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Interview with Comedian Eric Schwartz

You may have seen comedian Eric Schwartz in hi

1. Who in the hell is the OTHER Eric Schwartz and how did he beat you to EricSchwartz.com? He isn’t near as funny as you are.

THANK YOU FOR ASKING THIS QUESTION AND STARTING IT WITH “WHO IN THE HELL…”

Most people don’t realize we’re two completely different people. Yes, two different people, who happen to have the same name, and who happen to both do comedy and music. It’s beyond frustrating–it’s infuriating! But, I have to admit, “the other Eric Schwartz” is a supremely talented musician and brilliant writer. It’s hard to be mad at the guy when his only crime is not changing the name his parents gave him. At least he’s not out there bringing shame to the name. By the way, I’m pretty sure he calls me, “the other Eric Schwartz,” too.

To make things even more interesting, we actually know each other. He moved from the East Coast to two blocks from me in L.A. We’ve actually shown up to the same gig before after the booker tagged the us both on Facebook. He once dated someone I knew and she would sometimes accidentally call me all sultry like, “Baby…did you see the moooon tonight?” I was like, “Yeah, Suzanne. But I’m not taking my clothes off like the last time we talked.”

And yes, one of my biggest career regrets was not grabbing EricSchwartz.com when I was building my first website in 1999. For some reason, I chose “SuburbanHomeboy.com,” which now forwards to my current site, EricSchwartzLive.com.

2. How did you get into comedy?

I got hooked on Eddie Murphy, George Carlin, Robin Williams and SNL as a kid. I would do their bits an characters to my friends at school. Everyone already thought of me as a comedian at that point, but I knew I had to start writing material. I was also a DJ, which is where the musical element came in. In college, I put on my own comedy shows in the dorms mixing comedy and music and somehow didn’t get kicked out.

3. When do you know a joke is working?

Unless my ears take the night off, I can tell right away. The cool thing about a live show is the audience will let you know if it’s working or not.

4. Follow up – see above

5. Do you have a good “I put that heckler in his place” story?
Most hecklers are actually having a good time and want to participate. They just go a bit overboard on their approach. But if you ever encounter a mean-spirited heckler, here’s something you can do. Make peace by offering them a free CD. When they thank you, shout, “SEE DEEZ NUTS!”

6. Besides your tour, what else are you working on.

The Release The Sounds Tour is in support of the audio from my first hour special, “Surrender to the Blender” being re-released to Sirius-XM, as well as digital platforms like Pandora, Spotify, Apple Music and Amazon Music. I’m also working on shooting my second special this year

Interview with Comedian Eric Schwartz

You may have seen comedian Eric Schwartz in one of his many appearances on Showtime, “The Tonight Show,” BET or his HULU special “Surrender to the Blender.” If you haven’t, get over to YouTube because you’re missing one funny man.

Schwartz is currently embarking on his “Release the Sounds” tour (he is in Kansas City on Tuesday, April 17th) but found time to answer some questions between gigs.

Mike Smith: Who in the hell is the OTHER Eric Schwartz and how did he beat you to EricSchwartz.com? He isn’t near as funny as you are.

Eric Schwartz: THANK YOU FOR ASKING THIS QUESTION AND STARTING IT WITH “WHO IN THE HELL…”

To make things even more interesting, we actually know each other. He moved from the East Coast to two blocks from me in L.A. We’ve actually shown up to the same gig before after the booker tagged us both on Facebook. He once dated someone I knew and she would sometimes accidentally call me all sultry like, “Baby…did you see the moooon tonight?” I was like, “Yeah, Suzanne. But I’m not taking my clothes off like the last time we talked.”

MS: How did you get into comedy?

ES: I got hooked on Eddie Murphy, George Carlin, Robin Williams and SNL as a kid. I would do their bits and characters to my friends at school. Everyone already thought of me as a comedian at that point, but I knew I had to start writing material. I was also a DJ, which is where the musical element came in. In college, I put on my own comedy shows in the dorms mixing comedy and music and somehow didn’t get kicked out.

