Let’s be honest: No matter what Rivers Cuomo releases, we’ll jump at the chance to talk with him, even for a one-pass e-mail interview like this one. He’s just released his first collection of demos, Alone, but Weezer’s upcoming sixth album looms large on the horizon. For those who want Weezer to shake things up a bit, it appears you may get more than you bargained for. But we shouldn’t underestimate Cuomo, when these home recordings unearthed they had more than their share of surprises– a bit of the more introspective bedroom tracks, certainly, but then there’s the Ice Cube cover and a Gregg Alexander cover, not to mention the songs inspired by Romantic-Minimalism, the experiments with counterpoint in vocals, and the forays into MOR pop… it’s no surprise to hear that Cuomo is a restless listener, and just as restless a musician of late, if his reports on Album Six are to be believed. Given the breadth covered on Alone, and all the music he’s got in the vaults, these promises are likely just the tip of the iceberg.

Pitchfork: Your best estimate: How much unreleased material of yours is in “the vault,” so to speak?

Rivers Cuomo: My best estimate: About one hour of music that is close to Alone’s level of commercial viability and about another eight hours of music that is at least semi-decent.

Pitchfork: Will we see more of these releases if Alone is successful?

RC: I’m talking with the record company now to figure out a way for me to release as much of my material as I want, regardless of commercial success.

Pitchfork: Why not sneak these songs out online, as you have in the past? The collection hangs together quite well as a record, I think, but I’m curious when you decide a song becomes “worth” releasing as a physical product.

RC: If enough people out there want a physical product, I’ll be happy to make one. I’d say about 10,000 people is “enough.”

Pitchfork: Do you think the internet has granted you more or less control over your music and how it’s released?

RC: The internet has not granted us more control in relation to the record company because we’re still bound by an agreement with them not to release our music without their consent. But they generally let us do what we want, anyway, so it doesn’t matter who’s officially in control.

Pitchfork: Generally speaking, why do you think fans become so fixated on “lost” records? Lifehouse, The Basement Tapes, Songs From the Black Hole, etc…?

RC: Yeah, it’s funny, huh? I don’t know. I was fixated on Prince’s Black Album for a long time.

Pitchfork: Now that you’re on the other side of that, what’s it feel like? Do these unfinished projects get blown out of proportion by fans?

RC: Yeah, it seemed like people thought the Black Hole was much more substantial than it is.

Pitchfork: You say in the liners to Alone that you’ll play your demo tapes to anyone who will listen. Of all those you’ve played potential Weezer songs to, who do you think your harshest critic has been (aside from yourself, of course)?

RC: Todd Sullivan, who signed Weezer to Geffen Records in 1993 and has been in and out of the Weezer camp over the years, has been my harshest critic.

For the rest of the interview head over to PitchforkMedia