From the first, LA band Weezer have remained unique by staying true to themselves. They talk to Scott Kara
You wouldn't take geeky Rivers Cuomo for a tyrant. But from the outside it's as if he's the songwriting dictator of Weezer, with control freak tendencies akin to Axl Rose from Guns N' Roses.He has written almost every song on the band's five albums since they formed in Los Angeles in 1992. Until now, that is.Before me, at the fancy W Hotel in Los Angeles, sits a new Rivers Cuomo. He still looks the same, if not more geeky, with criss-cross knee-length shorts, cream walk socks, and trainers. He's not wearing the trademark thick-rimmed glasses but has a new furry moustache and a bowl-cut even more severe than previously.But the big change is that he has let his bandmates, drummer Patrick Wilson, bass player Scott Shriner, and guitarist Brian Bell, who are also here today, write a song each on the band's new self-titled album (nicknamed The Red Album).It takes some prodding as to why the other three have contributed more this time round, but we get there.
So how did you guys manage to get some songs on the album? Sneak them in there did you?"Reverse psychology," says Bell, who wrote and sings on the dark Thought I Knew. "But it's not the first time we've collaborated and we always collaborate to a certain degree," he snaps.On the band's 1994 debut, The Blue Album, Wilson co-wrote three of the songs, but since then - through Pinkerton (1996), The Green Album (2001), Maladroit (2002), and Make Believe (2005) - it's been all Cuomo."We're just focusing on doing the things we want to do and we want to play everybody's songs and we want everyone writing. That's what's fun for us," offers Cuomo.But is it about you yielding control a little bit?"Again, I think it's just, 'okay guys, let's focus. What do we really want to do? What's really going to make us excited?' And everyone in the band said, 'I want to write and I want to sing'."In the past Cuomo has not done many interviews and has had a reputation for being difficult. To be fair, he's probably a little misunderstood because, if anything, he is shy (he attempts to look you in the eye but looks away), eccentric (you have to be to write songs like his), and an intelligent chap (he graduated from Harvard in 2006).He's also a convert of Vipassama meditation, which has obviously helped him chill out. Since the last album, Make Believe, he has married; and it's telling that he doesn't take music as seriously these days."It's just music. It's just vibration of air molecules," he deadpans.As for the other guys: Shriner is the tattooed salt-of-the-earth type who describes Weezer as "a family. We have our ups and downs"; Bell is the wry, questioning, smartypants with a constant and keen smirk on his face; and Wilson is the chilled-out powerhouse.
