I like to think Portland and L.A. are not rivals; they're cousins. As cities on the West Coast, they're distinct in their own way but still culturally similar.
— Fred Armisen
When punk came along, it made perfect sense to me. I found it melodic. The Clash, Buzzcocks.
I don't like watching shows where all of a sudden you're like, what happened? They shot the last season in Las Vegas?
You have to understand how lucky I feel. I was on 'Saturday. Night. Live.' I played with the Clash! On what planet would I look at anything in my life in any less-than-stellar way?
I see everything as a positive that can only help me.
Every day, I wanna work on being a better person, not just to others but to myself.
Before 'SNL,' I would do stand-up, opening for Jeff Tweedy. It was worse than bombing in that people were dead silent.
Music documentaries are tricky because of 'Spinal Tap.' That movie has stood the test of time.
Hopefully there will be a day when all comedy is all robots.
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.
One person who was interesting was Jello Biafra, who was - of all things - very professional!
For me, I would get so frustrated because I would see these other bands just whip by us.
Something about Portland just really resonated with me.
I feel really lucky to get to do comedy, and music, at all. I want to do as much as I can.
Discomfort is the way to go if you want to make something you feel is worthwhile.
Everywhere I go, somebody says something to me. It's really nice.
People on the street comment on how handsome I am. You know, people stop and say how angular my face is.
Questlove redefined what a band can be, and Paul Shaffer and Max Weinberg really put their own spin on it. I bow down to these people. All of them.
'Sandinista!' is a masterpiece.
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.
When you're being mean to someone, you can feel the audience just get cold.
Since I was, like, an infant... I remember being in love with television. I loved listening to music. I wanted to be on records, and I wanted to be on TV.
When I'm hungry, I need to eat right away.
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.
I can only parody stuff I love.
I really like Au Revoir Simone.
My mom is from Venezuela, and my dad is German and Japanese, and we lived in Brazil when I was a kid for a couple of years, and then I grew up on Long Island. I think all the traveling and all the nationalities put that stuff in my head. I was just around it a lot.
I like that 'Broad City' exists, and I love being around at the same time as 'Key & Peele.' I love those guys - I just, I love their faces.
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 have the capability to have a close relationship with someone.
I get very, very little sleep.
The worst art is when it's really convenient and comfy.
We almost called the 'Portlandia' show 'Stumptown.' That was the original name.
I think a comedian has a more specific job. Whereas a musician can fall into different categories, you know, of making background music or doing a soundtrack or wanting to be in a band or writing the song, or writing your own songs. And then comedy is a very black and white thing. You want to make people happy.
James Franco has turned his life into a real art project. In my opinion, that's the way to live.
I started comedy in, like, 1998.
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.
I learned at 'SNL' that it's a bummer to bum people out.
All of my memories are now on hard drives. I'll change phones or I'll change my laptop, and all my photos stay.
I don't think I've ever hosted anything in my life.
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.
There should be comedians who perform only for robots - I'm saying human comedians that only perform for robots.
The Long Island experience is so strange. You're a satellite around the city, so the presence of the city is always looming.
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.'
Sometimes in Portland I'm like, 'Who is funding this city?' It's doing great - there's all these new shops; there's a synthesizer store. Where is this coming from?
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.
My problem is with intimacy. That's where I have my biggest problems.
My showbiz career started with 'SNL,' and to write an 'SNL' book... well, there are already enough of those.
Art should not be an easy thing.
No yoga. I can barely sit down.
