- Musician, SNL alum and Portlandia co-creator to host annual awards honoring the best in professional audio and sound production -
CARLSBAD, Calif. - November 4, 2019 – The TEC Awards have announced actor, comedian, and musician Fred Armisen as host of the 35th Annual Technical Excellence and Creativity Awards (NAMM TEC Awards), being held Saturday, January 18, 2020 in Anaheim, California. Nominees for the awards, which honor individuals, companies and technical innovations used in sound recordings, films, broadcast television, and video games, were recently announced in Nashville at Summer NAMM. The TEC Awards are presented annually as part of The NAMM Show, the global crossroads of the music products, pro audio and sound, and entertainment technology industries.
The in-demand actor, comedian, writer, producer, and musician is best known as an alumnus of Saturday Night Live, and as the co-creator of iconic series, Portlandia. Armisen assembled and is the bandleader and frequent drummer for the Late Night with Seth Meyers house band, The 8G Band. In 2018, Armisen's Netflix one-hour special, Fred Armisen: Standup for Drummers, earned rave reviews from critics and viewers alike in what was described as "comedy for musicians but everyone is welcome."
“I have really enjoyed attending NAMM in the past, and I am so happy to be a part of this upcoming convention,” says Armisen. “Music means everything to me. I’m looking forward to being there and to getting to meet musicians and music fans.”
While his TV and film credits are impressive, Armisen's passion for making music ignited in the early 80s when he began playing drums in a local band with some Valley Stream, New York high school friends. In 1988, he moved to Chicago to play drums for the punk rock band Trenchmouth, and in the 1990s he played background drums with Blue Man Group. Armisen played drums on three tracks for Les Savy Fav's 2007 album Let's Stay Friends, as well as tracks for Matthew Sweet's 2011 album Modern Art, and Wandering Lucy's 2015 album Leap Year.
Tickets to see Fred Armisen and winners of the 35th NAMM TEC Awards Saturday, January 18, 2020, are available for purchase on-site at the Hilton Anaheim or in advance here for $65 (General Admission) or $195 (VIP). The show begins with a VIP-only reception at 6 PM, followed by the awards ceremony at 7 PM, held in the hotel’s 2nd floor Pacific Ballroom.
The TEC Awards supporters include The Les Paul Foundation, Amazon Musical Instruments, Sennheiser Electronic Corporation, Neumann, Solid State Logic, Softube, Yamaha, Antelope Audio, Universal Audio, AVN Systems, Wells Fargo Commercial Distribution Finance, Hal Leonard, Broadjam, Inc., Pioneer DJ, PreSonus Audio Electronics, d&b audiotechnik, Meyer Sound Laboratories, Inc., United States Postal Service, L-Acoustics, Cable Wrangler, Slick Audio, Genelec, The Recording Academy: Producers & Engineers Wing, Izotope, Inc., Leapwing Audio, Adam Hall Group, Oktava Design & Marketing, Musilla, Inc., NTi Audio, Inc., IMSTA (International Music Software Trade Association), Gearslutz.com United, CITT/ITS (Canadian Institute of Theater and Technology), Sonic Scoop, Wonder Wonder Sound and AMS Consultants, among many others.
The Les Paul Innovation Award and NAMM TEC Hall of Fame honoree(s) will be announced at a later date. Past honorees include 2019’s Les Paul Innovation Award Peter Frampton and TEC Hall of Fame inductee, Leslie Ann Jones. Previous Les Paul Innovation Award winners include Jackson Browne, Joe Perry (Aerosmith), Don Was, Slash, Todd Rundgren, Pete Townshend, Steve Vai, and others who have received the award since it began in 1991.
