nyuuzyou/wikis huggingface dataset:
MTV.com article - July 19, 2001

'Island In The Sun' Video: Siega Proposes, Weezer Accept 
07.19.2001 5:20 PM EDT 
Clip features band playing at wedding in East Los Angeles.
Weezer's Rivers Cuomo and Mikey Welsh 
Photo: Interscope
The winning video treatment for Weezer's new single, "Island in the Sun," was one sentence long: "Weezer perform at a Mexican wedding in East Los Angeles."
Director Marcos Siega's concept caught the band's eye in part because — unlike every other video proposal for the yearning, languid track — it didn't have the band performing on an island, Siega said.
It also couldn't have hurt that Siega — known for such videos as Blink-182's "All the Small Things" and Papa Roach's "Last Resort" — helmed the sumo-themed clip for the first single from Weezer (a.k.a. The Green Album), the comeback hit "Hash Pipe" (see "Weezer Smoke 'Hash Pipe' Video With Siega").
Siega hired a wedding coordinator to create an authentic-looking Mexican ceremony in East L.A., cast 50 locals and then plopped Weezer in the middle of it.
In the video, Siega said, Weezer "isn't the wedding band — it's almost as if the wedding becomes a set for them."
The director said he expects to turn the video over to MTV by the end of the week after making a few final edits. Shooting the video may have been relatively easy, but recording the song was an arduous process.
During the sessions for Weezer, producer Ric Ocasek found "Island in the Sun" among a bunch of demos Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo had made without his bandmates.
"Rivers had recorded 'Island' all by himself, [playing] all of the instruments in his house," bassist Mikey Welsh recalled. "He made this really beautiful little version of it — it was really scrappy sounding and really pretty and kind of melancholy."
The effort that went into re-creating the demo's feel meant that "Island in the Sun" took longer to record than any other song on the album.
"We did it a bunch of times — we kind of tried a bunch of ways," Ocasek said. "The demo did have a good spirit ... because of the way Rivers played drums — [a] loose feeling and everything."
The resulting track's layered, clear-toned guitars and behind-the-beat groove stand out amidst the straight-ahead power-pop on Weezer.
"I really love that one — it seems like a nice summer song," Welsh said.
(For more on Weezer, check out the feature "Weezer: Gang Green" or check out photos from Weezer's June in-store performance in New York.)
— Brian Hiatt
Category:Transcripts
Category:MTV
MTV.com article - June 25, 2002

Weezer Collaborate With Kermit The Frog, Miss Piggy
06.25.2002
Band shows up as guests on 'The Muppet Show' for 'Keep Fishin' ' video.
Weezer's Brian Bell and Rivers Cuomo, with Rowlf the Dog, Gonzo,Kermit the Frog, and Miss Piggy.
Photo: Henson
Weezer have teamed up with Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, Gonzo the Great, Pepe the King Prawn and the rest of the Muppets in their video for "Keep Fishin'," the band's second single from Maladroit.
In the clip, Weezer are guests on "The Muppet Show," and, Muppets being Muppets, hilarity ensues. The "Keep Fishin' " video features a Muppet chorus singing backup, running commentary from Statler and Waldorf, a trip to Beaker and Bunsen's lab, and some "quality time" spent backstage with Miss Piggy, according to a spokesperson for the Jim Henson Company (Click for photos from the shoot).
"Keep Fishin' " was directed by veteran Weezer auteur Marcos Siega, the man behind the "Dope Nose," "Hash Pipe" and "Island in the Sun (Version 1)" videos. Weezer, Siega and the Henson Company staff shot the clip June 18-19 at a Manhattan Beach, California, soundstage.
For Weezer, working with Henson Studios was a chance to live out a childhood fantasy. "Being a guest on 'The Muppet Show' was a childhood dream we all shared, so we were ecstatic when the Muppets agreed to be in our video for 'Keep Fishin',' " Weezer said in an official statement. "The Muppets can really rock!"
The Muppets themselves praised the band. "Weezer fit right in," Kermit the Frog said in a statement. "They're rock stars, they're used to being around animals, bears and egotistical pigs." Weezer now join the ranks of such musicians as Elton John, Alice Cooper, Debbie Harry and John Denver, who've all been guests on "The Muppet Show."
To celebrate All Access Week, the video will premiere on MTV2 as part of a half-hour special that goes behind the scenes of the "Keep Fishin' " shoot. That special premieres July 14.
For a full-length feature on Weezer, check out "Weezer: Foosball Wizards."
—Gideon Yago
Category:Transcripts
MTV.com article - June 6, 2001

