Top 77 Fred Armisen Quotes

I feel bad for everyone I’ve gone out with.

The day of parts of the country hating each other, or rivalries like that… I feel like that’s dead.

For me, I would get so frustrated because I would see these other bands just whip by us.

The bands that were big in ’77, like the Clash and the Sex Pistols and Talking Heads, I got into them in the early ’80s. And it changed my life. It got into my DNA.

I can only parody stuff I love.

I can’t relax. I’m not happy unless I’m working on stuff. ‘SNL’ is always a huge workload, as enjoyable as it is.

I love my bandmates, and they’re my friends, and even though we had fun and got to tour and I got to play the drums a lot, which I’ll always appreciate, we had a really rough time. We toured and tried to get people to come to our shows and put out records, and we really struggled.

I am immediately disinterested when I hear mountain-climbing stories.

El Perro del Mar sort of accompanied my time at ‘SNL.’ To concentrate and focus, I would play the bass to one of her songs from her third album.

If something seems like a little venue, don’t treat it like that. Do it all. If you’re sort of wondering why you’re doing something at some location, just do it – any size theater, production, or whatever. It’s all helpful.

Steve Jobs was a real rock star to me. I looked forward to his products like people look forward to albums.

Wayne Coyne has put out Flaming Lips records in gummy bear skulls and all these different kinds of packaging that’s really, really inventive. And that’s what you should always do.

I want it all… fast. I want to be married, I want to live together… and then somewhere around a year or two years, I get freaked out. I freak out emotionally and then I actually feel like ‘Oh my God, who’s this stranger in my house?’

Hopefully there will be a day when all comedy is all robots.

I work better when I’m juggling projects. Nothing worse than watching someone really embrace what they’re doing if they love it too much.

As far as value goes, obviously it’s nicer to be in an environment where you feel comfortable. But it’s also clear that it’s probably not the most realistic thing.

Chalkboards being used inside the restaurant seem to be a good sign that the proprietors are proud of their food, and that’s kind of nice, actually – it’s a nice personal touch.

I will always consider myself a punk because of those experiences in high school. It will always be a part of me.

My favorite album is ‘Ram’ by Paul and Linda McCartney.

Panned or not, ‘Dune’ is a real part of science-fiction filmmaking.

I’d want to direct a video for Yoko Ono. As long as I got to work with Yoko Ono someday, I’d be really happy. I just think she’s such a great artist – it would just be so nice.

I can’t be bothered with narrative. It takes too long for me to try to think of it.

Everyone knows deep in their hearts that the drums are the coolest instrument, and that a band is only as good as its drummer. So I’m all for drum solos. I’m all for drummers hamming it up. I’m all for drummers standing up and kicking over the kit.

Even when I go do comedy stuff live, I can still feel the drummer in me about to go onstage.

I will admit that I purposely stress myself out. But I think I like stressing myself out. There’s a glamour to, like, ‘I’ve got to get to the airport!’ I just like the caricature.

My showbiz career started with ‘SNL,’ and to write an ‘SNL’ book… well, there are already enough of those.

I see everything as a positive that can only help me.

I find it weird to use my own voice on TV.

My favorite song is ‘Cybele’s Reverie’ by Stereolab.

I really like watching TV at home.

I’m so glad cities have personalities, just like people have personalities. That’s something that makes me smile.

Before ‘SNL,’ I would do stand-up, opening for Jeff Tweedy. It was worse than bombing in that people were dead silent.

As a kid, ‘The Monkees’ was such a cool show. I had such a thrill saying, ‘OMG, I was in a sketch with one of the Monkees.’

For some reason, juggling things makes everything work better. That’s just how we operate. It just makes the other project more of something to look forward to. I think the more you keep things going, the more it helps the other project.

I think I was a terrible husband, I think I’m a terrible boyfriend.

Discomfort is the way to go if you want to make something you feel is worthwhile.

I started comedy in, like, 1998.

Every day, I wanna work on being a better person, not just to others but to myself.

