Weezerpedia Discord Q&A with Karl Koch - February 2023

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Burnst Jamp: In the Collectors Discog, it's noted that some versions/copies of VCD released in jewel cases. I've never seen one of these surface before, though. Do you remember why you wrote this? Is there an actual jewel case version of VCD?

Karl: i cant ever remember seeing one? I think maybe i was told that by the label way back when???

February 1, 2023 2:46 PM (#karlification)


dilavni.band(.com): @Karlophone will we ever get the earlier music videos remastered from the film negatives? the tape upscales on youtube are really ugly

Karl: well, we should. that would require the label spending time and money doing something that wont make them money. It isnt impossible.... but dont hold your breath

February 1, 2023 2:47 PM (#karlification)


Joel-G: Hey @Karlophone, years ago I heard someone on a Weezer podcast briefly mentioning seeing a blue album longbox CD when it first came out. This is definitely false, right?

Karl: aint never seen one, doubt it

February 1, 2023 2:48 PM (#karlification)


Burnst Jamp: Hiya @Karlophone I'm working on the WP physical release catalog, and I'm wondering if you have any photos of Weezer's First Demo? The one from before the Kitchen Tape, that was put onto blank tapes. We don't have any visuals for it on the wiki
In fact, we also don't have any photos of a standard Kitchen Tapes cassette, only one for the "Opposite Sides" version given to Paul du Gre

Karl: ok it seems clear i need to do a new round of scans and photos. Everything has been moved and reorganized at the new HQ, so ill make a to do list right now. (I go there frequently but we havent moved in yet)

February 1, 2023 2:50 PM (#karlification)


MoonBright: oooo I dont think youve told us about the new HQ, gimmie the deets

Karl: were moving soon, been renovating a house 5 minutes away for the last 9 months. the basement is the bizzomb. The Vault has a much happier home now

February 1, 2023 2:58 PM (#karlification)


Karl:

Karl: (please note only about 1/3rd of those filing cabs are =w=. but all the totes are

February 1, 2023 3:20 PM (#karlification)


Burnst Jamp: Weezer soccer ball? ⚽

Karl: yep. theres 2. a fan had them made and gave to band

February 1, 2023 3:34 PM (#karlification)


Karl: this is my copy of demo #1 ...well, it includes that demo, as youll see. I filled my personal tapes with whatever came available, as it did. its not the one made to hand to the club owners. I should say owner - i think a "public copy" of demo #1 was only given to a lady named Dale Gloria, who ran the English Acid club.

Karl: the funny part is the next thing i captured on this tape is a live bootleg of the show at English Acid that the demo preceding it succeeded in securing!

Karl: also note i call the garage "Rug Studio" lol
note that cassettes were at a premium - here we see I was taping over a copy of Janet Jackson's "Rhythm Nation" lol. Also note the prototypical weezer logo, which evolved into the logo seen on the very first shirt and hat.

February 2, 2023 7:23 PM (#karlification)


eted: The "Smiths 'Medley'" here intrigues me!

Karl: the 8121 Club was a small club in the basement of The Coconut Teaszer, and was generally acoustic shows. So this was an acoustic performance, and i believe Pat Finn sat in on The Biggest Animal, and then for fun the 2 Pats and Matt started jamming Smiths, and Jason and Rivers chugged along and tried to keep up.

eted: That's so cool!
The rare times Weezer collided with The Smiths are interesting— Cygnus X-1/Smiths Jamb is a cool one

Karl: you have to understand just how much Wilson loves Johnny Marr's playing (and can do it, because hes a monster!)

February 2, 2023 7:37 PM (#karlification)


Karl: here we see something that needs explaining. The cassette has a photocopy of the original J Card and has no tape in it. Why? read on..... In 1995, I helped Rivers clean out his stuff from his mom's house in Connecticut, right after the Mtv Video Awards where Buddy Holly won, and right before I drove him to Harvard to start his "old man cane" year of school. As we waited for the U-Haul trailer to be dropped off, he was finishing up cleaning. He handed me a garbage bag and said "im gonna throw these out. you want them?" it was all of his 4 and 8 track master cassette tapes from 1986(approx) to 1995. I said "fuck no!" (J/K!) I said "of course" and they ended up in my still-forming weez vault for many years. Rivers eventually asked for them back, around when he thought of the "Alone" album series. No problem, i'm just a guardian of the Jedi texts, not the Jedi master. And by then i had gone through them all meticulously, digitizing the contents and writing up notes as to what they had on them - which often didnt match the j-cards because Rivers did a lot of taping over (remember, blank cassettes were $ and once a master was mixed down, you didn't really need it. (unless you could foresee the future and realize you were going to release them in an "Alone" album 15 years later). SO the photo here shows an excerpt of my note-taking. and the cassette case has my post it note i made the notes on as i listened to the contents on my own 8 track machine. And as you can see that tape was the master 8 track recording of the band doing "the first demo" in the "Rug Room" (the Garage, Amherst House, soon to be demolished by the way, see Matt Sharp's instagram) May 1992.

