-How are you, Michael?
-I'm good. I mean, it was a rough summer,
but, you know, now we're back to school.
Not bad. -Yeah, it's not bad to try
to bring a little semblance of normalcy into our lives.
A thing that was very abnormal for me is when we met.
We met on an Amtrak train in 2011.
We were both on our way
to that White House Correspondence Dinner.
-I remember. I remember meeting you.
That was a great joy, because I'm a fan.
But what an epic night that was.
What a crazy -- You called out, you shot down --
You called out Donald Trump. And then --
And then, your follow-up was Obama calling down Donald Trump.
And who might have guessed where that would have gone.
-I know. It would have been a lot nicer
if it had just been a footnote of history
instead of a tipping point. [ Laughing ]
-Exactly. I mean, that's the point where he was --
So, he started as, what, a failed Midtown
real-estate developer,
then became a successful reality-TV star,
which is where this happened.
And now we get this bloviating, puff adder, sack of lies.
What next?
-It is -- It's a certainly an interesting
progression his career has taken.
You -- You're obviously -- I think we share
a lack of fandom for the current president.
And you're actually taking steps with vote.org,
and, really -- I guess it's sort of --
a bit of an online art installation?
Is that a safe way to describe planyourvote.org?
-Planyourvote -- yeah, planyourvote.org
was set up through vote.org, and it's working with artists
to make sure that people get out to vote
and that people plan what they have to do in their city,
in their region, in their state to be able to vote.
-And were you always passionate about politics,
or was it something that you came to later in life?
-You know, it started, really, with the band,
with my former band, R.E.M.
When we were travelling outside of the country,
we sudden-- this is during the Reagan years.
And we suddenly, in Europe, were representative of America,
and people were saying --
You know, we're there to play a show,
and a completely unknown band, and people were like,
"What the [bleep] are you people thinking?
What are you doing over there?"
And so we had to, in a way, kind of politicize ourselves
and educate ourselves about who we are --
who we are to the rest of the world
and who we are to ourselves.
-I would at least hope, in most foreign countries,
they would assume that R.E.M.
wasn't necessarily a Reagan band.
[ Laughs ]
-Yeah, well, we weren't making a whole lot of sense back then.
Neither was he, but people figured out
pretty quickly that we were not giant fans
of that particular administration.
-You talk about not making a lot of sense early on,
and I don't know if I'd agree with that.
But you -- again, you've had an interesting progression,
and now you're writing solo music.
It must be a very strange experience,
having worked with a band for so long.
How have you found it?
-Well, I had -- for 32 years, through R.E.M., I had, you know,
for me, the greatest -- the greatest possible co-writers
working on and composing all the music,
and then my job was to listen to what they did and respond to it.
I'm now composing myself,
and it's the first time in my life that I've written music.
And I found it weirdly satisfying.
I can't say that it sounds very much like R.E.M.,
but I'm really happy with where it's gone.
And I've been able to, because of R.E.M.
and because of all the fans across the years,
I'm able to take all the money that I make
for the first year of the release of every single
that I'm putting out as a solo artist
and donate it or dedicate it to organizations and movements
that I feel very strongly about,
like Pathway to Paris, Extinction Rebellion.
The Equal Just-- The Equal Justice Initiative,
who have that incredible Legacy Museum down in Alabama.
And, so, that feels good.
I feel like, as an activist, I'm kind of doing my part.
I'm trying to. -You know, I feel like
some artists found this time difficult,
insofar as being creative.
How was it for you? -Extremely difficult.
I learned that I'm a better cook than I thought I was.
I've learned that I'm better on my own
than I ever thought I could be.
I'm comfortable with myself when I'm alone.
But it's been a very --
It's been a very hard year for everyone, I think.
There's no "I think" about it. It's been --
This has been perhaps the most difficult year of my long life.
-One of the most difficult things that happened, obviously,
were people -- you know, many people losing those
that were dear to them, loved ones.
And we have -- had a friend in common
who passed away very sadly, Hal Willner.
I knew Hal from working with him at "SNL."
You knew him a lot better.
I will say, he's one of those people that --
very selfishly, one of my first thoughts was,
"I just wish I had talked to him more.
I just wish I'd spent more time with him,
because Hal was someone who --
his wisdom and his kindness will be very hard to replace.
-I found some, um -- I found some text messages
that I didn't return from him.
You -- you can't fathom that type of loss
until it's happened that dramatically and unexpectedly.
I will say -- I'm sorry.
I really loved that guy a lot.
Paid me the greatest compliment I've ever been paid in my life,
and I will never forget that for my whole life.
But Hal and I were working on a project
that hasn't come out yet.
And, so, the last thing that we did together
is a tribute to his best friend, I think, Lou Reed.
So, that will be released probably very soon
and most certainly as a tribute to his genius.
-I also remember one or two compliments from Hal,
and the thing that you could take to the bank
is that he meant it, because there was no way
he would waste his time lying about a piece of art.
-Yeah. He was the great champion
of the people that are easily overlooked,
the artists who are not so easy to put into categories.
And he championed people like myself
and other people who haven't had the success
that I've had, his entire life.
And, so, there's a -- there's a --
there's a powerful and strong legacy there.
-Well, thank you so much for sharing that.
I could talk about Hal all day. I could talk to you all day.
Thank you so much for being here, Michael.
I really appreciate it.
-Seth, thanks for having me, and stay strong.
-Will do. -Vote. Vote. Vote.
-Agreed. Agreed on all counts.