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Rivers Cuomo: Difference between revisions
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Within weeks of the release of ''Green'', Weezer began recording new demos for the follow-up album. Cuomo shut out record label [[Geffen]] from the recording process, and the band financed and produced the record themselves, sharing in-progress recordings with fans online during studio sessions and sending CDs with finished songs to radio stations without the label's foreknowledge.<ref name="vaultdive1" /> From [[2002]] to [[2003]], Cuomo also became the manager for the band [[AM Radio]] (fronted by Cuomo's longtime friend and [[Avant Garde]] alum, [[Kevin Ridel]]).<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20190402175147/http://riverscuomo.com/bio/ riverscuomo.com bio]</ref><ref>Wiederhorn, Jon. "[https://www.mtv.com/news/tajjm8/weezers-rivers-cuomo-helps-am-radio-dress-for-success Weezer's Rivers Cuomo Helps AM Radio Dress For Success]" ''MTV''. 26 June 2003.</ref>Using this leverage, the band was able to renegotiate their contract, but the finished album, ''[[Maladroit]]'', under-performed, selling less than a million copies. Cuomo's behavior also became pointedly antagonistic, demanding a publicist exit his tour bus and walk back to the hotel before consenting to [[Kerrang! article - April 27, 2002|an interview for ''Kerrang!'']] and referring to fans as "little bitches" in [[Guitar World interview with Rivers Cuomo - May 2002|an interview for ''Guitar World'']]. He also began interacting with fans on internet message boards under the handle 'ace.'<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20120610003630/http://www.members.shaw.ca/ridd2/ Curated archive of Weezer forum threads]</ref> Cuomo has referred to this period as his nadir.<ref>"Maladroit Preview 2021-12-27 14.38.mp3" ''[[Alone VIII: The Maladroit Years]]''</ref> "The end of 2002 was a period of just massive self-indulgence," he said in [[2010]],<ref name="louderweirdo">Brannigan, Paul. "[https://www.loudersound.com/features/weezer-how-rivers-cuomo-learned-how-to-embrace-life-following-a-near-death-experience “I know some people think I'm a weirdo. I'm working on it.” How Weezer's Rivers Cuomo learned how to embrace life following a near-death experience]" ''Louder''. 30 May 2024.</ref> "I was out at a Hollywood club one night doing who knows what with who knows whom, and when the club closed down I knew some people there so I was allowed to stay inside with a few friends as everyone else was ushered out onto the street. So I was just inside the door when suddenly there was all this commotion outside, and some people got dragged back into the club. They'd just been shot and they were bleeding and in obvious agony. So I was standing there in the midst of these downed people and I was thinking, This isn't where I want to be, there's got to be a better lifestyle to support my creativity." | Within weeks of the release of ''Green'', Weezer began recording new demos for the follow-up album. Cuomo shut out record label [[Geffen]] from the recording process, and the band financed and produced the record themselves, sharing in-progress recordings with fans online during studio sessions and sending CDs with finished songs to radio stations without the label's foreknowledge.<ref name="vaultdive1" /> From [[2002]] to [[2003]], Cuomo also became the manager for the band [[AM Radio]] (fronted by Cuomo's longtime friend and [[Avant Garde]] alum, [[Kevin Ridel]]).<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20190402175147/http://riverscuomo.com/bio/ riverscuomo.com bio]</ref><ref>Wiederhorn, Jon. "[https://www.mtv.com/news/tajjm8/weezers-rivers-cuomo-helps-am-radio-dress-for-success Weezer's Rivers Cuomo Helps AM Radio Dress For Success]" ''MTV''. 26 June 2003.</ref>Using this leverage, the band was able to renegotiate their contract, but the finished album, ''[[Maladroit]]'', under-performed, selling less than a million copies. Cuomo's behavior also became pointedly antagonistic, demanding a publicist exit his tour bus and walk back to the hotel before consenting to [[Kerrang! article - April 27, 2002|an interview for ''Kerrang!'']] and referring to fans as "little bitches" in [[Guitar World interview with Rivers Cuomo - May 2002|an interview for ''Guitar World'']]. He also began interacting with fans on internet message boards under the handle 'ace.'