The Plain Dealer article - November 15, 1996

From Weezerpedia
Print interview with Rivers Cuomo
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Publication The Plain Dealer (Link)
Interviewee Rivers Cuomo
Interviewer Michael Norman
Date November 15, 1996
Title WEEEEEEEEZER
Sub-title Band's resident songwriter now a resident of the state of confusion
Format Print
External link Archive on Newspapers.com
Associated concert Weezer concert: 11/11/1996
References See where this interview is referenced on Weezerpedia

WEEEEEEEEZER
Author: Michael Norman (The Plain Dealer)
Published: November 15, 1996


Band's resident songwriter now a resident of the state of confusion

Rivers Cuomo, the lead vocalist and songwriter for the Los Angeles rock group Weezer, is one confused young man. Confused about being a rock star. Confused about sex. Confused about women and what it means to be a man.

Cuomo named Weezer's new album, "Pinkerton," after the loathsome male lead in "Madame Butterfly." Lt. B.F. Pinkerton is the American naval officer who sails to Japan in Puccini's opera and buys a 15- year-old girl as his "port" wife. He abandons her with a child, then returns later with his "legitimate" American wife to claim the youngster. The distraught Madame Butterfly hands over the child, then kills herself.

Pretty heady stuff for a rock band that rose to the top of the alternative heap a few years ago with a couple of hit pop tunes called "Buddy Holly" and "Undone (The Sweater Song)."

But Cuomo sees a powerful connection between Lt. Pinkerton and the contradictions and temptations he encounters in his own life as a rock star. "He's very much like a rock star going from port to port picking up these girls and leaving them," said Cuomo in a recent telephone interview from a tour stop in Lawrence, Kan. "At first, I was incredibly repelled by him because he is thoroughly despicable. I kept telling myself, 'I'm not like that."

"But then, I really became interested in his motivations. I started to become afraid that there was some of that inside of me, or maybe even all men. It's a fear and fascination with that character that informs the whole album. It's about me and my struggle with the shadier portion of my masculine side."

Cuomo has been struggling with his "masculine side" for most of his life. The 26-year-old rocker describes his mother as as "hippie feminist" who raised him on a Hindu ashram in Connecticut. He wasn't allowed to play with toy guns, play tackle football or much else that was considered overtly masculine.

"I had an unusual childhood in that my masculine side was very repressed," says Cuomo. "Boys and girls were taught to be the same - sexless and unthreatening. To this day, I have a real problem if I do anything remotely disrespectful to women. I start to feel terribly guilty, even if it's something that other people would consider mild.

"On the other hand, I think I just naturally have some of my father in me even though he didn't raise me. I think there's some of that macho Italian in me somewhere. It's been a constant struggle these past few years to assimilate my various influences."

Cuomo says his internal turmoil made it impossible to enjoy Weezer's success.

The band released its self-titled debut album in late 1994. By the summer of 1995, the record had sold 2 mil- lion copies and produced the hit singles "Buddy Holly," "Undone (The Sweater Song)" and "Say It Ain't So."

For a while, Cuomo and his bandmates Brian Bell, Matt Sharp and Pat Wilson got more face time on MTV than Beavis and Butt-head. The Spike Jonze-directed video for "Buddy Holly," which injected Weezer into a scene from Al's Diner on the old "Happy Days" TV show, was played so many times that Ritchie, Ralph Malph and the Fonz now almost seem like members of the band.

All of which made Cuomo miserable. "I thought being rock star was just going to be a huge party, which it basically was," says Cuomo. "But for some reason, as soon as it actually came true, I wasn't in the partying mood anymore. I just got really depressed and lethargic. I didn't drink at all. I didn't go with any groupies. I was just a stick in the mud."

The media portrayal of Weezer as a goofy, lighthearted pop band added to Cuomo's depression. Songs such as "Buddy Holly" and "Undone (The Sweater Song") were actually inspired by "difficult, confusing and painful" experiences, he says.

"I can understand why people misunderstood the songs. At the time, I was timid and unsure about expressing myself, so I hid behind a lot of strange language, bizarre metaphors and pop music. Everyone thought we were just a goofy, fluffy pop band. But I think our real hardcore fans connect to the real message, even though it's not blatantly obvious."

The new album is much more direct. The 10 songs are presented in the order that Cuomo wrote them, giving the listener a snapshot of the past 2 years of his life. All of the songs deal with tumultuous relationships with women. The first four songs were written before the band's first album came out and detail the breakup of a relationship with a groupie. The lead-off track is "Tired of Sex."

"It's a song with a very un-rock 'n' roll sentiment," admits Cuomo. "When I was 14 or 15 years old, I wanted to become a rock star so I could have sex with a different girl every night and have no responsibility for it. When Weezer started to become popular, that dream started to become a real opportunity. I actually tried to be that type of person. It lasted about a week and I started to feel really, really guilty. I was disgusted with myself."

Cuomo started dating one of the groupies regularly, but soon lost interest in that, too. "I wanted to get away from the rock life, go to school and purify myself. I wanted to find a pure woman - a butterfly."

After Weezer completed its first major concert tour, he enrolled as a music student at an East Coast university. He also started dating an "innocent, naive girl" who fit his "butterfly" ideal. The last six songs of "Pinkerton" chronicle the breakup of their relationship.

"I think I felt worse about my self after that breakup," says Cuomo. "It was painful for her. She totally trusted me and thought I was sincere. I thought I was sincere, too."

Getting back on the road with Weezer has helped ease the pain some. But Cuomo says he's just as confused as ever.

"I have no idea what's next," he says. "I don't know what to do. It's OK as long as I'm not hurting somebody in the process of my confusion. I'm glad to be alone right now until I figure out what's going on."