Brendon Small (born February 15, 1975) is an American actor, stand-up comedian, writer, director, producer, and musician who is known for co-creating the animated seriesHome Movies (1999–2004, with Loren Bouchard) and Metalocalypse (2006–2013, with Tommy Blacha). He also writes the music, and is the main performer for the fictional melodic death metal band Dethklok, which began as the subject of Metalocalypse but has taken on a life of its own, with four albums and an occasional live touring band, headed by Small. Small has also released two albums under his own name, in a similar musical style to Dethklok.
Early life and education
Small was born in Illinois in 1975. He moved to California as a child.[1] Small started learning guitar at the age of 14 after a kid in his neighborhood began teaching him about guitar and music.[2] At his first public performance, his hands shook so wildly that he had trouble controlling the guitar. It would be another ten years before he was comfortable performing in public.[3] He graduated from Palma High School in Salinas, California. He graduated from Berklee College of Music in 1997. During his music studies, he took several writing and comedy classes at Emerson College. After graduating, he felt that the rock music genre was fading in popularity, so decided to try his hand at stand-up comedy.[3]
Career
Media
Small was performing stand up at The Comedy Studio in Harvard Square when he was spotted by Loren Bouchard, who at the time was casting for the central character for a UPN pilot produced by Tom Snyder Productions, which eventually evolved into Home Movies. Small and Bouchard co-created Home Movies, an animated series that initially aired on the UPN television network which moved to Cartoon Network's Adult Swim block. The series ran for four seasons from 1999 to 2004. Small was one of the show's writers, while Bouchard served as the director. In the series, he voiced the show's protagonist, eight-year-old aspiring filmmaker Brendon Small, as well as a number of other characters. Small composed the show's theme music, as well as writing and performing numerous other songs for the show's soundtrack.
Small lent his voice to a number of other animated shows. He co-starred as Chad in the BET animated sitcom, Hey Monie!, and has voiced many supporting characters in The Venture Bros., including that show's shell shocked and drug-addicted version of Jonny Quest. Small has had cameo roles in Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Squidbillies, Reno 911! and Frisky Dingo. Small, along with Scott Adsit, appeared as lead characters of the Adult Swim pilot Let's Fish; the show's pilot premiered on May 13, 2007, but the series was not picked up.
In April 2005, the Sci Fi Channel announced an upcoming debut of a half-hour animated ensemble comedy show created by Small titled Barbarian Chronicles. The show, which has not aired, was said to be produced by Small and Worldwide Pants Incorporated. Small has said that there are no plans to air the show but that anything can happen in the future.[4]
Small posed for a pictorial that appeared in the April 2006 issue of Playgirl magazine, as part of a humor-themed issue. Small posed naked holding a medieval flail and a strategically placed metal shield that hid his genitals.
Small served as co-producer, co-writer and composer for the Adult Swim animated series Metalocalypse, which ran for four seasons from 2006 to 2012, along with a 2013 special, Metalocalypse: The Doomstar Requiem. The series focused on a fictional melodic death metal band named Dethklok, and each episode features a song performed by the band. In addition to writing, directing and executive producing the series, he also provided voice talent for the characters Skwisgaar Skwigelf, Pickles, and Nathan Explosion, three of the five members of Dethklok. Small has stated that while animation is his dream job, he does not really like watching animation that much.[3]
In 2007 and 2009, Small hosted the annual Guitar Superstar competition; in 2008, he was one of the judges.[5]
Small's virtual band Dethklok appeared, via video, at the 2009 Golden Gods Awards. The band received the award for Best International Band. At the 2010 Golden Gods Awards, Small attended and performed with Brian Posehn's band and introduced Fear Factory's set. At the 2011 Golden Gods Awards, Small attended and introduced DevilDriver's set.[6] Small attended the 2012 Golden Gods Awards and introduced Trivium's set. He was nominated for best guitarist at the 2013 Golden Gods Awards but did not win.[7]
In May 2014, Small wrote a column for Premier Guitar regarding his guitar techniques.[8]
Small appeared on Ken Reid's TV Guidance Counselor Podcast on May 15, 2015, as part of the Bridgetown Comedy Festival in Portland, Oregon.
