Metalocalypse creator Brendon Small wasn't too optimistic about the music business during a recent Phoenix New Times chat, sharing grim predictions regarding the constant decline.

"You know, music is in a really, really tough place right now," Small said.

"The main reason ... If you're going to do music, you should really enjoy the music you're making because slowly but surely year by year people are making less money in music because people think it's free. I'm watching friends of mine in bands who are experiencing that."

On a more positive note, Brendon discussed the idea of Metalocalypse and how it initially came to be. "I went to music school a long time ago, and before that, I was listening to lots of metal and guitar-driven music," he said. "Once I got to music school, it's weird; you want to learn all types of things and different styles. Like in the 'Doomstar' record, I got to play around with '70s power-pop stuff and classical-style music. And that's the type of stuff you learn at music school."


"You get pulled in a lot of directions and lose your musical identity to a certain degree, which isn't necessarily a bad thing," he continued. "But then I started getting back into metal again, and I started going out and seeing lots of different shows and playing on my guitar. And that's where Metalocalpyse came from: Me falling back in love with my guitar. And using the show as an excuse for me playing the guitar really helped."

Discussing other animated series on today's market, the musician singled out "South Park" as the only feature still making him genuinely laugh. "I like animated features, but, um, the only thing I really watch is 'South Park' because that still makes me laugh. There's plenty of great stuff out there. I just tend to stay away from it ... Almost like if you work in a chocolate factory, you don't want to come home and eat chocolate, you know? You want something savory."

Metalocalypse TV Series by Brendon Small...