Rivers Cuomo: Difference between revisions

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 [[Image:Very early weezer.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Weezer's earliest incarnation. From L—R: [[Jason Cropper]], [[Patrick Wilson]], Rivers Cuomo, [[Matt Sharp]]]]Following the dissolution of 60 Wrong Sausages, Cuomo and Wilson expressed a shared interest in moving toward the type of songs that bands like [[Nirvana]] and the [[Pixies]] were recording. "There was so much anxiety about authenticity at the time," said Cuomo, "and we’d all just made this radical transformation from being metalheads to being alternative. You didn’t want anyone to find out what you looked like 12 months ago."<ref name="30thoral" /> The two resolved to [[The 50 Song Project|attempt to write fifty songs]] between the two of them before pursuing a new band project.<ref name="rechist2">[[Recording History - Page 2|Weezer Recording History - Page 2]]</ref> "We wanted to write a bunch of tunes before we even played together," said Cuomo,<ref name="manofsteel" /> "so that we could have an idea of where we were heading before we started wasting our time and money paying for a rehearsal studio. I didn't want to get back into a band until I felt like I had a bunch of songs that were good and that had cohesive style. So I just wrote songs and didn't play at all for a long time." Though the two did not make it to fifty songs, future Weezer tracks such as "[[Undone - The Sweater Song]]," "[[My Name Is Jonas]]," and "[[The World Has Turned and Left Me Here]]" were written during this period.<ref name="rechist2" /> In January of 1992, Wilson shared a tape of the duo's material with [[Matt Sharp]] while the latter was living in Berkeley.<ref name="riversedge" /> Sharp was so impressed that he insisted on being Cuomo's bass player, resolving to move back to Los Angeles. "Rivers was able to articulate something that up to that point had been elusive for me," said Sharp, "I thought, ‘I’m doing this, no matter what has to be done to make it happen.'"<ref name="rollingstone25" /> Cuomo was greatly validated by Sharp's confidence. "It confirmed all my greatest hopes for myself." said Cuomo, "Knowing he felt so strongly about the songs was all the confidence I needed."<ref name="rollingstone25" />
-Cuomo, Wilson, Cropper, and Sharp formed the band that would later be dubbed [[Weezer]] in February of [[1992]], rehearsing for three days at T.K. Productions & Rehearsal Studios in west Los Angeles. The band performed their first concert the following month, at [[Weezer concert: 03/19/1992|Raji's on Hollywood Boulevard]], performing in support of headliner [[Dogstar]] (a band notable for featuring actor [[Wikipedia:Keanu Reeves|Keanu Reeves]] on bass).<ref>[[Historic event: 03/19/1992]]</ref> Hours before the show, Cuomo dubbed the band "Weezer," a childhood nickname given to him by his father after the character "Wheezer" ([[Wikipedia:Bobby Hutchins|Bobby Hutchins]]) from ''[[Wikipedia:Our Gang|The Little Rascals]]''.<ref>"My dad's nicknames for people and things" ''[[Riverpedia]]'' https://books-r-fun.herokuapp.com/wiki/My%20dad%27s%20nicknames%20for%20people%20and%20things</ref><ref>Leatham, Thomas "Rivers Cuomo explains the true story behind how Weezer got their name" ''Far Out''. 6 February 2023. https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/rivers-cuomo-how-weezer-got-their-name/</ref>
