Mitchell Haaseth/NBC

It takes a special sort of person to even be in the running for the weirdest person on “The Office,” but Creed Bratton has arguably claimed that mantle: the character (who shares his name with the actor who portrays him) turns up only once or twice an episode, usually to say something totally outrageous to the camera, make a leering remark about a female co-worker or just to impersonate the Joker from “The Dark Knight.” But he always makes an impression.

Strange waters run deep, it seems: long before he landed at Dunder Mifflin, the real-life Mr. Bratton had a thriving career as a rock and roll guitarist in the 1960s-era bands the 13th Floor, and the Grass Roots (whose enduring feel-good anthem “Let’s Live For Today” was a Top 10 hit in 1967). And while he makes his living primarily as an actor, Mr. Bratton continues to record solo albums, including his latest, “Bounce Back,” for which he will be touring with his band, the 3DVB’s. (And if you’ve ever wondered what the cover to a Creed Bratton album would look like, here you go.)

Mr. Bratton spoke recently to ArtsBeat about his rock and roll endeavors past and present, his time on “The Office” and the origin story of his stage name. These are excerpts from that conversation.

Q.

I really had no idea about your musical background — I can’t believe you were involved in a song I’ve heard approximately one zillion times.

A.

I actually spoke to a corporate party agent the other day, trying to get some gigs. And the guy went, “Man, a lot of actors want to be musicians. We just don’t have the time for all that stuff.” I went, “O.K.”

Q.

Do you think of yourself as a musician who fell into acting, or an actor who started out as a musician?

A.

I’m kind of like a hybrid. I started out playing music, my grandparents had a semi-professional country-Western band, my mother played in bands. And when I got into high school, I did a couple plays and people really responded to what I could do. In college I was a drama major — music was just something I did. After I college, when I came to L.A. to study acting, the Grass Roots thing just took off. So what are you going to do? It was the ’60s, for God’s sake. A man’s got to be a man.

Q.

You’d changed your name a couple of times, even before you got into the band?

A.

Here’s the story: I was born William Charles Schneider. My father died in World War II so my mother remarried a gentleman named Sam Ertmoed. So I became Chuck Ertmoed. Horrible, horrible name. Going through high school, people were always putting their finger down their throat, going “Ertmoed!” I’m in Europe and I’m talking to these people who are going to Crete to teach English. And I said, “Look, I’ve had visions. I’m going to be a very successful actor and musician. I see it in my third eye.” I was one of those mystical kind of cats. They said, “What’s your name?” I said, “Chuck Ertmoed.” They said, “That’s unfortunate. Let’s give you a better name.” One thing led to another, and I woke up the next morning, hungover from ouzo, and I see this tablecloth that I’d ripped off, and all these names are crossed out — one is circled: Creed Bratton. I went, “Oh, apparently this is my new name.” And I embraced it.

Q.

I think found a clip of you and the Grass Roots performing on “The Jimmy Durante Show.” Is that possible? And you’re the dude with the shorter hair and a scarf around your neck?

A.

On the left-hand side. Yeah. The good-looking one. That was a disadvantage — we were a hard-rocking band, the 13th Floor, before the Grass Roots came about. We rocked pretty hard and they kind of shifted us into folk — no regrets. It was a great run. We had a hit records. But people looked at us: “They’re too pretty to be serious.”

There was already a group called the Grass Roots that fell apart, and P. F. Sloan and Steve Barri needed another band to go out and tour with this semi-hit, “Where Were You When I Needed You.” So Warren Entner, who I met in Israel at a folk festival, and I wrote “Beating Around the Bush,” which became our entree into Dunhill Records. Then we went into the studio and we cut “Let’s Live For Today.”

Q.

Do you still hear that song in unusual places?

A.

I hear it in Trader Joe’s, gas stations. I perk up like a puppy — hey, it’s my song! And I look around and go, “Ah, what am I doing?” So sad. So pathetic.

Q.

How did your time with the band come to an end?

A.

Well, I got frustrated. “Live For Today” did good, we did the “Feelings” album, I thought was good, it didn’t do as well. And I think they were getting a little leery of us. So they started using the studio musicians. This happened a lot, but for me, I’m an artist, I can play, I write songs. It was hard for me to take it. So I rebelled against it. They asked me to leave the group. And I did.

Q.

What do you consider your breakthrough roles as an actor?

A.

The first one that I thought, maybe, I had some energy that the camera liked was in “Mask.” I’m a ticket taker, and I look at him, and I say, “You can ride, but I won’t be responsible for the retard here.” Sam Elliott walks up and I turn and give him this look. A lot of people commented that there’s something there. I didn’t think so at the time, but I look back later and I see what they’re saying. That was a good one, and a bunch of other stuff that remains forgotten. I did a “Quincy.” It’s all a blur.

Q.

So how did your role on “The Office” come about?

A.

I was working on “The Bernie Mac Show,” doing little bits here and there. One time I played the piano player in a lounge, I also played Carl Reiner’s nephew, Miles, doing a funny little bit with a French horn. Musical stuff. Ken Kwapis was directing an episode, he was a big Grass Roots fan, he and I hit it off. I heard he was doing “The Office” and I lobbied to get on. He said, “We cast it, but I’m going to put you in the background and try to put you in.” Two weeks into shooting the first season, I shot my own DVD with a friend’s help, a monologue based on my crazy rock and roll past, ad-libbed a bunch of stuff, cut it to about five minutes, gave it to Greg Daniels. The second season, boom, I was in there.

Q.

Do you mind that Creed’s default role is the oldest guy in the office? Because you’re not that old. And you certainly don’t look your age.

A.

I’m much, much younger. They make me look older. What I don’t like is Rainn Wilson and [John] Krasinski on the set, coming over and putting their hand up to their mouth to talk in my ear, putting shawls over my shoulder. That’s condescending. Give the old guy a break.

Q.

Did it bum you out that, on last week’s show, just about everybody ended up with a love interest except for Creed?

A.

Well, he’s so curmudgeonly. He’s so weird. I lobbied for a long time — it’s not going to happen now — but I thought if I was going to have a love interest, it should be Jane Lynch. We met at some party, and we were laughing with each other. I certainly think the world of her, she’d be a great foil to play off of.

That’s the episode where I’m doing some Dance Dance Revolution, right? I did five takes of that and I had to sit down, my heart was pumping so hard. I was going for it, like an idiot. “Let’s have the 60-year-old guy on Dance Dance Revolution!” That’s crazy.

Q.

With your work on the show, how do you find time to work on your music?

A.

Work ethic. But I sit around the trailer, of course, waiting for my scenes. So I started jamming with Ed Helms — he’s a good banjo player, and I used him on “Rubber Tree” and “Drivin’ the Drags.” About half the songs on that “Bounce Back” album were written in my trailer. And in Iceland, when I went over there on a trip. And when we’re on hiatus, what am I going to do with my money? I love music so much, I’ve always played. So I just cut my own album, and now we’re actually a band and we’re going to go out and do some gigs together.

Q.

When you’re on the road now, are the accommodations as good as you remember them from the old days?

A.

The beer-soaked mattress in the back of the EconoLine? I don’t think so. Things have improved a little bit. Although we might do it as a slight rock and roll affectation. Get out of the limo and the private jet, get into the old beer-soaked van and go, “Ah, road life.” That might work.

Watch a video on the making of Creed Bratton’s album “Bounce Back”:

