Weezer mailing list mass e-mail - November 8, 2004

note: the contents of this page were originally sent out on the weezer mailing list on 11/08/04.

weezer fall '04 recap; looking ahead

hello again - the weezer wheels have been turning a little slowly, but in the race for quality, speed is not necessarily king! First a little re-cap of whats been going on, and then a look ahead, including some weezer-related events that are right around the corner.

Weezer recorded their fifth album in July, August, September and October '04, working at a less 'famous' but still classic L.A. studio that they hadnt worked at before, with Chad Bamford engineering and the mentorship of Rick Rubin, who was available but not usually present in an active daily way. This configuration was agreed upon by the band and Rick after about 3 weeks of recording last winter that went well, but ended up inspiring Rivers to go back to the drawing board in a hunt for songs he was more excited by. After a long spring of writing, re-writing and demo recording, Rivers re-connected with the band and Album 5 was finally underway for real.

The album is not quite done however. Rivers scheduled a fall semester back at Harvard, where he went off and on in '95-'97, in an ongoing effort to finish his degree there and satisfy his lingering bug for higher education. So Rivers did his best to get all his work done on the album before school started, leaving other work for the rest of the band to finish up after he left. Since the semester started, the other band members have done their work, and now everyone has had time to listen to what theyve got, and make suggestions as to what needs changes or additional work. Many of the songs are considered 'done', with a few that are up for debate still. Once Rivers finishes his semester at the end of the year, whatever work that needs to be done will be done, and the album will go on to the mixing and mastering phase.

Meanwhile, album artwork concepts have begun to be bandied about, and vague plans have been kicked around regarding when exactly to release the album and go on tour. All the current signs are pointing to spring 2005.

So far, no song titles or other details about the album or future touring are ready for sharing, but as you know, weezer.com will ALWAYS be your first source for the fresh info.

...

As for weezer.com, as usual, site upgrades are in the pipeline. In the coming weeks/months, expect a long awaited update to the Recording History secion, filling in the mysterious gap that exists from late 2002 till the present, as well as adding in missing info from the past. Also, the Discography section, which has grown way too big and confusing for one page, will see a major overhaul, including links to iTunes-type sites for all currently available tracks that can be downloaded for purchase online. And those who were digging the sweet new 'DVD leftover' video clips froma little while back can expect more of that type of stuff, as the massive private weezer video archive is being organized and preserved to digital format, one crusty old tape at a time. As neat stuff crops up that was forgotten about over the years or simply never known to exist before, you can expect the occasional suprise on the A-V page.

...

Meanwhile, in weezer related news, drummer Patrick Wilson is using the available time to work on songs for his own next release under his band The Special Goodness. Weezer bassist Scott Shriner and SG + Offspring drummer Atom Willard are meeting up with Pat in the coming days to rehearse the new SG material. Pat is hoping to fit in a new SG album release at a time that wont interfere with the upcoming weezer plans.

And, original Weezer bassist Matt Sharp has been very active of late with his solo music, criss crossing the USA and Canada as part of a combined band with L.A. mellow rockers Goldenboy. Unlike past Matt tours with acoustic guitars and little else, the Matt Sharp and Goldenboy show involves acoustic and electric guitars, keyboards and synthesizers, and drums and percussion - all from 3 guys. Matt helps out on Goldenboy's songs and vice versa, for a rather sublime mellow yet rocking show.

So anyway, the Matt machine is going overseas. For those of you in London UK, listen up! There is a FREE Matt Sharp/Goldenboy show coming up *this thursday*, the 11th of November - Matt's first show in the UK in over 7 years! The show is invite only on Thursday 11th of November in Redux, 116 Commercial Street, London E1 6NF. Doors 7.30pm. Split Records is giving away 35 tickets on a first come first served basis. For a free ticket please e-mail your ticket request directly to info@splitrecords.co.uk.

...

Thanks for reading. When new weeezer info hits, be it about album 5, touring, or other news, it will always go up on weezer.com first. Thanks!

-karl