Weezer Play Two New Songs In Times Square
06.06.2001
NEW YORK — Though Weezer began Wednesday's brief, nine-song set at the Times Square Virgin Megastore about 40 minutes late, the group rewarded its hundreds of patient fans by playing a pair of new songs.
Greeting the crowd with a cordial "What's up?," frontman Rivers Cuomo launched into "Photograph," off the band's latest self-titled album, often referred to as The Green Album. Cuomo, accompanied by demurely dressed guitarist Brian Bell, bassist Mikey Welsh and drummer Pat Wilson, proceeded with a setlist that drew from the group's new LP, the band's previous two — 1996's Pinkerton and 1994's Weezer, a.k.a. The Blue Album — and recent demo sessions in Washington, D.C. (see "Weezer Breeze Through 12 Demos For Next LP").
The new instrumental "Burnt Jamb" sounded more like a loose improv than anything the band — heralded for its succinct pop songcraft — has ever recorded, and the bass-driven march of "Keep Fishin'" eased up midway to allow for a smarmy guitar solo.
The new material was received with a rapt lull, as the crowd reserved its biggest displays of appreciation for "Tired of Sex," the sole Pinkerton track; "Buddy Holly" and "Undone — The Sweater Song," the first two singles off the debut; and the latest single, "Hash Pipe," which closed the set. Other songs played Wednesday included "Knock-Down Drag-Out" and "Island in the Sun."
An autograph session, intended for diehard fans, followed the performance. Passes were distributed to the first 250 people who bought The Green Album at the store when the LP was released May 15.
—Joe D'Angelo
Category:MTV
Category:Transcripts
MTV.com article - March 1, 2005

Weezer Party At Playboy Mansion For "Beverly Hills" Video
Song will be first single from group's upcoming fifth album.
By James Montgomery
March 1, 2005
If you were compiling a list of the places Weezer would feel most out of place, it'd probably go something like this: Jay-Z's 40/40 Club, the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, the Playboy Mansion.
Well, that list just got a little shorter. The guys in the band faced their fears and chose Hef's home as the location for "Beverly Hills," the first single off their upcoming fifth album. And they even convinced the smoking-jacket-clad man of the house to take part in the fun.
"Today was a long day of work on the 'Beverly Hills' video over at the Playboy Mansion, where the very odd mixture of real Weezer fans, Weezer and Playboy Playmates resulted in a weird, hilarious and oddly unified experience," the band wrote Monday in a post on Weezer.com. "The whole production crew kicked major ass as well, as did the Playmates and a certain swinging patriarch who lent a hand in the proceedings."
The clip, directed by longtime Weezer collaborator Marcos Siega ("Dope Nose," "Hash Pipe"), begins when Hugh Hefner puts a call out to Weezer to have them play at his mansion. The band and a host of honest-to-goodness Weez fans (recruited from the Internet) quickly descend on the place for a whole host of fish-out-of water hijinks, including frontman Rivers Cuomo rocking out in the famous grotto, fans partying in the mansion's zoo, and, according to Weezer.com, the band playing "a rather jaw-dropping round of soccer."
The juxtaposition of Playmates prancing poolside and Weezer fans schlumping around in the mansion's arcade is meant to show the meaning of "Beverly Hills," which is basically about "the sense of alienation that many people get when they don't feel like they belong."
"The song speculates about living the life of movers and shakers but concludes that there's no way to cross over from the 'real world' to the 'fantasy world,' " the post reads. "But for a few minutes the idea is tossed about, taken to the level of longing for a life of extreme celebrity."
Though that may sound like a heavy message, it comes all wrapped up in a sparkly rock-and-roll bow, according to the band.
" 'Beverly Hills' is a pretty catchy track and was practically begging to be a single, but it's important to know that it's but one piece of a fairly complex album pie," the post concludes. "To any concerned that album five is just a collection of 'fun' songs, fear not — there's many flavors to come."
Weezer's fifth album still has no official title, and though there's still no firm release date, it's expected to hit stores in May. 
Category:Transcripts
Category:MTV
MTV.com article - March 23, 2004

