The show isn't about screens, and we don't have any video content or lasers or things blowing up. I want people to come to our show to listen. I want the show to be the music.
I got a lot of influences. I got relevant influences today. I got influences that you wouldn't even think of. I'm very influenced by Marilyn Manson. His style is ridiculous. Like, honestly, if you want me to keep it 100, Marilyn Manson has as much style as Kanye West and Pharrell Williams.
It's not like I turn off Marilyn Manson and I'm an everyday guy who goes and has another job and doesn't think about any of this stuff. Marilyn Manson is the most real thing that can come from me.
I don't want to talk about negative, dark things. The only thing I've got against stuff like Marilyn Manson is, they make unbelievable videos and unbelievable images.
I mean it's funny, playing music, how of course you want it to do well, you want them to like it, but it's not competitive like an election, it's the Olympics, it's not a Formula 1 race. The Billboard charts are just to show you what people like.
I really want to pop the crowd. I want to show off. That is the one thing that I've always loved about my career is I just want to show off. I always hated the storylines.
I sing songs from the theater and pop songs. When I say 'pop songs,' I mean from the 90's. And I tell jokes. So it's sort of a stand up show meets a concert - not your traditional lounging across a piano cabaret show. It's much looser.
Marilyn Manson is a mockery of American pop culture.
Whatever I do, I'm always struggling to create a visceral experience. With my music, I'm more of a live performer these days. And film is such a different thing. It's where people sit in a dark theater. I want them to feel me as viscerally as if they were at a live show.
There's a good family of actors in 'Portlandia.' It's a small community with people who pop up again and again. The show's a little weird show, and you want to grow with the people who are in it, like Dana who plays the chicken waitress, and Ellen who was the adult babysitter.
In my shows, I always try to incorporate music because it's the most natural way to set a tone. So if I want to do a show about depression, I use the opera. If I want to do a show about greed, I use spoken word. If I want to do a show about the injustice that's taking place in the world, I might play Sam Cooke.
I wouldn't specifically say rock n' roll is dead, but I don't see a lot of charismatic performers in the way of new blood who are edgy and dangerous on stage, like Marilyn Manson, who you never quite know if he's going to make it through his own show.
People have misconceptions about Marilyn Manson, of course, but they can think what they want.
You want good ratings, you want people to like the show, you want to be appreciated for the hard work you put in. You don't always get it. Every show is not beloved.
I don't think you should feel too pressured about a mixtape. Just do what you want to do and show the music you want to show. You're not trying to win something big with it.
It's very difficult for me to travel now without music just because I'm so spoiled. It's a huge luxury to go and play your music for all these people around the world and having come up to you in a special way - they really want to show your their city, or really want to show you where they are from. If you are just traveling, you don't get that same welcome.