life. He’s a natural actor. We’d like to turn Metal Grasshopper into a TV show. There’s nothing to announce just yet. We are working on that. It could end up being something totally different though, we’re kicking stuff around.

ROCKET: How long does it take to produce one episode?

CHRIS: 4 days of shooting. It wasn’t the shooting that took so long. It was the editing. What happened is we sold it to Adult Swim as a series. They were gonna edit and that was in the summer of last year. And by New Year’s of this year they closed the whole division and it got lost in a corporate ‘worm hole’. It took two months to edit. Yeah, so we have a plan that a network like Fuse or FX wants to pick this up we have the first season totally outlined and a second season, or it could end up being a movie. We have not actually started pitching that yet.

ROCKET: Is there a way fans can support Metal Grasshopper? Do you have anything they can buy yet?

CHRIS: Well you know I think if the fans wanted a DVD we could put that together something like that through Housecore Records.

ROCKET: Are we gonna get another episode of Metal Grasshopper before the year is over?

CHRIS: Yes, we are scheduled for the final episode – number six – to come out next Tuesday (Dec 23).

ROCKET: I don’t know how you guys are gonna conclude all of it. But I think you should have Phil kill Dave in the end.

CHRIS: (Laughs) Well I don’t want to reveal too much about the finale. But he doesn’t kill him! (Laughs) It’s more like “You have learned, Grasshopper.. now it is time to spread your wings!”

ROCKET: But it would be just so much fun if Phil clipped his wings!

CHRIS: (More laughter) We might have to put that in the movie… we shall see what happens.

ROCKET: Well it was great chatting. Any last words for the fans?

CHRIS: Thank you so much for watching. Forward it to your friends. Anyone that you think would get a kick out of it. Thanks!

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