Karl's Corner - Fall 1997

Transcribed from original Weezine #11.
WELCOME BACK!!
It's been quite awhile since the last 'zine and despite all the tragedy, or rather, in spite of it, the 'zine moves on! This after a ton of talking, thinking and planning, and a flood of requests from you, the members, to "keep it up -- and on the double!" Well, your support , concern and overall enthusiasm & optimism is what kept this band and 'zine going. So, on behalf of the weezer men, the Allan's and myself, you all get an enormous and heart felt THANK YOU!!!!!!!!
New members may not realize it, but this issue marks a new look for the weezine and can be regarded as an experiment. I, Karl, knowing nothing of 'zine manufacture, did a lot of research and discovered the format you now hold is the easiest to design and least expensive to implement. Four to five months of fan club limbo have made me paranoid about going "into the red," so I decided to sacrifice a few pages in total page area to do it the "fold-out-newspaper" way. Hopefully whatever material doesn't fit into the 'zine will wind up in the next one, which, becoming "full" of stuff sooner, would logically be printed up and sent out sooner. With any luck I won't have to deviate much from the quarterly schedule that mykel and carli stuck to, but as I said before, this can not be guaranteed anymore. You'll be receiving as many 'zines per year as I can get out. It could be 4, it could be 2...it could be 6! I just don't know and this club can no longer guarantee that.
The other thing you need to know is that we are temporarily not offering any merchandise for sale. In an upcoming issue I'll make an announcement of what will happen with all that...but for now I can unofficially say that it doesn't look like we'll be offering the "regular" weezer shirts, such as the "if it's too loud..." or "rock music" ones. What will probably happen is that we'll be offering new fan club exclusive shirts (when we do and what they'll look like is to be announced). The "weezer covers compilation vol. 1" is sold out and we're not going to be making more, however, that doesn't rule out a future contest to be on a "volume 2"! Stay tuned and keep practicing!
What is currently available is weezine back issues. All issues #1 - #10 are in print and available for 5 US 32 cent stamps (or 2 IRC's for non-US residents). No SASE is necessary.
Next issue I'll have an announcement regarding some other stuff available exclusively to you, the fan clubbers!
Data Lab Questions
A lot of people have been asking, "What happened to the Date Lab?" Well, some time ago Matt instructed mykel and carli to put a hold on any Rentals Fan Club activity until the Rentals were again active. Now that the album has been considerably delayed, Matt has asked for everyone to just be patient and whatever is going to become of the Data Lab and it's loyal members will be indicated when the new album is finally released. Matt appreciates all the kind letters he's gotten. At this point, I'd suggest sending any Rentals related letters directly to Matt simply by writing "Matt Sharp" at the top of the Fan Club address. Letters to "The Date Lab" may be held up in "limbo" for the time being. No Rentals merchandise nor lyrics are currently available.
RECENT EVENTS!
So, what's been going on since the tour ended? And what is going to happen? I'll do my best to fill you in.
Brian's been holed up in Los Angeles, his adoptive home, and hasn't been in touch as of late. His plans, which I'm sure he's been busy with, were to continue practicing and playing out with his new revitalized Space Twins, and either re-mix or re-record some of his newest demo songs, which he unveiled back in May to his fellow band mates & myself. His goal is still to get an album of material released as soon as possible, by whatever means he can corral. I'm sure by the holiday's he'll have made much progress on all these fronts.
*see update on brian elsewhere in this issue!
Matt has found himself in a bit of a conundrum. His plan was to finish up all the work on the new Rentals album in Los Angeles immediately after the end of the weezer tour. Unfortunately, Matt's master tapes are still in England and have been much delayed in being shipped over 'the big pond'. Apparently, the studio Matt was working in feels that it's still owed for some of his sessions, while Maverick (The Rentals label) feels that they were paid in full. Consequently, Matt's been waiting around in L.A. to work, and is very likely quite frustrated. Hopefully he's been strumming a guitar and writing new songs in the meantime. If Matt can pull it together in time, his new album should be released not long after Christmas.
Pat has been savoring the Portland flavor, living happily in his tree-filled neighborhood, driving his Chevelle, playing "TUROK" and plotting The Special Goodness' future. As I write, The Special Goodness drummer, Lee Loretta, is enroute to Portland for a new round of rehearsals for upcoming touring. Bass-man Pat Finn has already moved to Portland, anticipating the imminent lifestyle changes that "being in a band with Pat Wilson" entails. Originally scheduled for September '97, "The Special Goodness" is now to be released February 10, 1998.
