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Rivers Cuomo: Difference between revisions
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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" /> | 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" /> | ||
===Boston=== | ===Boston=== | ||
[[Image:Rivers Harvard ID.JPG|250px|right|thumb|Cuomo's Harvard ID]]{{Small quote box|There appears to be some sort of brewing here—with regards to men's self-image. Our natural tendencies were repressed by the peace and love crap of my parents' generation; these tendencies were perverted and relieved in maladjusted ways. In the past 10 years, several voices—Howard Stern, [[Joe Matt]]—have had the courage to uncover these tendencies—and found large audiences of sympathizing men. These individuals are struggling to uncover and assimilate their urges in a way that does them justice. There is a large element of shame and self-deprecation in uncovering these urges. But always an unflinching desire to know the self. Who am I? Who is man? What is man? What am I?|Rivers Cuomo; journal entry; [[March 12]], [[1996]]<ref name="thepinkertondiaries" />}} | [[Image:Rivers Harvard ID.JPG|250px|right|thumb|Cuomo's Harvard student ID]]{{Small quote box|There appears to be some sort of brewing here—with regards to men's self-image. Our natural tendencies were repressed by the peace and love crap of my parents' generation; these tendencies were perverted and relieved in maladjusted ways. In the past 10 years, several voices—Howard Stern, [[Joe Matt]]—have had the courage to uncover these tendencies—and found large audiences of sympathizing men. These individuals are struggling to uncover and assimilate their urges in a way that does them justice. There is a large element of shame and self-deprecation in uncovering these urges. But always an unflinching desire to know the self. Who am I? Who is man? What is man? What am I?|Rivers Cuomo; journal entry; [[March 12]], [[1996]]<ref name="thepinkertondiaries" />}} | ||
In September of [[1995]], Cuomo moved into [[19 Corporal Burns Rd.|a house]] in Cambridge, Massachusetts to attend [[Harvard|Harvard University]]. Cuomo was largely anonymous to his peers while in school. "Most of our fans at that time were, like, ten years old," said Cuomo,<ref>''Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend'' "Rivers Cuomo" 10 October 2022 https://teamcoco.com/podcasts/conan-obrien-needs-a-friend/episodes/rivers-cuomo</ref> "It wasn't really a college audience...I grew a very long beard and long hair and I was undergoing this procedure on my leg, so I was walking with a cane. I just looked like some really weird, super-old, weird guy." | In September of [[1995]], Cuomo moved into [[19 Corporal Burns Rd.|a house]] in Cambridge, Massachusetts to attend [[Harvard|Harvard University]]. Cuomo was largely anonymous to his peers while in school. "Most of our fans at that time were, like, ten years old," said Cuomo,<ref>''Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend'' "Rivers Cuomo" 10 October 2022 https://teamcoco.com/podcasts/conan-obrien-needs-a-friend/episodes/rivers-cuomo</ref> "It wasn't really a college audience...I grew a very long beard and long hair and I was undergoing this procedure on my leg, so I was walking with a cane. I just looked like some really weird, super-old, weird guy." | ||
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Cuomo initially intended to return to Harvard for the fall semester of 1997, but decided not to at the last minute.<ref>Riesman, Abe J. "Rivers' End: The Director's Cut" ''The Harvard Crimson''. 26 April 2006. https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2006/4/26/rivers-end-the-directors-cut-the/</ref><ref name="weezine11">Koch, Karl. ''[[Weezine]]'' Issue [[Weezine Issue 11 - Fall 1997|#11 - Fall 1997]]</ref> Cuomo instead focused on songwriting again, in addition to performing shows with friends in the Boston music scene.<ref name="weezine11" /> Cuomo fronted a handful of small-venue concerts to try out new material and audition potential new bassists for Weezer following the departure of [[Matt Sharp]], experimenting with both "goofball"<ref name="weezine11" /> songs (under the moniker "[[Homie]]") that didn't fit with the darker, more personal songs of ''Pinkerton'', as well as minimalist, "drone rock" compositions utilizing as few chords as possible (a reaction to the negative response to ''Pinkerton'', which featured numerous chords and key changes).<ref>"Lovely" ''[[Riverpedia]]''. https://books-r-fun.herokuapp.com/wiki/Lovely</ref> | Cuomo initially intended to return to Harvard for the fall semester of 1997, but decided not to at the last minute.<ref>Riesman, Abe J. "Rivers' End: The Director's Cut" ''The Harvard Crimson''. 26 April 2006. https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2006/4/26/rivers-end-the-directors-cut-the/</ref><ref name="weezine11">Koch, Karl. ''[[Weezine]]'' Issue [[Weezine Issue 11 - Fall 1997|#11 - Fall 1997]]</ref> Cuomo instead focused on songwriting again, in addition to performing shows with friends in the Boston music scene.<ref name="weezine11" /> Cuomo fronted a handful of small-venue concerts to try out new material and audition potential new bassists for Weezer following the departure of [[Matt Sharp]], experimenting with both "goofball"<ref name="weezine11" /> songs (under the moniker "[[Homie]]") that didn't fit with the darker, more personal songs of ''Pinkerton'', as well as minimalist, "drone rock" compositions utilizing as few chords as possible (a reaction to the negative response to ''Pinkerton'', which featured numerous chords and key changes).<ref>"Lovely" ''[[Riverpedia]]''. https://books-r-fun.herokuapp.com/wiki/Lovely</ref> | ||
===''The Green Album''=== | ===''The Green Album''=== | ||
[[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 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> 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> 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." | [[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 /> Cuomo would maintain this numbering system through [[2004]]. Meanwhile, he 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> 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. ([[Rolling Stone article - June 20, 2002|Transcript]])</ref> Weezer also 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. | ||
In late 1999 or early 2000, Cuomo moved into [[6145 Rodgerton Dr.|a house]] and built a rehearsal studio in the garage.<ref name="wpqa042024" /> | |||
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===Comeback and SS2K=== | ===Comeback and SS2K=== | ||