Rivers Cuomo
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Rivers Cuomo (born June 13, 1970) is a singer, songwriter and guitarist. He is most well-known as the lead singer of Weezer.
Musical Projects
Cuomo, who began his musical endeavours with the pseudonym "Peter Kitts" ("Kitts" being the surname of his stepfather), formed a progressive metal band known as Avant Garde, and played several shows in Connecticut. He moved with the band to Los Angeles in March 1989, at which point Avant Garde changed its name to Zoom, which dissolved in the late spring of 1990. After a series of musical projects in L.A., Cuomo formed Weezer on February 14, 1992 with bandmates Patrick Wilson, Matt Sharp, and Jason Cropper. Jason Cropper left the band during recording on their first album, and Brian Bell joined in his place. Weezer signed with DGC, a music publisher of Geffen Records, on June 25, 1993. They began recording Weezer (also known as The Blue Album), in August, 1993 at Electric Lady Studios in New York with producer Ric Ocasek.Education
Cuomo started college at Harvard University as an undergraduate in 1995, studying music, but eventually switched his major to English and dropped out two semesters short of graduation. [link] In fall 2004, he re-enrolled at Harvard to complete his degree. After another break for the release of Weezer's fifth album, he returned in spring 2006.Throughout his life he has pursued higher education not only at Harvard, but also at Los Angeles City College, Santa Monica College, The University of Southern California, and Berklee College of Music where he took summer courses as a teenager.
On June 8, 2006, after fifteen years in and out of schools of higher learning, Cuomo graduated from Harvard University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in American Literature. He was elected a member of the academic honor society Phi Beta Kappa in his final year. [link]
Musical Talent
Musically, Cuomo is best known for his guitar solos, melodies, and distinctive vocal harmonies. He is also a prolific songwriter, having written and recorded nearly 800 songs in his life, either with Weezer, earlier bands or self-recorded demos. Of these songs, despite the large amount of unreleased material available on the internet, large chunks of his work remain unheard by fans. These include certain demos for The Blue Album, various songs from the scrapped Songs from the Black Hole project, over a hundred songs he composed and demoed throughout 1999, and well over a hundred songs that didn't make the cut for Make Believe. Recently on Rivers' [myspace] he began satisfying fans need to hear these unreleased demos "in the most legal way" he could by posting sheet music and lyrics for the Songs From the Black Hole tracks "She's Had A Girl," "Oh Jonas" and "Who You Callin' Bitch?" as well as the Blue Album-era demo "Getting Up and Leaving."He has been known to use experimentation to inspire his writing, for example, fasting for a day and then writing a song, as he did on "Hold Me." [link] Cuomo has familiarity with a wide array of musical instruments: besides the guitar, he is also skilled at the piano, bass guitar (he frequently demoed songs on his own, a la the 1995 Fort Apache Studios Pinkerton demos), clarinet, drums, and harmonica.
Cuomo has cited a wide variety of musical influences throughout the years, from artists as diverse as KISS, Lou Barlow, Pixies, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Brian Wilson, and Giacomo Puccini. He took it upon himself to become a student of rock and pop music when in the late 90s, Cuomo created "The Encyclopedia of Pop" for himself, a three-ring binder which broke down the mechanics of pop and rock songs. [link]
Other Bands
Rivers fronted a band called Homie on certain dates in 1997 and 1998. In 2003 he went through a phase in which he contributed to recordings by various other musicians (Crazy Town, Cold, Mark Ronson). He also briefly managed the band AM Radio in 2002 and 2003. The frontman for that band, Kevin Ridel, is quoted as having said "I was actually giving up hope the summer of 2001. Right before Rivers called me... he’s done everything. He’s our manager, he’s our record label. He’s pretty much guided us through everything we’ve had to do."[link] He also sang on the AM Radio song "Inspiration." [link]In early 2004 he made a surprise appearance onstage with ex-Weezer bassist Matt Sharp at his California State University, Fullerton show to play two old Weezer favorites ("Say It Ain't So" and "Undone"), a rare Weezer demo that they worked on together ("Mrs. Young"), and a new song they wrote together, "Time Song." Sharp announced that they would be working on a collaborative record together. Yet later that year, Sharp announced on his website that although they had come up with "15 or 16 new song ideas, some good, some not so good" for their new album their "special brand of dysfunctionality" kept them from finishing the project. [link]
Additionally, Cuomo has had cameos in a number of music videos. These include Crystal Method's "You Know It's Hard" and the video for The Warlocks' "Cocaine Blues."
Various Facts
- Married Kyoko Ito, a woman he has known since 1997 on June 18, 2006. He had proposed to her in Tokyo shortly before Christmas 2005. The wedding was held at a secluded beach on Paradise Cove in Malibu and was attended by over a hundred people, including six of the seven members who played in Weezer (Mikey Welsh being the only no show) as well as notables Justin Fisher, Kevin Ridel and Rick Rubin.
