Tenacious D: 20Q

Does anyone rock harder than Jack Black and Kyle? The greatest band in the world tells all, and even better, they've written a song just for you.

Q1

PLAYBOY: There are many different versions of Tenacious D's origins. Some claim you were raised by a blind blues musician, while others insist you made a pact with the devil to become mock-rock superstars. Would you care to set the record straight?
GASS: You'll have to wait for our new movie, The Pick of Destiny. We did it as a way to satisfy public curiosity about us once and for all. We're finally going to give it to you straight, but we're not giving anything away for free.
BLACK: We're doing this for the fans. This is their chance to learn the truth about the band, to get answers to all those epic questions that have been asked through the ages: "How did you guys meet?" "Why are you called Tenacious D?" "How are you able to rock so hard?" "When did you first meet Sasquatch?" At long last you're going to find out.

Q2

PLAYBOY: Just how much of this movie is autobiographical?
GASS: Everything is completely accurate. In a lot of ways it's almost a documentary. Maybe not the Pick of Destiny part--when we go searching for the guitar pick used at one time by every great musician in rock history—but the relationship between Jack and me is pretty truthful. When I met Jack I was the wise mentor and he was my student in rock. He looked up to me for about a day and a half, then realized I was full of shit and completely took over and dominated me after that. I think we capture that pretty well in the movie. In a lot of ways it's a typical Hollywood story: Boy meets boy, boy teaches boy how to rock, boy loses boy, boy gets boy back, boys reach rock supremacy.

Q3

PLAYBOY: Is there anything you don't share in this movie? Anything that was too personal?
BLACK: Not at all. We're not holding anything back. Whenever we do something, we do it like we think the earth is going to explode tomorrow. We put it all out there. We're not saving anything for the next movie. It's all coming now, all the way, full guns ablazing.
GASS: You mean full throttle?
BLACK: That sounds dumb. I like "full guns ablazing" better.
GASS: Let it be known that Jack was making a motorcycle-throttle hand gesture. So I'm not misrepresenting him.
BLACK: We're gonna open up the, uh——
GASS: Floodgates?
BLACK: We're releasing the hounds.
GASS: We're opening the gates and releasing the hounds. Simultaneously.

Q4

PLAYBOY: We find it curious that neither of you has a love interest in the movie. Are you trying to tell us something about your lifestyle choices?
GASS: Well, I don't think people want or need to know that Jack and I are lovers, but I guess, in a way, you could say there's a subterranean gay undertone to the movie, though we never intended it. In Hollywood it's almost de rigueur to have some sort of love interest. Even when it detracts from the story, they always tack it on anyway. And it's never funny. But this movie is just about us. We're egotistical enough to think that's all people want to see.

Q5

PLAYBOY: You've spoken openly about your rivalry with Satan. Will the D finally settle the score in The Pick of Destiny?
BLACK: We gave Satan a major speaking role, though we don't actually do any hand-to-hand combat with him. There is a battle between a wizard and the devil. Some people will say we stole it from The Lord of the Rings, but that's BS.

Q6

PLAYBOY: They say the camera adds 10 pounds. Since you're both already on the hefty side, did you feel compelled to get in shape for the movie?
GASS: We knew it was coming for a long time, and as you know, we've had a lifetime battle with our weight. So I thought, Okay, this is the time. I got the trainer, I exercised every day, and I got the special diet food delivered to me. I was working as hard as I could. I probably dropped 20 pounds. Then we started the movie and there was a full buffet on the set. Somebody must have said, "Jack and Kyle love to eat. Let's not spare any expense." We'd have a full breakfast; then craft service would show up with doughnuts and nachos and any snack you can think of. When I'm working and there's any sort of pressure at all, I find solace in food. I literally gained it all back. We shot the last scene on the first day, when I was still looking very crisp and good. But when we finally got around to shooting the earlier scenes, I looked like Jabba the Hutt. I created my own continuity problem.

Q7

PLAYBOY: Porn star Ron Jeremy claims he gives hope to old, out-of-shape guys: If he can get laid, anybody can. Does the same philosophy apply to Tenacious D? Are you providing an example for bald, overweight guys who want to be rock stars?
GASS: Oh absolutely. That's what we're all about. A lot of people think, I'm not thin enough to be a rock star. But look at us. We're both eating too much, and we're doing just fine. You don't need to have electric guitars. You don't even need a rhythm section. It's not about volume or chops. It's about what's in here. Please make a note that I'm pointing to my head and heart simultaneously.
BLACK: A lot of people don't know it, but Kyle is actually not bald.
GASS: That's right. This is a fashion choice. I have a full head of hair, but I choose to shave my head.
BLACK: He's like that guy from the Prodigy, the singer with the reverse Mohawk. He's making it cool to be bald. It's an artistic choice.

Q8

PLAYBOY: You're the self-proclaimed greatest band in the world. Can you confer that title on yourself? Doesn't it have to be given by some higher rock authority?
BLACK: You're absolutely right. It's stupid to call yourself the greatest band on earth. Somebody else has to call you that. But I don't think we've ever uttered the phrase "We are the greatest band in the world." Not once. As far as how we stack up in the rock hierarchy, that's not for us to say. We leave that for others to decide.
GASS: Actually, I think we have said it.
BLACK: What? When?
GASS: In the movie. I'm pretty sure you say it at some point. [Long pause. Black glares at Gass.]
BLACK: Oh yeah, that's right. It's the last line of the movie. Good call, Kyle. Good call.
GASS: Oh, wow. Can we erase that part?
BLACK: You fucking idiot.
GASS: I feel horrible. If you have any pity on us, you'll just forget that I said anything.

Q9

PLAYBOY: You languished in relative obscurity for most of your career, but now you've signed to a major label and are in a feature film. There's no nice way to ask this: Have you sold out to the man?
BLACK: I take issue with that question. What does it mean to sell out? Does that mean you've stopped doing good work because you've sacrificed your integrity? If the product you're getting paid to make is just as good as the product you were making for free, I don't understand what the sellout is. We're doing exactly what we want. Nobody fucking wrote this movie for us. Nobody writes our songs for us or tells us what to do. How have we sold out? It makes no sense.
GASS: Well, it is possible to sell out. Look at Eric Clapton back in the 1970s. He was doing the hardrockin' stuff in Cream, but then he started pandering, trying to get the hits and fit into a marketable genre. Or look at what Kiss did with its disco album, or Soul Asylum with that "Runaway Train" song.
BLACK: I feel I kind of sold out a little bit when I did the movie Shallow Hal. I had an opportunity to work with some dudes I thought were really funny, but it didn't turn out as I'd hoped. I wasn't proud of it, and I got paid a lot of money, so in retrospect it feels like a sellout. But the D never sold out. We never did a commercial, and we've been offered a few. We could've gotten paid more for this movie, but we wanted creative control.

Q10

PLAYBOY: The Pick of Destiny has a lot of famous cameos, from Amy Poehler to Tim Robbins and Ben Stiller. How did you persuade them to appear in your movie?
GASS: Most of them owed us favors. Ben Stiller was originally just a producer on the movie, and we told him, "Dude, you've got to come down and actually earn your paycheck." At some point Will Ferrell was supposed to be in it. I said, "You know, I was in Elf. How about some reciprocity?" He promised to do it, and then he was busy. Thanks, Will. We really appreciate it. So Ben stepped in and hit it out of the park.