Switchfoot was interviewed on MTV Asia, and look what was said:
The band is also working on the next album to be released on Lowercase People Records. What can we expect from the album?
We have over a hundred songs to choose from right now, it really could go in a lot of directions. Right now, it's shaping up to be more acoustic AND more electronic.
I don't know... electronica sounds cool, but is that Switchfoot? I hope they don't abandon the rock sound completely... that's my opinion. Whatever it is, it'll be sweet.
Today, we have a nice little article, from Christian radio station Air1's website. Switchfoot is the Featured Artist of the Month, and they have a nice blurb about the band. It has the standard "indie/Sony Split/Appetite For Construction" bit, but the Q&A section was a bit of an eye-opener for me. Jon said something interesting that caught my eye:
So the rule for this record is, "If you’ve done it before, you can’t do it on this project." So that’s forcing us to choose different songs to pursue, different ideas, different ways. At this point, we’re ultimately trying to challenge ourselves more than anything else.
This is probably not relevant to anyone of you, unless you live in Southern California (L.A., O.C. area). But Star 98.7, the Hot AC radio station based in Los Angeles has inexplicably begun to play "Meant to Live" quite frequently. It has played at least once everyday for the past three days. (I saw this while browsing http://www.yes.com/#Switchfoot).
This occurrence was quite the surprise for me, considering that station NEVER plays Switchfoot, not even occassionally. They played "Awakening" once back in January or so, but never again, and never any of the "old" hits. This is quite exciting news, considering mainstream Southern California hasn't seen/heard Switchfoot since the "glory days" of 2004-2005. Maybe all those requests that we put in for "Awakening" back in the summer are making them check out Switchfoot after all... ^^
I just received my late Christmas present from myself--the Live at Ventura Theatre DVD. My initial thoughts on it are:
The Good:
-The visuals are very engaging and pretty. The lighting is much more sophisticated than it was in "Live in San Diego."
-The crowd was loud and noisy, but not very excited-looking. At least you could hear them though, thats an improvement.
The Not-So-Good: -It seems very rushed... there are several major and noticeable audio errors, and the "Behind the Scenes" feature is just under two minutes long.
-Why are "Company Car", "We Are One Tonight," and "Burn Out Bright" all in the bonus songs section? Doesn't really make sense, since its pretty much the same show...
-No "Dirty Second Hands" or "Ammunition"...
-The guys seemed a little tired.
I will probably watch it again from start to finish before the day's over...
The polls are closed, and it seems the naysayers for the auto-playing widget thingy barely won out. So, as you requested, the mini-ipod player thing on the sidebar will be removed, after today. So long, little friend.
This may very well be the last post of 2007. Unless we do a little year-in-review sorta post. Hmm... that random thought = interesting... stay tuned...
Hey guys, it is Chris! This is my fave time of year—the time when the year-end album and radio charts come out. Here is how Switchfoot did this chart year:
Billboard Top Christian Albums of 2007: #13 “Oh! Gravity”
Radio And Records Top Christian CHR Artists: #6 Switchfoot
Radio And Records Top Christian CHR Songs: #9 Awakening
Yes 2007 was a good year for the band. Three hit singles, two hit videos, and aprox 150,000+ albums sold--not to mention a successful tour.
here are videos of the two songs that Jon Foreman and Sean Watkins played a while back a day before Jon watched Led Zeppelin in London. Thanks angel4madevil!
"Jon Foreman from the San Diego band, Switchfoot, and Keith back with his cello, next treated the crowd to the mellow grooves of "Learning How To Die" and "Southbound Train". I don't know much about these guys, but have been duly inspired to investigate – as should you. It was some real California beach bonfire stuff."
Here's Jon's Blog about it:
Friday, December 14, 2007
Notes from a crazy, wonderful night
Last night was ridiculous! Thanks to all who came out to the show- even my friends who couldn't get in... I had so much fun singing along with all you fine folks. for the record Tom M. is an incredible human.
I hope some of you were able to see the meteor shower last night as well, it was remarkable...
Tom Morello gave an early Christmas present to the 100-plus fans packed into Hollywood's Hotel Café last night. As a send-off for his final gig of the year as the Nightwatchman, the Rage Against the Machine guitarist assembled an eclectic group of music legends that jammed on inspired covers and collaborations for more than four hours.
