The Brass Junkies 58: David Silverman of The Simpsons
Andrew Hitz
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David Silverman plays a sousaphone with flames shooting out the bell and was one of the original animators on The Simpsons! I feel like this possibly makes him the perfect human.
In all seriousness, he is a Hollywood legend and a fixture at Burning Man. What a life this guy has led! It was a blast talking to him about all of it. (Especially asking him about the Simpsons episode that featured Phish!)
From the show notes:
Simpsons animator and Flaming Tuba artist David Silverman joins Andrew & Lance in a fascinating and hilarious exploration of The Simpsons, the tuba and animation. David has had an incredible career. He was one of the original animators on The Simpsons, directed countless episodes of the show, as well as the The Simpsons Movie. More importantly, he plays tuba! He started relatively late in school, at the age of 17. “Dr. Fonz” set him on his way and David went on to play tuba and sousaphone in college, first at the University of Maryland and later at UCLA, where he joined the marching band on a trip to Japan for the Mirage Bowl. We hear about the time he created a caricature of the National Symphony, his love for 1930's jazz, including artists like Sidney Bechet and the number of animators who are also musicians.
As if that weren’t enough, David regularly plays with Vaud and the Villains, a "19 Piece 1930’s New Orleans Dance Orchestra and Cabaret Show" and is known to many as the guy with the flaming tuba from Burning man. Suffice to say, Andrew & Lance are fanboys.