Brendon Small

At 49 years old, Brendon Small has this physical status:

Brendon Small (born February 15, 1975) is an American stand-up comedian, animator, actor, writer, producer, engineer, singer, and musician best known for co-creating Home Movies (1999–2004; with Loren Bouchard) and Metalocalypse (2006–13; with Tommy Blacha).

He is also known for writing, performing, and composing the music for Dethklok, a virtual melodic death metal band.

Early life and education

In 1975, Small was born in Illinois. He immigrated to California as an infant. Small began playing guitar and music at the age of 14 after a boy in his neighborhood started teaching him about guitar and music. His hands trembled so much that he had trouble controlling the guitar at his first public appearance. It would be another ten years before he was allowed to perform in public. He graduated from Palma High School in Salinas, California. In 1997, he graduated from Berklee College of Music. During his writing and comedy classes at Emerson College, he took several writing and comedy classes. Since graduating, he felt that the rock music scene was fading in importance, so he decided to try his hand at stand-up comedy.

Personal life

Small currently lives in Los Angeles. Ernie, a Weimaraner, died in January 2014. Gilda, the Weimaraner's, has since acquired a new dog.

Small is of Lithuanian descent. Courtney Bates, a small married interior designer, married in 2014.

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Career

Small was standing up at The Comedy Studio in Harvard Square when Loren Bouchard spotted him, who was then filming for a UPN pilot produced by Tom Snyder Productions, which later developed into Home Movies. Small and Bouchard co-created Home Movies, an animated series that premiered on the UPN television network before being moved to Cartoon Network's Adult Swim block. From 1999 to 2004, the show ran for four seasons. Small was one of the show's writers, and Bouchard was the producer. He portrayed the show's protagonist, 8-year-old aspiring filmmaker Brendon Small, as well as a slew of other characters in the series. Small produced the show's theme tune as well as composing and performing numerous other songs for the show's soundtrack.

Small lent his voice to a number of other animated shows. Chad appeared in Hey Monie!, a BET animated sitcom, and he's appeared in several supporting characters in The Venture Bros., including the show's shell shocked and heroin-addicted version of Jonny Quest. Small has appeared in Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Squidbillies, Reno 911! Frisky Dingo and Leo Bongo. Small, along with Scott Adsit, appeared as lead characters of Adult Swim pilot Let's Fish on May 13, 2007, but the series was not picked up.

The Sci Fi Channel revealed an upcoming debut of a half-hour animated ensemble comedy film starring Small called Barbarian Chronicles in April 2005. Small and Worldwide Pants Incorporated, who has not aired, was reported to have been responsible for the program. Small has reported that there are no plans to air the program, but that anything can happen in the future.

Small posed for a photograph that appeared in the May 2006 issue of Playgirl magazine as part of a humor-themed issue. Small was naked clutching a medieval flail and a strategically placed metal shield that obscured his genitals.

Small appeared as co-producer, co-writer, and composer for the Adult Swim animated series Metalocalypse, which lasted from 2006 to 2012, as well as a 2013 edition, Metalocalypse: The Doomstar Requiem. Each episode featured a song performed by the band, and it was based on a fictional melodic death metal band named Dethklok. In addition to writing, directing, and producing the series, he also provided voice talent for the characters Skwisgaar Skwigelf, Pickles, and Nathan Explosion, three of Dethklok's five members. Small has stated that while animation is his favorite hobby, he does not particularly enjoy watching animation.

Small hosted the annual Guitar Superstar competition in 2007 and 2009, and in 2008, he was one of the judges.

Small directed "Black Rain" and "We've Got a Situation Here" music videos in 2010.

Dethklok's virtual band appeared at the 2009 Golden Gods Awards via video. The band was voted Best International Band by the Academy of Music. Small attended and performed with Brian Posehn's band and introduced Fear Factory's set at the 2010 Golden Gods Awards. Small attended and introduced DevilDriver's set at the 2011 Golden Gods Awards. 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.

Small wrote a column for Premier Guitar discussing his guitar skills in May 2014.

Small appeared on Ken Reid's TV Guidance Counselor Podcast on May 15, 2015, as part of the Bridgetown Comedy Festival in Portland, Oregon.

