When Late Night With Seth Meyers returns in the fall for its 12th season, it will no longer have a house band. 8G Band keyboardist and associate musical director Eli Janney recently revealed that NBC cut the live band for cost-saving reasons.
The band was led by Fred Armisen and included guitarist Seth Jabour and bass player Syd Butler. Janney says the decision was not an easy one.
Eli Janney
When Late Night With Seth Meyers returns for its 12th season in September, the NBC show won’t have its house band. The 8G Band, which features keyboardist Eli Janney and guitarists Seth Jabour and Syd Butler along with drummer Fred Armisen, is set to be let go in a series of budget cuts, Janney, the show’s associate music director, told Vulture.
The group has been a steadfast part of the program since Meyers took over in 2014, and their music has helped the show stand out from its competition. The ensemble has also provided the backdrop for some of Meyers’ most popular segments, including Second Chance Theatre, where a former Saturday Night Live cast member is given the opportunity to stage a sketch that didn’t make the cut at SNL; and This Week in Numbers, where he uses data points from real-life events and news stories to set up jokes about pop culture and current events.
Besides his work with Girls Against Boys, Janney has been a keyboardist, bassist and backing vocalist for bands such as Brainiac, Ryan Adams, Skeleton Key and Jesse Maiin. He has also remixed artists such as Sneaker Pimps, Morcheeba and Duran Duran. In addition to his responsibilities on Late Night, he plays with New York City band Hooverphonic and serves as the producer for Brooklyn-based indie outfit Les Savy Fav.
Seth Jabour
When NBC’s Late Night With Seth Meyers premiered in 2014, one of the show’s biggest draws was its house band, 8G. The group, which is led by Fred Armisen and features members of indie bands Girls Against Boys and Les Savy Fav, has been a staple for the program ever since. But now the band has been laid off due to budget cuts at NBC.
The news was announced this week at NBC’s Winter Press Tour in Pasadena, California. “Sadly, we have had to cut the 8G Band for financial reasons,” NBC Entertainment chairman Bob Greenblatt said in a statement. “They have been a great part of the show for 11 years, and they will be missed.”
Despite the loss of the band, Late Night With Seth Meyers has been renewed for another four seasons, meaning there will still be plenty of opportunity for the musicians to work with Meyers in the future. The show’s associate musical director, Janney, told Vulture that Meyers and showrunner Mike Shoemaker broke the news to the band more than a month ago.
The final broadcast of Late Night With Seth Meyers will be May 30, 2024. Then, the series will move to an earlier timeslot on NBC in 2028. The move is seen as a way to boost ratings for the late night show, which has been struggling to compete with The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.
Syd Butler
After Les Savy Fav frontman Fred Armisen departed Saturday Night Live in 2014, the band formed to replace him as Late Night’s house music group. Keyboardist and associate musical director Eli Janney, bassist Syd Butler, and drummer Seth Jabour quickly became a familiar face on the NBC talk show.
Known for their technical skill and tap style of guitar playing, the band has garnered worldwide fame as one of the most innovative groups in the rock scene. They have also received recognition for their creativity and improvisational skills, leading Rolling Stone to name them among the top 20 guitarists of all time.
But the success of their music has not come without its struggles. Like many other bands, royalties have become increasingly difficult to find in the music industry. Butler believes the problem stems from a change in the way the industry makes money.
When he was growing up, Butler says it was easier to make a living from your music because the industry was a “giant rock.” But now, he feels the industry has been “crushed into a thousand pebbles on the beach.” He and his fellow musicians are working hard to find those rocks and pick them up again. That’s why they’re doing a free concert this week in NYC, just for fans. You can find more information about their event here.
Fred Armisen
Armisen is best known as a cast member of the hit comedy series Saturday Night Live from 2002 to 2013. He has since co-created and starred in the IFC sketch comedy series Portlandia, co-created and stars in the Showtime series Documentary Now!, and voiced Speedy Gonzales on The Looney Tunes Show.
He and his band have been a key part of Late Night with Seth Meyers since the show debuted in 2014. The 8G Band, which is staffed by keyboardist Eli Janney, guitarist Seth Jabour and bass player Syd Butler, was a fixture during the interview segments. It also performed the show?s opening theme and played backing music for in-studio performances and musical games.
The band also accompanied Meyers on his travels for the show?s weekly segment called A Closer Look, which is a desk piece that explains and satirizes a difficult or misunderstood political issue. The segment has been a staple of the show for many years.
NBC renewed Late Night with Seth Meyers last month and will bring the show back this fall for its 12th season, but the network has decided to cut the cost of the house band. NBC did not make executives available for comment, but Janney, the band?s keyboardist and associate musical director, told Vulture that the decision to axe the band is “a budgetary thing.” The move means that the show will not be accompanied by a house band for the first time in its 44 year history.
