Fred Armisen

Published Sep 10, 2012, 4:00 AM

This week, Alec talks with Fred Armisen. Armisen has been a punk rock drummer, currently he’s a cast member on Saturday Night Live and is also the co-creator and co-star of IFC’s Portlandia. Armisen has always been ambitious; when he was a drummer, he recalls, he always "wanted much more."

Long ago, Armisen played drums with the Blue Man Group in Chicago and he tells Alec he learned a lot: about "simplicity," "reinvention" and "that audiences want to be entertained." Armisen admits that he’s always working; when SNL is on hiatus, he’s producing Portlandia. But he still dreams about what might come next: "I want to invent a type of entertainment that is really blurry between comedy and something else. That doesn’t have a name yet...another level of fooling people as opposed to just doing a character. Something a little bigger than that."

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This is Alec Baldwin and you're listening to Here's the thing, ladies and gentlemen. The President of the United States on my first day in office, I said I'd closed Wanton and mobit is it closed yet? No, that's Fred Armisson on Saturday Night Live, adding to the show's distinguished line of oddly perfect presidential impressions that started with Chevy Chase. Now there was Fred, who also plays other important icons such as Larry King, Mak mood Am, A Dinajade, Rupert Murdoch, and Prince Attention, sexy passengers. This grew jets about to take off, so please direct your attention to my co host, Miss Beyonce. No. Fred Armison grew up in Valley Stream, Long Island with a Venezuelan mother and a German Japanese father. My mom really loved Saturday Night Line. She loved it. She I remember her talking about Chevy Chase and she would say, like, Oh, Chevy Chase, he's so funny. You just look at his face and you want to laugh. And then made a huge impression on me. And even as a kid, I thought, yeah, what is that like a guy who just from looking at him right away? You know it doesn't absolutely. Armiston is also co creator of Portlandia, a playfully subversive sketch comedy show on i f C in which he co stars with the musician Carrie Brownstein. And I have to get up early for work, so let's get in her pgs and we'll watch one more Okay, one more, so good? So good? What time is it? It's like daylight? Any How did that even happen? We just stayed up on late Do you want to watch more Landia, which he produces while SNL is on hiatus, recently won a Peabody Award. Thank you so much for your guidance and for believing in the show and for allowing us a freedom not to be reckless but to be bold. Fred missing as part of the American comedy landscape, but he took an unusual path to get there. For ten years, he was a punk rock drummer in a band called trench Mouth. I worked so hard on that band. It was like an obsession for me. But it was like I just worked every day. We were in the van. We toward toward towards booking places, booking, booking, booking, booking, and just trying to get slots and clubs over what area the States, in Canada, and you were all floating and reloading your own equipment. They were your own roadies. Absolutely didn't bring any extra people to save money up and downstairs the middle of the night, lifting lifting, lifting drums, symbols, amps. Then if it was a local show, flyers records, getting them out to people, getting them out to radio stations. It was non stop and the same band, same band for ten years too. I'd say maybe nine years. Was it successful? It depends how you look at That's what I'm saying. I want to know you were definition definition. I had success in getting becoming closer with my friends. I had success in playing the drums. I played a lot of drums for a long enjoyed myself, travel the country and I'm not much of a drinker. Played in Europe, played in the States. So absolutely that all that stuff was like, that's a success? Was it what I wanted? I wanted much more? Did much more? Why? Why? Why? Because I want I wanted to be as big I remember this is going to sound I'll just be honest about what I wanted. But I was wanted to be as big as the Red Hot Chili Peppers. I was like, God, they're huge, they're huge. What we can do it? So because we never attained that, and I would see bands from Chicago kind of swooped right by us. I saw it as not a success, and that's what kind of got me into doing comedy. In fact, I remember one band in particular. I remember seeing the drummer and saying to myself that I don't want to be that. And he was older than me, so he must have been who knows what, thirty forty or something like that. He was a drummer in a very knew more how old I must have been ten years older and said ten years from I don't want I saw he had some gray hair, and which is nothing wrong with that I'm saying, but this is what I did not like was that he was still lugging his equipment and I just I was just like, I don't want to be that guy. I don't want to arrive in some town and find a place to stay. It just doesn't look nice. Yeah, do you know what I mean? Like you've done that. Yeah, it's fine for when you're in your twenties, it's great. We slept on floors, shared tell rooms shared really like the worst kinds of