Morello's weekly appearances at the cozy venue serve as an opportunity to raise money and awareness for his social-action foundation Axis of Justice, which provides aid to the homeless and hungry. The evening began in the normal fashion with Morello playing a handful of acoustic songs. His small set complete, Morello recounted a story about a man with a great voice at a Woody Guthrie tribute. The man turned out to be Academy Award-winning actor Tim Robbins, who then climbed onstage and proved he was worthy of Morello's praise with a solid, albeit lyrically altered rendition of Phil Ochs' classic protest tune "State of Mississippi" and the Christmas staple "Silent Night."
Serj Tankian, who along with Morello co-founded Axis of Justice, next appeared at the piano for two songs, then Switchfoot's Jon Foreman, rising songwriter Elijah Forrest and Richard Patrick of Filter. It didn't seem realistic when Morello took the microphone at this point and joked that the evening was just getting started, but two and half hours later it was clear he had been dead serious. Moments later Perry Farrell brought his Satellite Party onstage with Morello accompanying on electric guitar to play two songs before closing with a spot-on version of "Jane Says." The evening then slipped into high gear when Morello introduced Alice in Chains which entailed Jerry Cantrell and new singer Will DuVall. The two played a brilliant version of "Nutshell" that was a deft replication of their MTV Unplugged performance and followed with a cover of the Who's "Squeeze Box."
Most of the crowd, already stoked about the incredible lineup, had assumed the Alice in Chains duo was the finale, until Mick Mars of Mötley Crüe slowly emerged to join Morello and the assembled house band for "Dr. Feelgood" and "Girls, Girls, Girls." It was borderline excessive when Slash appeared onstage to help Morello and Cantrell rip through the Thin Lizzy classic "Jailbreak." The evening pressed on with more jamming and a late appearance by Wayne Kramer of MC5 who led the now-supersized group in a spirited version of "Kick Out the Jams."
Almost an hour past midnight Morello called the entire night's lineup back to the stage and introduced Woody Guthrie's definitive American anthem "This Land Is Your Land." Morello, ever articulate and thoughtful, implored the audience to heed Guthrie's poignant lyrics and "grab the wheel of history to reclaim your land." Each verse was sung by a different star with Tim Robbins and Farrell leading and Slash providing intermittent hillbilly-inspired solos. The ensemble rocked out to the revised ballad for more than ten minutes before Morello thanked his gracious guests and the adoring audience for providing an unforgettable night of music.
Richard L. Dewey
That's a crazy lineup... wowwww... Slash and Jon are standing next to each other in the picture for crying out loud! That must've been amazing...
Looks like there's another spur-of-the music stop for Jon too!
Jon Foreman w/ The Nightwatchmen Thursday, Dec 13 Hotel Café (LA) 1623 1/2 N Cahuenga Blvd Los Angeles, CA 90028 (323) 461-2040 21+ $10 donation to enter Doors at 8pm (get there early, because it sells out and reaches capacity quickly)
(again, thanks Switchfeed)
--------------------------------------------------- And, to wrap up this lengthy post, here's the latest email from Switchfoot. Tim, it's great to hear from ya again!
Merry December amigos,
Here's my 2007 Christmas letter, AKA the ramblings of a bass player:
1. Appetite for Construction Tour comes to a close
Well, our first tour as an independent band was quite possibly our favorite tour ever, and we are sad to see it end. Thanks to all of you who came out to say hi, this was also the biggest tour we've ever done, and it gives us great pride to feel like, together with all of you, we're creating something completely new without record labels or anyone else standing in the middle. Also, thanks to you, together we've raised over $100K for Habit For Humanity. And a large number of you even took the leap to volunteer on future Habitat builds. So great... I just feel like the community that we have together with you guys is something really special, and we're so honored to be your band. If you'd still like to get involved with Habitat, please check out their website.
2. What I did on my winter vacation...
We've been home from tour for a week now, and it's nice to be home for the holidays. The first 2 days we were home, we were greeted by what will likely be the best waves all year, so I'd say our December has begun rather nicely. Jon wasted no time at home, however, and flew to London to play an acoustic solo gig... oh yeah, and see some band from the UK called Led Zeppelin. What?? I know, amazing. Well, being an independent band has created some exciting changes, and one of those changes has been leaving the Sony message boards to launch our own separate community site. So if you haven't yet checked out the new boards, you probably should because, well, we think they rule.