Comedy
Small has frequently performed stand-up comedy, first in Boston, before moving to the Los Angeles area, where he performs now. Small was one of the hosts (along with Ron Lynch and Craig Anton) of The Tomorrow Show, a live weekly musical and comedic variety show; in his off-time, Small still occasionally appears as a guest.[9] One of his prominent forms of stand-up is character comedy, where he acts out a character he created. Some of the characters he has played are Captain Moustache, Victor Diamond, Tiny and Bernie Fretts, all of which he has performed as in the comedy podcast Comedy Bang! Bang!.[9] In recent years,[when?] Small's time has become booked from his music and television career, but he still occasionally performs stand-up at venues such as The Steve Allen Theater, The Ice House and The Baked Potato. Small credits Monty Python, Albert Brooks, Woody Allen and the Marx Brothers as his biggest comedy influences.[10][11]
Music career
Small performing live with Dethklok
Small wrote all the music for the show Home Movies, and released all the songs he had written for the show on the Home Movies: Bonus CD. The CD was included with purchase of the Season 4 DVD box set.
He wrote all the music for Metalocalypse. In September 2007, he completed work on the first Dethklok album, The Dethalbum, on which he collaborated with Gene Hoglan to deliver an authentic melodic death metal sound while simultaneously retaining the light-hearted nature with which Small portrays the heavy metal genre.[12] The album debuted at No. 21 on the Billboard 200, making it the highest-ranked death metal album on the Billboard at the time.[13][14]
The second Dethklok album, Dethalbum II, was released on September 29, 2009. Dethalbum II reached No. 15 on the Billboard 200, making it the highest charting death metal album in history, beating the first Dethalbum. A tour in support of the new album began in late 2009, where Dethklok co-headlined with the band Mastodon.
In early 2011, Small introduced the Dethklok "Thunderhorse" Explorer from Gibson, a guitar made to his own specifications, and modeled after Skwisgaar's Gibson Explorer.[17][18] A limited edition Epiphone "Thunderhorse" Explorer, based on the Gibson "Thunderhorse" Explorer, was introduced in early 2013.[19] In May 2012, Small introduced the prototype for the Gibson Flying V "Snow Falcon", built to his own specifications, and modeled after Toki Wartooth's Gibson Flying V.[20] The final version of the guitar was released on December 13, 2013.[21]
In April 2012, Small released his debut solo album, Brendon Small's Galaktikon.[22] The album featured Dethklok members Beller on bass and Hoglan on drums. Small described the album as a "high-stakes, intergalactic, extreme rock album" and described it as being similar to Dethklok but with more melodic vocals and rock elements.[23] Small performed songs from Brendon Small's Galaktikon for the first time at "WesFest 8" on March 3, 2013, in West Hollywood, California.[24]
On April 29, 2012, Small started a weekly guitar lesson video series on the Adult Swim YouTube channel, entitled "Shreducation", which consisted of 12 installments.[25]
Small, Beller and Hoglan got together to work on the third Dethklok album, Dethalbum III, which was released on October 16, 2012. Small released a fourth Dethklok album, entitled The Doomstar Requiem, on October 29, 2013, which is a soundtrack album to the Metalocalypsespecial of the same name. The album featured Hoglan on drums, Beller performing guest bass on a track, and Mike Keneally performing guest vocals.
In 2021, Small released a new instrumental song, "Ghosthorse," to promote his new Epiphone signature model guitar, the GhostHorse Explorer.[26]
BS Records
In 2012, Small self-released his solo album, Brendon Small's Galaktikon, independently on his personal record label BS Records. He funded the album himself, and used all of the profits he received from the album to fund future projects. In 2013, as there was no demand from Cartoon Network's Williams Street Records for another Dethklok album, Small released the fourth Dethklok album, The Doomstar Requiem (the soundtrack to the TV special of the same name), on BS Records instead.[27] He stated at the time that he wanted to keep Dethklok's music going regardless of whether it would be financially beneficial to him.[27]
Personal life
Small currently resides in Los Angeles.[28] He had a dog named Ernie (a Weimaraner) that died in January 2014.[29] He has since gotten a new dog named Gilda, also a Weimaraner.[citation needed]
Small is of Lithuanian descent.[30] Small married interior designer Courtney Bates in 2014.
•Voice actor (2 episodes) •Episodes: "Family Trouble" (voice actor), "Mephistopheles Traveled Below to a Southern State Whose Motto Is 'Wisdom, Justice, and Moderation'" (composer and voice actor) •Animated series •Composer (1 episode) •Credited as Donald Cock
2004: Songs Brendon's Not Allowed to Name (also known as "web") – Free online download previously available on Small's website, comprising 15 songs from Home Movies and an early version of the Metalocalypse theme song[37]
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