Tenacious D

In 1994, two men set out to change the world. Armed with only acoustic guitars, these two heroic — albeit portly — figures sang of superheroes, Satan and Sasquatch; they are, of course, Tenacious D.
    After their first performance at Al’s Bar in Los Angeles, the duo of Jack Black and Kyle Gass caught the eye of Mr. Show’s Bob Odenkirk and David Cross, which led to a series of short films on HBO, a rabid cult following and, eventually, a self-titled album (released in 2001) that featured, among other guests, Foo Fighter Dave Grohl returning to the drums. A successful two-disc DVD (Tenacious D – The Complete Master Works, which featured a full live concert, all of the HBO shorts and a full disc of sordid extras for true fanatics) followed, but, like a slumbering dragon, the D grew quiet. In the meantime, lead guitarist Gass formed another band, Trainwreck, with Jason Reed (Lee from the HBO skits); and frontman Black went on to become Jack Black, starring in blockbuster films such as School of Rock and Peter Jackson’s King Kong.
    But now the D are back and set to star in their first feature film — Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny — and release their sophomore album (collaborating with the likes of Meatloaf, Ronnie James Dio and, once again, Dave Grohl) of the same name. The impact of these new developments may take years to fully comprehend, but regardless, Kage and Jables took a break from their plans for world domination to speak with Synthesis about the film, the album, and to give us a glimpse into the ongoing power struggle between the two sole members of The Greatest Band on Earth.


How’re you doing?
Jack Black: Fantastic, fantastic. Kage, are you there?
Kyle Gass: [Amidst shuffling noises] I’m here.
JB: What are you doing now, Kage?
KG: Nothing.
JB: Something else is happening there. I can tell.
KG: I’m moving my phone!
JB: What are you doing? Are you building something? Are you making a project?
KG: No!
JB: All right, well, Kyle’s doing something he doesn’t want to talk about. Hopefully he’ll kind of listen to the questions. What’s happening?

Not much. So, it’s been a while since the last Tenacious D album. Do you think anyone’s come along in that time to challenge your title as Greatest Band on Earth?
JB: Strangely enough, no.
KG: Maybe K-Fed.

Yeah, his album’s going to be hot.
JB: [Laughs]
KG: He might challenge us.
JB: [To Kyle] I imagine you putting together — tell me if this is true — a model of a World War II fighter plane, and you’re there with all the tiny pieces of the plane, and you’re gluing them together with your model plastic glue and you’ve got the different kinds of paints and stuff too — all laid out on your hotel room floor. Is that what you’re doing?
KG: I am completely working on it.

I should probably let you guys interview each other, because I’d imagine you’d have more interesting questions to ask one another than I do.
JB: No, no. I don’t agree. I want to hear your questions. What was your next question?

I’m not really sure.
JB: What was the last question? Have any bands come along to threaten our dominance? Kage said K-Fed, and I’m going to say these guys Flight of the Conchords. They’re a younger, better-looking version of the D — and maybe smarter. There are all kinds of weapons that they have that are terrifying to the D. But what they don’t have — and this is our secret weapon — is our dumbness. That’s where we catch them at the pass. The only thing that can beat smartness is dumbness. Dumbness wins every time. It’s one of the laws of the universe. Kage?
KG: Dumbness.

How was the process of translating something that was just songs and short sketches into a feature film?
KG: It was challenging.
JB: We just had to flesh shit out, and it helped to start with the origins of these characters and build from there — like how we met and all that stuff was a big part of turning this thing into an epic. And it forced us to really define what we were, because as funny as those short films on HBO were, it kind of left everything pretty nebulous. You didn’t really know who these guys were or where they were going. You just knew that they were these funny fucking guys floating around in space and time, thinking they were the greatest. So we had to go a step further and really examine what was funny about those guys and what were the funniest scenarios we could be in.

Kyle, in the film, you’re a sort of guru character. From what I’ve read of yours and Jack’s history together, that seems to be true. How representative is that of how you really started Tenacious D?
KG: It was representative of the early times of our relationship—not chapter and verse, but the sort of vibe. And then as Jack learned that he could squash me with his mental powers, he steamrolled me and took over the reigns.
JB: [Laughs]

Was there some kind of power struggle?
KG: Well, it’s less gradual in the movie, for dramatic purposes. In real life there were stages.
JB: In real life there’s still a struggle happening.
KG: Right. I’m just getting ready for the final takeover.
JB: [sings a la Europe’s “The Final Countdown”] The final takeover…


