13 Quotes by Matthew Caws

When we were 14, it was Cost of Living. Then later, it was Because Because Because. That band was real ambitious and networking, looking for a deal. And that sucked, so we broke up. Nada Surf was formed for fun.

When it was released, it felt like rebirth. What was fun was that no one was paying attention. It made it like recording the first record.

I was sad when I knew I was going to have to make this record a little more obscure and a little harder to get. Just because, otherwise, I would have been airing my dirty laundry, which I don't see any point in.

If anyone writes a story about us now, that's what they say.

We made the album and when they didn't want to put it out, they didn't give it back to us. I think, morally speaking, that's a definite flaw in the modus operandi of majors. That M.O. doesn't make any allowance for the emotional and moral side -- we wrote these songs, they belong to us.

I thought, you know, I have a shot at being happy here because this is such an exciting and lucky time for me. Instead of fighting demons, sometimes it's tempting to just say, well they don't exist. That's it. They're done. I'm defeating them by decree ... I can decide to be happy and be fine.

We were really surprised. I mean, the world was a little more perfect than we thought it was. It was heart-warming.

I know there's not usually second acts in American life, so it's nice to have a second plot. The first plot was alright, but this current plot, the kind of slow climb, is what we always wanted to do. We just kind of got swept up in another thing for a couple years.

If 'Popular' hadn't had any success, I think Elektra would have dropped us right after the first record.