About Nada Surf
Nada Surf is an American alternative rock band formed in New York City in 1992, consisting of Matthew Caws , Ira Elliot , and Daniel Lorca .
After initially operating under the name Helicopter, Caws and Lorca switched to Nada Surf. In 1995, Ira Elliot joined on drums, and they met Ric Ocasek, former frontman of the Cars, who produced their debut album, High/Low, in 1996. Despite experiencing significant success with their single "Popular" and touring extensively, their follow-up album, The Proximity Effect, was not well received by their record label, Elektra, resulting in the band being dropped, and they self-released the album.
Throughout the early 2000s, members worked regular day jobs while continuing to create music, leading to the release of the critically acclaimed album Let Go, in 2002. Their subsequent albums included The Weight Is a Gift , Lucky , the covers album If I Had a Hi-Fi , and The Stars Are Indifferent to Astronomy . They issued their eighth studio album, You Know Who You Are, in 2016, and followed it with Never Not Together in 2020. Their tenth studio album, Moon Mirror, was released in September 2024.
Nada Surf was formed in 1992 by Matthew Caws and Daniel Lorca. They originally went by the name Helicopter but later changed it to Nada Surf, which Caws said is "actually referring to something much more existential, it's just surfing on nothing. Being lost in your head or in your imagination but you know, whenever I listen to music I always find myself off somewhere. Somewhere in space. You know, in mental space and it's a reference to that." Caws and Lorca met at the Lycée Français de New York; both spent some of their childhood in France and Belgium, and played in many bands, including the Cost of Living and Because Because Because. Their first drummer, Daniel , was replaced by Aaron Conte, with whom the band recorded their first 7", The Plan/Telescope , 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 , on the EP Karmic, and on North 6th Street.
In 1995, Conte left the band and was replaced by Ira Elliot, former drummer of the Fuzztones, a band from the 1980s New York scene, and of whom both Caws and Lorca were fans. After a Blonde Redhead 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 album. Soon after, the band was finalizing a contract with Elektra Records through an executive, Josh Deutsch.
On June 18, 1996, they released their debut album, High/Low, which was recorded and mastered within a nineteen-day period. Prior to this, the band released Karmic on No. 6 Records, a label run by Elektra A&R head Terry Tolkin. That summer, as Nada Surf toured the United States with Superdrag, their song "Popular" became a summer anthem, and the band toured overseas.
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