Matt Sharp

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Matt Sharp
Matt Sharp on the album cover of Return of the Rentals.
Background information
Born	September 22, 1969
Origin	Arlington, Virginia
Genre(s)	Rock
Occupation(s)	Bass Guitar- Backing Vocals, Lead Vocals
Instrument(s)	Bass Guitar Vocals Acoustic Guitar Moog
Label(s)	Geffen Records, Warner
Associated acts	Weezer The Rentals

Matt Sharp (born September 22, 1969 in Arlington, Virginia) is a founding member and former bassist for the band Weezer. In 1994, he started a new group called The Rentals and released their debut album shortly after Weezer's first release. In addition, he has released one full length album and one ep as a solo artist.

[edit] Biography

Sharp was a founding member of Weezer, which was formed on Valentines Day in 1992. After the success of Weezer's first album The Blue Album, he founded The Rentals in the spring of 1994, who released their debut Return of the Rentals the following year, which featured the radio hit "Friends Of P." He left Weezer in February 1998 after the release of the band's second album, Pinkerton.

The Rentals released their second album, Seven More Minutes, in 1999. The Rentals stopped touring in 1999.

Sharp moved to the small town of Leiper's Fork, Tennessee, about an hour outside of Nashville, Tennessee where his days were spent mostly eating at the only local restaurant and taking care of an old retired horse. Matt began recording while living there. In an interview with MTV News Matt told the reporter he was trying to disconnect and cut all ties to the music world. [1]

After a four year hiatus from the public eye, Sharp returned to the music scene with an EP entitled "Puckett's Versus The Country Boy" in late 2003. Puckett's was the name of the restaurant that Sharp ate at while living in Tennessee. Sharp also went on an acoustic tour in the fall of 2002, touring with former Cake guitarist Greg Brown.

Sharp filed a five-count federal lawsuit against Weezer on April 19, 2002.^{[citation needed]} He alleged he was owed money for co-writing Weezer's first hit song, "Undone (The Sweater Song)," and that he owned a 25% interest in the first nine tracks of Pinkerton (which had been credited solely to Rivers Cuomo. Sharp also claimed he had handled most of Weezer's business affairs during their early success, such as hiring accountants and attorneys, and also had helped the band land their record deal [2]. According to the Weezer biography Rivers' Edge: The Weezer Story by John D. Luerssen the lawsuit also stated that Weezer front man Rivers Cuomo was going to ask him to appear in the music video for the song "Island in the Sun." Finally, Sharp charged his former bandmates with breach of fiduciary duty, legal malpractice, dissolution of partnership, and declatory relief. The lawsuit was later settled out of court. As a follow-up of sorts, when Sharp was asked about his future with Weezer, he brought up the fact that he hadn't heard any of their music since he left and that "if they (the albums) were bad, they'd probably be just as bad if I was there" [3].

On February 12, 2004, just two days before Weezer's twelfth anniversary, Rivers Cuomo and Matt Sharp ended their public separation when they reunited onstage. Rivers sat in during a Sharp solo show at Cal State Fullerton. Sharp and Cuomo played four songs together: the Sharp/Cuomo collaborations "Mrs. Young" and "Time Song," and the Weezer tunes "Say It Ain't So" and "Undone." At the show, Sharp announced that he and Cuomo would be working on a collaborative record together. Yet later that year, he announced on his website that although they had come up with "15 or 16 new song ideas, some good, some not so good" for their new album, their "special brand of disfunctionality" kept them from ever finishing the project. [4]

Sharp released a solo EP in 2003, a solo full-length in 2004 and continued to tour in 2004-2005 with the band Goldenboy.

After a slow period in 2005, Sharp contemplated what to do next. Considering either a new solo album, starting a new collaborative partnership (although he didn't state with who) or possibly retiring and opening up a small tobacco store in a remote Spanish village. The possibility of him rejoining Weezer was also an option [5]. Thus he decided to re-form The Rentals after a six year absence. Work has begun on a third album. Rachel Haden, a member of the original lineup has been confirmed to be part of the new lineup. Also confirmed are Sara Radle. Sara Radle's myspace blog tells the story of when she first became aware of Matt Sharp's idea to reform the Rentals.

[edit] External links

Weezer
Brian Bell • Rivers Cuomo • Scott Shriner • Patrick Wilson
Former members: Jason Cropper • Matt Sharp • Mikey Welsh
Discography
Albums: Weezer (The Blue Album) • Pinkerton • Weezer (The Green Album) • Maladroit • Make Believe
Extended plays and live albums: The Good Life • The Lion and the Witch • Winter Weezerland