Last January, Nada Surf released their latest collection of songs, The Stars are Indifferent to Astronomy. The album was a departure for the band’s basic, power-trio lineup and saw the group pushing their songwriting forward with layered, thoughtful cuts like “Teenage Dreams,” “Waiting for Something” and the album’s hard-hitting opener, Clear Eye Clouded Mind. After already completing their first leg of touring behind the album, we caught up with drummer Ira Elliot to discuss the band’s upcoming appearances.
Paste: You’ve been playing as a five piece, how is that changing Nada Surf’s live performances?
Elliot: We’ve been playing as a trio for a decade or more, and to have [guitarist] Doug [Gillard] in the band, it makes me feel like I’m in The Pretenders. We’ve designed the new album around his guitar playing. We knew we had songs, and touring with him has been fantastic. Fans have told me, ‘At first I came to the show and I wasn’t sure about new members, I thought the sound would be too big,’ and by the end of the show, they reported to me that they got it. It’s really satisfying, and we like to make a big noise.
Paste: How has playing old material changed with a new lineup?
Elliot: We expect to get textures from the new record, and it’s comforting to know we have extra guys on stage. [Frontman] Matthew [Caws], he has the hardest job on stage, playing guitar the way he does with open chords and singing. He doesn’t play standard barre chords, he plays arpeggiated, open chords with strings ringing, it’s good for him to cover certain parts. It’s nice, we’re able to relax a bit knowing that things are covered. If I blow a fill, it’s better knowing there are two more guys on the stage (laughs). It’s also a family, we really love the guys. I think Nada Surf has always seemed like a two-guitar band, but to get that chemistry, you can’t just put an ad in the paper, it has to be somebody you know, and also we’ve been thinking about getting a guy to play keyboard, but we didn’t know anybody.
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