from The New Zealand Herald
Decenber 11, 2004
by Cathrin Schaer




Your average journalist gets off the phone from interviewing Jack Black and his partner in mock’n’roll, Kyle Gass, feeling paranoid. You’re unsure whether they were angry with you, they were being sarcastic, or you’re just an idiot who didn’t quite get it.

Questions arise - are they like this all the time? Can anyone rock that hard? And how cool can a pair of chubby thespians with guitars be?

One thing is for sure, since their band Tenacious D - or "the D" - first appeared on the alternative stand-up comedy circuit in the USA, Black’s prickly, dark humour and his ability to scream and play guitar at the same time as Gass rocks out has gained the pair many fans, as well as a television series, a heavy-metal-folk record, rock star buddies like Dave Grohl from the Foo Fighters, a Spike Jonze-directed music video and soon a feature film.

Oh, and the title of "Greatest Band in the World" (which they conferred on themselves).

Black, who’s best known for his movie roles in the likes of High Fidelity and School of Rock, is filming King Kong in Wellington with director Peter Jackson.

But Tenacious D are back on the road - between Auckland and Wellington during Christmas and New Year. Before getting together this month, the pair were briefly reunited in a conference call between Auckland, Wellington and the US.

So what brings Tenacious D to New Zealand this December?

Kyle: Well, I wanted to visit Jack but I didn’t want to pay.

Jack: Ha ha.

Kyle: Actually no, we wanted to for a while so we thought why don’t we put on a few gigs. It was just one of those things

Jack: True. And actually I’ve been missing the ROCK.

So rock’n’roll or acting - if you had to choose one or the other, what would it be?

Jack: I would ROCK. It’s not so much that I miss the ROCK, it’s that I miss the performing of the ROCK. It feels good to get out there. It’s actually really nerve-racking right beforehand but then when you’re doing it, it can be, uh, orgasmic.

So how long has it been since you’ve had one of these rock orgasms?

Jack: It’s been a few months now.

Yet in the past people have described Tenacious D as mock rock?

Kyle: Jeez, that’s pretty harsh. What reviews have you been reading that said we were fake rockers?

Jack: Kyle, don’t be so sensitive.

Kyle: I feel challenged.

Jack: Listen, Beethoven didn’t get any good reviews when he started. Do you think he cried into his soup? No, he went and wrote another masterpiece.

Kyle: Yep, yep, you’re right.

Jack: So, you’re asking whether we’re rock swindlers? Well, you know what they say, the great artist borrows, the genius steals. So I’m gonna say we are genius and you can take from that what you want.

Kyle: I don’t think we’ve ever swindled anybody. If you come to our show, you’re gonna go out of there smiling. If you do feel swindled, come and talk to me about it.

Jack: Yeah, if you feel swindled, don’t come see me. Talk to Kyle.

And have you missed each other since you’ve been in New Zealand?

Jack: Dude, I totally miss you.

Kyle: [silence].

Is there anything about New Zealand that you feel the urge to tell Kyle about?

Kyle: What is this? Group therapy?

Jack: Actually, I do. Okay, Kyle, over here in New Zealand you’re allowed to have fur coats and stuff - even though in the States, it’s really frowned on. But out here I was given a possum skin rug and when I first got it, I said ooh, that’s kinda weird, that’s fur and then it was explained to me that no, possums are the devil and they’re destroying the environment. So I was actually helping out. And I tell you, they are scrum-diddly-icious to run your fingers through. I like to take a hot shower, get naked and rub my bum on the rug.

Kyle: Ahhh. And I’ve got something to tell you - I’m way over 300lbs. I can’t stop eating.

Jack: No-ooo.

Kyle: Seriously dude, I can’t stop eating. I’m like one of those rats that keep eating until they explode.

So what’s happening with the Tenacious D movie?

Jack: We could start shooting as early as April 1.

Kyle: Wow.

Jack: Are you ready for that, Kyle?

Kyle: No, I hadn’t heard. That is good news though.

Jack: Oh okay, no one’s saying that except for me. But that’s what I want to happen.

Kyle: I want it to happen, too. But I think you wanting it to happen might actually make it happen.

Is that how it works with you guys? Is Jack the more organised one or something?

Jack: No, but my voice is like the voice of Thor. When I speak it’s like a [expletive] thunderbolt, and people quake and shiver and shit happens.

Is this true, Kyle?

Jack: Just listen to this [over the phone comes the sound of something like rushing water].

What was that?

Jack: The sink. I was doing the dishes.

Was it really?

Jack: All right, it was the toilet.

Well, you do get better acoustics in the bathroom.

Jack: That’s right. That’s why I was in there.

Have you been tempted to invite any of your fellow stars from the King Kong set to participate in the Tenacious D movie?

Jack: No, not really. We’re mostly sticking to rock icons. That’s what we really want.

Kyle: Why would we want Adrien Brody in our movie? Not that he’s not great, but does he rock?

Jack: He does rock, actually. But he prefers hip-hop.

Tenacious D played at a John Kerry benefit - so how did you feel when the other guy won?

Kyle: I feel good for the people of Iraq because they’re going to get the democracy they’ve always dreamed of. And I feel good for the troops because they’ll get the combat they always wanted. I feel good for all the conservatives because they’re finally gonna have their way. Other than that, it’s just, uh, business as usual.

Jack: I’ve felt disappointed in the past about things that our Government has done or people who have been elected but this is the first time I’ve felt really ashamed to be part of that country. It’s definitely my lowest point - that is, it’s not the lowest point in my life - but it’s the worst I’ve felt about my country.

Kyle: You know what the saddest thing for me is? That it came down to one state, Ohio. And Jack and I were gonna play all over Ohio. They only lost by 100,000 votes.

Jack: What are you saying? That it was King Kong? That it was King Kong that brought George Bush?

Kyle: If you hadn’t been doing King Kong we might have been able to swing Ohio.

Jack: How can you say that? We never talked about playing all over Ohio!

Kyle: We were gonna play all over all the swing states.

Jack: You should have played alone.

Kyle: If we’d played Ohio hard enough, we could have changed things.

Jack: That’s bullshit. We raised a lot of money for John Kerry.

Kyle: We needed to go hand-to-hand combat in Ohio. We could have changed it.

You don’t resent Jack’s movie stardom, do you Kyle?

Kyle: No, I don’t. I think King Kong is a great project. I am really excited about it.

Are you going to go on set? Is Jack going to introduce you to Peter Jackson?

Kyle: I’m sure they don’t have time to meet people.

Maybe you’ll get to see the monkey?

Jack: Kyle, you won’t get to see the monkey but you will see the actor who’s gonna play the monkey - it’s this guy Andy Serkis. He played Gollum. Actually dude, we should get him to come out and sing a song with us as Gollum.

Kyle: Wow, is he a good singer?

Jack: He made a CD and a couple of the songs are so funny.

Kyle: That’s the greatest thing ever.

Jack: I don’t know if I should say what song he might do over the phone ‘cause I don’t want to give that away over the phone.

Kyle: Make it a surprise.

Jack: And he’s not gonna look like Gollum, he’s just gonna sound like him. He doesn’t look like Gollum at all. But he does look a little like Smeagol.

Kyle: That’s awesome, dude.

Jack: I don’t know how he does it.

Kyle: That’s really eerie.

Jack: I know.

LOWDOWN WHO: Tenacious D, comedy rock duo of Jack Black and Kyle Gass

WHEN & WHERE: Tenacious D plays Westpac St James in Wellington on Monday December 27 and the St James in Auckland Tuesday December 28.