Came across this when checking my RSS feeds:
http://www.livedaily.com/news/14807.html
LiveDaily Interview: Pat Wilson of Weezer
Published August 28, 2008 11:08 AM
By Christina Fuoco-Karasinski / LiveDaily Contributor
Weezer drummer Pat Wilson is riding his bicycle near Lincoln Boulevard and Colorado Avenue in Santa Monica, CA, on his way to rehearsal--and he couldn't be any happier about it.
"It's going well," Wilson says about rehearsals as he shouts into his cell phone over the din of nearby traffic. "It's fun getting back into it after not playing in this fashion for about two-and-a-half years. It's fun to get back at it."
Weezer--which also includes vocalist/guitarist Rivers Cuomo, guitarist Brian Bell and bassist Scott Shriner--is rehearsing for a major arena tour in support of its self-titled, Rick Rubin-produced release, also known as "The Red Album." The jaunt features support act Angels and Airwaves, as well as Tokyo Police Club on most dates.
"I love playing," Wilson says. "It's what I love to do. I'm really happy that I'm able to do it. I'm glad to hear that fans are excited about the tour, too."
During his little bicycle trip, Wilson took the time to talk about the experimental nature of "The Red Album," the Hootenanny the group held for fans, and why his band should be more like Elvis Presley.
LiveDaily: Your latest album is a lot more experimental than your previous efforts. What would you chalk that up to?
Pat Wilson: Mostly just wanting to grow. Since the last album did really well for us, there was a part of us that kind of felt like, "This process needs a kick in the ass." At the beginning of this one, we thought, "What are some things that we think would be exciting and fun to do?" One of them was, "Let's get some other [band members] singing." "Let's get some other writers." "Let's have longer tunes." I think it was cool.
It's definitely cool. I never thought I'd hear a Gregorian chant on a Weezer album.
Yeah, right.
How did you come up with some of the ideas, like having Gregorian chants on the album?
That was Rivers, completely. He wanted to write a song that had many different styles. [He wanted a] theme in variations. One of the styles was that four-part voice leading.
It's almost like a history of Western music.
[Laughs] That's very nice of you to say.
How did the Hootenanny tour go? That must have been fun to mix it up with fans a bit.
We're trying to connect with people as much as we can. That seems like a real great way to do it.
Did any of the fans come in with crazy ideas?
Not so much ideas, but the tambourine is a dangerous thing. That's what I would say. Honestly, those sessions went remarkably well. You figured it would be a train wreck. But everybody knew what they were supposed to do.
You must have chosen really big fans.
Yeah, pretty much. But there's a lot of them, and it was cool to get them all together and playing together. It was cool.
Why did you decide to once again stick with an eponymous album?
Seriously, because we just couldn't think of a title ... Even having a title seemed a little superfluous. We've had this problem in the past. We just said, "Let's make it another color. Let's make it red." I wanted orange. But I think red is good. [Laughs]
Well, now you don't have to come up with a title for your next record. You can go with orange.
Totally. That's true. Somehow, I don't think that's going to fly.
I read stories about how the single "Pork and Beans" was written as a result of the record company wanting "the hit." Is that true?
Sort of. We played the record for people and they liked it, but they said, "It would be cool if there were more singles." That's typical of the record company. But Rivers wrote that as a reaction to it.
What was the recording and writing process with the album? Do you write the songs before you're in the studio or while you're in the studio?
It's all before. Then we go in and try to figure out how to flesh it out. If we had to write in the studio, it would take even longer. [Laughs] Yeah, there's no reason to write in the studio. Why spend $1,500 a day if you're not recording?
Did you record the album live?
What we do, we just keep doing take after take of all of us playing together. It's mostly to make sure [we were good], like me on the drums. If they need to fix anything or you want a different sound or something, go back and fix it. That's pretty much how it works.
Is that how it's always been with Weezer?
I, personally, would like to make an album like Elvis Presley, where you just do it and that's it. But I don't think that's going to happen.
It seems like that would be nerve wracking.
You know what, you think that, but it really is that simple. I think people have gotten away from what it is that's great about music. Like, "Hound Dog" came up on my iPod and I was completely blown away. I was like, "Whoa. Those cats probably went in there for a couple hours and cranked that out. We can do that." But everybody likes having options. I hate waiting until later to find out how it's going to sound. Most of our record--actually all of our record--it's very close to what it sounded like when we played it. I think that's cool.
What can we expect from your live show? Are you going to do a retrospective of hits, or mostly new material?
I think we'll play the hits and we'll throw in some deeper tracks that are fan favorites. I think it's going to be a great time.