Small has appeared in Boston and Boston first, before he migrated to Los Angeles, where he currently appears. Small was one of the hosts of The Tomorrow Show, a live weekly musical and comedic variety show, with Ron Lynch and Craig Anton on board; in his off-time, he appeared as a guest occasionally. Character comedy, in which he plays out a character he created, is one of his most popular stand-up formats. Captain Moustache, Victor Diamond, Tiny, and Bernie Fretts are among the characters he has played, many of which he has appeared in the comedy podcast Comedy Bang! Bang! Small's time has been cut off from his music and television careers in recent years, but he does still appear at The Steve Allen Theater, The Ice House, and The Baked Potato. Monty Python, Albert Brooks, Woody Allen, and the Marx Brothers are among his major comedy influences.

Small wrote all of the songs for the show Home Movies and released all the songs he had written for the show on the Home Movies: Bonus CD. With the purchase of the Season 4 DVD box set, the CD was included.

All the music for Metalocalypse was written by him. He began working on his first Dethklok album, On which he collaborated with Gene Hoglan to produce an authentic melodic death metal sound while still retaining the lighthearted feel with which Small depicts the heavy metal genre. The album debuted at No. 0 on the charts. On the Billboard 200, 21 is the highest-ranked death metal album on the Billboard at the time, making it the highest-ranked death metal album on the Billboard.

Small, Hoglan, Mike Keneally, and Bryan Beller, along with Dethklok, were on display at twelve American college campuses in November 2007 in favor of the Dethalbum. Dethklok, a youth-sponsored indie rock band, appeared on the Adult Swim "Dethtour" website, and you will know us by the Trail of Death. The quartet reunited in 2008 to headline "Dethtour," a long-running tour of the US, with fellow metal bands Chimaira and Soilent Green. And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead/Dethklok split EP was sold at the concerts during the tour.

Dethalbum II, Dethklok's second album, was released on September 29, 2009. Dethalbum II ranked No. 1 on the charts. On the Billboard 200, the highest charting death metal album in history has risen to 15th place, defeating the first Dethalbum. In late 2009, Dethklok co-headlined with the band Mastodon, an excursion in support of the new album began.

On the Zimmers Hole song "The Vowel Song," small performed guest vocals as Nathan Explosion. Small contributed guitar work to Exodus' album "The Human Condition," as well as "More Metal Than You" from comedian Brian Posehn's album Fart and Wiener Jokes' "Devils Teeth." Small produced the "Murder Mix" of Emilie Autumn's album "Liar" on the Liar/Dead Is the New Alive EP's "Murder Mix." Small on Sylencers' debut album A Lethal Dose of Truth, he performed the solo for "Get It Up" (Van Halen cover). On the Sex Slaves album Call of the Wild, Small performs a guitar solo.

Small introduced the Dethklok "Thunderhorse" Explorer from Gibson, which was designed after Skwisgaar's Gibson Explorer in early 2011. In early 2013, a limited edition Epiphone "Thunderhorse" Explorer, based on the Gibson "Thunderhorse" Explorer, was launched. Small unveiled the Gibson Flying V "Snow Falcon," a handmade model based on Toki Wartooth's Gibson Flying V. The final version of the guitar was unveiled on December 13, 2013.

Small's Galaktikon, Brendon Small's debut solo album, was released in April 2012. Beller, a Dethklok member, appeared on the record, as well as Hoglan on drums. Small compared the album to Dethklok's "high-stakes, intergalactic, extreme rock album" and compared it to Dethklok but with more melodic vocals and rock elements. At "WesFest 8" in West Hollywood, California, small performed songs from Brendon Small's Galaktikon for the first time.

Small's "Shreducation," a weekly guitar lesson video series on the Adult Swim YouTube channel, started on April 29, 2012, was titled "Shreducation," and was made up of 12 installments.

Small, Beller, and Hoglan all got together to work on Dethalbum III, the third Dethklok album, which was released on October 16, 2012. Small released The Doomstar Requiem, their fourth Dethklok album, on October 29, 2013, which is a soundtrack album to the Metalocalypse special of the same name. Hoglan on drums, Beller on a track, and Mike Keneally performing guest vocals.

In 2017, Brendon Small's Galaktikon II, Small's second album, was released.

Small's 2021 unveiling of "Ghosthorse," his latest Epiphone signature model guitar, the GhostHorse Explorer, was promoted.

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