Rivers Cuomo: Difference between revisions

[[Image:Essay 97-98 05.jpg|left|thumb|200px|Mikey Welsh and Cuomo, 1998]]Cuomo ultimately selected bassist [[Mikey Welsh]] to join Weezer, and the two moved into a townhouse at Park La Brea in Los Angeles with Pat Wilson.<ref>Mikey Welsh [[Facebook posts by Mikey Welsh|Facebook post]]. Original link: https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10150292201982717</ref><ref name="wpqa042024">[[Weezerpedia Discord Q&A with Karl Koch - April 2023]]</ref> Weezer resumed rehearsals, primarily at [[TK demos|T.K. Rehearsals]] in Los Angeles.<ref name="rechist10">[[Recording History - Page 10|Weezer Recording History - Page 10]]</ref> Cuomo and Welsh later moved into an apartment on Sepulveda Boulevard. By the beginning of 1999, however, Cuomo had failed to write any material in which he felt confidence.<ref name="aloneiilinernotes">''[[Alone II: The Home Recordings of Rivers Cuomo]]'' [[Alone II liner notes|liner notes]]</ref> "My band-mates each were pursuing other projects." Cuomo reflected in [[2008]], "Weezer's manager and record company rep stopped calling me regularly. Friends and family grew distant. I encouraged the space so that I could be alone. I determined that with enough concentration and effort, I could analyze my way out of the predicament I imagined myself to be in, the predicament of 'poor songwriting'." Cuomo began an analytical process of regarding his songwriting sessions as "experiments," assigning each a number and maintaining a log dubbed "[[The Catalog o' Riffs]]." "I analyzed a large number of writing methods, varying what seemed to be every possible facet of the process: the order of the steps (guitar, melody, lyric, beat, riff, etc.); the tempo; the feel; the level of distortion on the guitar; whether I was composing aloud or in my head; the time of day; my emotional state; whether I had eaten or not; the number of drinks I had imbibed, if any. My goal was to ascertain the one method by which I could write the best songs."<ref name="aloneiilinernotes /> Meanwhile, he unplugged his phone, painted the walls and ceiling of his apartment bedroom [[Alone VI: The Black Room|black]] and covered the windows with fiberglass insulation.<ref>Rockland, Kate. "Student With a Past" ''The New York Times'' 16 February 2006. https://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/16/garden/16weezer.html</ref><ref name="olderandweezer">Brunner, Rob. "Older & Weezer" ''Entertainment Weekly''. 25 May 2001. ([[Entertainment Weekly interview with Rivers Cuomo - May 25, 2001|Transcript]])</ref><ref name="whativebeenupto">Cuomo, Rivers. "[[What I've Been Up to Since I Left School]]" Essay. 2004.</ref> He began studying and dissecting the songs of the bands [[Nirvana]], [[Oasis]], and [[Green Day]], assembling his studies into a three-ring binder he called "[[The Encyclopedia of Pop]]," in hopes of discovering a formula for writing pop songs.<ref name="eliscucode">Eliscu, Jenny. "How the Weezer frontman cracked the code of the perfect song" ''Rolling Stone'', Issue 898. 20 June 2002. https://web.archive.org/web/20070310202917/http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/5933454/rivers_cuomos_encyclopedia_of_pop ([[Rolling Stone article - June 20, 2002|Transcript]])</ref> By late summer of 1999, Cuomo felt despondent in his efforts and briefly considered returning to school, but missed the registration deadline.<ref name="whativebeenupto" /> Weezer performed secret shows during this time—under the pseudonym "[[Goat Punishment]]"—wherein the band (sans Pat Wilson) covered songs from Nirvana and Oasis' respective debut albums.