Weezer's Rivers Cuomo A Wellspring Of Songs, Rick Rubin Says
03.23.2004 9:01 PM EST
Group finally ready to begin recording fifth album.
Weezer's Rivers Cuomo (file)
Photo: Interscope
Rick Rubin, who will produce no less than a half dozen albums in 2004, has met a songwriter who works as hard as he does.
"He writes more than anyone I've ever met," Rubin said of Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo. Coming from a producer who hasworked with such songwriters as Trent Reznor, Sheryl Crow, Anthony Kiedis, Tom Petty and Johnny Cash, that's quite a statement.
"There was a period where I would get a new CD from him every day with one or more songs, plus whatever revisions I would ask for on other songs," Rubin said. "He's just a writing machine [with] a great work ethic."
Rubin has been overseeing Cuomo's writing sessions for the next Weezer album for almost a year, and the band is finally about to record the material. Cuomo, who has numbered his songs since 1999 and in May of 2002 was already at 378, has acquired a reputation as a prolific songwriter, but Rubin wants him to be known as much for quality as quantity.
"One of the things we've been looking for is lyrical growth," Rubin said. "Maybe have more songs that are more personal and less ironic, but I wouldn't say that's a be-all-end-all rule, more of something to think about. [We're working on] writing the best songs, really caring about reconnecting with the musical muse and doing whatever it takes to write great songs."
Weezer are eyeing a fall release for the as-yet-untitled album. The group released both The Blue Album: Deluxe Edition and the "Video Capture Device: Treasures From the Vault 1991-2002" DVD this week (see "Bad Behavior, Kitchen Sessions On New Weezer DVD, Reissue").
— Corey Moss
Category:Transcripts
Category:MTV
MTV.com article - March 24, 2005

Weezer Not Exactly in Their Element At Playboy Mansion
"Beverly Hills" video's location was director's idea, not band's.
By James Montgomery
March 24, 2005
When we last left the guys in Weezer, they were busy releasing dates for their upcoming spring tour and frolicking around the Playboy Mansion in the video for "Beverly Hills," the first single from their upcoming album Make Believe (although not at the same time).
And now there's even more Weezerian info to report, starting with a behind-the-scenes peek into the making of "Beverly Hills" (see "Weezer Party At Playboy Mansion For 'Beverly Hills' Video"). A representative at Geffen Records slipped MTV News some exclusive footage of the clip, including scenes of Weez fans rocking out on the mansion's front lawn, grotto and arcade, as well as engaging in a spirited games of barefoot soccer and Twister with a bevy of Playmates. There are also about a million instances of kids throwing the "W" sign into the air like (you guessed it) they just don't care.
There's also footage of Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo jamming out on a Steve-Miller-esque guitar solo and looking just a bit uncomfortable as Playmates cavort around him in the mansion's grotto. And he wasn't the only one who felt a bit out of place: Drummer Pat Wilson seemed a little less than psyched to be in attendance, as he explained the concept behind the clip.
"We told [director] Marcos Siega that we need a video — again," he sighed. "And he was like, 'All right, 'Beverly Hills': Let's go to the mansion, and we'll bus in a bunch of Weezer kids. And we won't tell them they're coming up here.'"
Hopefully he's a bit more jazzed about the news that the titles of three other Make Believe tracks have been revealed in a press release from Geffen. The songs are "We Are All on Drugs" (probably the second single), "This Is Such a Pity" and "Peace." But don't tattoo those titles onto your anatomy just yet. Camp Weezer offers this caveat: Several tracks on the album are still in the mixing stage, and a final track list has yet to be determined, though it is said to be very close to completion. 
Category:Transcripts
Category:MTV
MTV.com article - May 24, 2002

Weezer Hitting Sheds With Dashboard Confessional, Strokes
05.24.2002 7:56 AM EDT
Six-week American tour will begin in mid-July.
Weezer's Rivers Cuomo
Photo: Geffen
When drummer Pat Wilson described Weezer's latest live show tendencies recently, he separately mentioned Neil Diamond, Spinal Tap, Tool and Phish in a matter of minutes.
Needless to say, the band's summer tour should be interesting.
Dates have not been announced, but Wilson and frontman Rivers Cuomo said Weezer will spend six weeks hitting amphitheaters across America with Dashboard Confessional beginning in mid-July. The Stokes will also join the bill on a couple of dates.
"It's gonna be awesome," Wilson said. "The sound just goes. In an arena, it sounds stupid, but when we hear stuff and it goes out and then it comes back, it has a certain feeling to it, but in these places, it just feels like the sound you make goes forever. So we'll probably be more like, I don't know, Phish."
Cuomo seconded the notion, going as far as calling Weezer a power-pop Phish. Considering the band's loyal fanbase, which has been following the group on the road and trading set lists and bootlegs, and the way Weezer have been jamming lately, he's got a strong case.
Wilson explained how at a recent show in Tucson, Arizona, the band played four new songs in a row and approached their classics in free-form fashion. "I felt like I was in Tool," he said. "It was so cool. I hope to hear [a tape of the show] sometime and agree with my previous statement."
Weezer's summer tour will promote Maladroit, which debuts at #3 on this week's Billboard 200 albums chart. Many are calling it the band's most rocking record, which Wilson attributed to the past year the band has spent on the road.
"We've been playing [the new material] live so much that after awhile I think it just makes you wanna rock harder, 'cause you just kind of get a tolerance to that level and you just wanna keep going," he said.
— Corey Moss
Category:Transcripts
Category:MTV
MTV.com article - May 29, 2001

