by kellie abrahamson kabrahamson1@aol.com
Nada Surf will be at Jack Rabbits on May 31st.
Tickets are $15. For more information or to purchase tickets online, go to jackrabbitsonline.com.
After 16 years, Nada Surf has seen the music industry’s peaks, valleys and everything in between. They topped the charts in 1996 with their single ‘Popular,’ but found out how fickle fans can be with their second major label record, The Proximity Effect. Since then, the New York-based three-piece has made three phenomenal albums with indie label Barsuk Records and has found a whole new fan base. EU recently spoke with Nada Surf vocalist Matthew Caws about the state of the industry, the awesomeness of MySpace and what to expect later this month when they rock Jack Rabbits.
EU: You guys have been around the music industry for a while. How have you seen things changed over the years?
Matthew Caws: I think the great thing is that people don’t have to waste money on records that they don’t like anymore. They can be educated consumers and check out a lot of stuff for free online through MySpace and iTunes--that’s amazing. What’s maybe not so good is [that] the form of the album may be in danger. That’s kind of a pity… Of course the worst thing of all is that record stores are closing… because that’s a really valuable place. In so many ways it’s good for the community. It’s where you discover music and dream. I don’t think on iTunes you’re really dreaming, I don’t think there’s a lot of romance there. Sometimes you just want to look through old records, go through the used bins. What’s better than that? Just seeing all the names displayed out physically, tangibly. So [the closing of record stores] sucks. Live music is doing great, of course, because people are sitting in front of their computers all day and don’t get to be around other people. Communion is missing, so you can go get that for $15 and have a really good rockin’ time. Big, bloated labels sinking, merging, dying; I hate to say I told you so, but obviously they brought it upon themselves. Most CDs are too expensive; shutting down Napster was really stupid.
EU: It seems like I hear you guys more on TV shows and movie soundtracks than on the radio or on MTV. Do you think those mediums are sort of going the way of the dinosaur too?
MC: Oh, for sure, for sure. I mean, MTV is gone. Videos are back on YouTube, but it’s not the same. It might work out better. TV shows are great. A lot of people that program these TV stations must have worked at college radio stations. And ads are great because we really need the money since we’re not making money selling records anymore… Everything changed when The Shins did the McDonald’s commercial. At the time of their first record that was a big deal because here’s a band who put out a great record in just a few months and I’m like, “This is the best band in the country, they’re blowing my mind. Oh my God, this record is perfect! Jesus Christ! Whoa, they’re in a McDonald’s commercial. What the eff? Well, all bets are off,” you know. Where as… in the 80s this band called the Del Fuegos did a Miller commercial and that was it, their career was over… So things have changed, even though it still seems cheesy when you hear a Who song or a Zeppelin song in a car commercial and you’re like, “What the f**k, that’s ridiculous.” But, we do need the money. We’re certainly not getting wealthy. We live in New York so the rent is so high.
EU: You teamed up with MySpace recently. Tell me a little more about Transmissions.
MC: They’ve done a couple of those and asked us to do the second one and it was cool. We went to a recording studio in Brooklyn and set up and played some acoustic songs and they filmed it and it was nice; definitely got us a lot of hits for a while. I like MySpace a lot, I think it’s awesome.
EU: Your new album Lucky has gotten some really great reviews from critics. How have fans received it?
MC: Great. It seems like ‘See These Bones’ is the one that is really connecting with people. But in general all the new stuff is being received great live.
EU: How’s the tour going?
MC: Amazing. It’s great! We have Martin Wenk from Calexico playing with us this week and a half, playing trumpet and keyboards and stuff, and the week before that we had Louis Lino who is a guy from New York and now lives in Texas who helped me record the vocals in the last few records. He produces and does some keyboards. It’s just awesome, he’s great. The crowds are amazing, places are being sold out which we’ve never done before. More people than ever are showing up. The crowds are much bigger than even when we were all over TV with ‘Popular.’
EU: Are you still getting requests for ‘Popular?’
MC: Yeah, sometimes. We play it sometimes. We often put it in the middle of the set. I think it’s pretty funny. I still f**k it up. It’s hard to play.
EU: What’s been your favorite place to play so far?
MC: Boston is amazing. Boston is always nice. Montreal is amazing. Toronto is great. I love Canada; it’s like here except better.
EU: Do you have a favorite song to play live?
MC: I really like playing ‘Whose Authority.’ It’s so easy to play that I can just think about singing and just enjoy it. Years ago, like after one of our first records, concerts were like a math test- I would just put my head down and try to get past these ridiculously fast guitar parts. Now I can look up a little bit. ‘Happy Kid,’ I’ve always loved playing that, and ‘See These Bones,’ the first one off the new record, is the last song in every show now. It’s really satisfying, it just builds and builds and keeps on building and at the end it feels a little bit like we’re getting a point across.
EU: What can people expect from a Nada Surf show?
MC: We tend to play things a little faster than on the record, a little harder. We’re basically more rockin’ and we really enjoy it… We’ll be playing some new stuff and some older songs. The shows are pretty long. We’re kind of loud. We generally will say hi at the merch table at some point, we’re pretty approachable. That’s about it.
Article Published in the May 2008 Issue of EU Jacksonville
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