It is. “Gigantic: A Tale of Two Johns” opened to critical and audience acclaim, first at film festivals nationwide and then in commercial release. The film is an apt expression of the band’s unlikely 20-year success story; both are squarely based on a proud Do-It-Yourself (DIY) ethic that lets little guys with big ideas — and the right technologies — earn a visible presence in today’s deep-pocketed, conglomerate-dominated worlds of music and film.

Schnack knew why the TMBG story was interesting. “They are true independent artists who represent a very DIY thing,” he says. “When the machine of a major label was not working for them, they were able to come up with strategies and ideas to get people to hear their music.”

Innovations High and Low
“Gigantic” has the expected talking heads, concert footage and video clips, but they’re spiked with a zany mix of animation, celebrity interviews and readings and mock-historical set pieces that wryly epitomize TMBG’s fearless exploration of nerdy, intellectual topics. The two Johns, who are nothing if not connoisseurs of the wacky, gave Schnack free reign to roll his vision. Says the director: “They were supremely generous in their hands-off-ness.”

Since their arrival in New York in the early 1980s, the Johns have applied technologies high and low to craft a distinct musical presence and reach a devoted fan audience. With Dial-A-Song, a free call-in to a new TMBG song recorded almost daily, the duo squeezed genius-level innovation from the mundane telephone answering machine. (Schnack calls Dial-A-Song “one of the best ideas of its kind in the history of music.”) TMBG was the first indie band to have a video in regular rotation on MTV. And the band’s 1999 album “Long Tall Weekend” was a milestone in music distribution: the first-ever Internet-only album release.

Little Guys, Big Recognition
The TMBG discography lists 21 releases (including studio albums, singles, compilations, an online MP3 record and a children’s album that topped the Billboard chart for kids). The band has toured extensively (in the U.S., Canada, Europe, Asia and Australia), appeared on television 28 times (including playing the hit song “Birdhouse In Your Soul” with Doc Severinson’s band on The Tonight Show), written music for advertisers including Coca-Cola and Chrysler, and — yikes!, in the past year alone — earned a Grammy (for the theme song for the Fox TV comedy “Malcolm In the Middle”), played to a sold-out crowd of 7,000 in New York’s Central Park and starred in “Gigantic” (official selection at 18 film festivals, winner of Best Documentary at the 2002 Chlotrudis Awards, and now opening nationwide).

TMBG Fans: From Teens to Stars
Although they habitually downplay their success (John Flansburgh says TMBG’s status as the most successful indie group in the U.S. “is like being the world’s tallest midget”), there’s no denying TMBG has always struck a chord with its fans, many of whom, even as the band ages, continue to be teens. In the film, Ira Glass reflects on this phenomenon: “I think the reason why they get an audience whose age starts around 12 to 14 is that there’s a cleverness to their songs that just kills you when you’re that age — you just can’t believe it could be so clever.”

Next page: A Do-It-Yourself Dream