<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20120610003630/http://www.members.shaw.ca/ridd2/ Curated archive of Weezer forum threads]</ref> Cuomo has referred to this period as his nadir.<ref>"Maladroit Preview 2021-12-27 14.38.mp3" ''[[Alone VIII: The Maladroit Years]]''</ref> "The end of 2002 was a period of just massive self-indulgence," he said in [[2010]],<ref name="louderweirdo">Brannigan, Paul. "[https://www.loudersound.com/features/weezer-how-rivers-cuomo-learned-how-to-embrace-life-following-a-near-death-experience “I know some people think I'm a weirdo. I'm working on it.” How Weezer's Rivers Cuomo learned how to embrace life following a near-death experience]" ''Louder''. 30 May 2024.</ref> "I was out at a Hollywood club one night doing who knows what with who knows whom, and when the club closed down I knew some people there so I was allowed to stay inside with a few friends as everyone else was ushered out onto the street. So I was just inside the door when suddenly there was all this commotion outside, and some people got dragged back into the club. They'd just been shot and they were bleeding and in obvious agony. So I was standing there in the midst of these downed people and I was thinking, This isn't where I want to be, there's got to be a better lifestyle to support my creativity." | ||
===''Make Believe'' and discovering meditation=== | ===''Make Believe'' and discovering meditation=== | ||
{{Small quote box|[W]hen Hafiz says, “Self-Effacement is the emerald dagger you need to plunge deep into yourself upon this path to …God”, I read it as “Self-Effacement is the emerald dagger you need to plunge deep into yourself upon this path to Musical Creativity."|Rivers Cuomo, 2004<ref name="whativebeenupto" />}}Songwriting and demoing for Weezer's fifth album had begun before ''Maladroit'' had even been released, but plans were halted in the summer of [[2002]]. Soon after, producer [[Rick Rubin]] agreed to produce the record. The band continued demoing new songs, but Cuomo wasn't pleased with the music he was making.<ref name="weirdworld">Grigoriadis, Vanessa. "[https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/rivers-cuomo-weezers-invisible-man-76590/ Weezer's Weird World]" ''Rolling Stone'' Issue 973. 5 May 2005.</ref> Said drummer Pat Wilson, "He didn’t believe in the music, because he didn’t believe in himself [...] Didn’t matter how many times we said, 'That’s rad, Dude.' There were times he was physically ill coming out of the studio." Rubin, wanting to help Cuomo, gave him a copy of ''The Gift'', a book of poems by the fourteenth-century Sufi poet Hafez.<ref name="whativebeenupto" /> Hafez, who wrote hundreds of ''[[Wikipedia:Ghazal|ghazals]]'' about different forms of love, led Cuomo to an epiphany: "If the feeling these mystics get in union with their God is analogous to the feeling I used to get in union with my music, then their teachings for how to achieve their union should likewise serve to instruct me how to achieve my union." Cuomo subsequently sold his house and most of his possessions, moved into an empty apartment next to Rubin's house, and began volunteering six days a week at Project Angel Food in Hollywood, providing meals to people with HIV.<ref name="whativebeenupto" /> | {{Small quote box|[W]hen Hafiz says, “Self-Effacement is the emerald dagger you need to plunge deep into yourself upon this path to …God”, I read it as “Self-Effacement is the emerald dagger you need to plunge deep into yourself upon this path to Musical Creativity."|Rivers Cuomo, 2004<ref name="whativebeenupto" />}}Songwriting and demoing for Weezer's fifth album had begun before ''Maladroit'' had even been released, but plans were halted in the summer of [[2002]]. Soon after, producer [[Rick Rubin]] agreed to produce the record. The band continued demoing new songs, but Cuomo wasn't pleased with the music he was making.<ref name="weirdworld">Grigoriadis, Vanessa. "[https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/rivers-cuomo-weezers-invisible-man-76590/ Weezer's Weird World]" ''Rolling Stone'' Issue 973. 5 May 2005.</ref> Said drummer Pat Wilson, "He didn’t believe in the music, because he didn’t believe in himself [...] Didn’t matter how many times we said, 'That’s rad, Dude.' There were times he was physically ill coming out of the studio." Rubin, wanting to help Cuomo, gave him a copy of ''The Gift'', a book of poems by the fourteenth-century Sufi poet Hafez.