In the second of a series of private shows to promote HP’s Beats Audio line, Weezer took a break from tour to rock a soggy and wet Times Square yesterday. The short set was broadcast live from Reuters Studio A to the Nasdaq jumbotron and streamed live thanks to production house Digital Broadcasting Group to HP’s facebook page.
HP’s Beats laptops were produced in conjunction with Dr. Dre and promise to give listeners the realest of the real audio playback. We’ll be getting the 14-inch Envy for review soon to test out said features.
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With a mix of old and new tracks, the old boys of rock’s yesteryear jammed out to an intimate crowd of less than 25. Afterwards we sat down with Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo and had a short chat about the band’s tour, what’s in his ears, the World Cup and Cuomo’s thoughts on making weird noises.
*Caveat: My Olympus recorder was either on the fritz or Rivers was speaking too softly because it intermittently went into standby mode, so the interview doesn’t have Cuomo’s full answers. Sorry.
So, Rivers, tell me about “Represent”. How did that come about?
Rivers Cuomo: I’ve been a soccer fan pretty much from the day I was born. My dad was really into soccer. It was a big part of life growing up in Rochester, NY. I’ve followed the U.S. national team the last three World Cups except this last one. I wanted to be apart of the hype and so I quickly pulled this together since I couldn’t be apart of the team and iTunes was helpful in putting it up over night.
What’d you think of the outcome?
RC: I don’t know why people like myself get so passionate about their national teams. Every four years we all get wrapped up but I have mixed feelings about this year like a lot of fans. It was an amazing accomplishment to even make it into the Cup but I’m thinking that we could have won the whole thing. We beat Spain last year in the Confederations Cup!
What sort of in-ear monitors are you using?
RC: Shures.
What are you doing to keep yourself entertained while on tour?
RC: I’m a busy person and there’s a lot of things I’m interested in. I’m still working on Japanese since my wife is Japanese. It’s an Everest of a task. I’m working on new music and rereading the “Great Gatsby”.
I’ve heard some weird sounds coming out of bands like Broken Bells. Have you looked at veering away from doing what you’re known to do and bringing some technology to tweak it and make it sound different?
RC: It’s a balance figuring out how to incorporate different sounds and not to get caught up in the excitement. It helps to get away from your recording process and play it for your friends.