places you could imagine. You get stuck together, stuck together. Describe trench Mouth's music. Who wrote the songs we all did together? You all did. Yeah. When we did the songwriting appen, you just like get together and say today's rehearsal songwriting day. It's kind of like we had band practice every whatever, three times a week or something twice a week, and you just sit in a room and you're like, I have this one part and I have this other part, and we just put them all together. But it was very frenetic and loud and percussive, and it was a cacophony, just like noise. I was a little bit of a ham so, like, I really want to play a lot of drums, like Heath Moon style noise, noise, noise all the way through. And that was kind of like what a lot of bands were like that. So it was kind of just the way it was. It was pretty noisy. But I don't know, I love the drums, so and you still play I do. I do. I love get invited to come play with somebody who was famous. It depends what you consider famous. For me, it was the Bengals asked me to play with them recently. Yeah, I loved it. I loved it. I'm paid to go see the Bengals and then at a show recently they'll come up and play a song absolutely, and then I loved it. I loved it. So you're really two people. There's you, the musical you, and you don't want to let that die and you still play every now and then. Yeah, you still have just a drum set. Yeah, but I don't do anything like I don't fancy myself like, hey, I'm still making music. I won't like put out like you know, original songs and like that no one needs to hear. You know. I'm grateful to be a comedian. I'm not like a struggling anything. But for fun, I will go and play music. Armison went with his band to Austin, Texas for the south By Southwest Music Festival. Along with his drums, he brought a video camera. And there were always seminars and stuff how to make it in the music biz, And somehow I got it in my head to interview people do different characters, and uh, it just became this, this video and you've never done anything like that before. You're down there, and the and the whole, the whole experience down there was a musical one, but you start doing funny stuff and I don't even know why I did it, you know, I was just like I just thought it would be a fun thing to do. And a friend of mine edited it together, and that tape This is nineteen sort of made the rounds. They wrote about it in this local Chicago paper. And then I showed it at a club there that I used to play in Trench Mouth. At this club as many people turn out for that as with the band, So right away I knew like, oh, I could do this and not have to load in my equipment back and forth, do you know what I mean? Like the reaction was greater than when I was in a band. On that night, I thought, oh, this might be a way to go. I'm here with the aluminum grove. I just wanted to know from you guys who thought up the name of the band. And I don't mean like originally, I mean like who was the person who decided that that was going to be the name? And what record label are you on? Is it the same record label that you're on a couple of years ago, or is the one that's going to be different, and is it the one that's gonna be on in Europe? Did everybody in Trench Mouth get really sad than did they know you were going to go? Um? Maybe? But they're my friends, so I think based you know, they had they kept on going with another band called All of Them, and they said they hate you, damn it. But hatred equals love. Yeah, it's a it's still an Emotional're not ignoring me. I think we were already broken up or breaking up, so it was a very natural progression. At the time, I was playing drums for Blue Man Group in chicoge So, Um, that's doing the same thing every night, isn't it. That's a show? Yeah, that grab you. I learned a lot, you did. I learned a lot from that show, because do you have you very familiar with this playing down for years pure entertainment. You know, I'm up there in this sort of the drums are above this stage and you can kind of look down at the audience. And I learned that lawns want to just be entertained. You don't have to overthink anything if you're if you if you're entertaining enough, they're there they want something to do at night. You're predisposed. How long did you do that? Two years? Two years? It's the first time I got a paycheck for playing the drums, and to me, it was a million of the last and the last. Yes, absolutely after that comedy, so you're yeah, that's the last thing that man. Um simplicity to not overthink ideas speed. They changed from one bit, as it were, to the next very quickly. Um. I think, uh reinvention a little bit. They would keep sort of renewing the show a little bit just to keep it lively. That that is what I came away with the most of that. Audiences want to want to be entertained. And then what happens after that, That's when I started doing comedy. And then doing comedy where from those videos that I was telling you about, I started traveling the country showing it in l A, San Francisco, New York. You took made it into a stand upack kind of I would just you know, they'd write something in the paper, and people came out in all these cities. And then I went to l A