Nada Surf’s Matthew Caws on The Salt Collective, synth-pop, and the James Bond shower

I’ve been a fan of Nada Surf for decades, and was lucky enough to have frontman Matthew Caws pen the foreword to my book, Depeche Mode: All That’s Left to Know About the World’s Finest Synth-pop Band. But he’s got more music going on behind the scenes of this main outfit. This time around is with The Salt Collective, a French-American collaborative that’s two parts pop, jangle and power specifically, with a side of indie rock.

The Salt Collective is directly rooted in the band SALT, a trio formed in France by guitarist and primary songwriter Stéphane Schück, bassist Fred Quentin and drummer Benoit Lautridou. The three released an album – along with original SALT members Anton Barbeau and The Posies’ Ken Stringfellow – in 2019 called The Loneliness of Clouds. Barbeau and Stringfellow moved on to other projects and Schück began working with Chris Stamey, best known for launching the ‘80s NYC power-pop band The dB’s.

Matthew and I checked in for a Vanyaland 617 Q&A to talk about the collective, his favorite synth-pop music and got an update on when we might see a new Nada Surf record. Check out the interview via the link above and check out this video for The Salt Collective’s “Another Bus Comin’.”