I’m a bit late to the party as, while I liked Weezer, I’d never really heard their albums all the way through. So I dove in, and really liked what I heard. While my favorites on The Blue Album are “Undone – The Sweater Song” and “Say It Ain’t So,” Pinkerton, which got kicked to the curb by the press, features my two favorite Weezer songs, “El Scorcho” and “The Good Life.” It's a very good, underrated album. The Rentals’ “Friends Of P” is sweet, sincere, and fun, as is “Waiting.” That the Los Angeles Geek Rock scene combined these bands’ sound with Nirvana’s is cool. You might think so too.

S.W. Lauden, who played drums in Ridel High, one of the bands on the Generation Blue compilation, and curated and edited the accompanying oral history book, provided a window on a scene that I’m very glad to know about now. He was kind enough to answer a few questions for me.

Andrea Weiss: How did the Geek Rock scene start?

S.W. Lauden: “Geek Rock” is one of those terms that has been applied to a variety of artists over the decades, from Frank Zappa and Devo to Descendents and They Might Be Giants – but in the 90s it was most often used to describe Weezer and a slew of bands that took aesthetic and songwriting cues from their self-titled debut album (aka The Blue Album). In Los Angeles, where Weezer formed and got signed to DGC, they (along with The Rentals) inspired a whole scene of bands like Shufflepuck, Ridel High, Nerf Herder, Ozma, and many others throughout the 90s and into the early 2000s. That specific Hollywood Geek Rock scene is really the focus of Generation Blue.

AW: What did the scene get from Weezer?

S.W. Lauden: Quite a lot, actually. You have to remember that Hollywood was still experiencing a Sunset Strip/Hair Metal hangover in the early 90s, so you had a lot of talented musicians trying to figure out what was next. At the same time, funk/punk/hard rock bands like Fishbone, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Jane’s Addiction were taking off from the local scene. That was also the same moment when college rock/alternative/grunge/pop punk were all breaking into the mainstream. Wild times.

Weezer combined musical elements from everything that was current at the time (quiet/loud song structure, crunchy guitars, etc.), but mixed it with a classic Beach Boys-y pop songwriting approach and a sort of metal precision. On top of that, they abandoned any classic ideas of what a rock band was supposed to look like (wearing soccer jerseys and glasses on stage, etc.) and wrote lyrics about loving KISS and playing Dungeons & Dragons. A lot of Hollywood musicians found that really freeing and gravitated toward it to make something of their own.

AW: I hear Nirvana in these bands too, which is a great combination. Were the bands listening to them as well?

S.W. Lauden: We were all listening to Nirvana back then, and Rivers Cuomo has often cited them as an inspiration for the direction Weezer took. So, Nirvana’s influence on all of the Generation Blue bands, either directly or indirectly, is pretty undeniable. That said, I always assumed that Nirvana’s quiet/loud dynamics on Nevermind (and specifically “Teen Spirit”) were at least partially inspired by Pixies. And Pixies was the band that Weezer most reminded me of when I first heard The Blue Album – Pixies meets The Beach Boys.

AW: The lyrics for a lot of the bands here deal with heartbreak and frustration. Were they outlining fictional situations or drawing from their own lives?

S.W. Lauden: I honestly have no idea, but in general I assume that most pop songs are works of fiction brought to life by some kernel of personal experience or perspective. We were all in our 20s, playing in bands, and spending most of our free time in beer-soaked rock clubs. Given those conditions, you’d have to assume that at least a few hearts got broken along the way.

AW: Supersport 2000's “Mooks” is a great song about surfing fun. Were they surfers?

S.W. Lauden: It was a long time ago, but if memory serves I think at least one of them did surf. Thematically, though, I like how that track offers a more indie reflection of Weezer’s “Surf Wax America.” On top of that, Supersport 2000 is pivotal in the 90s Hollywood scene, because they were there (at first as Magpie) when Weezer formed and started playing clubs; and most of Supersport 2000 later became Matt Sharp’s band during the Return of the Rentals/ “Friends With P.” era.

AW: “We Opened for Weezer” by Nerf Herder is a wonderful tribute. I'd read in the companion book to the comp Generation Blue that Weezer, especially Rivers, gave a lot back to the scene. Could you say something about that?

S.W. Lauden: I’m glad you pointed that out because it was one of my favorite threads that emerged as I did interviews for the Generation Blue oral history. Many of the musicians I spoke with had a story or two to tell about how members of Weezer helped them out early on.

There’s no doubt that Rivers Cuomo and Matt Sharp helped their close friends Adam Orth and Justin Fisher in Shufflepuck, introducing them to club bookers and adding them to a couple of high-profile shows. Adam Marsland gives Rivers a lot of credit for helping him conceptualize a direction for his band Cockeyed Ghost. Weezer had my band Ridel High open a handful of West Coast shows during the Pinkerton era when A&M Records was thinking about signing us, and I’m pretty sure that helped seal the deal. The Nerf Herder-Weezer connection is perfectly (and hilariously!) chronicled in “We Opened For Weezer,” and I already mentioned the Supersport 2000-Rentals connection.

Ozma is probably the band that most directly benefited from Weezer’s support. They were still teens when their guitarist handed Rivers a copy of their first album at Warped Tour. That led to them opening for their idols on two California shows, later followed by a couple of full-blown national tours. That early support gave them a platform to become the phenomenal band they are. Ozma’s entire catalog is well worth exploration.

As Rod Cervera of Supersport 2000/The Rentals says toward the end of the Generation Blue oral history: “The Weezer story is kind of a unique story for the LA music scene. It’s a small camp of people...it’s always been a pretty tight-knit thing."

AW: What do you hope people take away from the comp and book?

S.W. Lauden: If they were there or were aware of this Hollywood scene back then, I hope it brings back some great memories and fills in a few blanks. If they weren’t there and this is all new to them, I hope they enjoy these stories and music as much as we did putting it all together. It really was an incredible scene.