Matt Sharp: The Sharp One

Matt!
Matthew Kelly Sharp was actually born in Singapore. But he was raised in Arlington, Virginia, the capital of all that is sassy. He came into the world September 22, 1969 and has been spreading rock ever since then. Matt thumped away at bass on Blue and Pinkerton. He also sings falsetto backing vocals on both CDs, most noticable on Say It Ain't So. You can also hear Matt inserting random acts of goofiness, such as the "yeah, check me" during The Good Life intro, the gargling in the beginning of "El Scorcho", and some conversation in Undone - The Sweater Song.

Matt was probably the most entertaining member of weezer during live shows, interviews, and radio shows. He randomly sings songs, dances, makes up stories, and shifts into a British accent. Anyone who has seen weezer live, on TV, or even on older live recordings knows what I’m talking about. He's certainly got character.

Sadly, Matt is no longer in weezer. He has gone on to his own rock festival, the Moog powered band, The Rentals, which has put out two albums, The Return of the Rentals in 1995, and Seven More Minutes in 1999. No one is relly sure about the Rentals status these days, they're attempting to tour in the US but all efforts have failed because of a lack of touring musicians and funds to ship the expensive band across the nation. They've had a moderate amount of success, and the strain of performing in two active bands became too much, and so he chose to leave sometime in early 1998. Since then, Mikey Welsh had filled the void behind the bass until he left and Scott Schriner took over.

Upon his departure, Matt and the remaining weezers were on good terms, and still are. Shortly after he decided to leave, he and Rivers and Pat stepped into the studio and generated "American Girls" under the alias Homie for the Meet the Deedles soundtrack. Matt also stayed at Rivers house for awhile, where the collaborated for a Rentals song "My Head is in the Sun". Matt has called these experiences some of the best in his career, and intends to stay in touch with weezer, who are like his family.

Even though Matt is no longer in weezer, he is part of the legacy and is a really cool guy. It’s too bad I got into weezer at such a time he was already gone or maybe I would have met him.

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