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Dec 24, 2024 By Mark Redfern Photography by Paloma Bomé

My Firsts is our email interview series where we ask musicians to tell us about their first life experiences, be it early childhood ones (first word, first concert, etc.) or their first tastes of being a musician (first band, first tour, etc.). For this My Firsts we talk to Matthew Caws of Nada Surf.

Nada Surf’s new album, Moon Mirror, is their first for New West and was released in September. It came out as the band celebrated the 30th anniversary of their debut single, “The Plan”/“Telescope.” The band produced the album with Ian Laughton (Supergrass, Ash), recording it at Rockfield Studios in Monmouthshire, Wales.

For the past three decades Nada Surf’s main lineup has remained: Caws (vocals, guitar), Daniel Lorca (bass, vocals), and Ira Elliot (drums). Longtime collaborator Louie Lino is also part of the current lineup. The band formed in 1992, initially under the name Helicopter. Ric Ocasek of The Cars produced the band’s 1996-released debut album, High/Low. Ever since, Nada Surf have released a steady stream of beloved power-pop albums.

Of the new album, Caws said in a press release announcing it: “Every time we make an album, I’m asked (and ask myself) what it’s about. I never know how to answer that question. I’m still trying to figure everything out, and that’s probably as close to a theme as there is. Looking back over the years, I know what our songs are about in theory: trying to reach acceptance (of circumstances, of oneself, of others), connection, a constant search for possibility and the bright side, a willingness to change, forgiveness, curiosity, checking in with one’s mortality, motivations and judgements, etc. But in the moment when making one up, I have no idea what I’m doing and maybe that’s okay. I’m just trying to stay honest with myself and take my best guess at making sense of the world.”

Read on as Caws talks about his first kiss, early concert experiences as a child, and the song he repeatedly taped off the radio.

First word?

I don’t know what first word I got right, but the first thing I said was “enco lunt,” sort of a French/English (Frenglish) “more lunch.” I’ve been a very enthusiastic eater all my life.

First best friend?

Philip Plottel. We met when we were two—our parents were colleagues and friends. We lived four blocks away from each other. After hanging out at his house after school, he’d walk me home. When we got there, I’d say “I’ll walk you home.” When we got there, he’d say “I’ll walk you home.” This happened multiple times.

First pet?

Patrick, a hamster. He disappeared in our apartment. I don’t remember much about him. This is not an interesting answer. I hope he somehow made it to the elevator and then made it to the Central Park Children’s Zoo and shared some lettuce with the rabbits there.

First person you kissed?

Natalie Rousset was a grade above me when I was 14. She lived a block away and somehow we started walking home together from school. After about a week of this she asked me to come upstairs. I said hi to her younger brother, who had coke-bottle glasses. She offered me a beer but I had orange juice. She had a beer. We sat on opposite ends of a couch. She eventually moved over and kissed me. An hour later her dad came home and she sent me out the back stairs.

First movie you saw in the movie theater?

The animated Robin Hood. We sat in the front row of the balcony. It’s been years since I’ve been to a movie theater with a balcony. I loved it, I loved Maid Marian and Robin Hood’s bushy tail. Last year we played a memorial for a friend of Daniel’s who had been friends with Terry-Thomas, who played the part of the snake Sir Hiss in the movie. The memorial was at Terry’s house. He’d had a 1/3-inch gap between his front teeth. I’ve always found that very attractive. My wife has a gap between her front teeth. In France that’s sometimes called having “dents de bonheur” or “lucky teeth.” The story goes that during the Napoleonic wars soldiers had to open the gunpowder magazines of their rifles with their teeth. Men with a gap were exempt from military service because of this. What was the question?

First TV show you were obsessed with?

Courageous Cat. It was the first cartoon on in the morning and had excellent theme music. We had one TV in the family, a very small black and white set. It lived in our parents’ room and had the advantage of being very portable. My older sister and I would sneak into their room at dawn on Saturdays to get it and bring it into the living room.

First album you bought?

The first album I bought was the live soundtrack to Going Back to Indiana by The Jackson 5, purchased in the basement of Gimbel’s, a now-defunct department store. The audience is mixed really loud on the album, which made it a little hard to listen to, but I loved looking at the cover. It had really good Electric Company-style graphic art and the band were wearing Nudie-suit-inspired outfits with images of things of cacti, power lines, highways, and footprints in the snow on them, to represent all the seasons.

First favorite song?

My first favorite song was [ABBA’s] “Dancing Queen.” My dad was into gadgets and let me use his portable Wollensak reel-to-reel tape recorder when I was very young. I had a tiny radio that looked like a walkie-talkie. I’d search through the stations and whenever I’d come across “Dancing Queen” I’d tape it. That tape was probably full of second-halves of that song.

First concert you went to?

The first concert I went to was a 1975 festival in Central Park called The War is Over, organized by Phil Ochs. Our babysitter took us and told us not to tell our parents. I only remember three things: Patti Smith’s white shirt, (activist and politician) Bella Abzug’s hat, and an announcer asking everyone to help pick up trash at the end of the event. My sister and I ran around excitedly picking up cans. The first show I remember clearly was Simon and Garfunkel in the very same place. Half-a-million people and I remember it feeling very chill. I really don’t mind being in a big crowd and that may have helped.

First time you got fired?

When I was in college, there was a new local restaurant opening called Nacho Mama’s Burritos. I applied for a busboy position. On the day they opened, they told us that there would be no buspersons, that we would all be waiters. I wanted to be a busboy first so that I could learn the lay of the land, thinking I might be too confused at first to be a good waiter. I was right, I was totally confused. I ended up sitting down at some of the tables to chat a little, hoping that friendliness would make up for my getting some of the orders wrong. That was apparently not appreciated by management (and maybe not by the diners either, but they were good sports about it, I was clearly a kid in over his head) and I was out the next day.

www.nadasurf.com

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