+Cuomo, Wilson, Cropper, and Sharp formed the band that would later be dubbed [[Weezer]] in February of [[1992]], rehearsing for three days at T.K. Productions & Rehearsal Studios in west Los Angeles. The band performed their first concert the following month, at [[Weezer concert: 03/19/1992|Raji's on Hollywood Boulevard]], performing in support of headliner [[Dogstar]] (a band notable for featuring actor [[Wikipedia:Keanu Reeves|Keanu Reeves]] on bass).<ref>[[Historic event: 03/19/1992]]</ref> Hours before the show, Raji's promoter, Lawrence Mann, asked Cuomo what name to put on the bill.<ref>Lauden, S.W. ''[[Generation Blue|Generation Blue: An Oral History of the Hollywood Geek Rock Scene in the 1990s & 2000s]]''. 2024. Remember the Lightning LLC</ref> Without consulting the other members, Cuomo answered with "Weezer,"<ref>Koch, Karl. ''[[Weezine Issue 17 - Tales of Weezer]]''. 2021</ref> a childhood nickname given to him by his father after the character "Wheezer" ([[Wikipedia:Bobby Hutchins|Bobby Hutchins]]) from ''[[Wikipedia:Our Gang|The Little Rascals]]''.<ref>"My dad's nicknames for people and things" ''[[Riverpedia]]'' https://books-r-fun.herokuapp.com/wiki/My%20dad%27s%20nicknames%20for%20people%20and%20things</ref><ref>Leatham, Thomas "Rivers Cuomo explains the true story behind how Weezer got their name" ''Far Out''. 6 February 2023. https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/rivers-cuomo-how-weezer-got-their-name/</ref>
+Weezer recorded multiple demos and played numerous shows around Los Angeles before signing to [[Geffen Records]] on [[June 25]], [[1993]].<ref name="rechist4">[[Recording History - Page 4|Weezer Recording History - Page 4]]</ref> The band's [[Weezer (The Blue Album)|eponymous debut album]] was recorded later that year and released the following spring, on [[May 10]], [[1994]]. Over the course of 1994, however, Cuomo became lonely and disillusioned with the lifestyle of constant touring. He began formulating a potential concept album based on this disillusionment, later dubbed ''[[Songs from the Black Hole]]''.<ref name="thepinkertondiaries">Cuomo, Rivers. ''[[The Pinkerton Diaries]]''. [[2011]]. Self-published.</ref> Later in the year, Cuomo began applying at colleges with the intent of studying musical composition.
+On [[April 14]], [[1995]], Cuomo underwent an operation to correct his congenital femoral deficiency. The surgery involved breaking his femur and fitting it with a metal brace (called an [[Wikipedia:Ilizarov apparatus|Ilizarov apparatus]]). Said Cuomo, "Each day I would turn some screws on the rods so that they would extend and increase the space in the break in my bone. After 6 months, the bone was supposed to be totally filled in and they would take off the metal frame. Two months in I was back out on the road with Weezer, stumbling around with a cane."<ref name="ilizarov" /> Cuomo required an additional surgery in January of [[1996]].<ref name="ilizarov" />
+In September of [[1995]], Cuomo moved into [[19 Corporal Burns Rd.|a house]] in Cambridge, Massachusetts to attend [[Harvard|Harvard University]].
-===Signing to Geffen and The Blue Album===
-===Initial success===
-Following Weezer's success, Rivers was worried that the band was made famous from the gimmicks of the "[[Buddy Holly]]" video and not his songwriting.  He removed his glasses because he felt they were also a gimmick.  He began to talk less and took complete control of the band.  He felt somewhat cheated that the rock star life was not like the life [[Kiss]] promised him when he was younger.  Beginning to question his rock star life, Rivers wrote the song "[[Longtime Sunshine]]" while at home for Christmas in 1994.  In it, he contemplated going to an East cost college, leaving the rock star's "lonely life behind" and confessed he would be satisfied in the simple things.  Rivers also began to outline what he saw as the next Weezer album.  Rivers felt that Weezer was too simple and basic and was intending to go to Harvard to learn classical composition.  This paved the way for ''[[Songs from the Black Hole]]'' and eventually ''[[Pinkerton]]''.
-Rivers used the money that success afforded him to have corrective surgery on his leg, which had been shorter than the other since birth.  Rivers found himself wanting a place where he could retreat and become invisible.  He grew a beard, put on his glasses and attended Harvard.
 ===Attending Harvard===