It could appear that I'm some kind of natural genius, but it's just a million small lessons I've picked up over the years.
Rivers CuomoWith each step I take, I see that my ability to perform gets a little better. So until it starts getting worse, I'm going to keep moving forward.
Rivers CuomoMost of the songs I write just very directly from my life. I don't have a big imagination. Whenever I tried to write from fantasy, it comes out sounding really fake.
Rivers CuomoIf enough people out there want a physical product, I'll be happy to make one. I'd say about 10,000 people is "enough."
Rivers CuomoI do want to make music that people love, but I also want to make music that I love. I know I can't please everyone with anything I do, so I don't think too much about how other people are going to take things.
Rivers CuomoI can't say I was consciously thinking of the big changes in the music business when I was writing the lyrics, but change, uncertainty, flux, impermanence - these are things I'm acutely aware of. And I enjoy facing it all.
Rivers CuomoI'm constantly fighting with my manager to reduce the amount of time I have to spend on promotional activities, so I can get back in the studio and work on new music.
Rivers CuomoI think there is a very subtle shift from the metal I grew up on to Weezer. I think the big shift was from a minor key to a major key. That made a huge difference in how it was perceived.
Rivers CuomoIt is cool to have a label head that is also a songwriter, in a band, and produces records.
Rivers CuomoI find that I end up liking songs if I really have an idea of something I wat to write about-some problem in my life or something I want to work through; if I don't have something like that at the root of the song, then I think I end up not caring about it as much. I gravitate towards some kind of concept or idea or situation that I want to write about. Very often I have to write, rewrite and come at it from an opposite angle...and I end up writing the opposite song that I thought I was going to write.
Rivers Cuomo