Kyle Gass
Kyle Gass | |
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 Gass performing in 2017 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Kyle Richard Gass |
| Also known as | KG, Kage, Rage Kage |
| Born | (1960-07-14) July 14, 1960 Walnut Creek, California, U.S. |
| Genres |
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| Occupation(s) | Guitarist, songwriter, actor |
| Instruments |
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| Years active | 1993–present |
| Labels |
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| Associated acts |
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| Website | www.tenaciousd.com www.thekylegassband.com |
Kyle Gass at the Zelt-Musik-Festival 2017 in Freiburg, Germany
Kyle Richard Gass (born July 14, 1960)[1] is an American musician and actor best known for being a member of Tenacious D and winner of a Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance,[2] alongside longtime friend Jack Black. He also has his own group, the Kyle Gass Band, which he formed after the breakup of his first side-project, Trainwreck. Gass has also featured in numerous films such as Elf and Kung Fu Panda, as well as TV shows such as Friends and Seinfeld.
Contents
1 Early life
2 Career
2.1 Acting career
2.2 Music career
3 Personal life
4 Filmography
4.1 Film
4.2 Television
4.3 Music videos
5 References
6 External links
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 graduated in 1978.[1] He studied acting at UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television, where he met Tim Robbins. In 1982, he would join Robbins' The Actors' Gang, with his first production being Out of Sight, Out of Mind. Several years following this, Gass would meet future Tenacious D bandmate 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 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 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 Jack 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
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. It should be pointed out that 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]
Gass is featured as a minor character in the 2009 video game Brütal Legend (in which Jack Black plays the lead role), where he portrays Kage the Kannonier, a self-pitying giant in charge of a mortar cannon.
Gass stars in a web show, Guitarings, with John Konesky.[citation needed]
Personal life
Gass is the godfather of Jack Black's son.[9][10]
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 | Master Crane | |
| 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 |
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 |
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
^ abc "Kyle Gass AKA Kyle Richard Gass". NNDB. Archived from the original on April 2, 2016. Retrieved June 5, 2016..mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit}.mw-parser-output q{quotes:"""""""'""'"}.mw-parser-output code.cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:inherit;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Lock-green.svg/9px-Lock-green.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-gray-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-red-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration{color:#555}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration span{border-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration,.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-right{padding-right:0.2em}
^ "Grammy Awards 2015: The Complete Winners List". Rolling Stone. Retrieved February 8, 2015.
^ "Production History - The Actors' Gang". The Actors' Gang. Retrieved 2018-11-25.
^ "Kyle Gass – Actor, producer, Screenplay – Variety Profiles". Variety. Archived from the original on October 12, 2008. Retrieved 2009-03-09.
^ SModcast #8 Archived April 22, 2007, at the Wayback Machine.
^ "Episode 15 November 2006 of Late Night with Conan O'Brien". The Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 2007-03-24.
^ Rees, Jasper (August 29, 2006). "Dude, where's my guitar?". The Sunday Times. London. Retrieved 2006-12-28.
^ "Podcast of interview with Kyle Gass". The Adam Carolla Show. 97.1 FreeFM. May 13, 2008. Retrieved 2008-05-14.
[permanent dead link]
^ Johnston, Neala (January 11, 2007). "Tenacious and talented". Herald Sun. Retrieved 2007-01-20.
^ "Profile: Jack Black". Metro. November 2, 2006. Retrieved 2008-03-28.
External links
 | Wikimedia Commons has media related to Kyle Gass. |
Kyle Gass on IMDb
Kyle Gass at AllMusic
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