clubs, comedy clubs, rock clubs, rock clubs. There was no music, no music, just showed this video and talked a little bit, and that's it. How long we're on stage? I mean total of like half an hour forty something really short, just a little people dug it. Absolutely, It's pretty internet. So showing a video was more of an event. Yeah, there was no such thing as like sort of why don't you just watch it online? Um? And then someone from HBO was at one of the shows, and then I started doing these videos for HBO. They had like this these other channels like HBO Zone Latina, So there's something called HBO Zone which is this sort of like alternative channel. And then I did these little interstitial pieces for them. Who hired you to do this, woman Elaine Brown? It was through someone else who worked for a show called Reverb, which is a rock show on HBO, So it sort of indirect. I did so many reviews for them, and then I started making enough money that I didn't have to live in Chicago anymore. I was like, I can. I always wanted to live in l A. I moved to l A and then I started doing stand up like characters and stuff on stage where this is one club that I loved called Largo, and people like David Cross and Bob oden Kirk and Marylyn Rice Cup would perform there, and I just wanted to do the same thing. So I just started doing some stand up there as different characters. And so now are you in the full world of sitting down and writing for those shows? You're sitting down doing a lot of writing. Then it's like, yes, no, I did all that for sure. I moved to l A and I I just wanted to fit in, you know, I was on my own and I just wanted to perform there and I would just do characters. Yeah. Did you make old new friends right away to fall into the comedy world, Yeah, I did. I just wanted to be part of it, you know what I mean? So I think it was and you were open to it, Yeah, and then I just and who became your pals there in l A Um Paul F. Tompkins Bob oden Kirk really helped me out a lot from doing stand up there. He had a pilot for a show called Next, which had different characters and it was a sort of variety show and he got me onto the past for that. And from that is where I have like all um tape to submit to SNL. Hello, welcome to focus on talent. I am go hard lip shifts and today my very special guest is the wonderfully simple Way Romano. Thank you so much for coming. This is really great. Do you begin instead up comedy and so and I think that your act was not so good? Yes, well it seems to make people smile. I guess yes, yes, but perhaps it is a yawn and you are paid by the yawn and that's why you're so rich. Yes, I had enough tape to submit to SNL. My agents and manager sent it to them, and then I was on the cast and two thousand two, so you show up to New York to do the show. I flew into do the auditions. You know, I was flipping out that I even got to do the auditions. All yeah, I mean I met Tina Favor the first time Lauren, and Tina was the head writer of them. I b leave, so I think her and Dennis McNicholas. I couldn't even believe I was in that studio. Yeah it was. I'm still blown away by it. And then when you started, you were a featured player. And then how many years you did you do that? Before you drive? Two years? It was Will Forte and I and was it frustrating to be a future player, because again, no, no, I wasn't. I'm fresh from carrying drums. I'm fresh from just doing stand up at large. I can't. There's a part of me that still is like, I can't believe it. A lot of people on the show don't since that they leave and they don't realize how good they've had it. But people who have left the show have told me and I listened to them, and they say, it's the best job I've ever had. Yeah, it's going to be one of them. You know, you're not gonna have that much freedom and that much variety. I always tell people, don't leave the show and become the thing you made fun of on the show, right, And that's a real trip, because you're gonna go out there and do with the jobs. And one of the greatest risks in my mind is that people will characterized you. Oh yeah, I mean I can see you doing a movie where you're when a really smart cast and a smart director and you like lock everybody in the gymnasium and burn the gymnasium down to the ground. You could go either way, don't you think. I hope. So I wanted to straight acting. Mm, that's tricky. Um, but if there's a way to do it, it's tricky because I don't want to look like I'm unhappy with comedy. I don't want to go out there and say, for lack of a better word, an audience like, hey, this is what I really do. However, I think these days there are roles that are both comedic and dramatic. I like that that line is becoming blurry. So my answer is kind of like, I think there's a way that Peter Sellers did. It was comedy comedy somewhere, and he occupies a very very distinct place. You have comic actors who made their reputation in comedic roles who have tried to go over into dramatic films and it's worked to some degree or hasn't worked, Billy Crystall and Robin Williams and so forth. And I think you have a real opportunity, and it's never more vivid than it is in Portlandia that you could go both ways and do the comic and the dramatic. Do