The End interview with Rivers Cuomo - October 15, 2001

Radio interview with Weezer
Publication	107.1 The End
Interviewee	Weezer
Interviewer	Steve[who?]
Date	October 15, 2001
Format	Radio
External link	YouTube
References	See where this interview is referenced on Weezerpedia

The End interview with Rivers Cuomo Author: Steve[who?] (The End) Published: October 15, 2001 Rivers: Hello? Steve: Hi, is Rivers there? Rivers: This is... Steve: Hey Rivers, this is Steve over at The End Radio station in Seattle. Rivers: Hi Steve. Steve: How's it going? Rivers: Great. Steve: Alright, so I'm here with Rivers Cuomo, frontman of Weezer. You guys are coming to town finally, and you guys are bringing along Tenacious D and Jimmy Eat World. How'd you come up with bringing those guys along? Rivers: I think, uh, the last tour we just finished, we took out Cold. This time we just wanted to take somebody who rocks a little harder. We thought of the D. Steve: The greatest rock band in the world, as they say. Rivers: Yeah, and Jimmy Eat World is great. Steve: Can I ask you about Cold and exactly what happened with, uh, just the difference in musical styles, I guess? Is that the reason why the fans weren't opening up to them? Rivers: That and the makeup and just the general bad attitude that they have. Steve: Oh, really? Rivers: Honestly, I love their music, though, and that's why I wanted them on the tour. But I think I was one of the few people at the concerts that thought that way. Steve: Does that kind of bum you out when you bring them on the road with you, so it's kind of like a seal of approval from your band, and you would hope that your fans would embrace them? Rivers: No, I don't really care. I warned Cold, too, I said, "you guys are probably going to have a tough time out there", but they wanted to try it. But they got slaughtered. Steve: Oh, was it really bad? Rivers: It was sad. Steve: I heard lots of middle fingers and just horrible things were being chanted at them. Rivers: And beer bottles. Steve: Really? Rivers: See, as a performer, I love that sort of situation. I love being booed and yelled at and having things thrown at me. I thrive on that. Steve: What was uh, maybe... Rivers: They didn't like it for some reason. Steve: Do you remember a past experience where that would have happened to yourself and your band? Rivers: Yeah, I remember we toured, we opened for Live one summer and their fans hated us. But I loved it. Steve: Kind of like an Andy Kaufman type thing? Rivers: Maybe that's what it is. It's that feeling of ten thousand people hating me. It spurs me on. Steve: Makes you want to try harder? Rivers: Yeah. Steve: Let's just talk about this past year. I mean, there's been a ton of highs, especially your record just went platinum, but also there's been a few lows, such as your bassist, Mikey Welsh, had to leave the tour, and also, uh, he had to check himself into a psychiatric hospital. And I was curious if you would be willing to chat about that and let us know what's up. Rivers: No, not at all. Steve: No, not at all? Rivers: There will be no chatting. Steve: No chatting at all. No statements, no nothing? Rivers: No. Steve: How's things going with Scott, then? Rivers: Great. Steve: I heard an incident where somebody jumped up on stage and tried to tackle him. Rivers: Yeah, that was his very first show with us. Steve: Was it some kind of inside hazing, or you guys didn't know about it at all? Rivers: No, we didn't know about it. That happens, though, we get tackled a lot. I don't know why. Our fans like to tackle us. I think I'm an easy target. Steve: You've got to start wearing shoulder pads and stuff like that to just kind of be safe or something. Your fans, myself included, are definitely passionate. Do you sometimes feel that your fans are a little too passionate about your band? Rivers: Yeah, it's an unbelievable situation, especially because with the Internet, I mean, we can go on there and see exactly what everyone's thinking and saying about us. Sometimes it feels like there's a million backseat drivers. We're just trying to keep focused on what we want to do, and everybody's got an opinion. Steve: So how do you deal with that kind of stuff? Rivers: Basically, we try to ignore everyone and just do what we want to do. And the fans are either going to like it or they're not. Steve: What were some of the things that maybe you've read on the Internet that have just, like, from, you know, whether it be fan sites or whatever, that you're just like, "man, that's not true"? Rivers: Of course the huge issue of contention is, uh, Pinkerton, our second record. So many of the fans love that record, and they wish we were still playing music like that. Steve: It's got a cult following. Rivers: Yeah. Obviously with our third record, we didn't want to do that sort of thing. Steve: That sort of thing would be the more introspective lyrics? Rivers: Yeah, um, I think that's probably a big part of it. Steve: Do you think that the new stuff that you guys have been recording might satisfy the needs of those