While most people know Fred Armisen as “the guy from Portlandia” and before that SNL, he will now also be known as the band leader on Late Night With Seth Meyers. The announcement came earlier this month and presumably has many wondering why Meyers would select one of his Saturday Night Live cast buddies as the new band leader.
It seems like a bit of an odd choice, given that Armisen is most notably known as a comedic actor, but his musical history actually reaches far beyond his various goofy fake bands on SNL. Let’s take a look at Armisen’s eclectic musical history that extends beyond challenging Questlove to a drum battle before he joins the ranks of late night band leaders tonight.
Trenchmouth
In 1988 Armisen dropped out of the School of Visual Arts and moved from New York to Chicago to play drums for the band Trenchmouth. The post-hardcore band incorporated funk and Latin influences and released several albums before disbanding in the mid-1990s.
Drumming with Blue Man Group
Following the breakup of Trenchcoat, Armisen auditioned for Blue Man Group and toured with the performance group for a couple of years. “That’s what I did for like, two years. I thought I made it. I was like, ‘This is it.’ It was the first paycheck I got for drumming,” Armisen told fellow former SNL cast member Jim Bruer in 2011.
SNL
Armisen has definitely been one of the more offbeat SNL cast members. Yes, he played Larry King, New York Governor David Paterson, and President Obama, but most of those roles were in the second part of Armisen’s SNL career. When Fred joined the show in 2002 he was mostly appearing as strange characters like Venezuelan Nightclub Comedian, Fericito, and Native American stand-up Billy Smith.
His musical sketches on SNL didn’t always hit with the audience, but dressing Bryan Cranston up in a Michael Bolton wig for a sketch as struggling band The Bejelland Brothers is a win for music.
Armisen brought a number of other fake bands to SNL including…
The Blue Jean Committee
The Fingerlings (who would also go on to release a single)
And probably the most accepted, Ian Rubbish and the Bizarros, who of course played a farewell to Bill Hader with Jason Sudeikis filling in on drums, Taran Killam on guitar, and Armisen’s Portlandia co-star Carrie Brownstein joining in, along with Aimee Mann, Dinosaur Jr.’s J. Mascis, Sonic Youth’s Kim Gordon, and Steve Jones of the Sex Pistols.
Sitting in with Les Savy Fav
In 2007 indie punk band Les Savy Fav brought Armisen on to play drums for a few tracks on the group’s fourth album, “Let’s Stay Friends.” In addition to recording with the band, Armisen has picked Les Savy Fav guitarist Seth Jabour and bassist Syd Butler to join him as part of the 8G Band on Late Night.
Portlandia
With co-creator Carrie Brownstein having been a member of indie rock band Sleater-Kinney, and Armisen’s own rock background, it’s only natural that Portlandia would have its fair share of musical sketches.
Bob’s Burgers
From Armisen’s cameo on last year’s episode “Nude Beach.”
Fred Armisen mocks Nathan Followill’s drumming
If he grew his hair out Armisen could take Nathan Followill’s seat in Kings of Leon and I don’t think anybody would notice.
Beer zombie cameo in Red Fang’s “Blood Like Cream”
And finally, Armisen’s most recent dive back into music is a cameo in metal band Red Fang’s blood and beer splattered music video for “Blood Like Cream.”
