Guitar Player interview with Rivers Cuomo - July 2002: Difference between revisions
Guitar Player interview with Rivers Cuomo - July 2002 (view source)
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= | {{DISPLAYTITLE:''Guitar Player'' interview with Rivers Cuomo - July 2002}} | ||
{{Template:Infobox interview | |||
| Publication = Guitar Player ([https://www.guitarplayer.com/ Link]) | |||
| Interviewee = [[Rivers Cuomo]] | |||
| Cover = Guitarplayermagcover.jpg | |||
| Caption = July [[2002]] ''Guitar Player'' cover -<br>"WEEZER" listed on top banner. | |||
| Date = July [[2002]] | |||
| Format = Print | |||
| Interviewer = Matt Blackett | |||
| Link = | |||
| Title = Alt-Shred | |||
| Sub-title = Weezer's Rivers Cuomo Saves the Guitar Solo | |||
| Associated concert = | |||
| References = | |||
}} | |||
{{Interview headline subtitle|Alt-Shred|Matt Blackett|Guitar Player|July [[2002]]|Weezer's Rivers Cuomo Saves the Guitar Solo|:"I think producers and record companies would welcome guitar solos if players could come up with ways to make them sound fresh and exciting." - RIVERS CUOMO | |||
"I think producers and record companies would welcome guitar solos if players could come up with ways to make them sound fresh and exciting." - RIVERS CUOMO | |||
'''ALT-SHRED''' | '''ALT-SHRED''' | ||
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'''WEEZER'S RIVERS CUOMO SAVES THE GUITAR SOLO''' | '''WEEZER'S RIVERS CUOMO SAVES THE GUITAR SOLO''' | ||
BY MATT BLACKETT | |||
BY | |||
PHOTOGRAPHS BY [[Karl Koch|CARL KOCH]]{{sic}} | |||
Each generation rebels against the one before. This was never truer than in the '90s, when alternative/grunge poster-boy [[Kurt Cobain]] and his followers gleefully pounded musical nails into the '80s metal coffin. Lo-fi, gut-level guitar playing was in, virtuosity was out. | Each generation rebels against the one before. This was never truer than in the '90s, when alternative/grunge poster-boy [[Kurt Cobain]] and his followers gleefully pounded musical nails into the '80s metal coffin. Lo-fi, gut-level guitar playing was in, virtuosity was out. | ||
Before the dust had settled from the alternative explosion, however, a band out of Los Angeles called Weezer came along to challenge the guitar anti-heroes. Mixing radically distorted guitars, catchy pop hooks, and geek-chic visuals, Weezer—and its leader and chief songwriter, Rivers | Before the dust had settled from the alternative explosion, however, a band out of Los Angeles called [[Weezer]] came along to challenge the guitar anti-heroes. Mixing radically distorted guitars, catchy pop hooks, and geek-chic visuals, Weezer—and its leader and chief songwriter, [[Rivers Cuomo]]—became a huge part of the alt-pop revolution. But rather than deny his hard-rock roots, Cuomo displays them proudly, and he has never been afraid to break alternative music's unwritten rule against loud, prominent guitar solos. | ||
And yet, Cuomo has never been wilder than on Weezer's current release, ''[[Maladroit]]'' <nowiki>[</nowiki>[[Geffen Records|Geffen]]<nowiki>]</nowiki>. The album is wall-to-wall guitar, complete with crushing rhythm lines and intricate, ferocious solos. Indeed, Cuomo might be the missing link between Judas Priest and Nirvana—a cutting edge, modeern-rock icon who isn't afraid to shred and shred again. | And yet, Cuomo has never been wilder than on Weezer's current release, ''[[Maladroit]]'' <nowiki>[</nowiki>[[Geffen Records|Geffen]]<nowiki>]</nowiki>. The album is wall-to-wall guitar, complete with crushing rhythm lines and intricate, ferocious solos. Indeed, Cuomo might be the missing link between Judas Priest and Nirvana—a cutting edge, modeern-rock icon who isn't afraid to shred and shred again. | ||
