Gary Jules

Gary Jules (born March 19 1969 in Fresno, California as Gary Jules Aguirre) is an American singer-songwriter, best known for his cover of Tears for Fears' third single "Mad World", which he recorded together with friend Michael Andrews for the movie Donnie Darko. It became the UK Christmas Number One single of 2003. Since then it has been used on popular American TV shows, and most recently in the commercial for the Xbox 360 game Gears of War. When "Mad World" was originally released, Jules' vocal style was often compared to that of REM's Michael Stipe. Some of his early projects / bands were The Ivory Knights, Our Town Pansies, Woodenfish, Kofi, The Origin, "Invisible", "No poetry," and "Heroes and Heroin."

Personal

Jules' parents are Gary J. Aguirre (former SEC investigating attorney who, after being fired in September, 2005, on June 28, 2006 testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee [1][2]) and Marie Aguirre. He attended The Bishop's School in La Jolla, California, and graduated in the same class as infamous spree killer Andrew Cunanan. He later went on to obtain a B.A. in English at UCLA. He has a sister who currently lives in New York and works for the New York Times.

Discography

• 1998 - Greetings from the Side
• 2001 - Trading Snakeoil for Wolftickets
• 2006 - Gary Jules

Songs

Gary Jules recorded a cover of the song "Mad World" for the first time ever for the movie Donnie Darko and later released it as a single. His song "Gone Daddy" is based upon his family and himself relocating to North Carolina. When living in L.A. a neighbor was gunned down at night. While the cops were buzzing around investigating the shooting, Gary approached one of the officers and explained that his child was trying to take a nap. Gary asked if the officer knew when they would be finished. The officer told Gary he did not know, but he could always leave L.A. So, Gary did. His song "Wichita" was inspired by a class Gary took at UCLA regarding Native American history. There was a story about how the Native Americans followed the buffalo around the nation to survive, and when the "white men" finished the intercontinental railroad, the buffalo started to head back south. When they came upon the rail road, the buffalo would not cross it, and millions of them died. Gary has only spent one night in the actual city of Wichita. Gary has stated that 'No Poetry' is possibly his favorite song he has written.

External links

• Official Website
• Gary Jules collection at the Internet Archive's live music archive
• Gears of War trailer featuring Gary Jules cover of "Mad World"
• Interview with WickedInfo.com