you feel that way, yes, because when we do the show, when we write the show, we don't always think about, like what's the funniest thing, right, Like what what seems interesting to us? What what's going to look? If they comes, it comes great. If it's not quite comedy, that's okay, Like that's it's something else in between. Did I did read that? Do you The thing of mc sweeney's was comparing CD tracks and album tracks and if you read that, Yeah? Do you read that thing? And mother Jones about eco chairs and eco waste to sit? I did? Yeah, I did that thing. It's been about all the festivals. Did you read that thing in Peace? It was about the National thinks well about all that mid century houses? Yeah? Did read the New York Times? Yes? New York observe, Yes, Washington hosts Journal of course, ready to read that steampunk art. Did not like the end of it. Did you read that skywriting over the Plammett River? Yes? Read thetune? Yes? Last night? Ye? Do you read it? Yes? There were Yes. Did you read that thing that I wrote in the sand on the beach? Did you read the Portland to read the Wilmah to read the Seattle Stranger? I loved it. I think everybody who would listen to this podcast knows. Carrie Brown's team from from the show. But did you know Carrie when? When did you meet her? I met her two thousand and three, I think, but I know I had We had mutual friends, going back to you just started the feature playing bit of the contract. Yeah, but I knew the drummer in her band, Janet in seven or Carrie lives in Portland, Portland and her band was like my favorite bands bands leader Kenny. I became friendly with them. We just had a lot of mutual friends. They came to New York to play. I just invited them to come to the show. They had a show that night, so they came to the after party and I met Carrie there and it was the strangest thing. Carrie and I just became instant friends. That happens, and she knew who you were from the TV show. Fully, it just worked cooked. Yeah, ever since then? And then how soon after that? I mean, what was the relationship like between that and when you started Portland? Which is only how many years old? Plane is we're going to a third season. You started hatching it four years ago. Let's further back in that. We had a website where we would make little videos. This was the birth of that was this video as well. Yeah, so it was just we just made these videos. Well it was going to be thunder egg which is the Oregon State rock and then there was a band called thunder Eggs that were like out of respect, like, let's think of something else, and we just came up with thunder An and uh, we just made these videos. I'd go to Portland. It was like the equivalent of jamming, you know. And so instead of doing that, which is just like so what you know, like, hey, we have this band, we just thought let's make these videos. There was no pressure on it. It's just like, let's just didn't like it, Yeah, for no reason, let's just come up with characters, let's make these tapes. And then we did. And then we had all these videos on this website. I remember reading that you did about a dozen of them, correct, Yeah, that's about right. And then then we just had enough to pitch a TV show and then how does Portland become a show? Who buys the show? Um? It was kind of a thing where I was just talking to my manager, what do you want to do next? What's something about okar? And I thought thunder and let's just turn it see if we can turn it into something. And then Carrie and I just thought, yeah, let's let's pitch it. We are ready for that. Does she want that? Yeah? She seems like somebody who lived in Portland and lived on the fringe and was very very talented deliberately that she didn't want to be mainstream successful. Um. I think she just likes doing it, so she does what she wants. She's a perfect mix of like she just enjoys, you know, performing and isn't like so crazy ambitious that she's like, Okay, what's the next thing? What's the next thing. She's very like, let's work on some projects and a lot of it's our friendship. We just like working together. And then we pitched it to Broadway Video and your singer and then uh so you know Lauren and as a group, we pitched it to i f C. They said, go and do a pilot, which we did and then the next thing we knew we're doing the show and you shoot the show in Portland obviously, And what was it like to crew up a show there is there a lot of production up there. Yeah, I mean it was it was incredible. I mean we had I didn't have time to stop and think about, Wow, isn't this cool. We just had to get you know, a director with John Chrystal. We had to get you know, producers, line producers on board. So there's a lot to do. And then we had to come up with the sketches too. And where's the production facility? We just shoot on location. Where's the production offices and some defunct building. Yeah, it wasn't like a missile factory. It was like it was like this old sneaker. It was like an abandoned sports store or sports something, action sports something, some like is the production office for the show? It was it just channing. It changed the second year. We just you know, it's which I kind of like. At first I didn't like, but it's something