Weezer Breeze Through 12 Demos For Next LP
05.29.2001
When Weezer said they wanted to get back into the studio as soon as possible after the release of their new album, they weren't kidding.
The band, who put out Weezer two weeks ago, spent Sunday in a Washington, D.C., recording studio laying down demos for 12 new songs, band assistant Karl Koch wrote on the official Weezer Web site.
"A local D.C. studio was booked, and the session lasted from 2 p.m. [until] about midnight," Koch wrote. "The guys worked at an extremely fast pace, but not due to rushing. They had practiced these songs a lot in the last few weeks during soundcheck and had even played some of them live."
Weezer bassist Mikey Welsh recently said he didn't expect the group to play its newest songs live, citing fears of Napster (see "Weezer Drought Turns Into A Flood"). Unbowed, the band played five of the demoed songs at a show in St. Louis, according to Koch, who tours with the group.
The songs played live include the instrumental "Burnt Jamb," "Keep Fishin'," "Not in Love," "Take Control" and "Saturday Night," Koch wrote.
The other songs Weezer recorded Sunday were "Listen Up," "American Gigolo," "High Up Above," "December," "I Can't Tell You," "Happy Grunge" and the questionably spelled "Puerto Vayarta." Koch cautioned that all titles are tentative. Welsh said earlier this month that Weezer want to begin putting at least an album a year.
"A lot of those bands in the '60s, it seemed like every year they'd make a record, and then they'd tour for it, and then they'd make a record, and they'd tour," he said. "I know that's what we're gonna do — that's what we're gonna be."
A spokesperson for Weezer's label, Interscope, said that Koch's postings are a reliable source of information but that the label was unable to confirm the band's demo session.
—Brian Hiatt
Category:Transcripts
Category:MTV
MTV.com article - October 18, 2005

Elisha Cuthbert Takes Over Weezer — But Rivers Won't Have Any Of It 
10.18.2005 1:53 PM EDT 
Actress portrays band's fictitious original leader in 'Perfect Situation' video.
Weezer
Photo: Geffen
Did you know that back in the early '90s, when they were just another up-and-coming act on L.A.'s Sunset Strip, Weezer were actually fronted by a Canadian hottie and went by the name of "Weeze"?
You didn't? Well that's probably because it's not true. But that didn't stop director Marc Webb from taking that idea and running with it in the video for the band's new single, "Perfect Situation."
"We are exploring the history of Weezer. It's the Weezer prequel, if you will, and we're going to document the early days of the band," he explained. "A lot of people don't know this, but before Weezer was Weezer, they were a band called Weeze. Rivers [Cuomo] was just a roadie for the band, and they had a totally hot female singer."
But just who will be playing that "totally hot" frontwoman? Well Webb wasn't about to tell, but according to Weezer's label, Geffen Records, the role will be played by none other than "24" star Elisha Cuthbert, who might not have the musical chops for the role, but, well, is plenty hot.
"Basically, Weeze was fronted by this totally badass rocker chick, who stole the spotlight from the other members of the band," Webb explained. "Meanwhile Rivers just loads the gear, tunes the guitars and watches from the side of the stage. And he also takes care of Weeze's lead singer when she's partied a bit too hard."
And it's that partying — which Webb described as "Axl Rose crazy ... bashing in TV sets, drinking Jim Beam and cough syrup" — coupled with Cuthbert's character's bad attitude and rock-star temperament that make her an absolute nightmare to deal with. After one night of particularly hard drinking, she throws a diva-esque tantrum and locks herself in her dressing room, refusing to go onstage. And in a tight spot, Weeze ask their roadie to step to the mic ... and Weezer are formed.
"The video is there to capture that magic moment when Weeze becomes Weezer," Webb said. "And we see Rivers step to the mic and slowly win the fans over."
And those fans will be played by, well, actual fans. Much like the band's earlier "Beverly Hills" clip (see "Weezer Party At Playboy Mansion For 'Beverly Hills' Video"), Weezer put out an open casting call on Weezer.com, asking loyal fans to come out and fill the frame with their own brand of somewhat geeky enthusiasm.
"We're filling [Hollywood club Avalon] with Weezer fans, and we're going to mess around with them," Webb said. "We wanted to make a video that's in the spirit of those old Spike Jonze Weezer videos, like 'Buddy Holly' or 'The Sweater Song.' Those great, youthful videos that were so high-concept and so clever. We wanted to play around with what a video is and can be."
— James Montgomery
Category:Transcripts
MTV.com article - September 13, 2005