MS: When do you know a joke is working? Or isn’t?

ES: Unless my ears take the night off, I can tell right away. The cool thing about a live show is the audience will let you know if it’s working or not.

MS: Do you have a good “I put that heckler in his place” story?

ES: Most hecklers are actually having a good time and want to participate. They just go a bit overboard on their approach. But if you ever encounter a mean-spirited heckler, here’s something you can do. Make peace by offering them a free CD. When they thank you, shout, “SEE DEEZ NUTS!”

MS: Besides your tour, what else are you working on.

ES: The “Release The Sounds” Tour is in support of the audio from my first hour special, “Surrender to the Blender” being re-released to Sirius-XM, as well as digital platforms like Pandora, Spotify, Apple Music and Amazon Music. I’m also working on shooting my second special this year.

For upcoming tour dates or to hear some of Eric’s work, click HERE

Kansas City fans, win tickets to see comedian Eric Schwartz

Eric Schwartz, one of the fastest rising comedians in the country, will be making an appearance on Tuesday, April 17th at the Record Bar in Kansas City and Media Mikes has arranged for one lucky reader and a guest to go to the show.

All you have to do is let us know below, if you had the chance to see any legendary comedian live in person, who would it be? Your choices can be living or dead. Just let us know who you think would make for one funny evening. One winner will be chosen randomly from all entries on Sunday, April 15th and will be notified by email. Good luck!

Recently Eric tried to challenge some of the unwritten rules of Kansas City barbecue. Click HERE for the results.

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Filed Under: Giveaways Tagged With: city, comedian, eric, fans, kansas, schwartz, ...

David Schwartz talks about scoring “Arrested Development”

David Schwartz is known best for scoring the TV series “Arrested Development”. He was nominated in the 2013 Emmy for the Outstanding Music Composition for A Series for Original Dramatic Score for the show’s revival on Netflix. Media Mikes had a chance to chat with David about his work on the show.

Mike Gencarelli: Were you shocked when you found out that you were nominated for an 2013 Emmy for the Outstanding Music Composition for A Series (Original Dramatic Score) category?
David Schwartz: More surprised than shocked. It was particular great to be nominated for Arrested Development. Comedies are rarely nominated in the Original Dramatic Score category. I think the category represents a lot of great music this year, so I’m proud to be a part of it.

MG: Working on “Arrested Development”, how does it compare to be working on the first run of the show and now the Netflix series?
DS: It’s been a little different in some ways we were doing all 15 shows at once. In the first three seasons, we’d usually have about a week to turn around a show, finish it, and then immediately start on the next one. During season 4, we were often dealing with multiple shows at the same time. The episodes being longer also allowed me to further develop some musical ideas which wasn’t possible in the shorter format.

MG: What was the most challenge aspect of working on season four?
DS: After six years it was a challenge to get back into that musical head space. Once I had rough cuts and was writing it for real, it all came back to me.

MG: Going from a TV series like “Arrested Development” to a documentary like “Gonzo: The Life and Times of Hunter S. Thompson”, how does it compare?
DS: The Gonzo documentary was a really fun project. Alex Gibney, the director, really encouraged me to write bold and wild music in the spirit of of Hunter Thompson himself. Often documentary music is subtle and plays in the background. Alex inspired me to write bolder and more challenging music for this film.

MG: Tell us about your work with Lucy Schwartz on her upcoming full length record?
DS: I’m very proud of the work Lucy and I did together on her new Timekeeper record. I think these are her best songs yet and we had a great time producing this record together.

MG: Of all the great scores of 2013 so far, what has been some of your favorites?
DS: I’m still catching up on this year’s scores. I was a big fan of Michael Dynna’s “Life of Pi” score and Thomas Newmann’s score for “Skyfall”

MG: What else do you have in the cards for this year and on wards?
DS: I’m working on the soundtrack album for Arrested Development. It’s going to have some extended versions of the more popular songs from Arrested. There are some scoring projects in the works, but I won’t talk about it and risk jinxing it until it’s final.

