Kyle Gass

Kyle Richard Gass (born July 14, 1960)[1] is an American musician and actor best known for being a member of Tenacious D and a winner of a Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance,[2] alongside longtime friend Jack Black. He also co-formed, and performs with, the bands Trainwreck and Kyle Gass Band / The Kyle Gass Company. Outside of music, Gass makes sporadic appearances as an actor; his appearances include the films Elf and Kung Fu Panda, TV shows such as Friends and Seinfeld and various music videos for bands such as Good Charlotte and I Prevail. He also hosted a YouTube channel from 2009 to 2012 called Guitarings alongside fellow Tenacious D guitarist John Konesky.

Kyle Gass
Gass performing in 2017
Background information
Birth nameKyle Richard Gass
Also known asKG, Kage, Rage (Kage), The Kyle Gass Project
Born (1960-07-14) July 14, 1960
Walnut Creek, California, U.S.
Genres
Occupation(s)
  • Musician
  • singer
  • songwriter
  • actor
Instruments
  • Guitar
  • vocals
  • flute
  • recorder
Years active1988–present
Labels
Associated acts
Website
Kyle Gass at the Zelt-Musik-Festival 2017 in Freiburg, Germany

Early life

Kyle Gass was born in Walnut Creek, California, and has two brothers.[1] He attended Las Lomas High School, where he played flute in the marching band, and preceded G. Williams, graduating in 1978.[1] He studied acting at UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television, where he met Tim Robbins. In 1982, he joined Robbins' The Actors' Gang and in the early 1990s met and befriended Jack Black in the group.[3]

Career

Acting career

Gass made his first on-screen appearance in 1988 in a 7-Up Gold commercial, and made his film debut two years later in Brain Dead. He lost as a contestant on the October 5, 1988 episode of the U.S. game show Sale of the Century.

He was featured in several episodes of the television show Fear of a Punk Planet, which has since been released on DVD. He has also made an appearance as a lawyer in the Good Charlotte video for "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous". Along with Black, Gass made a comedic appearance as a hapless airplane mechanic in the Foo Fighters' 1999 video "Learn to Fly."

Gass acted in the feature film Jacob's Ladder, which stars Tim Robbins. He also appeared as the "couch potato" in the film The Cable Guy. He made a cameo appearance in the Seinfeld episode "The Abstinence". Gass appeared in the comedy Elf as an inept author of children's books. He has played small roles in many of Black's films (Year One, Kung Fu Panda, Shallow Hal, Saving Silverman, The Cable Guy, etc.). Gass appeared in season 9 of Friends as a mugger, as the porn director in the 2008 teen film Extreme Movie, Walrus Boy in Wieners, and as the dirty trucker in the men's room in the 2008 film Sex Drive. He starred in the movie Tenacious D in the Pick of Destiny alongside Black. Gass had a cameo role as a singing karaoke cowboy in the 2007 movie Wild Hogs. In October 2008, Gass appeared as the character Decatur Doublewide in the film Lower Learning.[4]

He auditioned for a role as a demon in the pilot episode of Reaper, directed by Kevin Smith, but he was not hired, to Smith's disappointment.[5] He also appeared in the 22nd episode of the 2nd season of 2 Broke Girls as the special effects guy (also known as "Cookie Guy").

Music career
Further information: Tenacious D, Kyle Gass Band, and Trainwreck (band)

In Tenacious D, Gass plays lead guitar and sings backing vocals, and also plays the role of Black's comic foil in most of their comedy routines.

While appearing on Late Night with Conan O'Brien on November 15, 2006,[6] Gass claimed to have been the youngest graduate of the Juilliard School of Music with a degree in classical guitar studies at the age of 13. Juilliard did not have a guitar program in 1973, but began its graduate level guitar program in 1989 under Sharon Isbin, and its undergraduate program in 2007. Earlier, in an article in the Sunday Times on October 29, 2006, Black stated that Gass was the youngest graduate of Juilliard.[7] On May 13, 2008, Gass was a phone-in guest on the Adam Carolla Show. When Adam Carolla asked him "... And did you go to Juilliard?" Kyle replied "I didn't. I—you know, I made that up as a joke," he continued, "and I thought it would be hilarious, and then I've been hearing about it ever since. Apologies to Juilliard."[8]

In 2016, Gass collaborated with John Konesky and John Spiker to form Valyrian Steel, performing a song on SoundCloud for Game of Thrones.[9]

In 2017, Gass performed a song called "Penelope" for Amazon Music's "Love Me Not" compilation album.[10]

In December 2020, Gass released a track called "Xmas w/ Devil", which was released under 'The Kyle Gass Project' on Bandcamp to benefit ActBlue.[11]

Other media

Gass is featured as a minor character in the 2009 video game Brütal Legend (in which Black plays the lead role), where he portrays Kage the Kannonier, a self-pitying giant in charge of a mortar cannon.

Gass starred in a web show, Guitarings, with John Konesky.

