Ira Elliot

Nada Surf
Matthew Caws from Nada Surf
Background information
Origin	New York City, New York, United States
Genres	Alternative rock, indie rock
Years active	1992–present
Labels	Barsuk Elektra Heavenly (UK) City Slang (GER)
Website	nadasurf.com
Members	Matthew Caws Daniel Lorca Ira Elliot Doug Gillard
Past members	Aaron Conte

Nada Surf is an American alternative rock band which currently consists of Matthew Caws (guitar, vocals), Ira Elliot (drums), Doug Gillard (guitar) and Daniel Lorca (bass, backing vocals). Based in New York City and formed in the 1990s, Nada Surf continues to tour. Their eighth album, You Know Who You Are, was a featured release on NPR in February 2016.

In 1992, the band was formed by Matthew Caws and Daniel Lorca. Concerning the band's name, Matthew said, "it's 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." They met in 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, Dan (later alluded to in the song "The Plan" from the album High/Low), was 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.

In 1995, Conte left the band and was replaced by Ira Elliot, former drummer of the Fuzztones, a very active band from the eighties NYC scene, and of whom both Caws and Lorca were fans. 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 their release, the Karmic EP had been released the same year. 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.