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Before 'SNL,' I would do stand-up, opening for Jeff Tweedy. It was worse than bombing in that people were dead silent.
Fred Armisen -
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.
Fred Armisen
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My father came from Germany. My mom came from Venezuela. My father's culturally German, but his father was Japanese. I was raised in New York and spent two years in Rio. My parents met at the University of Southern Mississippi, and they had me there, and then we moved to New York. I'm not very familiar with Mississippi.
Fred Armisen -
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.
Fred Armisen -
I really loved touring with my band, but it felt like we would spend a lot of time playing in empty rooms - empty clubs. We had some good successes, but it's so physically hard to load up a van and drive all day.
Fred Armisen -
Even when I go do comedy stuff live, I can still feel the drummer in me about to go onstage.
Fred Armisen -
I was impersonating people way, way, way early, as far back as I can remember. And I would do people on my street for my parents, I remember. And in school, I did the same thing with all the teachers. It was just like, I mean, it was something I loved to do. I don't think there was a time when I wasn't doing it. I was always doing it.
Fred Armisen -
James Franco has turned his life into a real art project. In my opinion, that's the way to live.
Fred Armisen
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I'm not by nature a cynical person. But sometimes your expectations are different from reality.
Fred Armisen -
I have a problem with sweets. I have an inability to eat a just little bit. It's almost like I can't even enjoy chocolate anymore - I have to stuff it into my brain, cram it into my ears.
Fred Armisen -
Bill Hader does a really good impression of me.
Fred Armisen -
I'll just say that there are times when TV shows, like 'The Honeymooners' or 'I Love Lucy' or something, where they're totally in their stride, and this thing happens, where you can tell they got everything they wanted. And it starts to look a little relaxed. No criticism to the shows whatsoever; these people are geniuses.
Fred Armisen -
I feel like Miami is way, way too hot.
Fred Armisen -
I wanted so badly to be in a famous band, and it was not happening. I played drums with different bands and with the Blue Man Group in Chicago, but I definitely felt like, 'Wow, I did not picture my life being like this.'
Fred Armisen
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Hopefully there will be a day when all comedy is all robots.
Fred Armisen -
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.
Fred Armisen -
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.
Fred Armisen -
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.
Fred Armisen -
No yoga. I can barely sit down.
Fred Armisen -
I was really close to being this guy who used to be in this band who is still playing and trying to get some recordings together, but I got really lucky.
Fred Armisen
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I don't like watching shows where all of a sudden you're like, what happened? They shot the last season in Las Vegas?
Fred Armisen -
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 -
I don't think I've ever hosted anything in my life.
Fred Armisen -
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.
Fred Armisen