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Filed Under: Interviews, Music Interviews Tagged With: arrested, david, development, schwartz, scoring, talks, ...

A Sound of Thunder’s Josh Schwartz talks about new album

Josh Schwartz is the guitarist for the Washington D.C. based rock/metal band A Sound of Thunder. Media Mikes recently had a chance to talk with Josh about the band’s new album titled “Out of the Darkness”.

Adam Lawton: How would you describe the new album?
Josh Schwartz: I consider “Out of the Darkness” a “classic heavy metal” album, but not in the way the term is being thrown around in the metal scene these days, which usually refers to NWOBHM style bands. When I think “classic metal”, I think of the days when metal was not so separate from mainstream rock ‘n’ roll, when bands like Black Sabbath and Yes could tour together, and you could put something heavy and evil on the same album with a ballad or a classical guitar piece, and not be considered a sellout. Nobody questions that “Paranoid” by Black Sabbath or “Killers” by Iron Maiden are classic metal albums, even though “Planet Caravan” and “Prodigal Son” aren’t really metal songs at all. It seems like it’s harder to get away with doing melodic music in metal these days, unless you’re a prog-metal band or have operatic vocals. I don’t consider us a prog-metal band; I consider us a classic heavy metal band with some minimal elements of prog-rock (not prog-metal) thrown in. We definitely aren’t an operatic band though Nina is belting it out like Dio or Bruce Dickinson.

AL: What is the band’s writing process like?
JS: Generally I will write all of the music, either during rehearsal jams or on my own. We arrange songs as a group and either Nina or Chris will write the lyrics. Everyone in the band does write music to some degree. Jesse wrote the bridge to “The Day I Die”. “The Night Witch” started with a vocal melody written by Nina and Chris wrote the vocal melody for “This Too Shall Pass”. Nina will often throw a simple idea at me that I can use as a starting point for the music. For “Calat Alhambra”, she asked me to write something in a Spanish/Flamenco style. For “Kill That Bitch” she asked me to write something in the style of Accept (not sure I succeeded there or not!).

AL: Did you take any different approaches to recording this time around?
JS: Yes! Our debut EP “A Sound of Thunder” and first full length album “Metal Renaissance” were both recorded on analog tape, mostly without a click track, and with minimal overdubs and vocal harmonies. They were both self-produced. For “Out of the Darkness” we worked with a producer for the first time. Kevin “131” Gutierrez (Shinedown) produced the album and recorded everything in ProTools. While we did sacrifice the vintage analog sound a bit, this allowed us to get a much more powerful, crisp sounding record. It also made it much easier to add more vocal harmonies, keyboards, effects, etc. Recording digitally is just much faster and cheaper which is obviously a consideration. Some day we may go back and do an all vintage analog sounding album similar to the “Ghost” record.

AL: Is there a track off the albums that you are most looking forward to playing live?
JS: We are excited to add “Discovery” to our set. “Discovery” is a bit of an epic, at almost nine minutes. The song features keys, a string quartet, and lots of guitar and vocal harmonies. It’s been a challenge arranging it so that we can pull it off live as a power trio, but I think we’ve done it. Our drummer Chris switches to acoustic guitar for part of the song, which has been a great live moment for the crowd thus far. We’ve also added some extended guitar, vocal and piano improv with our bassist Jesse switching to piano for a bit. We play a lot of our heavier stuff live but “Discovery” will be more of a nod to classic rock with its extended length and improv sections.

AL: What are your tour plans for this year?
JS: We’ll be going out on our most extensive tour yet in May. It’ll be 12 dates in a row, ranging from Washington, DC to St. Paul, MN, Aside from that we always like to keep busy playing at least 2-3 shows each month closer to home. We may look into another small tour of the south or the north-east later in the year. We’ll be recording a new album over the summer so that probably won’t happen before the fall.

