Fred Armisen genuinely enjoys doing interviews. This is unusual for someone as famous as he is in Hollywood-a top comedian who was on “Saturday Night Live” for over ten years, brilliantly satirized hipster culture for eight seasons on IFC’s popular sketch show “Portlandia,” and currently plays the wonderfully eccentric Uncle Fester in Netflix’s reimagining of the Addams Family, “Wednesday.”
Despite everything, Armisen is genuinely happy to be talking about his new album, “100 Sound Effects.” “I love it,” he assures me as our Zoom call goes past the hour, and I apologize for taking up his time. “Growing up-and I think about this often-if an interview with David Byrne or Mark Mothersbaugh came on the radio, I would listen to every single word,” Armisen explains. “It was just as important as the music they were promoting. I usually already had the album, but I wanted to know the story behind it.”
Armisen openly discusses the making of “100 Sound Effects,” which is essentially a list of very detailed sounds you might hear in different places. These include locations like concert halls and shops (“Music Venue Employee Kicking Everyone Out While Throwing Away Bottles”), airplanes (“Overhead Compartment Closing”), and even haunted houses (“Haunted House Demonic Voices”). He particularly thought about haunted houses when he first came up with the idea for the project.
“It felt like something was lacking,” Armisen explains. “I mostly remember hearing sound effects – especially those from haunted mansion albums. It was a persistent thought, like, ‘I wonder what happened to those albums? Where are they made now? Where do people find sound effects today?’ I’m sure there’s a source, but it didn’t seem like you could buy a physical copy. I know there are sound libraries online, but I kept thinking, ‘Where’s the actual album itself?’ The idea just kept coming back to me. I started to wonder what it would be like to record those sounds, and I thought, ‘Maybe I should make one myself.’”
To help develop the project, Armisen sought advice from Steve Albini, a celebrated recording engineer and a longtime friend from Chicago. Albini founded Electrical Audio studio in 1995 and is well-known for recording Nirvana’s “In Utero” as well as countless other influential rock albums. (Sadly, Albini passed away from a heart attack in 2024 at the age of 61.) Albini then connected Armisen with Dave Grohl, believing Grohl could suggest a Los Angeles-based producer willing to work on “100 Sound Effects” in stages-a couple of weeks at a time-whenever Armisen had free time. This is how Armisen began collaborating with producer Darrell Thorp (known for his work with Foo Fighters, Beck, and Radiohead), whom the comedian praises for his intense focus, despite his impressive background. “He’s worked with Paul McCartney and Dave Grohl and all the greats, and he never once felt the need to share rock ’n’ roll anecdotes,” Armisen explains. “He’s completely dedicated to making this sound as genuine as possible.” … “The word gets thrown around a lot-‘professional’-but Darrell truly *is* a skilled producer and recording engineer. He’s fully committed to the task at hand.”

Armisen also gathered a group of friends and colleagues to help, including his wife and fellow comedian-actor, Riki Lindhome, Tim Heidecker, Bill Hader, Mary Lynn Rajskub, Amber Coffman, and Alice Carbone Tench. Lindhome helped record sounds both while traveling (“Outdoor Event Walking On Pebbles”) and in hotels. Track 80, “Room Service Ooh,” is exactly as described-it features the sound of a lid being lifted from a plate, followed by Lindhome’s reaction to what’s underneath. Heidecker, who Armisen has collaborated with before-such as on the 2020 Showtime comedy “Moonbase 8”-assisted with the camping sound effects. Interestingly, these effects were recorded in Armisen’s backyard (despite the fact that Armisen strongly dislikes camping). “Someday we’ll do an album together of just me and [Heidecker] talking,” Armisen says. “He really is the funniest person I’ve ever met.”
For those familiar with Fred Armisen’s unique journey in comedy, “100 Sound Effects” feels like a visual representation of all the things he enjoys. He’s very comfortable in a recording studio; well before moving to Los Angeles in the late 1990s to pursue TV and comedy, Armisen was deeply involved in punk-rock music. As a kid on Long Island, he loved playing the drums, and he played in high school bands. Later, in the late ’80s, he moved to Chicago to drum for the punk band Trenchmouth. After the band split around 1996, Armisen worked as a backup drummer for the Blue Man Group and even started his own salsa band.

Even though Fred Armisen became more famous for comedy than for music, he continued to include musical elements in his work. A memorable character he played on SNL was Ian Rubbish, a British punk from the 1980s who enjoyed writing complimentary songs about Margaret Thatcher (nicknamed “Maggie”). In 2018, Armisen put out a Netflix special titled “Standup for Drummers,” which was also released as an album and earned him a Grammy for Best Comedy Album the next year.
Though “100 Sound Effects” and “Standup for Drummers” seem quite different, they’re both connected by Fred Armisen’s knack for observational humor. He delivers this humor through relatable, subtly amusing situations. For instance, the sound effects series, set in a music venue, includes moments like a “Guitar Tuned but Still Somehow Out of Tune” and a “Sparsely Attended Show Encore With Someone Shouting ‘Where’s Jim?’”
Armisen points out that while “100 Sound Effects” has a humorous side, he also wants filmmakers to find it truly helpful. He created the effects to be extremely realistic, as many available sound effects often sound artificial. “Movie and TV applause often has a certain quality that doesn’t feel genuine,” Armisen explains. “You can almost hear the director calling ‘Action!’ – particularly in scenes with a band, where the crowd seems excessively enthusiastic. From my own experience going to concerts, people don’t usually react that way. It sounds like someone prompting the audience to show more excitement, and it just doesn’t feel authentic.”

Even though Armisen is now focusing on promoting projects with a wider appeal, he says he’ll never forget Albini, to whom his album, “100 Sound Effects,” is dedicated. Armisen particularly admired Albini’s honesty – sometimes blunt – and his dedication to helping artists achieve the best possible sound for their work.
“When I start a new TV show or any project, I often ask myself, ‘How would Steve Albini handle this?’” Armisen explains. He says a lot of it comes down to understanding the strength of saying ‘no.’ It was a really helpful realization for me. If I felt hesitant to decline a scene or project, I’d think, ‘What would Steve Albini do?’ And suddenly, I felt empowered to speak up.”
Fred continues, and it really hits home when he talks about how much Steve made him laugh… He was a pro, always focused on making *me* sound good. He’d say, ‘My job is just to help you shine,’ and that’s something I’ve really taken to heart in my own work. Even when I was on SNL, I thought, ‘This is for Lorne [Michaels]. How can I contribute and deliver my best to *this* show?’ It’s the same mindset I had while working on ‘Wednesday’- just wanting to do the best job I could for what they needed.
I constantly feel the loss of Steve. And, as I understand it, a part of him lives on within me. Every time I work on something or pursue my interests, it’s as if he’s still here with me.
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2025-09-30 21:04