It’s not that often when metal creeps its way into mainstream pop culture. So when metal/hard rock acts do actually pop up in beloved sitcoms, dramatic films, cartoons or even reality series, it’s kind of awesome. So in the weekly column Remember When, Metal Insider recalls the most random instances of metal’s elite appearing in front of the camera.
Megadeth are actually no strangers to late night TV, having performed numerous times on Jimmy Kimmel Live! (as well as on The Late Show with David Letterman and Late Night with Jimmy Fallon), sometimes even in costume. However, Dave Mustaine and crew’s second appearance on Jimmy Kimmel’s ABC talk show back in 2013 answered a question that’s always been on our minds: what would a Megadeth Christmas album sound like?
More specifically, Megadeth appeared in Jimmy Kimmel Live!’s commercial parody for a mock Christmas album, Thrashing Through The Snow: A Very Megadeth Christmas. Decked in Christmas sweaters, Megadeth were shown playing their own versions of Christmas carols like “Frosty The Snowman” and “The Little Drummer Boy” to a group of less than thrilled youngsters by the fire and Christmas tree. The parody also included a rendition of “Baby It’s Cold Outside” with indie rock superstar Jenny Lewis… before they scared her away. Hey the group did warn in the promo that if you didn’t like their renditions of the carols, then “Santa will kick you… IN THE THROAT!”
While Megadeth is still figuring out who will permanently sit behind the drum kit moving forward, their lineup at the time of this sketch included guitarist Chris Broderick and drummer Shawn Drover, who left and formed their own group Act Of Defiance together last year. Having just wrapped up a North American tour, both Broderick and Drover took the time to speak with us about the Christmas sketch (and the other bit they filmed for Jimmy Kimmel Live that never aired). Check out what they both had to share with us, as well as watch video of the promo for Megadeth’s “Christmas album,” below.
Megadeth has performed on late night TV many times, but how did Megadeth’s “Christmas album” parody on Jimmy Kimmel Live come about?
Broderick: That was put together by the Jimmy Kimmel show. They had the skit, the set and the wardrobe ready to go and it was a great time to doing it. Wearing those awful sweaters was the perfect way to have a thrash band do Christmas carols, “fa la la la la… la la la la. Bitch!”
Drover: We were contacted through our management at the time [to see] if we would be interested in doing a Christmas sketch as well as a live performance on the show, to which of course we agreed to do so, as we knew it would be a fun and interesting experience. The fact that it was to be a Christmas sketch (which is my favorite time of year) and we were able to put on the cheesiest holiday sweaters seemed like a no-brainer to me.
What was the filming process like? Any fond memories from the set?
Broderick: For me it was really fun preparing for each skit along with the show, knowing that it was going to be broadcast all over the globe and thinking about how I could contribute to them and add my part. I would say the Christmas carol segment was a definite highlight though.
Drover: What I remember most is not being aware that we actually had to record some new Christmas tunes literally right on the spot for the sketch. Dave really stepped up and made up some riffs on the spot for the 2-3 metal jingles we had to create. It ended up being pretty funny and cool, but a tad nerve wracking at the same time for me. It wasn’t easy headbanging with a Santa hat on my head, either.
One of Jimmy Kimmel’s most popular segments is having celebrities read mean tweets about them. With that in mind, what is the meanest tweet you’ve read that someone posted about you?
Drover: We actually did that “Celebrity Mean Tweet” thing as well, right after we did the Christmas skit. We filmed a bunch of spots for that, but I’m not sure if any of them were ever aired. They were pretty funny though, I must say!
Broderick: For me the meanest tweet was in the form of a question by an interviewer around 2010. I have to give it to him, the question was well phrased and very appropriate [laughs]. For the first question he asked “So you are the 22nd member of Megadeth, how does that make you feel?” I just started laughing because I knew he was digging, but I just laughed and said “22nd or 2nd, it doesn’t matter, I am here to play guitar.”
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6uo_hugLlwQ[/youtube]
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