CleveRock had the opportunity to chat with one of the entertainment biz’s funniest and kinest people, Mr. Fred Armisen, ahead of his back-to-back SOLD-OUT shows at the Grog Shop on April 26 (DEETS). He is on a short run of shows titled Fred Armisen: Comedy For Musicians, But Everyone Is Welcome, which are being hosted by intimate venues.
Comedy is Armisen’s bread and butter, but don’t sleep on the man’s musical talents! It’s possible you’ve caught him from the many bands he’s been in or loaned his talents to over the years.
The one-time Saturday Night Live cast member is easily recognizable! Whether someone is a long-time fan of his work on SNL, remembers him for the hilarious IFC show Portlandia, or caught Armisen on late-night television as Music Director and part-time resident drummer on Late Night with Seth Meyers, it’s highly improbable that one has not seen his work at some point.
Perhaps better known by face than by name, Armisen is one of the dudes that will have folks scratching their heads and reaching for the IMDB app, then have an “A-HA” moment.
The aforementioned SNL and Late Night gigs delivered Armisen’s talents to the masses, but his talents shined brightest in his eight seasons on Portlandia, opposite co-star (and BFF) Carrie Brownstein.
LOOK! Brownstein is also coming to Cleveland with her band, Sleater-Kinney, to perform at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame plaza on July 26! (Tickets: HERE –missing out on an opportunity for a Portlandia reunion by a mere three months!)
This interviewer was pleasantly surprised when Armisen announced that he was coming to Cleveland and to such an up close and personal venue as the Grog Shop. When asked what it was like to announce he is coming without even a clear expectation of what the night would entail and still have the shows sell out, he humbly tried to shy away from how popular he actually is and downplay the work he’s put into building his career.
“I think because I’ve done enough touring and stuff, maybe there’s been enough of what I’ve done that people might know, you know?” He responded. “I also have like, a suspicion that it’s also the places I decide to go to. I feel like I might know them well enough that I think that this can work there, actually!”
While trying to humor Armisen, I brought up something he said while sitting in with Seth Meyers two weeks ago. In that bit, he talked about his idea for a new event venue. He mentioned his silly (yet spot-on) idea, and when I brought it up with him in the interview, he had completely forgotten that he had said this only 10 days prior to this interview. He appreciated the nod to remembering this bit.
“Oh my god, you’re talking about that thing I did on Seth,” he recalled. “Sometimes I forget when I do those things, you know? I don’t think about it. I never know what the question is gonna be, so I just try to think of something on the spot, and it really does feel like my mouth is just going. I’m not thinking about what I’m saying, and then one word comes after the next. Then sure enough, months later, I’ll be talking to someone, and they’ll bring up one of them, and I’ll be like, ‘What are you talking about?'”
Curious, I asked when the last time he found himself in the great city of Cleveland.
“I’ve been there a bunch of times with my first band. I came back with another band called Those Bastards Souls. It was like this Dave Shouse project where he recorded everything, but then he brought a band too, and I think we played the Grog Shop,” he guessed. “I know I’ve been back since then, and I wonder if the Portlandia tour stopped there? I think it might have stopped there. I think the last time was around 2011, and I’m sure I’ll be back after this stop, too. It’s weird because anything, and I have to go back and look at the only reason is because, like, I remember walking around the area, whatever that means, hahaha. It’s weird because, like, anything past 2003 or something always feels like now-ish, you know?”
While in Cleveland, Armisen said he intends to visit the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, in which I told him how I was fortunate enough to be at the Rock Hall to watch the Eclipse. Jealous as Fred was, he asked if I happened to be at a Keith Moon exhibit so I could have been witnessing two moons simultaneously. I told him that the closest I was able to get was listening to Pink Floyd’s “Eclipse.” This seemed to satisfy him.
Like so many, I have been watching Armisen on TV and in movies for years, but it’s rare to catch this guy in a live setting. I wanted to know what his show would be like. Does his comedy change at all when he has an audience to interact with instead of performing for a camera?
“I feel like I found a really comfortable… I don’t know if ‘comfortable’ is the right word, but I found that everyone uses the word ‘fun.’ I found a very useful area of jokes and music to pick from,” he said. “So, you know, instead of just doing the one thing, I feel like there’s people keep turning out for these shows; I think there is a world where people do wanna talk about their instruments, and because it’s pretty literal, you know? It’s like talking about the guitar as an instrument, how we hear music, and how we behave when we hear certain music at a show. Also the way you can get bored of what style of music and how, you know, you start engaging in conversation and stuff. So it’s like a million areas of music that hopefully people will enjoy!”
This resonated with me: Nobody can run a website like Cleverock for over 20+ years who doesn’t love concerts. One of my favorite parts of concerts is when the band or lead singer banters with each other or the audience. These moments can be some of the more memorable parts of a show because it’s easy to listen to the songs and the lyrics, but you have to seek out interviews and conversations these musicians have. Armisen seems to agree.
“I noticed that yesterday. I went to go see Jeff Tweedy yesterday and he’s so good with them (audiences). Like, he’s really good, and I’m like, this is kind of a version of stand-up comedy in that,” he said. “He’s got a guitar in his hand, but he’s saying things that are funny enough, like, on its own, it’s comedy. So I think maybe we’re noticing it more, but there is the musician version of comedy banter. Sometimes, the ones who are, like, awkward and, you know, whatever, not that they think that they’re not good at it, but here’s a charm to that as well. It has its own charm because you’re just getting to know this person a little bit, you know.”
While I was excited to hear his banter and what he’d bring to the Grog Shop, I asked him a little about what to expect the rest of the night! Music? Comedy? I expressed to Armisen that I’ll be excited no matter what he does.
“I’m excited for you to be there. It’s very much like asking the audience, ‘Hey, do you also experience this when you hear certain kinds of music?’ So it’s more like a question mark as opposed to like me lecturing about, you know, this music is this way or that way,” he said. “It’s more like, ‘Hey, is it me, or when you’re in a car, and you hear this kind of music, you’ve got this reaction, or if you’re at a show and it’s got odd timing, do you react this way?’ If I play a song, it’ll be towards the end. And usually, it’ll be like any of the parody bands I’ve been in. You know, like, from ‘Documentary Now!’ or SNL. And those, I’ll do like a couple of those and usually someone will ask for a song. They’ll say, Do this, whatever, this sketch from SNL. That song or whatever. And then, if I could remember the chords to it, maybe I will.”
If I wasn’t already convinced that Armisen was one of the most friendly interviewees, I told him how Clevelanders love it when musicians show their appreciation for local fans. I expressed what that means to me.
“Oh, man, that means a lot to me. It really does. And you know, I’m glad that I get to go there and meet you and just see all those people there. It’s like a 50/50 thing, you know what I mean? It’s me also just wanting to be there, and that’s great.”
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