Matt Sharp: Difference between revisions

Matt Sharp was born in Bangkok, Thailand to American parents on [[September 22]], 1969, during the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnam_War Vietnam War]. His father, Richard Gene Sharp, was employed by a company contracted by the United States government to interview prisoners of war [https://t.e2ma.net/webview/n4lxfc/1dfeb6cd3812ddddcad820509f8cd141]. When Matt was one year old, he and his family moved to Arlington, Virginia.  At age fourteen, Sharp began listening to punk rock music like Suicidal Tendencies. He then decided that Arlington and its music scene was too boring for him and decided to move west to California.  At age sixteen, he arrived in San Diego. In 1989, Sharp fronted a short-lived "goth" band called [[the Clique]], described by [[Karl Koch]] as having a "somewhat pretentious Cure/Joy Division style" [https://www.weezerpedia.com/wiki/Recording_History_-_Page_1#Matt_Sharp:_The_Clique_-_Summer.2FFall_1989]. The band produced a single demo tape that included one song, titled "[[Ice Butterfly]]".

Months later, he met [[Patrick Wilson]], future Weezer drummer. Wilson convinced Sharp to move into an apartment with [[Rivers Cuomo]]. Sharp occasionally played keyboards for the band [[Bush]] (which was comprised of Wilson, Pat Finn, and [[Tom Gardocki]]. Later, after moving to his own apartment in Westwood, Sharp became involved with the social activism group the Black Rock Coalition. Throughout 1990, Sharp and Wilson collaborated on various songs, described by Koch as "funny" and "They Might Be Giants-like" 4-track recordings [https://www.weezerpedia.com/wiki/Recording_History_-_Page_1#Pat_Wilson_and_Matt_Sharp_make_funny_4-track_recordings_spring-fall_1990].

After the release of Weezer's first self titled release in 1994, Sharp formed a side-project in which he was both the chief songwriter and lead-singer. Initially dubbed "That's Incredible!" by producer [[Tom Grimley]], Sharp would eventually settle on the name "[[the Rentals]]". Said Sharp in a [[2015]] interview with the San Diego Reader: "I wanted to find a name that sounded like it could be a band from any era," [https://www.sandiegoreader.com/news/2015/jun/03/blurt-experimental-rentals/#]. Sharp recorded demo tapes for two potential albums at [[Poop Alley Studios]]: ''[[Return of the Rentals]]'' and ''[[For the Ladies]]''. The Rentals released their first album, ''[[Return of the Rentals]]'', later that year. The band had a radio hit with the single "[[Friends of P.]]"

On [[April 18]], [[2002]], Sharp filed a lawsuit against his former Weezer bandmates for breach of fiduciary duty, legal malpractice, and dissolution of partnership, declaratory relief and accounting under the copyright act. [https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/former-bassist-sues-weezer-176510/] Sharp claimed that he had co-written "[[Undone - The Sweater Song]]" and nine of the songs from ''[[Pinkerton]]'', and was entitled to one-third interest in the songs. Sharp also claimed in the suit that he had planned on appearing in the band's music video for "[[Island in the Sun]]" following the departure of [[Mikey Welsh]], and that he was consulted about songs that appeared on the band's [[Weezer (The Green Album)|self-titled third album]] [http://www.mtv.com/news/1453586/former-weezer-bassist-matt-sharp-sues-band-over-royalties/]. Said Sharp about the lawsuit to MTV: "I found out some things recently about their actions that really changed the whole thing and, all in all, really broke my heart. They left me no choice than to have to deal with it this way" [http://www.mtv.com/news/1455067/matt-sharp-preps-solo-lp-talks-weezer-lawsuit/]. The lawsuit was settled out of court [https://grantland.com/hollywood-prospectus/overrated-underrated-or-properly-rated-weezer/].

Wanting to "disconnect and cut all ties to the music world" [http://www.mtv.com/news/1491398/matt-sharp-says-lp-with-rivers-cuomo-may-never-come-out/], Sharp moved to a small house at 4212 Old Hillsboro Road in the small town of Leiper's Fork, Tennessee. After nearly four years of no musical output, Sharp released a solo, acoustic EP in [[2003]] called ''[[Puckett's Versus the Country Boy]]'', named for Puckett's, the town's sole restaurant and grocery store. Sharp followed up the release with a [[Matt Sharp (album)|full-length self-titled album]] in [[2004]].