February 2, 2023 7:55 PM (#karlification)


MoonBright: are there any official archival efforts done by Geffen or Crush we have to look forward too? Or is it you and us alone in this cruel cruel world

Karl: just us for now..... Crush isnt opposed in general (and they would be the ones poking Geffen to get on board), but theyre always focused on the present and future. I envision laying a concept on them at some point, and trying to hesh out something that people would like/buy that the band is comfortable with, and doesnt distract from the here and now of weez-world. This could (should) be a VCD2, collections of early material, etc.

February 1, 2023 2:55 PM (#karlification)


Persephone: I don't mean to bombard you with questions, but what's the deal with the Red Album uploaded to spotify yesterday with the ITunes bonus tracks and the exclusion of Pork and Beans?

Karl: news to me! no clue. Dont ever doubt the depths of ineptitude that steaming services are capable of.
they would be challenged planning a one car funeral

February 1, 2023 2:58 PM (#karlification)


dilavni.band(.com): do you have that cardboard rivers from the hash pipe cover art

Karl: no one knows what happened to those things. If they survived, someone has been extremely secretive about them. I have a feeling they were destroyed not long after the yahoo tour was over (they were for people getting photos for them on that tour. Maybe a Yahoo employee took them). of course i wanted them but the ending of that tour was an exceptionally chaotic time

February 1, 2023 3:33 PM (#karlification)


Donny: Didn‘t the Get Up Kids steal it? It‘s on a DVD I have.
I remember them driving in a car with the cardboard Rivers. Can‘t remember if it was THE cardboard Rivers though.

Karl: aha! that makes sense. there was only one of each cutout, so there ya go.

February 2, 2023 1:57 PM (#karlification)


Donny: Found the video on YouTube. It was an easter egg on the bonus DVD that came with the Anniversary Deluxe Edition of Something to Write Home About.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iXAHKSIxjH4

Karl: there ya have it - they got those 3. Wonder if they still have them? i wonder where the Pat one ended up...
of course, I (somehow) have a 8x10 of the guys standing in a row, that i believe they made the cutouts from - or it might be a slightly different shot form the same session actually. the Mikey was a little different, i used that to make the cutout for the VIP thing.

February 4, 2023 5:55 AM (#karlification)


Karl: Who knows a Get-Up Kid? lets start a secret mission to steal then back lol
they're probably all moldy in the back of of their garden sheds. Peed on by a dog etc

February 4, 2023 6:05 AM (#karlification)


Karl: oh i just watched the GUK video more closely and i saw a glimpse of the Pat standee. so they got the whole gang!

February 8, 2023 4:22 AM (#karlification)


KingTom: Karl, you have Cherry Berry in there? Rivers can't find it.

Karl: ha! i wish. theres a small chance but i would be surprised if somehow it was on something that i had but Rivers didnt. It dates from the very nebulous early Mikey period, which, as far as full band recordings, is very spotty.

February 1, 2023 6:40 PM (#karlification)


Discoverlife2: @Karlophone is SZNZ over then? Rivers once mentioned all these plans about a cool box set re-release, a possible revised mix to a few SZNZ, etc. seems like it’s been pushed off the table, which is sad because SZNZ was awesome.

Karl: dont know. Rivers is never one to stick around too long with stuff, always moving ahead. But dont rule out some sort of set or whatever. He doesnt need to think about the logistics and such of preparing that - unless theres music to finish etc

February 1, 2023 6:43 PM (#karlification)


theangel: Not sure if you ever found this, but the early tracklist for Hurley is something we'd love to have to be able to archive/piece together what it could've sounded like.

Karl: didnt really look yet. I do remember viewing it - but did i get a copy or even have the list? Remains to be seen

February 2, 2023 1:58 PM (#karlification)


Burnst Jamp: This was just asked in #general by another user--what ever became of the metal spork promotion that happened w/ Black Album pre-orders? Were there actually 10 metal sporks given out, and 10 test pressings given to the recipients? I've never heard of or seen a Black test pressing so I wasn't even aware this was a thing until it was brought up just now lol

Karl: damn i have no idea! ima ask now

February 2, 2023 2:25 PM (#karlification)


Karl: ok - there really were sporks and test pressings. what happened to them, who got them, is totally unknown. but they really existed.

February 2, 2023 2:33 PM (#karlification)


Karl: also - SZNZ box is currently being designed, it will exist. someday.

February 2, 2023 2:33 PM (#karlification)


theangel: Karl, I gotta ask, how did you start archiving this band? It's been 30 years and you still have every little thing and it amazes me. Did one of the band members ask you to start doing this or did you just start doing it yourself while doing all this other stuff for them already?
You're like the ultimate Weezerpedian. This site's end goal should be to upload your brain to the internet.