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Filed Under: Interviews, Music Interviews Tagged With: interview, josh, schwartz

Interview with Scott Schwartz

Scott Schwartz is known best for playing the role of Flick in the timeless holiday classic “A Christmas Story”. Scott also starred alongside Richard Pryor in “The Toy”. Media Mikes had a chance to chat with Scott about his experience on “A Christmas Story” and revisiting it every holiday season.

Mike Gencarelli: Tell us about your experience working with Richard Pryor in the film “The Toy”?
Scott Schwartz: Richard made the experience ten times more fun than what normal movie making was. He was very gracious and kind and he would let me go to him for advice and to ask questions. Whatever I needed I could always go to him. He was an amazing person and outside of my family Richard was probably one of the most influential people I have ever had in my life.

MG: What is your most memorable experience working on “A Christmas Story”?
SS: I don’t know if there is any one particular moment that stands out other than being out in the cold for the infamous tongue on the flag pole scene. It was about 25 degrees below zero with the wind chill and I was out there for that shoot over the course of a few days. It was great forming relationships with Peter Billingsley, Bob Clark and everyone else on the set. Every movie and experience is different but I had fun shooting in Cleveland and Canada. For kids movie making should not be a job. My Dad would tell me you are making a movie but enjoy yourself. Richard Prior told me the same thing so that’s what I have always done.

MG: How was it working with Bob Clark?
SS: Bob and I got along from the first time I met him during my audition for the film. He didn’t even have me read any lines. Him and I just sat down and shot the bull. He wanted to see if I was a decent guy and if I could carry on a conversation. He told me to do whatever felt right and that if I did something he didn’t like he would let me know. When I did the first take of the tongue on the flag pole scene I was kind of conservative. He told me that I had to bring it up so I did and then it was too much so we brought it down a little and it was great. I had a very easy time working with Bob.

MG: Did you get to keep any props or memorabilia from the shoot?
SS: No I have nothing from “A Christmas Story” at all! From “The Toy” they sent me a bunch of stuff like shirts, a jacket as well as the spider man pajamas and military uniform. I think you have to have at least one or two things from every movie you do because it’s yours and down the line it becomes your kids and its now something that Dad used or wore.

MG: This film is such a classic amongst many generations and new fans discover it every year, how can you reflect on that?
SS: That’s an interesting question. That movie was made to not be a generational movie. Yes it was made in the 1980’s however, in terms of a generation that really enjoys the film it’s more those from the 1950’s that enjoy it due to the film being a time piece film set in the mid-west . Most good movies are relationship films. You can say “A Christmas Story” is about a kid wanting a BB gun but when it comes down to it it’s really the father and son relationship between Darren McGavin and Peter Billingsley. At the end of the film when he gives Peter the BB gun you can see the pride in the fathers face because he gave his child the ultimate gift.

MG: Tell us about the development and your involvement with “The Untold Christmas Story”?
SS: We did that so we could have something of ours so that we would never forget this stuff. It’s about five friendships that have developed over the years as well as the back story to the shooting of the film as well as the following that the film has. It really is a multi generational film. Mom and dad grew up in the 40’s-50’s and know about the era Grandma and Grandpa also knew about that generation. Our generation didn’t know what it was like having to go to the radio and listen to our favorite show so the moms and the dads bring this film to us and as we have kids we bring the film to them. It’s a wonderful family movie about relationships and the holiday known as Christmas.

MG: How do you feel when you return to Cleveland each year for the conventions?
SS: I am thrilled that Cleveland is not the same city as it was when we shot the film there 20 or so years ago. Higbee’s square at the time of shooting was very run down and most of the stores were closed and boarded up. To go there now and see stores in places that used to be all boarded up and to see the city is a different light is really nice. Cleveland now has the Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame and “A Christmas Story” house.

Tag: schwartz

Interview with Comedian Eric Schwartz

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