Show Notes
Tenacious D’s music education and evolution, from 1. Kyle learning to play the flute, and Jack learning piano → 2. Jack meeting his creative hero, Bobby McFerrin, and being inspired to think of his voice as his instrument → 3. Tenacious D being encouraged by Harry Shearer at an early concert → 4. Building a creative process based in acting.
Jack Black and Kyle Gass make up the Greatest Band in the World: Tenacious D. The band had a variety series on HBO that aired in 1999. Their self-titled album was released in the fall of 2001 and has since been certified Platinum. The duo completed their first feature film together - Tenacious D in the Pick of Destiny - which was released in November, 2006. The album Rize of the Fenix followed in 2012, receiving a GRAMMY nomination for Best Comedy Album. In 2014, Tenacious D won a GRAMMY Award in the category of Best Metal Performance for their cover of Ronnie James Dio’s “The Last In Line.” On November 2, 2018, Tenacious D released Tenacious D in Post-Apocalypto – an animated film, with each frame hand-drawn by Black and every character voiced by Black and Gass. Alongside the film, the band also dropped the album Post-Apocalypto, which acted as the soundtrack to the series, and a graphic novel in 2020. In 2021 and 2022, the duo released a series of cover songs whose proceeds went to a number of charities, putting their own spin on The Beatles, The Who, and the camp classic “The Time Warp.” They also launched their own fiber bars line in conjunction with NuGo Nutrition called Tenacious D Fiber d’Lish. Up next was the Audible Original Words + Music | Vol. 29 | Tenacious D’s The Road To Redunktion, featuring 30 years of never-before-heard archival audio, and bringing to life every anecdote with a docu-quality that places listeners right then and there. Tenacious D continues to sell out massive shows across the world, which should come as no surprise for the Greatest Band That Ever Played on Planet Earth.
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Anthony Kiedis’ music education and evolution, from 1. Experimenting with his earliest form of special expression via dance → 2. Meeting Flea in high school and starting his musical journey → 3. Embracing his role as a singer → 4. The RHCP very first show, where they played a single song → 5. Navigating relationships with different producers → 6. Being influenced by Nina Hagen → 7. Meeting John Frusciante and building their creative partnership.
John Frusciante’s music education and evolution, from 1. First picking up an acoustic guitar (that he wished was electric) → 2. His first experiences with teachers, including ones that inspired him and ones that discouraged him → 3. Discovering punk rock in LA → 4. Playing his first show in LA → 5. Joining the RHCP and embracing his own signature style.
Earl Sweatshirt’s music education and evolution, from 1. Growing up in Chicago, lying on his family’s Persian rug listening to jazz, African horns, and gospel music → 2. Being a dad now, watching his son learn rhythm → 3. Learning saxophone in elementary school → 4. Starting writing rap at 16 and also listening to music like Dr. Dre’s ‘Chronic 2001’ and Lil Wayne’s ‘Money on My Mind’ → 5. Visiting his dad in South Africa and starting to write music in earnest in his spare time → 6. Finding inspiration in J. Dilla’s book, Dilla Time.
Cory Henry’s music education and evolution, from 1. Watching his mom perform as choir director and lead musician at his church in Brooklyn and eventually playing with the choir by age five → 2. In high school joining the jazz band and going to the Village Underground open mic nights for soul and gospel music → 3. Expanding his taste beyond gospel to include hip hop → 4. Playing with Snarky Puppy and living a scrappy existence; doing it for the love, not the money.
Stewart Copeland’s music education and evolution, from 1. Growing up in Cairo and Beirut, and starting to play trombone at age seven, inspired by his dad, who was a trumpet player → 2. Moving on to drums at age 10 → 3. Seeing his crush dance to his band’s music and realizing its power → 4. Crawling around on the floor on his mom’s Persian rug, and realizing that the complex patterns were exactly what music was all about for him, a mix of wildness and order in a strange tension. → 5. Going to boarding school in the UK, and realizing the power of music in church → 6. His musical influences of both reggae and Baladi rhythm → 7. Managing conflict in The Police, and finding the value in band therapy.