- Has a well-publicized affinity for Asian women. This can be heard in his music (songs such as "Across the Sea," "El Scorcho" and "Buddy Holly," which features the line "your tongue is twisted/your eyes are slit"), in interviews (usually when asked what celebrity he finds good looking, he has responded with Michelle Kwan and Ziyi Zhang) and in music videos (the "Dope Nose" video features a Japanese motorcycle gang with many female members).
- Has had very close interactions with his fans online. Throughout 2002, Cuomo frequently posted on Weezer message boards as "Ace" to discuss music with fans. Since 2003 he has kept a [MySpace page] in which he has posted many blog entries, including his original admission essay and two subsequent re-admission essays to Harvard. Additionally, he uses his MySpace blog as a clearinghouse for clarifications, corrections, and addendums to interviews and press reports about him. This has included responding to misinformation on this Wikipedia entry.
- Known to perform with his customised Warmoth Stratocasters. Throughout his career he has frequently played warmoth stratocasters that are [covered in stickers]. Rivers also notably played [Gibson V's] onstage in late 2001 and throughout parts of 2002 . Today, he almost exclusively plays a red Gibson SG with [the Thai character] Farang on it, a Thai word for "a white foreigner." The sticker is placed on his SG that is tuned in E flat, and the SG tuned to E does not have this sticker.
- Fashion trademarks include his horn-rimmed glasses and his lightning bolt guitar strap. He has sported a bowl cut, most notably in the music video for "Undone - The Sweater Song." Other notable fashion trends include constantly sporting a [life preserver-esque vest] in early 2001, growing [a thick beard] in mid-2002 and a brief [suit-and-tie] phase in summer 2002.
- For most of Weezer's existence, Cuomo has not been known for his on-stage banter, offering only occasional comment or letting then-bassist Matt Sharp do all the talking. Yet in late 2001 and throughout 2002, Cuomo began becoming quite talkative onstage resulting in [many strange and humorous statements]. The first leg of the band's 2005 Make Believe tour saw a return to more reserved stage behavior, but that fall's joint tour with Foo Fighters featured an appreciably more ambulant and emotive Cuomo.
- In 2003 vowed to remain celibate for two years and said in late 2005 that not only has he succeeded, but he has continued past his self-imposed deadline. Cuomo said that his status as a rock star has not made avoiding sex difficult because Weezer "never had any serious groupies, anyway." [link]. Also during this time, Cuomo also began practicing Vipassana meditation. He considers his first Vipassana course in May 2003 to be "the turning point" of his life [link]. He soon after sold all his possessions and volunteered at a food bank serving HIV patients. [link]
- Was born with his left leg 44 mm shorter than the other. After gaining success because of The Blue Album, Cuomo got surgery to correct the condition. This involved surgically breaking the bone in his leg and wearing a leg brace that required a painful daily "stretching" of the bone; Cuomo likened this to "crucifying (his) leg." An x-ray of the leg is part of the album art for "The Good Life" single. You can see Cuomo with brace on an episode of The Late Show with David Letterman; this can be found on their DVD "Video Capture Device".
- It's a popular misconception that Weezer are named after Rivers' supposed asthma. Rivers himself has openly admitted that although "Weezer" was his childhood nickname, it wasn't because he had asthma.
- Worked as a roadie for King Size on their Guatemala tour before recording The Blue Album. [link]
- The Sugar Ray song "Rivers" is a tribute to Cuomo.
Discography
Guest Contributions
- Homie - American Girls, from the Meet the Deedles soundtrack (1998): vocals, guitar
- The Rentals - My Head is in the Sun, from Seven More Minutes (1999): songwriting
- Crazy Town - Hurt You So Bad, from Darkhorse (2002): guitar solo
- Mark Ronson - I Suck, from Here Comes The Fuzz (2003): vocals, guitar, production
- Cold - Stupid Girl, from Year of the Spider (2003): vocals, songwriting
External links
- [] at MusicBrainz
- [Rivers Cuomo Official Site]
- [The riverscuomo.com Archive]
- [The Official Rivers Cuomo Fan Interview 2006]
| Weezer |
|---|
| Brian Bell – Rivers Cuomo – Scott Shriner – Patrick Wilson |
| Former members: Jason Cropper – Matt Sharp – Mikey Welsh |
| Discography |
| Albums: Weezer (The Blue Album) – Pinkerton – Weezer (The Green Album) – Maladroit – Make Believe |
| Extended plays and live albums: The Good Life - OZ EP – The Lion and the Witch – Winter Weezerland |
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