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| ==History== | | ==History== |
| ===Early Days=== | | ===Early Days=== |
| [[Matt Sharp]] and [[Rivers Cuomo]] moved into the Amherst House on [[March 19]], [[1992]], which also marks the first time that Weezer ever played a show (at the Raji's on Hollywood Boulevard). Before that, the band was operating out of [[1711 Stoner Avenue]] in Los Angeles. Before moving into the Amherst House and playing as Weezer, the Stoner Ave crew was constantly switching around this member with that member to form bands such as The Truth, [[The Dum Dums]], [[United Dirt]], [[Fuzz]], [[60 Wrong Sausages]] and [[Bush]]. | | [ |
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| On March 19, 1992, Cuomo, Sharp (fresh from Berkley) and [[Justin Fisher]] moved into the Amherst house. They convinced the land lords that they were UCLA film students and therefore would make a lot of noise. On that day, Weezer's first show suddenly fell into their laps. Before the show, Weezer began brainstorming various names for their unnamed band. Early suggestions for band names included, "The Big Jones" and "This Niblet". Additionally, the names "Meathead", "Outhouse", "Hummingbird" and other random names are written on early Weezer demo tapes.
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| ===Writing and recording===
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| Early band rehearsals and recordings took place at Amherst from now on. Members began to gravitate to [[The Garage|the garage]] for recording, which was situated next to the kitchen. The first documentation of demo recording at Amherst is one by Patrick Wilson. The first documented rehearsal took place in April, 1992. Songs played were: "[[Only in Dreams]]," "Why Can't You Be There," "[[My Name Is Jonas]]," "Only She Can Hold My Hand," "Paperbag in the Back Seat," "[[Let's Sew Our Pants Together]]."
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| Sometime in May 1992, the band recorded their first demo in the garage. This demo featured "[[Thief, You've Taken All That Was Me]]," "[[Let's Sew Our Pants Together]]," and "[[The World Has Turned and Left Me Here]]."
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| [[Image:Diystour.jpg|right|thumb|200px|The band plays in Northern California]]
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| On August 1st 1992, the band recorded their second demo tape, [[The Kitchen Tape]]. It is considered to be Weezer's first "proper" album. Two weeks later, the band left the Amherst house to begin their first Do-It-Yourself (DIYS) tour in Northern California.
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| Nearly a year later, on June 25, 1993, Weezer signed to [[Geffen Records]]. The day before the band departed, they threw a huge party at the Amherst house. When Geffen arrived the next morning to fly the band out to New York, they found several passed out party-goers on the lawn and throughout the house. Also, during the night, one of the toilets in the house was smashed.
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| ===Legacy===
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| The Amherst House is considered by fans to be one of the most important (if not the most important) place(s) in Weezer history. It is featured prominently in the "[[Say It Ain't So]]" music video, which shows extensive shots of the garage, the kitchen and the backyard. During the ''[[Video Capture Device]]'' commentary, [[Karl Koch]] gives extensive directions on how to find the house.
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| Roommates of the Weezer boys at Amherst also made names for themselves. Some of the members of [[Wax]], as well as future MTV star [[Johnny Knoxville]] lived there at some point. In 2008, Weezer drove around Los Angeles with Knoxville to promote their new album. While driving around, the band returned back to the Amherst house and discussed some of its history.
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| ==See Also== | | ==See Also== |
