Question: What year did Matt Sharp become a founding member of the band Weezer?

Context articles: Homie (band)
Matt Sharp (album)
Return of the Rentals
The Rentals
Mikey Welsh
Weezer (2001 album)
Songs from the Black Hole
Pinkerton (album)
Weezer
Matt Sharp

Homie was a side project of Rivers Cuomo, lead singer of the band Weezer.
 Homie, as it stands now, was a one-time effort.
 Homie has released just one song, "American Girls", for the soundtrack of the 1998 film "Meet the Deedles".
 For this recording, Cuomo was joined by Greg Brown (member of Cake and Deathray), Matt Sharp (formerly of Weezer, lead singer of The Rentals), Adam Orth of Shufflepuck and Yuval Gabay of Soul Coughing and Sulfur.
Matt Sharp is a self-titled debut from former Weezer bassist and The Rentals frontman Matt Sharp.
 The album is notable for featuring no electric guitar, synths, or percussion.
 Instead lap steel, acoustic guitar, piano, and organ are the only accompaniment to Sharp's vocals.
 The album was recorded in Tennessee.
Return of the Rentals is the debut album by alternative rock band The Rentals, released on October 24, 1995, through Maverick Records, a subsidiary of Reprise Records.
 The album features Matt Sharp—Weezer's bassist at the time—on vocals and bass, as well as Weezer drummer Patrick Wilson.
 Other contributors include Tom Grimley (Moog, production), Petra Haden (violin, vocals), Rachel Haden (vocals), Guy Oseary (album artwork), and Stephen Marcussen (mastering).
The Rentals are an American rock band fronted by vocalist Matt Sharp, best known as the former bassist for Weezer.
 Sharp has been the only consistent member since the group's inception.
 The band is best known for their 1995 single "Friends of P." The Rentals released two albums, "Return of the Rentals" (1995) and "Seven More Minutes" (1999) on Maverick Records before quietly splitting in 1999 following a world tour.
 The group reformed in 2005 and have since released several EPs and a third full-length album, "Lost in Alphaville", which was released August 26, 2014, on Polyvinyl Records.
 Due to the revolving nature of studio and live collaborators, determining who is actually an official member of the group at any one point is difficult.
Michael Edward "Mikey" Welsh (April 20, 1971 – October 8, 2011) was an American artist and musician, best known as the former bassist of Weezer.
 He played with Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo during Cuomo's time in Boston during the hiatus in the band Homie.
 Following original bassist Matt Sharp's decision to leave Weezer to focus on his group, The Rentals, Welsh was chosen to take over on bass.
 Welsh played with Weezer from the time that they unofficially regrouped in 1998 until August 2001, when he suffered a mental breakdown.
 Shortly afterwards, he retired from music to focus on his art career.
 Welsh died on October 8, 2011.
Weezer, also known as the Green Album, is the third studio album by American rock band Weezer, released on May 15, 2001, through Geffen Records.
 Produced by Ric Ocasek, this is the only Weezer album to feature bassist Mikey Welsh, who replaced Matt Sharp.
 The album is grounded in the power pop genre, featuring strong melodies, crisp vocal harmonies, and prominent guitar riffs.
 It is also Weezer's quickest-selling album.
Songs from the Black Hole is an unfinished, unreleased album by the American alternative rock band Weezer recorded between 1994 and 1996.
 Intended to follow their 1994 self-titled debut album, it was to be a science fiction rock opera that expressed songwriter Rivers Cuomo's mixed feelings about rock and roll success.
 Its six characters were to be voiced by Cuomo, guitarist Brian Bell and bassist Matt Sharp of Weezer, Rachel Haden of That Dog and the Rentals, Joan Wasser of the Dambuilders, and Weezer collaborator Karl Koch.
Pinkerton is the second studio album by American rock band Weezer, released on September 24, 1996 on DGC Records.
 After abandoning plans for a rock opera titled "Songs from the Black Hole", Weezer recorded "Pinkerton" between songwriter Rivers Cuomo's terms at Harvard University, where he wrote much of the album.
 It was the last Weezer album to feature bassist Matt Sharp.
Weezer is an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1992, consisting of Rivers Cuomo (lead vocals, guitar), Patrick Wilson (drums), Brian Bell (guitar, backing vocals, keyboards), and Scott Shriner (bass guitar, backing vocals).
 Weezer has sold 9.2 million albums in the US and over 17 million worldwide.
Matthew Kelly "Matt" Sharp (born September 22, 1969) is an American multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter and producer, and is best known as a founding member and former bassist of the alternative rock band Weezer.
 In 1994, Sharp started a band named The Rentals, who released their debut album shortly after Weezer's first release, followed by their 2nd album in 1999, and an EP in 2007.
 In addition, Sharp has released one full-length album and one EP as a solo artist.