*P.S. REHEARSALS WENT "REALLY WELL", AND PRE-RELEASE TOURING IS BEING PLANNED!
Wow, between Bri, Matt and Pat, there sure is a lot of great stuff you folks haven't heard yet! Well, you're in for a treat, actually many many 2-5 minute long treats. Patience is a virtue. But waiting is no fun either. Hmmm...
Meanwhile, our man in the Boston area, the one and only Rivers, has pulled a fast one and deferred this semester at Harvard at the last possible minute. That means he took the semester off. Why? It seems he started writing songs the second he got home from the tour (he has started a few on the road too, an unprecedented thing for him), and didn't want to short circuit the process -- which as we know is actually a painstaking one for him. If you're lucky, you may find him with a few local friends playing a Boston area gig or two, trying out the new material. If you do manage to find him, tell me how it sounds!!
*see Rivers's own words on all this, to the right! →
As for me, I'm just trying to find a way to keep this fan club going whilst holding on to my other (non-tour, non-weezer) job. Down in the basement lay my painting studio and recording studio (non-professional). So there is consistent temptation to go down and do what comes quickest to me -- just being creative in a pokey, "I'll get there when I'll get there" way. Whatever delays this may contribute in the fan club realm, I apologize for. I hope that Anuj of the "Rebel Weezer Allience" web page is keeping the computer-savvy informed, and that those out-of-touch except for regular mail (like me) can be patient. It's my intention to reply to every concern you send in, even of only briefly (a SASE really speeds things up - especially if you have a concern, comment or question that you don't want answered in the 'zine). The delay is still going to be considerable -- the mail is being sorted in Portland, then sent to me in blocks. (Thanks to the lovely Tiffany O' Portland!)
rivers reports in
Hello everybody.
For my part, I'll fill you in on what I've been up to since the summer tour ended
--First of all . I dropped out of school. didn't feel like going back.
--That means I have more time for music. I've been playing some shows with some of my Boston friends--Mikey on bass and Zeph on drums(both from a band called Chevy Heston)--trying out songs that may appear in the next weezer record. They're very different from those on Pinkerton and ol' Blue but I'm not going to tell you how.
--I also actually recorded a new album with some other Boston friends. Fred(from the Gigolo Aunts) on drums and Drew (from Tracy Bonham's band) on bass. This is an album of goofball songs I've written over the past six years that were never recorded by Weezer. Some of you might know some of these songs. Most of them are acoustic-y and almost country-ish, but don't worry, it's still a cool record. Unfortunately, I have no idea when it's coming out.
--By the way, avoid referring to either of these new bands as "solo projects". The word "project" makes it sound like I'm working with construction paper and paste. Or that I'm dispassionately pouring hydrochloric acid on rocks to see if the fizzle, I'm not doing anything like that. I'm rocking out. This is a way of life, not a "project". Also, there's nothing "solo" about what i'm doing--I'm playing with other guys. I have no interest in playing music by myself. That would be about as much fun playing tennis by myself or simply playing with myself (which, of course suffices in a pich). "side project" seems a bogus term too. as if the music I'm making now is merely cranberry sauce alongside the roast turkey of Weezer. There's no need to divide music up into meaningless categories like "side project" or "solo project" or "The Alan Parsons Project". We're all just singing along like one big dysfunctional family. So relax. There's just a lot of new songs and I want to play them while Pat ,Matt, and Brain are busy working on their, um , other bands.
--I also now have more time for soccer. I'm the starting left-midfielder on team "Brestchester United" which plays around Massachusetts in the Bay State League. I've scored two goals and I'm the fastest man on the field. As the season comes to a close, our team is fighting for second place in the division.
--So my typical day is: wake up at 10, .ie in bed and listen to Howard Stern for 1/2 hour, get up, pee, have coffee, practice piano for an hour, work on songs all afternoon (or, alternately, procrastinate and accomplish nothing), play music with friends and /or go to soccer practice, and finally, at the end of the night, call up a girlfriend for some affection before I go to bed. (although I make sure that the girl is at least 3000 miles away so as to avoid the risk of actually forming some kind of real relationship). That's a typical day. Sound exciting? It's not. But I'm having a lot of fun and I'm getting a lot accomplished. There's a butt-load of new songs waiting to be heard. If you're in Boston any time soon, check the paper and come see us play.
Note: all punctuation errors are
::Karl's fault - I had to
::retype Rivers's fax at
::2 AM...
::(Karl + typing + 2 AM = bad news!)
03/1997