I've grown to like. Is it it just changes to whatever is the cheapest place to rent space. I think when things are permanent, that's a that's kind of a scary thing. Is then you just assume too much. Is there a lot of other production in Portland? Me, there a lot of the there's a few other things. Um, the leverage is shot there, grim is shot there, but I think that's it maybe, so not a lot of shot there, not a lot, not a lot. I think it's nice that that everyone's employed. You know, anything that brings employment to a city, it's got to be great. Now when you go there, I'm assuming to start the show, you've never lived there before, No, but I've gone there soul you had because you've spent so much time, so you knew what this Portland's head was. That's what also got us to doing this show there. I mean, like I would visit carry all the time, thunder for years. I've been going there, and she'd lived there for how long? Um forever? For what I think she's she's originally from Washington State and then she moved to Portland whatever, you know, ten years ago or something. So what is your experience being in Portland? Do people say stuff to you? All the love it, They're so nice about it. And I really like it there. You know, I'm I'm a city guy. I'm from New York and and I still love it there. It's smaller, but it's still it's still a city and clean and nice and good food somewhere really civil, really just physically pretty and and kind of overcast, which I really like. Do you think when SNL is over you'll stay in New York. You think Los Angeles is where you don't think I'm gonna try. Yeah, I'm sure spend I'm sure I'll spend some time in l A and sometime in Portland, But I mean, I love it here. Do you develop films now? Do you write films at all for yourself? I've started to Yeah, I started to. Yeah. Yeah. I feel like when I when I try to write something for myself and it ends up in TV form. But still I want to try to expand that. You would never do a TV series? Um? Do I would do anything? Anything it seems interesting. I would. I would do anything it seems like something you know good to be part of. So when you sign a contract like with Broadway Video for those people who don't know this, that's Lawrence Company, Rice Production Arm and you have to deliver how many episodes? Ten? You just do ten. First one was six, the second was ten. This one's gonna be tanned. I was gonna say, because because eventually you start again when as soon as I'm done with SNL. Yeah, you're gonna go right out to Portlood with carry and start again and do ten and that ten will take you through through the summer, So you spend your whole summer working with Kerry, then you come back to SNL. Yeah, you have a little bit of a break. No, in fact, it overlaps a little bit. In fact, I might have to miss some maybe a little bit of rehearsing when we come right back next year, because I think it's going to bleed into October a little bit. What do you do for fun? I just work all that time. Will you do his work because that's what you wanted. Yeah, today I'm going to go into work and we're gonna start writing. And it's work, but it's still you know, trying to think of things for for the show. What do you watch on tv UM lately? Game of Thrones. I'm just I'm very addicted to every story that's going on in that show. It's so well done. It's so well done, and and it's a weird mix of like it's kind of historical not historical fan I mean, I guess at this point it's just fantasy, but like it's just it's just so well done. I really really love it. Downton Abbey's really watch I have to watch that. I haven't watched that Girls is really great. That shows a good so many great things. I always remember Favreau had that show Dinner for five. Remember that I used to watch that show. I love that show, and Favreau had these people on it. Favreau's talking to these people and he says, well, you know, win the movie business. There's three things. There's the director, there's the script, and there's the cast. And he said, you can afford to take a chance on one of the three. He said, but if two of the three, let alone three. But if two are in doubt or you have questions about, he said, don't do the movie. I remember sitting there in my bed and I'd already been in the movie business for like you know, I was, I was forty years old or forty years I remember sitting there going, damn now. He tells me, damn you, John, that was that's really good. He taught me big list. Did you ever meet someone who was an idol of yours and you really had an amazing experience chatting with the absolute for example, Steve Martin, Right, I mean, oh him, uh, he's you know, it's it's even weird talking about it because I feel like I know him somewhat. But in the comedy world or in the entertainment world. He's just like the experiences greater than I ever thought it would be because I idolize him. And then on top of it, the way he's just the way he is, you know, that's part of the thing, that seeing how people are as people. That's another nice surprise. He's a very sweet, gry He's just yeah, and he loves art, and that's like, Yeah, you seem very goal oriented. You've had goals. You wanted to be in the band, You did the band, You did that until you