3. Why our arms are numb
In other news, we all have our right arms on ice at the moment, after hand-signing 3000 Christmas cards for our annual Holiday Package, and so far we haven't lost them or had to search for them in large dumpsters like last year (although Chad did manage to spill water on a rather large stack at the very end). So I'd say we're off to a very good start, in that sense. We received the new live DVD back from the manufacturer last week, and our very own Andy Barron did a stellar job with the artwork on it. Go Andy! So the elves are busy packing orders which are now ready for shipping. If you haven't ordered your Holiday Package yet, click here... we think it's our best ever.
4. What else?
Well, that's all I can think of at the moment, hope everyone is doing well. We'll be home for the rest of the year, before visiting the Pacific Rim on January (Indonesia, Bali, New Zealand, Singapore, you know, mostly places with really good waves). Then we'll be in the studio Feb-March recording our new record (due out Fall 2008), and probably head back out for a few US dates in April. As always, check switchfoot.com for the latest tour dates and info.
Peace out amigos, and thanks for being a part of our family,
Jon Foreman has officially released his first single from his debut solo EP, Fall. "The Cure For Pain" is available for free download on myspace's music homepage.
On the official Switchfoot message boards, jmeyer3131 has suggested a campaign to help spread the news about Jon here.
We can make use of this free Cure For Pain download while it lasts to blast emails, myspace messages, bulletins, etc. to all of our friends to give Jon exposure. So lets do it footsoldiers! Spread the word!
And, a trip down memory lane... I came across this rather old interview with Jon and Tim at the 02 Purpledoor festival. This was when "The Beautiful Letdown" was just about to be released. It's always good to look back...
First off, Jon talked to antimusic about "The Cure For Pain," and described the thinking behind this great song.
The Cure For Pain: I wrote this one in Texas on a day off. I was reflecting on the passing of time. I have been playing music in Switchfoot for about ten years. During that period, I have been fighting pain or running away from it in a myriad of ways. And yet the pain is a constant. I have had some amazing moments singing gravity away but the water keeps on falling.
I began to think the suffering I see around me, I think of the pain of a grandmother dying of cancer. Of a friend killed by a train. I think of the pain of death, of failure, of rejection, the pain of a father losing his only son. And I came to the conclusion that I cannot run from pain any longer.
Note: This is an essay that displays my personal beliefs. it is not intended for anything else than just an analysis on how the song has touched me... peace.
“I dare you to move, dare you to move! I dare you to lift yourself up off the floor…”
And with those timeless words, Jon Foreman penned one of the most impactful songs of recent memory. For me, it’s just that, and so much more.
I first heard this song back in 2003, as a wide-eyed, innocent (yes, I guess you could say I was innocent) 13-year old kid, in eighth grade. I guess you could say I was also that boy who was “fumbling his confidence.” At the time, I was quite intrigued by the song, but not overly interested. My friends played it after church on the stereo, and we were often seen jamming out to it, while people gathered around singing along. I only knew the drum beat because my amigos told me what beats to play… But it began to truly take hold for me a year later…
…When I bought “The Beautiful Letdown.” At the time, “Meant to Live” and “Dare You to Move” were all over the place, and I suppose I was a bandwagoner of sorts. But when I began to play “Dare You to Move” on my little Creative Zen Touch mp3 player, my relationship with the song began to truly develop. Yes, songs can be relational with humans… the way I see it, movies and tv can touch your mind and thoughts, but music permeates the soul, whether for good or bad. Music is very powerful indeed…
So, this was 2004. Freshman year of high school for me. This was a time of growing pains and experiencing new emotions for the first time. Things were closing in, growing up was such a strange, new experience; so where do you turn when these things happen? Where can we go when things let us down? From what I’ve seen, people turn to anything from drugs and alcohol, to confidante friends and peers. For me, besides God, it was music. Looking back now, it seems lame to be broken-hearted over relationships that didn’t even exist, or one essay a week, but for me at the time, it was a big deal. “I dare you to move, I dare you to move…” howled Jon in my ears, and as I listened to the song over and over and over again, it became a part of my thoughts, a daily cry, a struggle...
