Tenacious D might be the greatest band in the world. It's
certainly the funniest.
By Mikael Wood
Tenacious D is, by its own estimation, the greatest band in the
world. An acoustic duo featuring actors
Jack Black and Kyle Gass,
the D began their campaign for greatness with a short-lived HBO
series in 1999 that became a cult favorite among fans of sketch
comedy and
heavy metal (a potentially fertile combination, as This
Is Spinal Tap proved over two decades ago).
Since then, the D have released a self-titled CD (with Foo Fighters
front man
Dave Grohl on drums), toured the world, and, most
recently, starred in their own big-budget movie, Tenacious D in the
Pick of Destiny, which retells the tale of the D's ascension with
special effects and cameos by
Meat Loaf and
Ben Stiller. There's
also a soundtrack disc featuring gems like "Dude (I Totally Miss
You)." We got Black and Gass on the phone and had them rap about
their rock.
The Pick of Destiny has
taken a long road to movie theaters. You guys have been talking
about the film for two or three years.
Jack Black: There was a danger that there would never be
a Tenacious D movie. But now here we are.
What goes into a process that long?
JB: A lot of sitting in silence with your head in your
hands, squeezing the brain juice to get that perfect idea. A lot of
that.
The Pick of Destiny is
just one side of Tenacious D. There are also albums, TV shows,
music videos, and live shows. Which one best represents the band's
aesthetic?
Kyle Gass: I think the live show.
JB: I think first people buy the album. Wait, no: First, people go
to the movie - that's the first level of fan. Then the harder-core
fans will go and buy the album. But then the hardest of all the
hard-core will buy a ticket and go out to the concert, and for that
they are rewarded.
With?
JB: With the most explosive night of entertainment
anyone has ever known - and I've said this a lot - since Pink
Floyd's the Wall. Isn't the Wall widely recognized as the greatest
live concert of all time?
KG: Well, it's pretty subjective. I'm gonna say Riverdance with
Michael Flatley.
Do the different contexts require you to
manipulate what you do? Is Tenacious D a different beast in each
setting?
KG: Yeah. In the studio, it's very detail oriented; you
get a chance to get every little thing right. In the movies as
well. The live show, it's planned, but there's more of a
spontaneous energy.
Are you both detail guys?
JB: I am, yeah. I'm a little bit obsessive about the
details. I've got a little OCD. Things have to be lined up just
so.
That seems at odds with the earliest Tenacious D
stuff, which had a certain scrappiness to it.
JB: We kept it loose with that kind of stuff, especially
on the first album, when we would go into the studio and it was
time to do some comedy nuggets. We didn't write it down on pieces
of paper; we didn't talk about it beforehand. We would just go in
and riff on different ideas. Sometimes we wouldn't even tell each
other what it was going to be, to capture what you're talking
about. But, you know, I think it is always the same beast, whether
we're in the studio or on the movie set or whatever.
KG: So you’re calling me a liar? That’s what you’re saying?
JB: You’re a liar.
You worked with a director, Liam Lynch, on The Pick of Destiny. Does that kind of collaboration require compromise?
JB: Well, we’ve been collaborating ever since we started doing the TV show on HBO — that was a collaboration with Bob [Odenkirk] and David [Cross] from Mr. Show. I think we’ve always had really good experiences when we’ve mixed our sauces with other people’s sauces. Right, KG? You like the way I said sauces?
KG: I did. You know, sometimes there’s just stuff you’re not gonna think of on your own.
JB: The ego wants to take all the credit and say, “No collaborators.” But three heads are better than two. And it’s just a question of finding someone who shares a sensibility. That’s an art, too — picking who your collaborators are.