:"We try to get the tunes recorded and then move on," says [[Brian Bell|Bell]]. "We think you get better results that way than by thinking about the songs for years." | |||
"We try to get the tunes recorded and then move on," says [[Brian Bell|Bell]]. "We think you get better results that way than by thinking about the songs for years." | |||
{{Interviewer|Guitar Player|''You've always played leads, but not with this kind of ferocity''}} | {{Interviewer|Guitar Player|''You've always played leads, but not with this kind of ferocity''}} | ||
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{{Interviewer|Guitar Player|''When your band came out into the post-[[Nirvana]] '90s, there was a disdain for lead playing.''}} | {{Interviewer|Guitar Player|''When your band came out into the post-[[Nirvana]] '90s, there was a disdain for lead playing.''}} | ||
{{Rivers|Yeah, I definitely felt like I had to hide my love for the guitar because it wasn't "cool." I think people have to get over their inhibitions and just go wild on the instrument for the guitar to be truly vital again. That's what this album is all about: Turning off the brain, rocking, and seeing what comes out.}} | {{Rivers|Yeah, I definitely felt like I had to hide my love for the guitar because it wasn't "cool." I think people have to get over their inhibitions and just go wild on the instrument for the guitar to be truly vital again. That's what this album is all about: Turning off the brain, rocking, and seeing what comes out.}} | ||
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{{Brian|On "[[Dope Nose]]," I play all the little twiddly lines and the answers to the vocal during the verses. In the chorus, I do the {{Wiki2|Lynyrd_Skynyrd|Lynyrd Skynyrd}}-type noodles. I played a Gibson SG through a Marshall MKI. I like the SG. It's sort of a happy medium between a Les Paul and a Strat. It has top end, but it's still beefy. On "[[Death and Destruction]]," I used my favorite guitar—a Fender Telecaster Thinline—for the clean, chimey parts.}} | {{Brian|On "[[Dope Nose]]," I play all the little twiddly lines and the answers to the vocal during the verses. In the chorus, I do the {{Wiki2|Lynyrd_Skynyrd|Lynyrd Skynyrd}}-type noodles. I played a Gibson SG through a Marshall MKI. I like the SG. It's sort of a happy medium between a Les Paul and a Strat. It has top end, but it's still beefy. On "[[Death and Destruction]]," I used my favorite guitar—a Fender Telecaster Thinline—for the clean, chimey parts.}} | ||
{{Interviewer|Guitar Player|''Did you take any of the solos on the record?''}} | {{Interviewer|Guitar Player|''Did you take any of the solos on the record?''}} | ||
{{Brian|No. I get off on rhythm playing—that's my strong suit. Rivers takes all the solos on ''Maladroit'', and he really unleashed his inner shredding beast on this album. He always had that ability, but he had been holding it back. I love to hear him play that way. I think the climate is cool for guitar heros again.}} | {{Brian|No. I get off on rhythm playing—that's my strong suit. Rivers takes all the solos on ''Maladroit'', and he really unleashed his inner shredding beast on this album. He always had that ability, but he had been holding it back. I love to hear him play that way. I think the climate is cool for guitar heros again.}}}} | ||
=Gallery= | |||
<gallery> | |||
Image:Guitarplayermagcover.jpg|Cover | |||
Image:Guitarplayermagcontents.jpg|Contents page | |||
Image:Guitarplayermag1.jpg | |||
Image:Guitarplayermag2.jpg | |||
Image:Guitarplayermag3.jpg | |||
Image:Guitarplayermag4.jpg | |||
Image:Guitarplayermag5.jpg | |||
Image:Guitarplayermag6.jpg | |||
</gallery> | |||
==See also== | |||
*[[List of interviews]] | |||
{{Navbox Weezer interviews|Rivers Cuomo|2002|Guitar Player}} | |||
[[Category:Interviews]] | [[Category:Interviews]] | ||