Nada Surf’s Matthew Caws isn’t big on organized religion, but when the spirit does move him, it always has a soundtrack. And that soundtrack has come a long way over the last 16 years. You’d be hard-pressed to discern so much as a whiff of snarky 1996 hit “Popular” amid the bracing, impeccably crafted power pop the trio hammers out with breathless efficiency on its new release, The Stars Are Indifferent To Astronomy (Barsuk). The transportive power of music is something Caws touches on quite frequently on Astronomy—that is, when he can tear himself away from more pressing concerns for our fucked-up planet. Caws will be guest editing magnetmagazine.com all week. Read our new Q&A with him, and check out our cover story on Nada Surf in last month’s issue of MAGNET.
Caws: As soon as I started playing guitar, I wanted to spend as much time as possible on 48th Street between Sixth and Seventh Avenues. I’m sure there were other music stores in New York then; there are certainly tons now, but when I was growing up, this street, which has been lined with them for years, was all I knew. I’m almost sorry that I’m so used to seeing electric guitars now, because the rush that I got from seeing the actual instruments that made the sounds I was becoming obsessed with was so strong.
There used to be a huge store called We Buy Guitars. The interior accessible to shoppers was a plexiglass hallway lined with hundreds of instruments (on the other side of course) that led up to a high counter where you would ask to try one of the guitars on display or ask them to give you a price for one you wanted to sell. The shop was run by older luthiers who were knowledgeable and intimidating. They would look coldly at the guitar you’d brought in and invariably offer you a soul-crushing third of what you’d hoped for. One of the best things about “We Buy” was that you could see the luthier’s benches and you could watch them do their work.
Early on, I got a piece of lifetime advice at Terminal Music, a small place with a friendly staff. I was trying out a guitar and asked the guy helping me for a pick. “What? You call yourself a guitar player and you don’t have a pick in your pocket? Always have a pick in your pocket!” I have ever since.
Video after the jump.
