Matt Berry holds the distinction of playing one of the horniest vampires ever to grace American television—True Blood and Buffy be damned. As the libidinous Laszlo Cravensworth on FX’s What We Do in the Shadows, the Bedfordshire, England-born Berry rounds out a colorful quartet of vampires living in modernity on Staten Island. Laszlo is a prolific pornographer and unrepentant libertine, and Berry electrifies the undead Casanova with a flamboyantly assured edge through gag after gag.
In parallel with his acting career—which has included roles as self-aggrandizing blowhards in Toast of London and The IT Crowd—Berry has released nine albums of lavish songs driven by keys and guitar. Though most audiences know him for his comedic flair, Berry says that music has been his driving creative force, ever since he started playing the electric organ as a child. But he notes one key intersection of his crafts: “You have to keep a keen eye on your timing in music as you do in your comedy.”
His musical ability is somewhat of a secret weapon in Shadows, with Laszlo casually passing the time at a piano, joining his wife in song, or, in one episode, claiming centuries-long authorship of the Beach Boys’ “Kokomo.” Berry credits Shadows creator Jemaine Clement, whom he knew prior to working on the show, with incorporating the detail into his character. “It’s quite cleverly done in that Laszlo can’t look like he’s particularly accomplished yet,” he says. “He has to look sort of amateur for it to be funnier.”
Fresh off a slew of Emmy nominations, What We Do in the Shadows returns this week for its fourth season, and the tomfoolery doesn’t stop as Laszlo and company try to open a vampire nightclub. Berry caught up with Pitchfork from his home in London to discuss his love for golden soul and high-drama rock.
Arlo Parks: “Too Good” (2021)
Matt Berry: It’s just a brilliant song, brilliant lyrics. I’m trying to get a friend of mine to play it on his eclectic-soul radio show. He doesn’t know it yet, but I’m going to play it for him, and then he’s going to play it on his next show. I can guarantee.
If something is played in a taxi and it sticks out, I’ll Shazam it and buy the single. I don’t really seek stuff out. I’ve got an ear that, if something is playing in the background and it’s really good, I lose concentration on what’s going on in the foreground until I know what it is and whenever it is. Then I can carry on a conversation. It’s a terrible way to be.
The Doors: The Doors (1967)
“Light My Fire” is a much better verse than it is a chorus. I’ve always loved the Doors. I know it’s kind of fashionable to think the Doors are naff, but I don’t give a fuck about that. It’s the first band that I ever heard where the organ was the lead instrument. I’ve always really liked the instrumentation, and I’m glad that they came about when they did. If they’d have been any later, it wouldn’t have been anywhere near as good, I don’t think. They’d have been too soft jazz and bluesy, possibly getting towards Zeppelin riffs.
Philip Glass: Music in Twelve Parts, “Part I” (1974)
This is more of a functional thing. I’ve been going back and forth to Los Angeles, and I have terrible, terrible jet lag. I’ve tried podcasts in order to get to sleep, but if it’s too heavy it doesn’t work, because I’m too caught up in it. So I have to just do music. If there’s too many lyrics, or the lyrics in any way engage, that doesn’t work for the same reason. This has done the job getting me to sleep. It puts you in a bit of a trance.
After All: After All (1969)
It’s a deep cut. I don’t know anything about the band. It just sounds great, it’s really eerie. I get off on liking some things that I have no sort of clue what the history of it is, or whether they recorded anything else. I purposefully haven’t looked into them too far, because I want it to remain a mystery for me. All I know is that it was done in ’69. And I’m trying to find it on vinyl.
