The older folks among you might remember when Chicago band Green named its record "R.E.M.," a couple years after R.E.M. titled its major label debut "Green." Not long after, San Fran experimental rockers Negativland released an EP called U2, sparking a lawsuit by Island Records.

When Nada Surf named a 2010 cover record "If I Had A Hi-Fi," the Milwaukee noise rock band of the same name decided it would record an EP and name it in honor of Nada Surf.

After a lot of talk about the project, Latest Flame is getting ready to release IfIHadAHiFi's "Nada Surf EP +3" next month.

According to drummer DJ Hostettler, the group spent much of 2010 making the record. Earlier this year IfIHadAHiFi also released "Imperial Walker" in support of protesters at the state capitol in Madison.

Although Hostettler himself describes the band as a "noise rock band," "Nada Surf" – which is released on vinyl (with an accompanying download) – is based on traditional song structures and instrumentation.

There's no arguing that it's noisy. But it's the noise of good old loud, raucous rock and roll. And that's likely what led Dan Kubinski to say IfIHadAHiFi is one of the best Milwaukee bands around when he and his former bandmates were inducted into the WAMI Hall of Fame earlier this year at Turner Hall Ballroom.

While he was hanging out in Oakland, we asked Hostettler – aka Dr. Awkward – about "Nada Surf," Nada Surf, "Imperial Walker" and more via e-mail.

OnMilwaukee.com: Can you tell me a bit about making the record? I feel like it's been in the works for a while; like I've been hearing about it for a while now.

DJ Hostettler: It definitely took longer to make than we had hoped, but then, most things we do take longer than we'd like. We recorded the record with our friend Thom Geibel, who drummed for White, Wrench, Conservatory as well as for Owner/Operator, the band I was in along with our utility infielder Rev.Ever.

The recording schedule was very lax; other than recording the drums and basic bass/keys at the Borg Ward, we did all the recording in our top-secret compound, the Church of Murray. We decided this under the rationale that we could record whenever we didn't have work, during band practice time, etc.

Unfortunately, in practice, five competing work schedules dragged the recording process out over the entirety of 2010. Next time we'll just go back to the tried-and-true method of blocking out consecutive days in a real recording studio and getting the damn thing over with.

That being said, Thom was great to work with and had a lot of fun ideas when it came to overdubs, making the drums sound huge, etc. We then had the record mixed by Shane Hochstetler at Howl Street and mastered by Mystery Room's Justin Perkins, who also recorded our first two full-lengths.

OMC: Of course, we've gotta talk about the name. Can you explain for the uninitiated, why it's called Nada Surf?

DJH: It's a story that actually goes all the way back to 2002. Back then Nada Surf were getting set to release a record called "Let Go" that they had had a lot of difficulty naming. They explained in a fan club e-mail – that was forwarded to (singer) MrAlarm by a friend of his – that they realized that Avril Lavigne was also naming her record "Let Go," but they said "screw it" after they had wanted to name their record "If I Had A Hi-Fi," only to discover that "a band in the Midwest was already using that name."

Apparently last year they said "screw it" again and went ahead and named their covers album "If I Had A Hi-Fi." We don't care if someone else uses the same palindrome that we used to name our band – heck, for a few years there we were one of three bands in the world using a variation of "If I Had A Hi-Fi" as their name, and we thought it was hilarious – but if a famous band is going to use it, well, we're going to capitalize.

We immediately released a statement that said we were flattered that Nada Surf named their record after us, and that we were going to return the favor by naming our next release after them. Giving them some free publicity is the least we could do. I should also point out that we have nothing against those guys as a band. It's all in good fun.

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