I feel like Miami is way, way too hot.

That’s one of the great things about Los Angeles, that people just play music, and it’s all very welcoming and welcomed.

I believe in limitations. I think the worst art ever made – in my opinion, because it’s all so subjective – is where the artist had complete freedom.

There’s almost no such thing as a hipster.

I love ‘Saturday Night Live,’ and I really feel like people who have left before me have always stayed with the show. They never really quite left, which is nice. Everyone kind of stays close.

There are people who are genetically made to start record labels, and I’m not one of those people. People just have it in their blood and are good at it. Corey Rusk from Touch and Go and Ian MacKaye. These are people who have made their own labels.

Talking Heads were a big influence on my comedy. For David Byrne, every album had to be different. With ‘Portlandia,’ every season has to be different. You gotta reinvent the look, all of it.

You should approach everything in life like, ‘What is this?’

There are bands that I am friends with, who will invite me up on stage. Like Les Savy Fav, who have had me on stage, and I have played on their record. There are a couple of bands like that. Yo La Tengo has invited me to play with them.

We almost called the ‘Portlandia’ show ‘Stumptown.’ That was the original name.

I’m drawn to punk. I’m drawn to samba a bit. I don’t think there’s a type of music I’m not drawn to. Lykke Li I really like. Holy Sons I still can’t get enough of.

The Long Island experience is so strange. You’re a satellite around the city, so the presence of the city is always looming.

I learned at ‘SNL’ that it’s a bummer to bum people out.

I spent a lot of time lifting my drums into a van, playing to ten people night after night. I can’t complain about anything now. That stuff was heavy.

Ever since I was really little, I started doing a – I don’t know how to put this – mentally challenged person on my street. I meant no harm by it, but I remembered how this person talked, and I did it for my mom, and she was not into it. She said, ‘You can’t do that!’ But my dad really laughed.

There’s no judgment on bands that continue on who aren’t popular; some people get enjoyment out of it. I’m just not one of those people.

I think Ian MacKaye is everything that I always wanted to be.

The worst art is when it’s really convenient and comfy.

At ‘SNL’ there’s framed pictures of all the cast members, and it starts with Dan Aykroyd. It’s linear. It just keeps going through all these people, and then you’re at the end of it.

When I first started going to Portland, people told me about Stumptown. They were like ‘Oh, it’s the best coffee,’ and I thought, ‘How good could it really be?’ I’m like, ‘Sure, great, uh… I’d love to see it.’ But then when I went, it truly, I am not kidding, is the best coffee I have ever had.

I have an inability to relax. I try to make every day a work day. I get pleasure from work… I try to think of sketch ideas, stand-up pieces. I am incapable of leisure and leisure time.

I love painters because I don’t paint, so I get to enjoy art; I like collecting paintings.

There should be comedians who perform only for robots – I’m saying human comedians that only perform for robots.

I am opposed to vacations and leisure. I try to make every day a work day. Even if there’s nothing on my schedule, I will try do at least one task that is work-related.

Over the years, El Perro del Mar became this artist that, every record that came out, I just loved it.

I loooved Sleater-Kinney like a crazy person.

Fereydun, that’s my dad’s name. My grandmother, my dad’s mom, when she was pregnant, she was dating a man from Persia, a Persian gentleman. It wasn’t his child, but he was still very supportive and said, ‘Hey, this is a great name,’ and so it stuck. So that’s what she named him.

Art should not be an easy thing.

When I used to see Rick Moranis do something, to me that was immediately funny. Or George Carlin or Martin Lawrence.

When punk came along, it made perfect sense to me. I found it melodic. The Clash, Buzzcocks.

Everywhere I go, somebody says something to me. It’s really nice.

Surround yourself with people you like and respect; surround yourself with people you just want to be around and keep making things.

I would really like to do a movie. Schedule-wise I don’t know when exactly, but I think it would be great to do a Portlandia movie. Some of my favorite television shows have done it and they’ve been great. Like Monty Python. I think it would be great.