Mastodon’s Brann Dailor Reflects on ‘Game of Thrones’ Experience

After Mastodon made a cameo appearance on the latest episode of HBO's hit series Game of Thrones, we're learning more about their experience on the set. Brann Dailor, Bill Kelliher and Brent Hinds appeared as "Wildings" in the episode called “Hardhome.”

In a new interview with the Wall Street Journal, Dailor says they were on set in Ireland last November for about 14 hours shooting their scenes. “So yeah, you just kind of sit and wait for your part, and they put us up front and basically had Bill and Brent lay down in the mud,” Dailor says. “I got stabbed in the stomach and my throat slit. They just kept doing that over and over again. I decided after six or seven times that it wouldn’t be a bad way to go.”

Dailor also talked about one of their favorite moments on set, when they were waiting in a tent keeping warm along with other actors including someone playing a White Walker. He was trying to have a hot drink, but his makeup was hindering his efforts. “He’s saying, ‘Can ya please, can someone please get me a straw for my hot cocoa? I’d like to drink it please!’” Dailor said. “And he’s just so brutal, and he looks so scary and epic, and he’s just a dude who wants some hot cocoa.”

So what led to Mastodon's appearance on the show? Turns out that Game of Thrones showrunner D.B. Weiss is a fan of the band. “When we found out that Dan [Weiss] was a big fan of the band, I was like, ‘I knew that guy was a metalhead!’” Dailor says.

Mastodon contributed the track "White Walker" to Catch the Throne: The Mixtape Vol. 2, and Dailor says he thinks Game of Thrones will be influential in the metal world. “I feel like it’s pretty inspired by heavy metal, and it’s going to be inspiring in the form of heavy metal for years to come, I’m sure.”

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