Weezer no geezers
Band strives to keep it fresh, creative
Last week, Weezer dropped its new single, Feels Like Summer, the type of synth-driven, rhythmic pop jam that wouldn’t sound out of place on a Twenty One Pilots set list. A new Weezer song came as a bit of a surprise to many, seeing as the band’s latest self-titled record (also known as The White Album) was released only a year ago.
But, as Weezer bassist Scott S hr in er attests, singer Rivers Cuomo is one of the hardest-working and most prolific songwriters in rock. And that’s good news for fans of the Los Angeles quartet, releasing its 11th studio album — tentatively titled The Black
Album — later this year. Formed 25 years ago, Weezer is best known for melodic and catchy numbers such as Buddy Holly, Beverly Hills, Say It Ain’t So, The Good Life and Island in the Sun. In recent years, Cuomo has both frustrated and intrigued fans and critics by taking the band in musically diverse directions.
S hr in er is the band’ s third, but longest-serving, bass player, having joined Weezer in 2001. Postmedia caught up with the Toledo, Ohio, native before Weezer’s gig in Saskatoon to talk about the band’s new material and why partying on the road is different when you’re a dad.
Weezer plays the Shaw Conference Centre in Edmonton on April 4 and the Grey Eagle Casino in Calgary on April 5.
(Interview edited for space and clarity.)
You’ve just headed out on yet another tour. Now that most of you are husbands and fathers, how has touring changed for the band?
Last summer when we went out for the big White Album tour, we all brought our wives and kids with us. That was really fun to do that for a couple of months. I think we try to make the most out of our time. A couple of the guys brought their kids up on this trip. I didn’t bring mine, but we pick our spots to make sure we’re getting enough time with our families.
Rivers loves to write, so if we’re going to be travelling with kids, it’s got to be kind of meaningful.
So, not a lot of partying then.
Parties are just different. I party in a different in a way than I used to, but I still enjoy myself.
You released The White Album almost exactly a year ago, and you have another album coming out later this year, which is not much time between albums.
Rivers is one of the hardest-working people I’ve ever met. It’s not going to be the type of album where it’s like, “Oh, these songs were almost good enough for The White Album, so let’s just put them on something.” This is a really important, essential time for us in our trajectory. We are not going to half-measure it by any means. We’re really working hard to put together something that keeps us moving in a direction that we believe.
Is there a release date yet?
Not that I can share. We have that new single, Feels Like Summer, and it’s really fun to play. We kind of released it, but we’re still changing around how we play it live. It’s evolving into this really cool beast at the moment.
Feels Like Summer has a slightly darker tone to it, lyrically. Can we expect more that with the other new tracks?
I think it’s just where Rivers is at lyrically right now. I feel that everybody is encouraging him to take as much time as he needs to work on stuff. To me, it feels a bit more authentic than even the stuff we did on The White Album, lyrically. I like that, personally. If somebody hears darker, then that’s a matter of perception.
The band is complicated. Rivers is a very intense, deep guy and I feel like I’m hearing more of his person in the newer songs. That’s really interesting for me.
What kind of feedback have you received? Realizing that there are people who just want Say It Ain’t So over and over again, how much stock do you put in the comments you hear or read on the Internet?
When we put out (the 2014 album) Everything Will Be Alright in the End, I’ve never gotten so many messages like, “Oh my God, Scott, I’m so happy to hear Weezer is doing this and we’re so excited. This is the most exciting thing since so-and-so record.” Then we go out and we see the same 500 kids losing their minds and dressing in costumes. And that’s really special and cool. But I also think there are a lot of people out there who don’t know who Weezer are yet. We’re always going to play Say It
Ain’t So and El Scorcho and other old fan favourites, and I get excited when I hear from old fans that they’re happy. But I guess I’m interested in the people who don’t know us and seeing what we can bring to this newer generation of people.
I don’t really do the Facebook thing. I don’t spend a lot of time on social media. I’ve got way too much stuff to do.