the 941

Nada Surf w/Republic Tigers
Tues., June 3, 8 p.m., State Theatre
687 Central Ave., St. Petersburg, $15

Click here for this week’s cover story on Nada Surf.

Ira Elliot isn’t just the drummer for Nada Surf. He’s also quite the impressionist, and an accomplished thespian.

Elliot, singer/guitarist Matthew Caws and bassist Daniel Lorca hit St. Pete’s State Theatre at 8 p.m. Tues., June 3. Below, a few excerpts from our phone interview that didn’t make the page.

Elliot on the tour so far…
The tour’s been going really, really well. The audiences seem to be getting larger, which is good, …though I have noticed a preponderance of really young people at some of these shows. … The European shows have always been a sort of teens and younger … We hit a pretty wide demographic generally. But [at] a lot of these American shows I’ve noticed a lot of younger people, which is pleasing, but a little weird, and we wonder what’s driving that… whether it’s the My Space internet thing, The OC [they remade OMD’s “If You Leave” for the television series' soundtrack], the John Tucker Must Die thing [“I Like What You Say,” from Lucky, first appeared on the movie’s soundtrack]. I have no idea what’s driving that. … I’m happy to see 14-15 year olds at our show. If they stay with you, you’re just sort of raising another generation of fans.

On the response to the new album, Lucky…
I’ve gotten generally really super positive [responses]… My father called me just to tell me that he really felt that this was his favorite, complete work. There were songs that he liked on our previous records, but this one he felt that… there was a completeness about it that really struck him, and he was very moved by it. And I was pretty moved by his comment, because he was almost in tears when he called me to tell me this.

On Lucky within Nada Surf’s discography as a whole…
From our perspective, they’re all kind of the same, in that we’re just trying to sort of, heads down, take what we’ve got and make it come to life. It’s hard to really say, in the final analysis, if people’s perception of this is filtered through a lot of different things — the mixing, all of these technical things that make a record sound the way it does. We try to make every second that goes by count. You don’t want too much, you don’t want too little, you want the tones to be right, you want everything to sort of ring true. You’re just trying to eliminate false moments.

On their songwriting process[es]…
It has evolved in really subtle ways. I think Daniel [Lorca, bassist] contributed more earlier on. Basically, I work the same. Matthew [Caws, singer/guitarist] writes by himself. He always has… That hasn’t changed. And then the process by which we write is still very particular. We just kind of get together with what we have and try to sort of let it be. We work on it to a degree and then we pull back. … You can overwork something. … We’re very cautious about rehearsing.

On their dynamic after 15 years together…
It’s become quietly more difficult I think. I can’t really tell you why. Maybe just because we know each other so well or we don’t want to deal with each other’s weird, odd stuff. And that sort of, it’s hard to put that stuff away when you’re trying to work on something… It’s not about me and my thing, it’s not about Daniel or Matthew and their thing. It’s about this sort of little piece of song and you have to sort of put down your personal stuff and make it live and it’s really almost impossible to separate these things anymore now that we’ve done it for so long. … It’s extremely personal stuff, for Matthew to sort of lay his soul bare with two of his best friends, and also people that he probably at some point would not [want to] look at…We wanna give each other our space [when we’re not touring, in the studio, etc.]. It’s psychologically healthy.

On where he feels most comfortable — on the road, in the studio, etc.
I’m still more at home as a live musician. I think that’s really always been my strong suit. That’s where I’m most at home as an artist, playing my instrument, though I think I’ve gotten more comfortable over the years in the studio. My problem with the studio is that, because I’m pretty much self-taught and not really highly trained, I tend to feel neurotic in the studio. I feel it … tends to amplify what I believe to be weaknesses in my ability as a musician…They tend to get amplified by microphones.

On “Beautiful Beat” and “The Fox” on Lucky…
I was listening to the record a couple of weeks back at a friend’s house in Seattle. After a few hours of listening to other music, and drunk at 3 in the morning … after you listen to other people’s music for hours and hours and then you put on your own, it’s kind of a jolt. … I had this epiphany that “The Fox” was really Daniel’s song, because that’s that really dark, epic, scary thing. He had championed that song. Had he not argued and fought for that song for weeks and months and literally years, because we had recorded it some years ago, initially it wouldn’t have been on the record. He had to have that song on the record, or he would’ve quit the band, I think. He threatened that a number of times. And he was only half joking….

And then I listened to “Beautiful Beat.” And I’m like, ‘Well, the song reminds me of me.’ I know Matthew didn’t write it for me or about me, and he wasn’t thinking about me when he wrote it. But because it’s simply about loving music and just the rhythm, [quoting the lyrics] ‘Beautiful beat, get me out of this place…’ I identify very strongly with it, and I’m like ‘Well, it’s kind of my personal theme song in a manner of speaking.’ I’m not gonna take any credit for it. But I felt this song sort of represents me on the record, where the other songs sort of really represent Matthew and his thing. [“The Fox”] was for Daniel, and this one was kind of for me in effect.

On politics, and “The Fox”…
We had written that around the time of the last election — the stolen election. We were really embroiled in this political thing. We were doing a lot of [John] Kerry benefits and we were supporting the left and the democrats, and we’re pretty left… I mean, Daniel’s pretty much a Communist. [Laughing] And this right wing agenda, we just hated it, and it was a pretty bad time, and I think the song just kinda captures that spirit…

Of another one of what he describes as his “small contributions to the Nada Surf canon, if you will”…
One of the hooks in “I Like What You Say”… that little section, ‘Baby, I only wanna make you happy…’ That I wrote when I was getting divorced, four, five years ago and Matthew slotted it into that song…

On his first claim to fame, in an ABC Afterschool Special (1980’s Stoned) with none other than Chachi/Charles in Charge…
I was in high school at the time. I was studying to be an actor, and I got an audition. … I had like three one-word lines in it. I’m a bit player in it. But I am proud to say that I am in an ABC Afterschool Special with Scott Baio,… called Stoned, which is fantastic.

That was my first and only pro acting gig. I didn’t last too long. … After high school, I went back to being a musician pretty much all the time. I was never really fully comfortable. I always say jokingly that I went back to being a musician cause I realized how much time in my life I’d have to spend with actors, and so I thought maybe that wasn’t such a good career move for me. I was right: I prefer musicians to actors any day of the week. … They’re a lot more grounded generally than the average actor. I’ll still stand behind that decision. And I’m a team player, I think, too, as a drummer.

I have a pretty strong ego… but that’s just kinda covering my basic insecurities. … I always think that, I know I’m not, but, the best…. My mom would always say, “When are you gonna get another job?” And I would say, “Come on, mom, I’m the fucking best. I could kick anyone’s ass.” [Laughing] And I still do that, I still look at other drummers. I look at Taylor Hawkins and I go, “Fuck that guy. I will wipe the floor with that dude.” So, you know, I’m like that, but that’s a strength for me as a drummer.

On fame…
We’ll see what happens. I’m enjoying this — we wanna ride it out. I still have a list of unfulfilled ambitions for this band, you know. I still wanna play the Garden. We’re gonna have to work a little harder to get there. I’m gonna have to snap these boys into shape.

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