I know Jack’s listening, but could you divulge some of your plans?
KG: Well, it might be a little awkward, but why not? I think this movie The Holiday that Jack’s putting out is probably the final nail. And when he’s skipping a beat, that’s when I run right up next to him and pass him right by.
JB: Are you saying The Holiday isn’t going to be a rousing success? What makes you think it won’t be my best work?
KG: Oh no, no, no, no… It’s going to be great…
JB: Well, Holiday is a departure for me. It’s a sweet movie, which isn’t usually my strong suit. But as usual, Kyle’s got my back, watching me stretch and grow in different directions. He’s 100 percent behind his buddy.
KG: I thought School of Rock was really sweet. I remember when you had that scene with that fat girl and you were like, “Hey, I’m fat too. Let’s go out and eat ribs.” Remember? That was sweet.
JB: You didn’t like that one?
KG: I liked that.
JB: I can tell. I can tell.
KG: It’s like, “Hey, wait a minute. I’m fat too. Let’s go rock!”
JB: Okay, okay. Thank you Kyle. You are the best. I’m looking forward to your stuff, too, and I’ll be sure to air my opinions and sarcastic remarks in our next interview.
KG: What’d I say? What’d I do?



I hope I didn’t touch on too sore a subject.
KG: Nah!
JB: This is the source of all our magic: sibling competitiveness.

So I didn’t get a chance to listen to all the songs on the album, I’ve only heard six so far. How many tracks will be on the finished product?
JB: There are 20 tracks on the album — like 18 or 19. Uh, we haven’t finished the track listing. Later on today, we’re going to do the final track listing and we’ll listen to the whole album from beginning to end for the first time, and there should be 18 songs on there, and I think there’ll be one final battle between me and Kyle. It could get ugly today. I hope not. I hope we’re on the same page.

Have there been some disagreements about the final track listing for the album?
KG: Yes.

Which tracks in particular are you guys squabbling over?
KG: Well, it’s kind of hard to explain if you don’t know them all.
JB: I’ve pretty much bent to Kyle’s will on every single one, and I’m bending to the point of breaking, so my branch might snap back.
KG: We’ve gone back and forth, but we haven’t been together in a while.
JB: We haven’t had any heated arguments, really. I think it’ll be more interesting when we get down to what our set list is going to be when we play live, because I’m already having nightmares about Kyle’s decisions that he’s talking about.
KG: Which ones?
JB: To start off with “Kickapoo.” I have an ulcer, because I don’t agree with that one.
KG: Why not? It’s the opening track of the movie.
JB: Well I think it’s the first song of the second act of the live show.
KG: Ugh…
JB: It’s a great song for a band. I don’t understand why you wouldn’t want to do it full bore. Maybe we can do it twice. It can be reprised.
KG: What would you start with?

Well the first song I heard when I was at the Epic office was “Kickapoo.”
KG: You think that would be a good song to start with?

Yeah, it was pretty explosive.
KG: Yeah, that’s what I was thinking.
JB: End of interview! You don’t even understand what Kyle is saying. We’re going to have a band on this tour, and he’s saying that’s one of the songs that sound better acoustically, without a band, and I couldn’t agree less.

I’ve only heard the electric version, so I can’t…
JB: Exactly! Thank you! Interview back on.

I was going to ask about that song, because Dio’s on there. How did it feel to work with one of your rock heroes?
JB: Golden. It felt really good. He offered to stay and do double tracks and quadruple back flips, but we were like, “No, dude. You nailed it.” He nailed it in a very short time. It was right in his wheelhouse. The part was written for him, with him in mind. It’s a very Dio-esque section of the song.

I hadn’t been a fan of his until I saw him live, opening for Iron Maiden, and I was definitely taken back by his stage presence. He’s an amazing performer.
JB: I can’t believe you weren’t a fan of his. He’s got the best vocals in rock. When did you see him?



I think it was a couple of summers ago. He was on tour with Iron Maiden and Motörhead.
JB: Oh boy. That’s a tour. It wouldn’t have happened back in the day because they were all huge headliners, but now the metal must join forces in order to build a tour. Ten years from now, me and Kage will have to do a tour with Weird Al to pack the house.
KG: I’d like to do a parody of an Al Yankovic song. In his face!
JB: Instead of calling it “Fat,” which is a parody of “Bad,” we would call it “Bad Again,” but in reference to his “Fat” parody.
KG: I’m not sure how it’d all work. I’d like to copy him.
JB: That’s a double reverse. 

Bookmark:

Comments down for maintenance.