<ref name="whativebeenupto" /> Hafez, who wrote hundreds of ''[[Wikipedia:Ghazal|ghazals]]'' about different forms of love, led Cuomo to an epiphany: "If the feeling these mystics get in union with their God is analogous to the feeling I used to get in union with my music, then their teachings for how to achieve their union should likewise serve to instruct me how to achieve my union." Cuomo subsequently sold his house and most of his possessions, moved into an empty apartment next to Rubin's house, and began volunteering six days a week at Project Angel Food in Hollywood, providing meals to people with HIV.<ref name="whativebeenupto" /> After being told that in order to be accepted into a 45-day meditation program that he would need to either be married or celibate for two years,<ref name="dreamlife">Hedegaard, Erik. "[https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/the-dream-life-of-rivers-cuomo-201638/4/ The Dream Life of Rivers Cuomo]" ''Rolling Stone''. 7 April 2016.</ref> Cuomo took a two-year vow of sexual abstinence.<ref>"[https://www.nme.com/news/music/weezer-132-1367131 Celibacy rocks, says Weezer frontman]" ''NME''. 27 October 2005.</ref> After suffering from nocturnal emissions, Cuomo resolved to get married.<ref name="dreamlife" /> Cuomo maintained his celibacy for more than two years<ref>''Today''. "[https://www.today.com/popculture/weezer-singer-continues-vow-celibacy-wbna10533327 Weezer singer continues vow of celibacy]" 19 December 2005.</ref> before his marriage in [[2006]]. Although initially skeptical when Rubin suggested meditation, Cuomo found himself drawn to the technique of Vipassana.[[Image:Sngoenka.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Cuomo with Vipassana teacher [[S.N. Goenka]] in [[2005]].]] | ||
The effect of meditation had an effect on Cuomo's songwriting. One song, "[[Pardon Me]]," was written after Cuomo attended a meditation course in which the teacher told him to repeat over in his mind "I seek pardon from all those who have harmed me in action, speech or thought."<ref name="weirdworld" /> Another song, "Hold Me", was written while fasting. Weezer's fifth album, ''[[Make Believe]]'', was released on [[May 10]], [[2005]], eleven years to the day after ''[[Weezer (The Blue Album)|the Blue Album]]''. The album received mixed reviews but was a commercial success, debuting at number two on the ''Billboard'' 200 albums chart.<ref>''Billboard'' 2005-05-28: [https://books.google.com/books?id=4RQEAAAAMBAJ&q=Weezer&pg=PA54#v=snippet&q=Weezer&f=false]</ref> | The effect of meditation had an effect on Cuomo's songwriting. One song, "[[Pardon Me]]," was written after Cuomo attended a meditation course in which the teacher told him to repeat over in his mind "I seek pardon from all those who have harmed me in action, speech or thought."<ref name="weirdworld" /> Another song, "Hold Me", was written while fasting. Weezer's fifth album, ''[[Make Believe]]'', was released on [[May 10]], [[2005]], eleven years to the day after ''[[Weezer (The Blue Album)|the Blue Album]]''. The album received mixed reviews but was a commercial success, debuting at number two on the ''Billboard'' 200 albums chart.<ref>''Billboard'' 2005-05-28: [https://books.google.com/books?id=4RQEAAAAMBAJ&q=Weezer&pg=PA54#v=snippet&q=Weezer&f=false]</ref> | ||
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Cuomo was in an quasi-relationship (referred to by Cuomo as his "sort-of-girlfriend"<ref name="aloneiilinernotes" /> or "'girlfriend'" in quotes<ref name="elliott" />) with musician [[Jennifer Chiba]] in the 90s. Several songs written by Cuomo were inspired by Chiba, and she was the basis for the character of [[Maria]] in the aborted ''[[Songs from the Black Hole]]'' concept album. The cover for ''[[Pinkerton]]'' was based on a postcard sent to Cuomo by Chiba.<ref>"[https://books-r-fun.herokuapp.com/wiki/Pinkerton%20Cover%20Art Pinkerton Cover Art]" ''[[Riverpedia]]''</ref> Chiba was in a relationship with musician [[Elliott Smith]] at the time of his death in 2003, and the Weezer song "[[The Other Way]]" was written by Cuomo about his conflicting feelings about attempting to comfort Chiba.