were done, you put it down, you went to this, You've moved along. What else do you want to do? Um? Someday one you invent a type of entertainment that isn't is really blurry between comedy and something else that doesn't have a name yet. But I do want to see if there's another way to another level of um fooling people as opposed to just doing a character something a little bigger than that. And I don't know quite how to do it yet, but I do think being famous has killed that opportunity for you personally, and sometimes so that someone you have to get someone else to do it and produce that yeah, because you couldn't do that, because you meant you show up, they know something's going on. But, uh, do you find that do you find that when you walk up to people automatically like someone said something to me, They said to me, you're you're at a wonderful place which is also a terrible place, that place where people are going to laugh at you, whether you're funny or not. I meant it as a dig. Do you find that's true with you, that wherever you go, people are predisposed to you saying something yeah. Or if I do like a stand up show, where I find that I want to put more effort into it, but sometimes I don't really have to, so that might not be a good thing. So what about it in your personal life? How is your personal life changed as a result of being famous? Um, it's everything I ever wanted. But there are some things about it that are just very new and just very interesting, you know, Like I love New York. I love writing on the subway. My subway rights an't as private as they used to be. That's when I start trying to think of ideas. I listen to music, and that's just different. Now people say things to you, yeah, perfectly nice, perfectly nice. I would have done the same had I met whoever. But that's that's changed, like a different kind of subway. Right. What about your relationship with your family, your friends? I mean, do you still have the same friends, Yeah, kind of, but I've got, you know, got new friends, new circles of friends. Yes, but I've maintained my friendships with the guys in the old band then Kirk, Yeah, absolutely, he's in l a though, right, Yeah, let's text each other. And yeah, so I do maintain relationship with this even if I'm if we're both busy, Paul F. Tompkins, whoever, I still try to keep those alive. This is the last thing I want to say to you, which you could say a million things too well, but I'm saying that, uh, without getting too personal. You know you've been married twice. Yeah, and you find you were married twice, correct, that's correct. And and the first one was in Chicago before I was doing comedy, and that's someone who I'm still friends with, Sally. That was during the music days, yes, the Keith Moon days. And then you were married the second time, yes, But would you say that like from things I've read, you find that because of what you crave, what you love. You speak very lovingly about Carrie and how you and she you're just friends, but she's like you're you know, she's your last text of the day. Do you think that she's kind of your soul mate? Without a doubt. It's all the things that I've ever wanted, you know, as from like the physical stuff, but the intimacy that I have with her is like no other, Like it's something that and it's only it's taking me a while to realize, Like, wait a minute, I am super super close with her. I mean we work all day together on portlanda and then we hang out afterwards. I mean, what is that? Because people don't understand in this business how important it is, Like do you have to be It depends on who the person is. Yeah, I also feel like you want someone who you can be not great around, meaning you know, like I want I want to be able to be kind of boring sometimes or say something dumb, and it's okay. That pressure is I like that pressure not to be there to have to be super funny and intelligent all the time. It's nice when I like I'm competitive, Yeah, where I'm just like the comedy world is very competitive, isn't it. I guess I haven't walked into that too much. I wasn't part of a comedy troop or anything. And so and the stand ups I've become friends with, I've all been very you know, supportive. Definitely, depending on the outcome of the election. You can expect to see more of Fred Armison on SNL next season as Barack Obama, but definitely more of Prince Portland Ia is entering its third season on I f C. Can I play a customer in Portland? Can I come to a restaurant any time I come in to do something? Who would I play? What would I order? Um? I think you would uh come from southern California and you'd order all kinds of meats a meat a fiction. People think of it as a veggie place, but it's actually a very meaty place. Yeah, it's very like cured meats and sausages that but we haven't explored that much. Maybe it could be a meat salesman. Yeah, even better, maybe it could be a meat salesman comes and charts and graphs of the loins and actually the sections of the pig and the cow and the organs and yeah, I love it, and the answers yes right, I means time. Well, come see you important. This is Alec Baldwin and you're listening to here's the thing, m

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