Was it important to surround yourself with a number of dramatic actors on this show?
I think it was, without even realizing how much it was important, but Mike and Dan [Goor] knew in terms of grounding the show so it didn’t feel fluffy. I think it was very helpful to the tone of it to have an actor like Andre who’s got so much actual acting ability able to make all the comedy feel a little less cheap because he’s so good.
How much is Jake like you?
He’s like me in that every time I’ve worked in an office I goof around a lot. He’s not like me in that he’s good at solving crimes, but he’s very committed to his job and he has his own way of doing things. I relate to that.
What was the last year like for you? Was it pure development on “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” since leaving “SNL?”
No, no. We made our whole album. That took up a lot of time. We made a Lonely Island record from September to November basically. It came out in early June so we shot a bunch of videos for that, we did press for that. I also hosted the Indie Spirit Awards, got this pilot, I was developing that.
Were there other options you could have taken after “SNL?”
There was some movie stuff, but nothing to speak of.
How long did Grown Ups 2 take?
One day. That was a breeze.
They didn’t want to drag that car wash scene out for two days?
[Laughs] I’m sure [Adam] Sandler could’ve figured out a way to do it over two days. If he wanted to hang out with us more he probably would’ve. That was actually really fun. We got to go hang with him and everybody that night out in Massachusetts.
When you shot that did you know it was going to be in the trailer?
We did not, but it’s compliment when they put your stuff in the trailer, right?
Have you been doing Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 on and off?
Yeah, every couple of months or so I’ll do a session. It looks like it’s going to be pretty good.
Was it different working with different directors?
Yes. Phil [Lord] and Chris [Miller] are friends of mine, so no matter what, it’s going to be different. These guys seemed less tired. [Laughs]
Do you still have ideas for characters that would be good for sketches?
I definitely still have ideas for sketches. Oftentimes I’ll text someone who works at the show and let them know, but never a cast member. Only a writer.
Does the album coming out get music out of your system for a while?
Yes, it does. We always forget how much work it is to finish an album. The first few months where you write everything and record it, it’s really fun and everything’s exciting, you’re laughing. Then there’s another two to three months of mixing and mastering and figuring out the artwork, figuring out the release date and doing tons of press for it.
You realize it’s just as big of a process as putting anything out. The making of it feels much more immediate because if you write a song in one day, at the end of the day the song is written. It’s not like okay, now we wrote the script, when are we going to shoot it?
Was it different not being on “SNL” to do videos for each song?
A little bit. We aired one of them. We aired the one with Adam Levine, “YOLO” on “SNL.” It’s undeniably less eyes on it when you put them out, but they were received really well, all the videos we did from the new record. For us, I guess you could say we have slightly less sales, slightly lower YouTube views on this record so far, but it’s pretty good in general. We’re not complaining.
