brian
rivers
scott
patrick
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brian
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rivers
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the basic story so far...
weezer was founded in los angeles on february
14, 1992 by rivers cuomo, jason cropper, matt sharp, and pat wilson. the band
began writing music and playing local clubs. despite not having much success
at first, the band pressed forward. after 16 months together, playing shows
and recording demos in los angeles, dgc records (geffen) signed weezer. the
band moved to new york to record at the famed electric lady studios under producer
ric ocasek (of cars fame). during the recording of weezer, jason left the band
to take care of his future wife, who was pregnant with their first child. jason
was replaced by brian bell, a then bassist from a band called carnival art.
weezer's self-titled debut album was released on May 10, 1994, and was a hit
from the start. they released three singles from weezer: "undone - the sweater
song", "buddy holly", and "say it ain't so". "buddy holly" won several mtv awards
that year, and weezer eventually went double-platinum. after several tours around
the u.s. and the world, the band settled back in; rivers went to school at harvard,
matt and pat worked on a new band named the rentals, and brian resumed work
with a former band of his, the space twins. in the early winter of 1995 and
the summer of 1996, weezer once again commenced into the studio, but this time
they were to produce the album themselves.
on september 24th 1996, weezer's much-awaited second lp, entitled pinkerton,
was released. it is quite the opposite of weezer; the guitars are more gruff,
the lyrics have a deeper meaning, and the band's talent and style has matured
considerably. weezer released three songs from pinkerton: "el scorcho", "the
good life", and "pink triangle". pinkerton went gold in record sales and has
been a steady seller since. in the band downtime after pinkerton, matt sharp
has left the bassist position (under good terms) to pusue his ever more notable
band, the rentals. filling matt's place is mikey welsh, of boston, and formerly
of juliana hatfield's band. during 1998 rivers & mikey played a few shows together
in boston (dubbed "the rivers cuomo band"). the following spring rivers and
mikey joined brian and pat in los angeles and had on/off rehearsal sessions
over the next couple of years. rivers devoted some time to "homie" which released
one song, brian released a couple of records with his spacetwins, and pat and
mikey toured with the special goodness.
fast forward to spring 2000. after playing unannounced shows under secret names,
in addition to more frequent rehearsals, weezer booked dates on that summer's
warped tour, and subsequently a nationwide club tour. much to the band's surprise
the dates sold out instantly. juiced by an overwhelming fan response and a wealth
of new material, weezer was back. following another sold-out tour in the fall
the band continued writing and practicing new material in los angeles into 2001.
a christmas song e.p. was distributed to fans and radio stations and shortly
before the new year weezer began recording their 3rd effort, dubbed "the green
album" in los angeles, again with producer ric ocasek. with the album finished
the band got back on the road for much of the rest of 2001. Mid summer saw another line-up change, with Mikey replaced by bass heavyweight Scott Shriner. The band continued their relentless touring through 2001, finally pausing to record their 4th album, Maladroit, which was released in May 2002. The band continued touring till september, when they took a break and intermitently worked on new tunes for a 5th album.
original band bios:
"Okay, Rivers Cuomo,
the main guy behind Weezer, was supposed to call last night. I sat by the phone,
tape recorder ready to roll, pen and notepad in hand, and my advance of The
Green Album spinning in my Walkman. After waiting an hour I called the publicist,
who assured me that this was normal.
An hour later I called her back. "Let me call
their manager," she said.
So now it's the next morning, and I'm figuring
that Rivers must have his reasons for not doing a bio interview. We'd spoken
briefly a couple of times in trying to set this up, and he seemed like a decent
guy. Clearly he's no dummy; even without those long hours spent grinding over
English texts as Harvard, you can hear it in his lyrics. They're sharp, acerbic,
perceptive -- the kind of lyrics that someone who knows how to keep an appointment
would write.
Maybe his car broke down? Or he forgot to pay
his phone bill? Whatever the reason, it's down
to this: me and the music, and maybe a little bit of imagination.
Let's start by pointing out that The Green Album
is killer. I mean it. For me, it cuts Pinkerton and even the first album. Maybe
that has something to do with how much lame music we've had to deal with these
past few years, but I think there's more to it than that. Fact is, each of these
songs wraps big beats around deadly hooks, then sprinkles classic pop lyrics
all over melodies that refuse to vacate your brain.
I imagine asking Rivers why it took so long to
get this one together. He'd probably express some exasperation, since no doubt
every journalist he meets will open with this vaguely accusatory question. No,
no, I'd assure him. As far as I'm concerned, you could have taken another year
to get this together, and it would've been worth the wait.
But Rivers would remain skeptical. He's had more
to deal with since spilling his guts all over Pinkerton back in '96. He would
proceed to tell me what all those things were. Maybe he'd dish a little on Matt
Sharp's departure, and on the arrival of Mikey Welsh from Juliana Hatfield's
band to take his place on bass. He'd talk also about guitarist Brian Bell and
drummer Pat Wilson, and how they're still with the group even after this or
that annoying issue created some problems -- but they worked everything out
and everything's cool now.
Let's see. I guess I'd ask him about how the
new album differs from the earlier ones. We'd go through each track, and he'd
tell me the story of, for example, why his recollection of a lost love, "O Girlfriend,"
never mentions the lady's name. Why does he keep calling her "girlfriend" instead
of, I don't know, Heather? This would elicit a chuckle, not so much from amusement
as from the predictability of it all, and then he'd give me a serious answer
about how "girlfriend" emphasizes the impersonality of his supposed passions
-- or he'd say something brief and dismissive, and we'd have to move on.
This is turning into a tough interview. Rivers
asks for a break. While he's away, I can let you know that the hammering guitars,
the retro harmonies on "Don't Let Go" and "Smile," the falsetto riffs and handclaps
of "Photograph," the wicked gender-bending of "Hash Pipe," the simple, head-nodding
feel of "havin' fun" captured by "Island in the Sun," the inspired and somewhat
deceptive chord changes that lead from the opening to the verse on "Glorious
Days" (Ray Davies would appreciate this kind of writing), the ecstatic energy
that drives every track on this disc -- all this made it a joy for me to prepare
for my dialogue with Rivers. This album rocks -- I can't put it any better than
that.
Just before Rivers comes back, I thumb through
the press clips -- you can see some of them yourself, in this package. This
is getting discouraging: Lots of clever writers have already grilled Weezer
on all the stuff that I wanted to get. Look, here's David Daley in Alternative
Press, coaxing Rivers into talking about differences between The Green Album
and Pinkerton. And Erik Himmelsbach getting into the tedium of fame with Rivers
in Request. At least Rivers tells Jon Regardie in New Music that he's not gonna
discuss what went on over these past few years.
"Rivers," I would have said as he picked up the
phone, "I think I got what I need here."
"Uh-huh," he might have answered, munching on
the sandwich he had possibly left in the refrigerator from the night before.
"Why don't we just let people know that this
is the best Weezer album ever, and encourage them to read the press clips, and
insist that they listen to The Green Album at least three times a day for the
next six months -- because what could make their lives brighter than that? ...
Hello? Rivers?" "
-- Robert L. Doerschuk