Fred Armisen Quotes

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

Remember that there's no one way of doing things. ... If you just get a hammer and hit it really hard, whatever it is, I guarantee you it'll open.

I met Steve Jobs once. In '06? He had a sense of humor.

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 wanted attention.

I wish I was one of those people who could write script after script and pages and pages. I can only aspire to do that.

I loved our music discussion. I live for discussions like that. It's my favorite thing because it means that people care about music, and actually have an opinion. I feel like it's dying. Everyone is just really like, they take a step back, but to actually have conviction about what's good and bad: love it.

If someone can write great music... Paul McCartney is a genius. He's so prolific. All we should do is bow down to Paul McCartney.

There are so many disagreements in the world, but I like the idea of people agreeing on something like art.

I still feel lucky whenever I hear a director say, "Action!" Because then I think, "Whoa, I'm really in the movies. This is a real thing happening." I've never not been enthralled by that. I still love it. I still love hearing it, and I feel really lucky all the time.

People are always nice, so I can't complain. My name used to be SNL! More and more, people call me by my name.

[Paul McCartney] never, at the time, was going back to leaning back on the roots of his old band. He always built upon where he was, which was in London. And he didn't overuse synthesizers. He used them just enough. It's such a cool sound.

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

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.

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 don't miss anything ever. Because to me, missing something is like going backward a little bit. I don't miss being in a punk band. For me, 'SNL' is like... this is gonna sound overly dramatic, but... the way I am, it feels like I'm a soldier, so it was like, 'What do you want me to do? Put me anywhere. Do you want me to do these sketches? Great.'

The population increasing, some of it could be in countries we haven't thought of making art in. I've never entertained making comedy in China. Like what world is that? I don't know how they would perceive art or sketch comedy. It's not a matter of intellect; it's a matter of language.

Everyone goes through all kinds of relationship situations. I'm lucky that I get to be on two comedy shows [during divorce].

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'm a fan of Talking Heads going way back.

Someday maybe I'll go back and see what the Deep South is like.

When people say that L.A. doesn't have a culture, I think it really does: a very old culture, and very specific. There's streets named after entertainers, and statues of entertainers, and it's great. Entertainment is still art, even if it makes billions of dollars. So it's like a city built on entertainment, and art in a way.

I came away from 'Saturday Night Live' feeling very well represented. I felt, and I still feel like, they let me do so much stuff that I wanted to do. Stuff that I almost didn't even know what it was.

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

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

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

There's something that I can't describe about the city [Portland] that I really love - just physically - how it feels to walk around there, and have coffee there. Also, the way that it's a little overcast sometimes. Something about Portland just really resonated with me.

In my opinion, there's this new phenomenon where guys used to talk about cars a lot in the past. But, more and more it's becoming them talking about recording studios.

Rules are really weird things, aren't they? I feel like the more I do something, the more I see through rules. I see the reason to ignore it, but at the same time, "That's why they made that rule!"

I'm obsessed with my 20s. I buy things that I wanted in my 20s. It's weird; it's a weird thing that I didn't grow out of.

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.

The more I keep myself occupied and jump from thing to thing, the more I think it enriches both.

As far as paintings go, I always think about what it's like to move them and hang them up and hope they don't drop. To me, that seems like a big gamble, but that comes from me not being a painter.

I loooved Sleater-Kinney like a crazy person.

It's already years ago now, but there's that South Korean music artist Psy, who had that hit song and it was a hit song here. I'm like, "Wait a minute. There's a chance. There's a way we can have language not be such an important part of comedy."

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?'

"Macarena" is a great song. If music is something you can remember - the worst crime music can do is to be forgettable.

We lived in Chicago, but the music we were inspired by was from D. C.

I like it when people are driven. I love that in any field of work, in architecture or whatever. Like Lorne Michaels - he pays attention to every detail.

Some rules are good. For example, off the top of my head, let's say a stand-up comedian or a talk show host wearing a nice suit - as a ponderer, I grew up like, "Why don't they just go up there in their army jacket? They're fine!" Then little by little, you think, "You know, it's kind of nice to look nice, like you made the effort." Then you're back at rule one; that was the original rule.

I tend to think that there is a sophistication to everything at 'Saturday Night Live,' including the sketches.

If there is a blues song, it just goes in one ear and out the other. But other than that, if it stays with you and when we are all 90, we're going to look back at those songs, and it's going to be emotional. And when someone plays it, and you know it, and you're going to go, "I know that song and I love it."

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.

I spent most of my 20s playing music. I was in a band and we worked really hard and did not get very far. 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. That's never lost in me, that I went through Saturday Night Live.

I started comedy in like 1998.

Portland is where young people go to retire.

I thrive most when I have to juggle things.

I don't know any artists or painters, like, "Oh that painting group." I want to write down this idea of a group of artists who treat it like a band. Like, "Who made the painting?" "All four of us did."

That smile on Stive Jobs face... My impersonation came from being a fan.