Rivers Cuomo

“I decided to try celibacy because I heard it would help the meditation, and I tried meditation because I heard it would help with the music. So, it all really comes back to the music.”

“The truth is, I hate to perform. I get such bad stage fright, it makes me physically ill.”

“Meditation hasn't separated me from my life and my friends and my work. It's just made my fear go away, so I can just be that much more engaged.”

“I'm constantly fighting with my manager to reduce the amount of time I have to spend on promotional activities, so I can get back in the studio and work on new music.”

“Miley Cyrus' 'Party in the USA' kills me with jealousy. The melodies are out-of-control beautiful.”

“I think probably with any performer, but maybe with rock music especially, the audience wants to see the singer being real, and exploring, and not doing a rehearsed routine, so I'm just constantly looking for new things to try. I'm really curious out there, and my curiosity has led me into all kinds of bizarre situations.”

“I think I'm a good dad. It's hard. Ultimately, it's our kids that have the final word. So we'll have to ask them.”

“Cat Stevens' music, voice, and energy made me feel so secure. He sounded different from some of the paternal figures in my life, so gentle and kind.”

“I love writing songs. One of the toughest things is structure; it just works when you use verse, chorus, verse, chorus, bridge. And as soon as you become aware of that formula, you start to have a bad conscience when you write with that particular structure.”

“I think I've been skeptical of violent passion for a long time. I think 'Pinkerton' is about that a lot - seeing how, every time I've felt really passionate for someone, as soon as I 'acquire' them or feel like I've acquired them, the passion goes away.”

“Probably the most reliable comfort music for me over the years has been Bach.”

“I just gotta keep reminding myself: Every time I do an interview or something, my volition really has to be just to serve, to help people. Not to feel like I'm important.”

“New country music comprises about five percent of what I hear per year. I enjoy it, but I don't really take note of who's singing it or writing it.”

“I guess I'm just a born performer or artist or sharer. I find the intimate details of my life compelling and interesting. I guess that I'm assuming that everyone else does, too.”

“I do want to make music that people love, but I also want to make music that I love. I know I can't please everyone with anything I do, so I don't think too much about how other people are going to take things.”

“It seems like Weezer has gotten better and better at getting attention for everything besides our music. Part of that is just the nature of our culture now - you really have to scream to get some attention, so people even know you have a record out that they might want to listen to.”

“I listen to music a lot on the treadmill - I would test 'Raditude' songs out on the treadmill.”

“I really want to disappear, grow a beard, not talk to anyone, not make any friends... I just want to disappear and study.”

“When 'Nevermind' came out, my roommate had the CD. At first, I actually thought, 'This is too polished and commercial.' It was a little off-putting. But then I was like, 'This is the best music ever.' It felt so close to what I wanted to do.”

“What I am best at is reading a book and then writing a critical essay.”