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WEEZER
Author: ???[who?] (Pollstar)
Published: September 19, 1994
When Rivers Cuomo left his sheltered life in Connecticut at 18-years-old and moved to Los Angeles, he aspired to be a rock star. But according to the singer/guitarist/songwriter, he soon realized he was an "idiot" and abandoned his dream. "All my plans just totally fell apart," Cuomo told POLLSTAR. "My band broke up and it was a disaster. And so in the wake of that disaster, my values completely changed."
When Cuomo started a band again, his only goal was to "try and write good songs and try and start singing." He said, "But on the other hand, after we wrote these songs and saw how good they were, we kind of thought like, 'Wow! We're gonna be so successful really fast. And then after playing L.A. for a year and absolutely nothing is happening and no one's coming to our shows, we got humbled pretty seriously."
Cuomo and band-mates, Brian Bell (guitar, vocals), Matt Sharp (bass, vocals) and Patrick Wilson (drums) had all moved to the City of Angels from various Eastern locales when they came together as Weezer. The band never played outside of L.A. but did have quite a few shows in Hollywood before it got signed. But Weezer never really developed a local following. "We played really crappy gigs in front of 10 people at the most. We always played last. They'd try and squeeze in one band after the headliner as everyone's leaving. It was really bad for self esteem."
Weezer may not have drawn big crowds but it did draw the attention of A&R hit seekers. "For some reason, a few of the record companies started getting interested in us because of our tape. Then once one of them hears about you, they all come and check you out. But we still didn't have a following. It was just an audience packed with people from record companies and they pretty much all passed on us - except for Geffen."
The band inked its deal to release an album on Geffen's DGC label after playing around "Hollyweird" for about a year-and-a-half. "We immediately recorded our album and then sat around for nine months waiting for it to come out." Weezer's self-titled CD hit the top of SoundScan's new artists album chart a couple of weeks ago and doesn't seem to be slowing down. "Undone - the Sweater song," the first single which is decidedly alternative, is smoking up the charts at rock radio in addition to modern rock formats. "It just got added at 30 AOR stations. It's so strange. I didn't think those real AOR fans would like 'the Sweater song' because it's kind of strange sounding."
Cuomo said, more than anything else, he would like his single to hit top 40 radio. "I know a lot of people who don't listen to alternative music could really like our record, like my grandparents and everybody else's parents and grandparents. It's not hard for them to get into it 'cause the melodies are so obvious." And it's not difficult to see the video for "the Sweater song" - it is heavily promoted and frequently aired as a buzz clip on MTV.
Since the release of the CD, Weezer's days and nights are filled with driving and playing live. "Usually, days off are because we have to drive a ridiculous amount. Like today, we don't have a show but we have to drive 20 hours, so that's not really a day off."
The band hooked up with its agent, Marc Friedenberg at William Morris, much the same way it did with its record label. "Everybody passed except our agent." If the third time is a charm, Weezer lives an extraordinarily charmed life. Cuomo and mates also hooked up with their manager, Pat Magnerella[sic] of Third Rail Entertainment, because no one else expressed an interest in working with them. "We sent out a tape with a few songs from the record to every manager and they all passed except for one, pretty much, and so we went with him.
Though Cuomo started the band, Weezer is developing into a band's band and facing the question of who calls the shots. "It's an important question to us and we're still in the process of figuring it out. And it's changing. I think we're becoming more of a band just from being packed together for so long like sardines. But I really respect and value the opinions of the other guys in the band and so far, the best way to come up with our decisions is to discuss it as a band. And a lot of times, we don't agree at first and it's a real battle. But if we talk about something for a couple of days, we usually come to an agreement and we all feel good about the decision. Rarely is it where I just put my foot down and say, 'It has to be this way. Screw you guys.'"
But Cuomo does put his foot down when it comes to the meaning of the band's name. He adamantly refuses to discuss the moniker with journalists. When asked where the name Weezer comes from, Cuomo says he absolutely can't reveal that sacred information. Cuomo said it is very important that the origins of the name Weezer are kept secret. "It keeps it more powerful in my mind," he said. "It's like less watered down some how. It sounds all fruity and I apologize but I can't tell you."
Cuomo said it is hard to believe the success that has befallen him and Weezer. "It's hard to feel anything right now. We're just so brain dead. I don't get sad anymore or happy or anything. They just tell us to put our heads down and keep going and keep playing. That's what we're doing."
The band recently opened for Lush, playing to packed houses every night. When Weezer started its own headline dates, it was expecting to play to very small audiences every night but many shows have been drawing large and enthusiastic crowds. "It's an amazing surprise to see that people are still showing up. We're still playing for 1,000 people and some of them know the album. And that's really cool." Weezer's road trip continues with dates scheduled through the end of the month. The band then moves back to the support slot for Live's tour in October.
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