[tv]https://metalinjection.net/tv/view/9152/magrudergrind-on-hbos-veep[/tv]
By now, you may have seen the above clip of Magrudergrind briefly featured on this week's episode of the HBO comedy, Veep. The big question was how the hell did the 'gruders land the gig? Frontman Avi Kulway spoke to the Washington City Paper about it and said the producers liked that the band were DC locals, and that they didn't look like stereotypical metal heads. The reason their clean cut look was so appealing was apparently because they were going to be written into the script:
Kulawy and Ober's clean-cut appearance was crucial to HBO's initial decision to reach out to Magrudergrind, because the original idea was to write them into the show as bit parts. "The whole idea is that RJ and myself are colleagues that work on Capitol Hill," Kulawy says. "We're in this super high-level position within the government, and it's real stressful." So to blow off steam after work, the pair rip things up as part of a grindcore band. Kulawy and Ober might have even had some lines had the original concept worked out, but "they flew that idea out the window."
According to Kulawy, the high-profile-government-worker-interested-in-extreme-music angle remained, but now, one of Veep's recurring characters is a grindcore fan rather than a musician. That still provided Magrudergrind with a spot on the show, and in the fall the group trekked out to Ottobar to film the short scene.
The Veep staff meticulously mapped out every detail of the scene, from the artificial flyers for the club, which is named "The Labyrinth" on the show, to how the band members buttoned their shirts. They picked out Magrudergrind's song too: "Lyrical Ammunition for Scene Warfare." It's a ripper of a tune and an excellent example of the trio's sound, but, at 59-seconds long, it also posed a curious problem.
"The duration of the scene is a lot longer than the actual song is, which is kind of funny," Kulawy says. And Magrudergrind had only been contracted to play that one song. "We had to repeat the song over and over." Kulawy isn't sure why the folks behind Veep picked "Lyrical Ammunition for Scene Warfare," though he says it's one of the easier Magrudergrind songs to find on the Internet. Thematically, it's a solid choice: The song's lyrics—about disregarding scene politics—would certainly resonate with an extreme-metal fan working in one of the highest offices of government, which is one career that won't get anyone cred in the orthodox grindcore community.
Kudos to the guys. Sean is super-bonered about it. The band is currently working on their next album.