Karl: just started doing it - and pretty crappily at first! "if i knew then what i know now" and all that. Ive always been a packrat, and had done a lot of filming in high school and college - skateboarding, friends bands, etc.
Got into collecting comic books, records, etc. It just slowly meshed together...
I never lose anything. even with multiple cross country car trips moving stuff all over the place. Stuff shipped home from all over the world. The hardest part is recognizing what needs to be saved in the moment and getting a hold of it. Theres been countless failures in that department.
the funny part is when i DO lose something, i NEVER forget... kind of a curse lol

February 2, 2023 8:14 PM (#karlification)


theangel: What's the most cursed stuff you've lost? (I'm saying cur-sed here, like in an old horror movie)

Karl: well ive said is many times before but the #1 killer is the package of 25+ rough mix Pinkerton tapes from the recording of the album, that i entrusted to the secretary at geffen right before we flew to Europe in Aug 95. She was our angel, never would have messed it up, but somehow it got lost in the USPS system.
ill think of more later, i dont want to get too angry all at once lol

February 2, 2023 8:21 PM (#karlification)


juan cena: interesting to see an unfinished undone from the first demo session. don't think that's on the recording history so might be the first record of this

Karl: true - and stay tuned, theres many more weird surprises on those master tapes, that i documented but have never posted or shared before.

February 2, 2023 8:18 PM (#karlification)


juan cena: were these songs actually recorded during the red album sessions

Karl: i believe the guys recorded these individually at home studio sessions, after Red was done and b-sides were needed. They were not "full band sessions", as far as i recall

February 4, 2023 6:04 AM (#karlification)


Jason B: Hello DJ Cock from the Big Crazy Show '92 - big fan of your work and I feel like that Karlophone guy has stolen your ideas.

a few questions about the drum parts played on blue - our Pat equipment page/gallery is a bit out of whack. do you have any photos/description of what he played? there's a sorta tambourine/bells sounding thing during the mnij acoustic riff - how did that get played? any other tidbits about blue drums?

Karl: I do have a few photos that clearly show the DW kit he was using. As for the jonas sound, i assume that was from his hihat (opening/closing with the foot pedal), with possibly one of those jingly attachment things in place? maybe the photos will clarify

February 8, 2023 4:24 AM (#karlification)


Karl: it was the same white DW kit seen in later 1993 rehearsal photo (b+w)

February 8, 2023 7:56 PM (#karlification)


theangel: We have it documented on the 'Pedia that the band planned the Blue album cover in advance and had that idea for a while before, but what about the album name? Was the plan always to leave the first album self/un-titled or are there some other potential names that got thrown around and never saw the light of day?

Karl: I recall there was talk about referencing suburbia in the title. Because everyone in the band shared that (now) "classic" 70s/80s suburban landscape growing up. An early mock up i made even had a stock 60s illustration of a ranch house on the disc art. I dont think the idea was long lived though. As soon as we started meeting with the Geffen art guy, all talk of a title was done. I think Rivers just couldnt think of something that was more straightforward than self titled. No one could! Its interesting because that was a key moment in the identification of that the band was, what they represented. Because it wasn't really codified yet at all. Being just... who they were, without costume/embellishment ended up being the most pure "image".

February 9, 2023 2:40 PM (#karlification)


dilavni.band(.com): do you know if that burning sun demo thats circulating is full band or just rc

Karl: i dont, but mostly because i forget what it sounds like. Theres several Burning Suns from summer/fall 2000, if its not one of those, id have to consult an orb

dilavni.band(.com): heres the one we have for reference https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zTg3NK5ylDQ

Karl: yeah thats defintiely from the fall 2000 session at his house (same [illegally] converted garage room you see in the video clips from that time). So its the whole band playing for sure, but as far as vocals go, at least in this version it sounds like Rivers did all of them. I remember at least one version where you can hear some BB and MW backing vox "doo-wahs" at the end of the choruses. Like everything that fall, this was recorded on a DA-88 multitrack recorder, and Neil Young (not that Neil Young, rather our soundman/tour manager that summer/fall) engineered it.

February 11, 2023 5:41 PM (#karlification)


Turtle: https://www.reddit.com/r/weezer/comments/a04a5m/pfff_screw_the_black_album_screw_sftbh_screw_the/eaepkvn/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf&context=3 Ive been obsessed with this story for like a year do you know anything about Grease Weezer

Karl: how has this gone 22 years under my radar?? Need Grease Weezer CD! (Allmusic was the only place i saw any info, which was 2001 release year)

Karl: i dont care if its fake, i need it anyway lol

February 12, 2023 10:34 PM (#karlification)


dylan (HMC): Karl, “Weezer Day” was historically considered roughly February 14, but in recent years it seems like you landed on it being the 15th. When and how did you finally nail that down?

Karl: It was always considered to be the date of the bands 1st practice. But for a while, till... idk around 2002? 2005? there was an erroneous mention of that practice being on 2/14/92. But in reality it was 2/15/92. Since then, ive tried to both make the facts clear but also honor the fan-liked tradition that tied the birth of the band to valentines day. And really, the band existed on 2/14/92. they just hadnt all played together yet.

February 14, 2023 7:54 PM (#karlification)