Not long ago, Fred Armisen was reminiscing about the sound-effect LPs he used to stock at the Chicago record store where he worked in the Nineties. These vinyl platters contained all kinds of sounds, ranging from Halloween-themed shrieks and moans intended for use in haunted houses to functional recordings of audiences clapping and laugh tracks. “I just felt like there was an absence in my life of any new records like this,” he says. “Maybe it exists somewhere, but I hadn’t seen any. Then I was like, ‘Why don’t I just make one?’ And then once I made that decision, I tried to commit to it.”
The result is 100 Sound Effects, out Sept. 26 on the indie label Drag City. Armisen spent about a year recreating dozens of highly specific scenarios in recording studios in Los Angeles and Ireland. (The latter sessions happened when he was on location for season two of Netflix’s Wednesday, in which he plays Uncle Fester.) There are some spooky ghost sounds like the ones he first had in mind, but that’s just the tip of the audio iceberg — he also staged scenes of people trying out instruments at a Guitar Center, people attending a small theater production, people going camping, car doors slamming, glasses breaking, basketballs bouncing, and many more. Armisen made most of these sounds on his own, working closely with engineer Darrell Thorp, and calling in additional voice work here and there from friends like Tim Heidecker, Mary Lynn Rajskub, Amber Coffman, and Alice Carbone Tench, as well as his wife, Riki Lindhome.
The album is dedicated to the late Steve Albini, a friend from Armisen’s punk days who helped recommend a studio space before his death in May 2024. “Steve really facilitated the beginning of it, and he was a cheerleader,” Armisen says. “He liked anything having to do with the recording of sound, and this was different enough that he was interested. He got it going.”
Armisen hopes that people in the entertainment business will make use of 100 Sound Effects — not just to put it on for a laugh, although it is very funny, but also to help build out incidental sound cues in films and plays. He called Rolling Stone to explain how he approached some of the key tracks from the eccentric project.
Editor’s picks
“Band Sound Check Sound Guy and Band Agreeing for Too Long”
This happens all the time, where you do your sound check and there’s nothing else to do. The sound person is behind the board, the band is still onstage on their mics, and they’re having a conversation through the PA. It’s everyone saying, “That sounds great.” And then the sound person saying, “Yes, it does. I’m happy. Are you happy?” “Yeah, we’re good.” It’s a tradition.
“Music Store Around Christmas”
You could either take a comedic approach and think, “Oh, it’s funny when you walk through the Guitar Center and it’s like this.” Or you could treat it seriously: “Well, I have a scene that I’m shooting, and I need this character to walk through a music store, so we may as well use this track.” It can be both.
“Car Door Closing Car Rental” / “Car Door Closing Confident”
It’s about how we close doors for different cars. If it’s a car rental, I feel like people are timid about it. You don’t want to hurt the car, and you’re like, “How does this close?” You’re not sure if it’s locked. And if it’s your own car, you are very confident: “I’ve closed the door many times in this car.”
And then there was one that was missing for a long time that I couldn’t get [“Car Door Closing 1958 Ford”]. I actually was kind of stuck. I was like, “I can’t just conjure up a car.” Then one afternoon I was like, “I bet you I could find one.” So I drove around, and I did. I got lucky. There was someone not too far away, they were pulling it into the driveway, and I stopped them and I said, “Hi, I record car doors.”
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“Small Theater Microphone Isn’t Working” / “Fake Booing”
There was one set of group pieces where I got some people together at the studio. Those were really fun. One is a small audience, but the microphone isn’t working. You don’t hear the person onstage. It’s just people in the audience going, “Your mic isn’t working, your mic isn’t working.” There’s also one where the audience is booing supportively, and another one where the booing sounds fake, like there’s a director going, “OK, everybody, boo.”
“Businessman on Phone on Plane Before Takeoff – Work Tone”
The airplane ones required the most work. That’s, like, layers of white noise. There are people chattering. Most of them are me, and then some people from the studio, and then I did the voice of the pilot making announcements. I didn’t want to just go onto a plane and record, because it is a public space. It was really satisfying in the end.
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“Room Service Lid” / “Room Service Ooh”
That one really was at a hotel. My wife helped me out with this one. The sound of room service is very specific to me, the metal that covers the food. I think everyone experiences this. No matter what it is, you’re like, “Oh, nice, there’s food in the room.”
“Haunted House Ghost But Nobody Is Home”
Those are some of the last ones I did. I tried to do real haunted mansion sounds, and then some that have a little bit of character to them. Because what happens when nobody is home — does a ghost still make all those noises? My guess is that they start. And then after a while, they’re like, “What are we even doing?”