Personal life

Gass is the godfather of Jack Black's son.[12][13]

Discography

Studio albums

EPs
  • 2 Tracks (2003)
  • The EP (2006)

Kyle Gass Band

Studio albums

EPs

Live albums
Video albums

Filmography

Film
Year Title Role Notes
1990 Brain Dead Anaesthetist
1990 Jacob's Ladder Tony
1993 Mike the Detective Phil
1995 The Barefoot Executive Joe
1996 Bio-Dome KG
1996 The Cable Guy Couch Potato
1997 Bongwater Guitarist
1999 Idle Hands Burger Jungle Guy
1999 Cradle Will Rock Larry
2000 Almost Famous Quince Allen
2001 Saving Silverman Bar Dude
2001 The Zeros Reed / David
2001 Evolution Officer Drake
2001 Shallow Hal Artie
2002 The New Guy Mr. Luberoff
2003 Elf Eugene
2006 Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny KG
2007 Wild Hogs Lead Singer
2007 Monkeys Uncredited
2008 Kung Fu Panda KG Shaw (voice)
2008 Wieners Walrus Boy
2008 Dead and Gone Reverend Grass
2008 Lower Learning Decatur Doublewide
2008 Sex Drive Trucker
2008 Extreme Movie Director
2009 Year One Zaftig the Eunuch
2010 Barry Munday Jerry Sherman
2011 High Road Winter Weirdo
2012 Beverly Hills Chihuahua 3: Viva La Fiesta! Lester
2014 Book of Fire Sal
2015 Circus Circus
2017 Gnaw (Apartment 212) Terry

Television
Year Title Role Notes
1996 Seinfeld Smoker Episode: "The Abstinence"
1997 Tenacious D Himself All
1999 Fear of a Punk Planet Fire Marshal
2000 Manhattan, AZ Merv Episode: "Lt. Colonel's Boy"
2001-2002 Undeclared Eugene Episodes: "Eric Visits Again" "Eric's POV"
2001 Space Ghost Coast to Coast Himself Episode: "Sweet for Brak"
2002–2003 Fillmore! Mr. Collingwood (voice) 2 episodes
2003 Friends Lowell Episode: "The One with the Mugging "
2003 Player$ Himself Episode: "Tenacious D a la Mode"
2004 Cracking Up Naked Man Episode: "Panic House"
2004 Tom Goes to the Mayor Trapper Kyle Episode: "Beat Traps"
2005 Living with Fran Rocker Dude Episode: "The Concerts"
2006 The Jake Effect Ceissner Recurring
2007 The Naked Trucker and T-Bones Show Himself Episode: "Break Up"
2011 FCU: Fact Checkers Unit Himself Episode: "Excessive Gass "
2012 Femme Fatales Willoughby Flagler Episode: "Gun Twisted"
2013 2 Broke Girls Buzz Episode: "And the Extra Work"
2013 Ghost Ghirls Hawk Olsen Episode: "Spirits of '76: Part 1 & 2"
2014 The Birthday Boys John Allison Episode: "Freshy's"
2015 Drunk History Fred Eaton Episode: "Los Angeles"
2018 Brooklyn Nine Nine Dario Moretti Episode: "Jake & Amy"
2018 Tenacious D in Post-Apocalypto KG All Episodes
2018-2019 Speechless Carl 2 episode

Music videos
Year Video Role Label
1999 Foo Fighters - Learn to Fly Flight attendant Roswell/RCA
2001 Good Charlotte - Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous Lawyer Epic Records
2017 I Prevail - Already Dead Man on computer Fearless Records

References
  1. "Kyle Gass AKA Kyle Richard Gass". NNDB. Archived from the original on April 2, 2016. Retrieved June 5, 2016.
  2. "Grammy Awards 2015: The Complete Winners List". Rolling Stone. Retrieved February 8, 2015.
  3. "Production History - The Actors' Gang". The Actors' Gang. Retrieved November 25, 2018.
  4. "Kyle Gass – Actor, producer". Variety. Archived from the original on October 12, 2008. Retrieved March 9, 2009.
  5. SModcast #8 Archived April 22, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
  6. "Episode 15 November 2006 of Late Night with Conan O'Brien". The Internet Movie Database. Retrieved March 24, 2007.
  7. Rees, Jasper (August 29, 2006). "Dude, where's my guitar?". The Sunday Times. London. Retrieved February 29, 2020.
  8. "Podcast of interview with Kyle Gass". The Adam Carolla Show. 97.1 FreeFM. May 13, 2008. Retrieved May 14, 2008.
  9. Ode to Snow (A Campaign Trail Song), retrieved December 24, 2020
  10. Kyle Gass, Penelope, retrieved December 24, 2020
  11. "Xmas w/ Devil, by The Kyle Gass Project". The Kyle Gass Project. Retrieved December 24, 2020.
  12. Johnston, Neala (January 11, 2007). "Tenacious and talented". Herald Sun. Retrieved January 20, 2007.
  13. "Profile: Jack Black". Metro. November 2, 2006. Retrieved March 28, 2008.
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