Nada Surf Talks About Label Struggles, Success in Europe, and Their First Live Gig, 24.4.2010

Подробнее о видео

Interview taken for Netflix Documentary "Welcome To The Machine".
Watch the complete doc here:
Please subscribe for more Interviews about the music-industry ;-)

#nadasurf #indie

In this candid interview with Nada Surf's Matthew Caws, the band reflects on their 20-year career and the massive changes in the music industry. From their early days with a major label to being on an independent label, Matthew discusses the challenges of the industry, the return of vinyl, and how the internet has transformed how music is consumed. He shares insights into the band's recent album with cover songs, the reasons behind it, and how the band's success has evolved over the years, especially in Europe. He also talks about the live music experience, their first live performances, and even the band’s name. Get a glimpse into the life of Nada Surf and how they’ve navigated the ever-changing music landscape.

Nada Surf is an American alternative rock band formed in New York City in 1992, consisting of Matthew Caws (guitar, vocals), Ira Elliot (drums), and Daniel Lorca (bass, backing vocals).

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 (2005), Lucky (2008), the covers album If I Had a Hi-Fi (2010), and The Stars Are Indifferent to Astronomy (2012). 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.

The documentary „Welcome to the Machines“ will try to get to the bottom of these questions and accompanies „The New Vitamine“ on their way to make it big in the music biz. First gigs with no audience, tricks and traps of the press, the boring routine of touring, which isn’t as exciting as one had imagined it to be. And many, many questions. Questions which not only the members of The New Vitamin will be asked, but the big-shots in the business as well. At festivals and inside the workings of the labels, people who can rightfully say of themselves that they’ve made it, will be interviewed, successful bands as well as the big players pulling the strings behind the curtains: be that the boss of an established record label or an influencial music journalist, just as much as the geeky DJ of electronica or the hard-boiled roadie. „Welcome to the Machines“ will look at all possible angles of a musicians path to fame and try to determine whether it is all a question of luck or if the right amount of calculated speculation might get you there too. It will cast a glance inside the workings of the music business, without regard to genre or categorization. Whether it be folk musicians or gangsta rappers, different worlds and yet just one business. The documentary will shed light on the microcosmos Austria as well as the global music industry, be it in New York and London or in Astana and Montevideo. Not always dead serious, but most definitely pitiless - after all it’s just about this one big question: Is there one right way to Fame?