Are Weezer Calling It Quits?
09/13/2005
Band says Make Believe could be its final album.
James Montgomery
Weezer's Pat Wilson and Rivers Cuomo
Photo: MTV News
[Original article] [Archived link]
They've been a band for more than 13 years, releasing five albums and winning over an army of overly devoted fans in the process. But all that could soon be a distant memory, because it looks like Weezer might never make another album again.
Last week, MTV News spoke to the band before the launch of its co-headlining tour with the Foo Fighters (see "Weezer, Foos Bring Arena-Rock Spectacle To Foozer (WeeFighters?) Tour Kickoff"), and the guys were more than candid about a whole host of subjects, including the fact that Make Believe could very well be their final LP.
...
[Full article on MTV.com]
Category:Transcripts
Category:MTV
MTV.com interview with Rivers Cuomo and Matt Sharp - March 5, 1998

==Video==
<youtube>https://youtu.be/ufTiDCm5xIA</youtube> <youtube>https://youtu.be/jMtAtEEmyy0</youtube>
==See also==
*:Category:Rivers Cuomo Interviews
*:Category:Matt Sharp Interviews
Category:Transcripts
Category:Interviews
Category:Rivers Cuomo interviews
Category:Matt Sharp interviews
Category:Weezer Media Archive
MTV.com interview with Weezer - June 7, 2001

weezer: gang green
Plan for world domination:
1) Release refreshingly poppy self-titled debut album
2) Follow it up with an album of difficult, dark, emotionally-twisted songs named Pinkerton
3) Disappear for four years amid rumors of breakups and breakdowns; lose your bassist
4) Return with 28 minutes of more refreshingly poppy tunes on another self-titled album
5) Pick a drug-referencing song most media outlets can't or won't play as the first single (and include gratuitous pockmarked-sumo-wrestler-butt shots in the video)
6) Sit back and have the last laugh as your tour sells out and the album debuts in the Billboard top 5
Now this formula won't work for everyone. But for über-dweebs Weezer, it's been golden. When they emerged from several years of silence this year to headline a tour, their fans came out in force. The band — mastermind/singer Rivers Cuomo, guitarist Brian Bell and drummer Pat Wilson — recorded their third album with new bassist Mikey Welsh. When it was released in May, their parched fans again turned up for the party.
Sure, everyone wants to be their best friends again, but that doesn't mean they want to explain the inspiration behind songs like "H*** Pipe" and "Island in the Sun." On the contrary, when MTV News' Gideon Yago stepped into the ring with the band, they were more psyched to talk about the difference between Elmo and emo, playing shows in clam shacks and why their next album might be 10 hours long.
***
Category:Transcripts
Category:Interviews
Category:Weezer Media Archive
Category:MTV
MTV 120 Minutes Live

MTV's 120 Minutes Live is a 1998 compilation of performances from Music Television's long-running showcase for alternative rock. Typically, the artists performed live in MTV's studios in New York, usually without an audience. These recordings have the general feel of BBC or radio session recordings.
Weezer makes an appearance with a 1994 reading of their first single, "Undone - The Sweater Song". Interestingly, this compilation seems to be fairly under the radar of the vast majority of Weezer fans, as it is rarely mentioned on boards or traded digitally.
Other artists of note that appear on the disc are Oasis, Radiohead, and a recently reunited Sex Pistols.
From the liner notes:
"When this young L.A. band came in to visit us following the release of their '94 self-titled debut album, no one could have predicted how huge this song or the follow-up single "Buddy Holly" would become. They played both songs that day and it was a truly grueling task deciding which one to include here."
==Track listing==
#"Supersonic" 4:53 - Oasis
#"Honey White" 3:09 - Morphine
#"Kimberly Austin" 3:13 - Porno For Pyros 
#"It's About Time" 2:23 - Evan Dando
#"C'mon Billy" 2:58 - PJ Harvey 
#"Undone - The Sweater Song" 4:05 - Weezer
#"Kiss Off" 3:49 - Violent Femmes 
#"Particle Man" 1:55 - They Might Be Giants
#"Pretty Vacant" 3:19 - Sex Pistols
#"American Jesus" 3:11 - Bad Religion
#"Crazy Mary" 5:38 - Victoria Williams 
#"Aeroplane" 4:13 - Bjork 
#"Villains" 4:58 - Verve Pipe
#"Fake Plastic Trees" 4:47 - Radiohead
Category:Compilation/soundtrack appearances
Category:1998 releases