Fast forward to 2005, sometime in November or so. I was standing with my friend and a few hundred other people in a sweaty, unbelievably loud club, singing along to those very words that got me through essays, projects, math problems, emotional highs, emotional lows. “I dare you to move, I dare you to move…” And even as Jon sang, I felt a stirring in my spirit, a lifting up if you will. Seeing the emotion the man put into his song, a song that he plays night in and night out, really made it real to me. That he was able to sing with the same passion, even at the end of a long, long tour, was beyond me. Without me even knowing it, that song came alive for me that night… That experience, my first time seeing Switchfoot live ever, was life-altering indeed.
Over the next two years, and as I begin to enter adulthood, this song still carries a special place in my heart. “Dare You to Move” was dominant in the soundtrack of my four years in high school. I rode in the car with this song playing, I played it and sang it with my own guitar, I cried myself to sleep listening to the song, grasping every word of this prophetic song… “I dare you to move… I dare you to move…” It’s as if God was speaking through Jon, to me personally, to lift myself up off the floor. As if He was saying, “These hardships, these broken-hearted moments, these pains of growing up are only temporary and wont last forever.” In times like this, I am reminded of 1 Corinthians 10:13, which says, “God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make a way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.” Forget yesterday! “I dare you to move like today never happened before…” forget about today and its hardships! Look to tomorrow. What a declaration of hope and faith… and yet, there’s always the fall out, the tension that we face… even in the face of hope…
“The tension is here… between who you are and who you could be… between how it is and how it should be…” Throughout life, there will be tension. It’s a fact. However, I think those temptations and tensions are only temporary and are a testing ground, to further the strength and courage of the tested. It’s almost as if when we find ourselves boxed into a corner, with the world caving in, and a feeling of helplessness washing over us, we are dared to move, to run to the Source of Salvation to escape from ourselves. We are dared to just surrender… what a beautiful paradox it is! When we are dared to do something, it usually requires a great act of pride and recklessness; but this song brings a different perspective! It’s a dare to move away from the pride, away from reckless abandon, and to embrace surrender, embrace the fact that we can’t make it alone… such a beautiful message.
This song has touched me in so many ways, and to list them all down will take forever… so… the question that begs to be asked is:
“What happens next?”
“I dare you to move…”
Love, Job
“This song is an attempt to honestly face the gap between who I am and who I want to be; between the way the world spins and the way the world should be. I've heard that we only use a small part of our brain. Maybe our soul is the same way. And maybe we're half asleep most of our lives, simply reacting to the stimulus our brain receives. Action, true action is rare indeed. This is an anthem of action and responsibility.” – Jon Foreman (aka, frickin’ genius)
Alas, all good things must come to an end. And this "Appetite For Construction Tour" was a very good thing! With over $64,000 raised for Habitat For Humanity, we have to pat ourselves on the back (at least this time).
Switchfoot, Relient K, Ruth, Thanks for the good times. Thanks for doing something good for this world, for the communities. Thanks for the rock, and the music that so inspires us.
ruth and relient K have have been amazing touring friends!
thanks to everyone who came out to sing along with the foot... It was one of my favorite tours ever.
and I'm glad people are digging the tunes. I've heard from a lot of folks who found out about the songs from their friend. That is, in fact, the dream of mine for these tunes. In my opinion it's the only way this type of music should be passed along: from friend to friend- it means a lot to me that you folks are digging it, and thanks for passing it on!
peace, jon"
Ahh... the grassroots! keep spreading the love everyone! These tunes deserve it.
-Now that tour's over, i might have some time to finish up my "Dare You to Move" essay and Jon's Fall EP review. Look out for those.
-If you have any of your own personal stories, articles, concert reviews, album reviews, or anything else that'd you like to see on the blog, send em in to us! email: wereawakening@yahoo.com. I'd love to see what everyone else has to offer!
That's right. Jon Foreman, Matt Thiessen, and Dustin Ruth were in-studio last Friday to talk about the Appetite For Construction Tour, Matt's last name, Reliant K cars, and sausages... Thanks to Poparazzi on the official message boards for ripping it for us!
Today is the last day of tour. It's been so much fun talking about it, chronicling it, and I think it has been a wild success. Sold out arenas, many fun times, and most of all, rock-and roll all happened, to the tune $64,000+ raised for Habitat For Humanity! The guys were in top form this entire tour. Thanks Jon, Chad, Tim, Drew, and Romey for the great times!
