Q&A with Denis Leary

Q: We've heard you say music influences your work. How so?   

A: I sometimes write scenes because I hear a song and I know I want it or the energy of it. And there are other times when we know we have a certain ending or a certain moment, and I go out looking for the music. My son helps me a lot with that. [Musical director] Adam Roth, he's a friend of mine now for 30 years. We used to be in bands together when we were teenagers. He's been a member of The Asshole Band, which is my comedy band, for years. So having him as one of our music mainstays is great because he does a lot of the composing. So what I can't find, I can have created by Adam on the show. For us as writers, it's really important to have songs we believe in—even before sometimes we shoot a scene. If we have a song that's so perfectly designed for a scene on Rescue Me, we'll play it on loud speakers during the shooting. It helps the cameraman and it helps the director, and it helps the actors know what the feel is.