In a new interview with Entertainment Weekly, TWISTED SISTER guitarist Jay Jay French explains what inspired Monster Ballads Xmas and a new metal holiday album he's executive producing. Here are a few excerpts from the chat:

Entertainment Weekly: How did Twisted Sister get into the Xmas album business?

French: "The idea came about because my singer hasn't written a new song in 20 years. And I was trying to get him — or anyone — excited about anything. And I thought, How about a Christmas album? And then Dee admitted that 'O Come All Ye Faithful' was the inspiration for 'We're Not Gonna Take It'. Thank God the original writers are long dead and there's no infringement.

Entertainment Weekly: Well, happy Xmas. Even though it's still freakin' September!

French: "But every great Christmas record is written in July, right? Isn't that the whole deal? 'The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire)' by MEL TORMÉ was written on the hottest day of that year in Los Angeles. Of course, Jews write the best Christmas records."

Entertainment Weekly: What's next? A thrash-metal Thanksgiving?

French: "Well, the joke was that we're going to make a Hanukkah record. Look, nobody expected the Xmas record to be as successful as it was. And then that led to the label [Razor & Tie] asking me to oversee this other project. Frankly, if Twisted Sister had wanted to make a follow-up record this other compilation wouldn't have been done. But it's so hard to get Twisted Sister to do much of anything. I don't know if you've looked at our touring schedule this year — but it consists of two shows [laughs]. And even then I get complaints that we're overworking!"

Entertainment Weekly: What's the problem?

French: "I don't know if there's a problem. But, as you know, the record business isn't selling records. All these heritage acts - the QUEENSRŸCHEs, the PRIESTs - at best sell 10 percent of what they sold at their peak. So, at best they are selling 40-50,000 units, maybe 100,000 units. Touring is a lot of work to put in to NOT sell much product. It becomes an impracticality and kind of gets in the way of everything else you do... And then of course we embarrass our children by walking around on stage looking like a bunch of middle-aged transvestites."

Read more here.

Watch Twisted Sister's video for 'O Come All Ye Faithful':