May 11 2023 49 mins 83
Rivers Cuomo’s music education and evolution, from 1. Growing up on an ashram in rural Connecticut, mostly cut off from mainstream popular culture → 2. Making a new friend at age seven who introduced him to Kiss, and recording themselves listening, dancing, and singing along to it → 3. Being encouraged by a friend to join chorus and musical theater in eighth grade → 4. Starting a band in high school and being inspired by Amadeus to get into music theory → 5. Moving to LA with his progressive speed metal band, Avant Garde, and then founding Weezer shortly after → 6. His Vipassana meditation practice of 20 years, suggested to him by Rick Rubin in 2003, and now including two hours of meditation per day.
Rivers Cuomo is best known as the lead vocalist, guitarist, keyboardist, and songwriter of the GRAMMY Award winning rock band Weezer. He founded Weezer in 1992; the band’s self-titled debut album was released in 1994 to massive critical and commercial success. Following the multi-platinum album, Rivers enrolled at Harvard University where he studied before dropping out to record Weezer’s 1996 album Pinkerton. He would return to Harvard in 1997 as well as 2006, when he ultimately graduated with a degree in English. In addition to Weezer’s 15 studio albums and 20+ million album sales globally, Rivers has worked on several other projects including 2 solo albums, and a joint project with Scott Murphy titled Scott & Rivers. He’s also been a featured vocalist on songs with B.O.B., Avalanches, Steve Aoki, and more. His song “Backflip” is the theme song for Netflix’s Green Eggs & Ham animated series.
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