Monday, October 29, 2007

Switchfoot creates "Lowercase People Records"!

Jon wrote a new bio on the switchfootpodcast youtube account. And look what he said!:

My name is jon foreman. I play in a band called switchfoot. Which (incidentally), is the greatest job in the world: playing music that you deeply care about with your closest friends in the world. I think of it like this- everyday I write the soundtrack to my own life.

Our band Switchfoot started out here in San Diego with three close friends: Chad Butler, Tim Foreman (my brother) and myself. Within days after my brother finished high school we were touring in Europe on a shoestring budget with a record that we recorded during Christmas break. A few years later, I dropped out of college and started to take on the role of playing playing music as a way of life. There were a few changes along the way. Most notably, we've grown in size from a three piece to a five piece! (Jerome Fontamillas and Drew Shirley joined our musical team a few records back.) And yet, music has continued to be my education, my therapy, and the vehicle in which I travel.

Over the course of the last six records, so much has happened. So many ridiculous dreams that we never even dared to think about have come true. Yet all along our goals have remained simple: to write the music that moves us and to play it in a way that moves others. We wanted to be a part of brightening and broadening the listeners worldview. We wanted our music to posses it's own inherent motion, to be it's own revolution so to speak. We believed in the songs, we wanted them to be heard.

All my life, music has played a huge role in shaping who I am. Many of my musical heros are the ones who have taken me under their wings to teach me about music and life. With this in mind, Switchfoot has always been a hands on band, making a continual effort to bridge the gap between the crowd and the stage. And now, ten years later we are embarking on a new path, taking this goal to a new level. In order to cut down on the distance between the listener and the music, we have decided to do our music independently under the banner of Lowercase People Records.

Our goal was to remove the corporate barrier between our audience and our songs. Musically, we wanted to go places we've never been before. We wanted to put out a more diverse collection of musical projects with more artistic control. Since music plays such a crucial role of connecting people with important issues around the world, we wanted to be a part of a label that gives directly to social justice causes, one that is more eco friendly. Lowercase People Records is our attempt to do all of this and more.

Lowercase People is our attempt to better serve this community that has supported us through the years without a middle man in the way. As a band, this is the dream of a lifetime: to have no boundaries in our songs or in the ways that they are presented. So here's what you can expect... Over the course of the next few months we are going to release several diverse projects culminating in a new switchfoot release that will redefine who we are in a new independent era.

In so many ways this is a time of building. We're building a studio in our hometown of San Diego. We want to have a creative environment to launch us into this phase of our journey. In keeping with the building theme, our tour this fall we will be
supporting Habitat for Humanity, an incredible organization that builds homes for deserving folks around the world. One dollar from every ticket will go to this worthy cause and you can always donate more. Or if you're short on change, lend your time: use your hands to make the world a better place.

So in many ways this is a season of change for me and for our band. And yet our song remains the same. I want to continue to sing along with the ones who are searching for truth; the meaning seekers, the hungry and thirsty for hope and for change. There is no retreat... there is no where to run from today. And yet, today is full of opportunity! Who knows where this will lead! Thanks for being a part of the journey, thanks for singing along,

jon


WOW! I thought they would be doing this! A new, indie label = exciting! Can't wait to see what they can do with this.

1 comment:

Chris said...

I know, that is such good news!

So, this mean your blog break is over?