<ref name="elliott">"[https://books-r-fun.herokuapp.com/wiki/Elliott%20Smith Elliott Smith]" ''[[Riverpedia]]''</ref> | Cuomo was in an quasi-relationship (referred to by Cuomo as his "sort-of-girlfriend"<ref name="aloneiilinernotes" /> or "'girlfriend'" in quotes<ref name="elliott" />) with musician [[Jennifer Chiba]] in the 90s. Several songs written by Cuomo were inspired by Chiba, and she was the basis for the character of [[Maria]] in the aborted ''[[Songs from the Black Hole]]'' concept album. The cover for ''[[Pinkerton]]'' was based on a postcard sent to Cuomo by Chiba.<ref>"[https://books-r-fun.herokuapp.com/wiki/Pinkerton%20Cover%20Art Pinkerton Cover Art]" ''[[Riverpedia]]''</ref> Chiba was in a relationship with musician [[Elliott Smith]] at the time of his death in 2003, and the Weezer song "[[The Other Way]]" was written by Cuomo about his conflicting feelings about attempting to comfort Chiba.<ref name="elliott">"[https://books-r-fun.herokuapp.com/wiki/Elliott%20Smith Elliott Smith]" ''[[Riverpedia]]''</ref> | ||
Cuomo met [[Kyoko Ito Cuomo|Kyoko Ito]] in [[1997]] at one of his solo concerts<!--I'm not sure it's ever been 100% confirmed which show he met her at.--> in Cambridge, Massachusetts.<ref>"Kyoko" ''Riverpedia''. https://books-r-fun.herokuapp.com/wiki/Kyoko</ref> The two married on [[June 18]], [[2006]].<ref name="rivwedding">Weezer.com archived on Archive.org, July 1 2006: [https://web.archive.org/web/20060701010316/http://weezer.com/]</ref> The pair have two children. | Cuomo met [[Kyoko Ito Cuomo|Kyoko Ito]] in [[1997]] at one of his solo concerts<!--I'm not sure it's ever been 100% confirmed which show he met her at.--> in Cambridge, Massachusetts.<ref>"Kyoko" ''Riverpedia''. https://books-r-fun.herokuapp.com/wiki/Kyoko</ref> The two reconnected in [[2005]] after Cuomo thought of her, two years into his period of celibacy.<ref name="dreamlife" /> The two married on [[June 18]], [[2006]].<ref name="rivwedding">Weezer.com archived on Archive.org, July 1 2006: [https://web.archive.org/web/20060701010316/http://weezer.com/]</ref> The pair have two children. | ||
===Beliefs=== | ===Beliefs=== | ||
Cuomo has been a vegetarian since childhood.<ref>"[https://thebadpennyblog.com/2010/09/17/weezers-rivers-cuomo-in-2002-i-think-i-had-a-falling-out-with-the-fans/ Weezer’s Rivers Cuomo In 2002: ‘I Think I Had A Falling Out With The Fans’" ''The Bad Penny''.</ref><ref name="latimesspreadsheet">Wood, Mikael. "[https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/music/la-et-ms-rivers-cuomo-weezer-teal-album-black-album-20190222-story.html Being Rivers Cuomo: Why Weezer’s frontman put his life into a spreadsheet]" 22 February 2019. ''Los Angeles Times''</ref> Cuomo has considered himself an atheist throughout his life.<ref name="whativebeenupto" /> Though he practices Vipassana, a Buddhist form of meditation, he does not consider himself a Buddhist,<ref name="yogamag" /> and does not publicly ascribe to any particular religion. He lent financial support to the 2007 film ''The Dhamma Brothers'' about a prison meditation program in Alabama.<ref>"[https://web.archive.org/web/20071224182903/http://www.frizzylogic.org/fl/2007/07/11/the-dhamma-brothers/ The Dhamma Brothers]" ''FrizzyLogic'' 11 July 2007. Archived by ''Wayback Machine''</ref> | Cuomo has been a vegetarian since childhood.<ref>"[https://thebadpennyblog.com/2010/09/17/weezers-rivers-cuomo-in-2002-i-think-i-had-a-falling-out-with-the-fans/ Weezer’s Rivers Cuomo In 2002: ‘I Think I Had A Falling Out With The Fans’" ''The Bad Penny''.</ref><ref name="latimesspreadsheet">Wood, Mikael. "[https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/music/la-et-ms-rivers-cuomo-weezer-teal-album-black-album-20190222-story.html Being Rivers Cuomo: Why Weezer’s frontman put his life into a spreadsheet]" 22 February 2019. ''Los Angeles Times''</ref> Cuomo has considered himself an atheist throughout his life.<ref name="whativebeenupto" /> Though he practices Vipassana, a Buddhist form of meditation, he does not consider himself a Buddhist,<ref name="yogamag" /> and does not publicly ascribe to any particular religion. He lent financial support to the 2007 film ''The Dhamma Brothers'' about a prison meditation program in Alabama.<ref>"[https://web.archive.org/web/20071224182903/http://www.frizzylogic.org/fl/2007/07/11/the-dhamma-brothers/ The Dhamma Brothers]" ''FrizzyLogic'' 11 July 2007. Archived by ''Wayback Machine''</ref> | ||