Nada Surf
is an American alternative rock band. Formed in 1992, the New York band consists of Matthew Caws (guitar, vocals), Ira Elliot (drums, backup vocals) and Daniel Lorca (bass, backup vocals). Many of their songs have been featured on the show "One Tree Hill", including "Always Love", "See these Bones", and "Are You Lighting?".
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NADA SURF TICKETS
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History
Early years
Nada Surf was formed in the early nineties by
Matthew Caws and
Daniel Lorca. They met in Le
Lycée Français de New York (USA) and spent some of their childhood in France and Belgium. They played in many bands, including
The Cost of Living and
Because Because Because. Their first drummer was called
Dan
, later alluded to in the song "The Plan" (
High/Low
). Dan was then replaced by
Aaron Conte, with whom the band recorded its first 7",
The Plan/Telescope
(1994/Stickboy), as well as the demo tape
Tafkans
, the raw version of
High/Low
. Those raw versions were later released on their second 7",
Deeper Well/Pressure Free
(1995/Deep Elm Records), on the
Karmic EP
and on
North 6th Street
.
Conte left the band in January 1995 and was replaced by
Ira Elliot, former drummer of the
Fuzztones (1984–1985), a very active band of the eighties NYC scene, of whom both Caws and Lorca were fans. Caws and Lorca had always intended to invite him to join, but wanted to wait until they improved as musicians. Elliot's arrival infused a new energy into the band; Caws and Lorca's ambitions greatly increased, partly to ensure Ira stayed with the band.
After a show at the
Knitting Factory, Nada Surf met former
Cars frontman and
Weezer producer
Ric Ocasek. With little hope, they presented him with a copy of
Tafkans
. Three weeks later, Ocasek called back with news of his intention to produce the band's album. At the same time, the band was finalizing a contract with
Elektra Records, through an executive,
Terry Tolkin, who was working for its indie branch,
No.6 Records, on which
Karmic had been released in 1995.
Negotiations with Elektra did not pan out, so Ocasek connected the band with
Maverick Records. The band flew to Los Angeles for a hectic audition; Caws had the flu, and they had to rent gear.
[1]
High/Low
was recorded and mastered in January 1996 within a 19-day period. The recording was paid for by Elektra before the band signed its contract on January 18, 1996.
Major period
During the summer of 1996, as Nada Surf toured the United States with
Superdrag, their song "
Popular" became a summer anthem, and the band toured overseas.
In Europe,
The Proximity Effect
was released in September 1998, produced by
Fred Maher. However, the album did not gain commercial success in the United States. On their official website, the band says:
Their record label, thinking the album lacked a hit like "Popular", had the band record many covers, including "Black & White" (
The dBs) and "Why Are You So Mean To Me?" (
Vitreous Humor), to use them as singles.
Tired of the requirements of the art director, the band judged the album was complete and perfect as-is (even though Elektra even suggested the inclusion of an acoustic version of "Popular"), and broke its contract. As a consequence, Elektra did not release the album in the US and dropped the band while they were on a promotional tour in Europe. Despite these events, this album was critically acclaimed in France, where the band made a 30-show tour in March 1999.
Independent period and resurgence
After being dropped by Elektra, the band waged a legal battle to get the rights to
The Proximity Effect
; the litigation ending in the year 2000, and the band released the album in August 2000 on their own label, MarDev (named after Caws' maternal grandmother, Margaret Devereux Lippitt, daughter of the painter Margaret Walthour Lippitt). Following the album's release, the band toured intensively for several months to rebuild their North American fan base.
During this three-year forced break (1999–2002), the band members took regular day jobs, Caws working at a nearby record store, Lorca working on some computer projects, and Elliot doing drums and guitar sessions for other artists. Caws would later refer to these times as a period of luxury.
In 2001, they recorded most of the songs for
Let Go
, produced by their friends
Louie Lino and
Chris Fudurich, who had engineered
The Proximity Effect
. The band paid them with $1 and $5 bills, the money earned from tour merchandise sales.
Let Go
was critically acclaimed, with the "Inside of Love" single receiving decent airplay. The release was followed by many months of touring, including many European festivals in the summer 2003.
Nada Surf followed
Let Go
with
The Weight Is a Gift
(produced by
Chris Walla, among others) in 2005. The band finished touring for
The Weight Is a Gift
in October 2006.
In March and August 2007, the band recorded their fifth album,
Lucky
, with producer
John Goodmanson in the
Robert Lang Studios in
Seattle. The album was released on February 4, 2008 in Europe and on February 5, 2008 in the US.
Nada Surf was featured on the cover of
Beyond Race magazine for the publication's winter 2008 issue.
Nada Surf's song "No Quick Fix" was featured as the Spinner Mp3 of the Day in 2008.
Discography
Studio albums
- High/Low
(1996)
- The Proximity Effect
(1998)
- Let Go
(2002)
- The Weight Is a Gift
(2005)
- Lucky
(2008)
References
- Matthew's diary on the early days of the band