By Jae-Ha Kim
Chicago Sun-Times
August 20, 1996
Matthew Caws can’t wait until he gets to Chicago for his band’s Friday night concert at Metro.
Sure, the Nada Surf singer is anxious to show fans that his trio has more substance than its kitschy single “Popular” would indicate. But just as important, he wants to collect his birthday present.
“My bandmates got me a Vespa, and it’s waiting for me in Chicago,” said Caws, who turned 29 on Aug. 6.
Nada Surf drummer Ira Elliot and bassist Daniel Lorca bought the ’79 scooter from a Chicagoan.
“Aesthetically speaking, it’s among the most perfect objects,” Caws said of the Vespa. “It’s right up there with the VW bug. It’s midnight blue, and I plan on wearing a white helmet with it. It’s so cool.”
Suddenly, it’s Nada Surf that’s “so cool,” thanks to “Popular,” which is all over alternative radio and on MTV.
The Vespa actually wouldn’t look out of place in the eye-catching video for “Popular,” a high school romance fantasy.
Part “My So-Called Life” and part “instructional film,” the video depicts a teacher (Caws) instructing his female students on how to snare the cutest boys in school (“Being attractive is the most important thing there is . . . Wash you hair at least every two weeks”).
Caws gets his “tips” across mainly in sardonic, spoken-word portions of “Popular” (that are tolerable only because the chorus is so potently catchy). But thankfully the nine other tracks on the band’s album “high/low,” which was produced by the Cars’ Ric Ocasek, are well thought out alternapop songs that will surprise folks ready
to write off the band as a one-hit wonder.
“We know how stupid rock kind of is,” said Caws, phoning from Los Angeles. “But we also know how much fun it can be.”
The son of professors, Caws spent a good chunk of his childhood in France, where his parents worked and then visited frequently. Back in the United States, Caws attended the prestigious Lycee Francais high school in New York (Jodie Foster’s alma mater).
“I wasn’t a loser in high school,” he recalled. “I was quiet and kind of popular, but I was more of an outside observer.
“Everyone was into their cliques, and I wasn’t in one, probably because I was so into music. No one else really was.”
After graduating from Columbia University, where he studied English and creative writing, Caws jumped from one temp job to another.
“I regret that I wasted most of my 20s being a temp in terrible jobs,” said Caws, who is bilingual. “And in a way, the band name fits that feeling. `Nada surf’ means surfing on nothing. It’s also sort of a metaphor for dealing with depression; a way of acknowledging your hangups instead of trying to get rid of them or ignoring them.
“I have a lot of hangups. I’m an insecure guy.”
Caws got closer to realizing his dream of becoming a musician when he landed a job as a writer at Guitar World magazine. But he said that his early enthusiasm about covering his favorite bands almost curtailed his career.
“I had to learn to distance myself from the people I was writing about,” he said, laughing.
What about this fledgling fame? Caws is realistic.
“I would care more if I was younger,” he said. “Because I’ve had a life before I had this band, I’m more cautious, I guess, about what to expect. I want it to go on as long as it’s good. . . . But I hope we have the good sense to pull the plug if it’s not working.”
Or if he’s no longer popular.