that wish that you guys were still writing songs similar to the Pinkerton stuff? Rivers: Well, you'll be able to find out soon, because we'll be putting a bunch of new recordings up on our website, I think in about two weeks, so you'll be able to judge for yourselves. I don't know. I think maybe it's a little more Pinkerton-ish, but it's still not very personal. I have no idea what we're going to do. I think people give us way too much credit for knowing what the hell we're doing. It's just totally random. Steve: Just assuming everything's calculated. Rivers: Yeah, it's not. Steve: Well, how does the songwriting process work these days? I mean, is it a situation where, you know, you come in and you have the song completely finished, or do you just have like a skeleton or an idea, and then you look to the other members to kind of enhance it? Rivers: It's pretty much a finished song as far as the guitar part and the melody goes, but then they usually come up with all their own harmony parts and the beat, stuff like that. I'm always amazed at how much the song gets fleshed out after a week of rehearsals. Steve: Chatting with Rivers Cuomo of Weezer here on the end. The last album, you guys had a ton of outtakes and B-sides that were available on the internet. Was there anything that didn't make it onto the record that you wish did? Rivers: I don't even know. I don't even care about records anymore. Steve: What do you care about, then? Rivers: Well, I just, uh, like making recordings and writing songs and playing shows. And with the Internet, I know that all the songs are going to get out there eventually anyway, so I don't really care what's on the record. Steve: Basically, are you just hoping to get your music out there with or without a full CD, a full length? Rivers: Yeah. The way the industry is set up right now, I mean, it's impossible to put out an album more than once every two years. And we're just way too prolific to keep to that kind of schedule so we just constantly write and record. At this point, we don't really care about the album releasing process. Steve: Right. Rivers: Plus the fact that we're not even talking to our record label anymore. Steve: Oh, really? Is there a falling out? Is it like the typical-- Rivers: There was a massive falling out. Steve: What happened? Rivers: They just blow. Steve: That seems to be the general consensus amongst a lot of bands. Rivers: Who needs them? Steve: I mean, is the next record, do you feel it's not going to be on your label, or is it? Rivers: Like I said, I don't even really care about albums anymore. Steve: What about now, as far as, I know you're still recording stuff, and I've been reading about demoing stuff. Do you plan on working with Ric Ocasek again? Rivers: We don't really have any plans. We love working with him, and I just sent him a copy of a bunch of demos, so we'll see what he thinks. Steve: Video-wise, I know you guys re-shot Island in the Sun. What was the reason behind that? Do you just want to work with Spike Jonze? Rivers: We weren't totally stoked on the first video we made, and he sent me an email and said he was available, and it was a cool idea, so we did it. It was a cool experience being with all those animals. Steve: Yeah, so the video is basically you guys just hanging out and playing with small baby animals and all types of animals. Rivers: Yeah. Steve: What was your favorite animal to work with? Rivers: Definitely the chimp. Steve: Yeah. Rivers: The thing is crazy. Steve: I've always heard stories of chimps flinging poop and just being... Rivers: Yeah, well, people act like that as well. Steve: At a Cold show. Rivers: The chimp was so human-like. It was crazy. Steve: Any hopes of having a chimp of your own or something like that? Rivers: No, I have enough hard times with people for it to be by myself. Steve: Well, I just want to thank you for just taking a few minutes out, and I'm looking forward to the show. Rivers: It's gonna rule. Steve: I've seen so many damn Weezer shows, and every one is just blowing me away. Each one just gets better. Rivers: This is the best one. It just feels like full-on arena rock, I feel like I'm in Whitesnake. Steve: Well, it's called the Midget Tour. Is there any kind of theme behind this tour? Will there be midgets, or what's the stage set? Rivers: No, I just originally called it the Midget Tour just because it was really short. Steve: And everyone's reading into it a totally different way. Rivers: I guess so. But now we just added this these other few weeks, and so now it's the Extended Midget Tour. Steve: Well, I'm happy that you guys are doing a second jaunt around the United States and coming to Seattle. We were actually thinking of starting a petition or something around here. Rivers: I know, it's weird. We keep inadvertently screwing over Seattle. Steve: We're really excited about seeing you guys November 15th at the Key Arena. It's going to be the big rock show. Rivers: Yes, it is. Steve: Thanks, man. I really appreciate it. Rivers: Cool, take it easy. Steve: Okay, take care