Foot Column: Drew Shirley on Hello Hurricane Debut

I was in the car last week when I heard that in ten minutes, Drew Shirley of Switchfoot, was going to be doing an interview on my local Christiain radio station. I was so excited. So I made my mom leave me in the car, with it running, while she went shopping so that I would be able to hear it. I pulled out my MP4 and turned it on record and waited. Well, lets just say it didn't come on for exactly twenty three minutes (yes I did pay that much attention). But when it finally came on it was so worth it.

Drew explained the heart of this band in way that was truly inspiring to me. He talked about how they want to give back to each town they go into; to give more than "just a great night of music," but to really give back something that is needed. Like when they come to Houston, they will be supporting a charity that gives blankets to the homeless, and they are encouraging everyone who comes to that show to bring blankets. They've done canned goods, where everyone who comes is asked to bring non-perishables. Everywhere they go they link up with someone, and they help. Not for publicity, but because they want to be who they say they are all the time. But in truth, it doesn't matter if they were this huge (and amazing) band or not. This is their heart and soul. This is who they are. And they have no problem with letting you see the real them.

Then he went on to talk about the album, how it was made, the story, the feeling behind it. He talked about how Tim just randomly said "what about Hello Hurricane?" and they loved it and shaped the entire album around it. He talked about the stuff the band has been through and how the album reflects their victory over that. He talked about economic hurricanes, relational hurricanes, and physical hurricanes. I think Drew gave a huge amount of enlightenment to the entire album.

Now I'm sure that if you were one of those very lucky people who bought the deluxe version of Hello Hurricane, not very much of this is new to you. But for those of you like me (which I'm sure, there have to be more of you out there) who didn't buy it, this will give you a new respect for the album. And even if you've heard it before, I'm sure it doesn't hurt to take another listen.

I've included the manuscript. No need to hold you any longer, here it is:


Jen: So we're gonna talk more about the album, we'll do that in a few minutes. But you guys are comin' to Houston November 19th for some ticket servent street and greet events. Basically what this is, its three locations around houston where you can hang out with the guys from Switchfoot for free. And I love that the first one is at Star of Hope in downtown Houston I feel like everytime you guys come to town that you're doing something good for Houston and helping us collect blankets for the star of hope, for the homeless in Houston.

Drew: Yeah, thanks for bringin' that up. Its something that we really do feel strongly about. When we do a tour, we try to find something in every town that gives back to the community that we're going into. It kinda started with just the thought of, how can we leave more than just the great night of music, with these people? So often we'll come into a city, and we come in on the bus, and we get out and walk around a little bit and see the city, and its like, a lot of the time, we're in the rock and roll clubs where its not the best parts of town and stuff, and you just see things. And I don't know, its just we kinda have a heart for that, as a band. You know, we just find needs and we see things that are going on and we just hear about things, like Habitat for Humanity, and we hear about things from Star of Hope, and we just wanted to be involved, like every time we hear about something, we're just like "Yeah, we want to be apart of that, we want to be doing that stuff." 'Cause you know, its just something that we can do while we're there, that doesn't take away from the music but adds on to what we're doing and it adds to kinda the heart of the band. We really like people to know what we believe in so that they can also join in with that cause.

Jen: Definitely. Well we definitely want everyone to get involved. Find out more about the ticket servant street and greet event at the three loctions around Houston. Check out Ticket Servant.com.
And what it really comes down to is the core of what we're called to do, its basically scriptural right?

Drew: You know, the thing that we try to live by is, you're not just who you are on stage, you want to be the same on and off stage. We're just really honest with the fans and who we are. So we're talking on stage about, you know, helping people, hope, dare you to move, you know, pick yourself up, we have these things ingrained into what we believe and in our songs. And you have to live it. Because actions speak louder then words. So, we just really feel like that's part of our, calling, if you will, as a band. Its just our actions and how we do busniness, and how we organize or tours and everything.

Jen: Absolutely. Drew from Switchfoot today, the album is in stores. Its called Hello Hurricane. And we're not done yet we're gonna talk about the album and Drew's also gonna help us with some lessons on how to be Switchfoot cool. On Ksbj. (Music Plays)

Drew: This is the day we have been waiting for, for so long!!

Jen: I can imagine. We're so excited for you guys. Well the album title is Hello Hurricane and everyone in Houston is so grateful that you've honored us by this song to us, I know thats not really the case but I realize the hurrcane you're talking about is more about, not just this album being a project, but a journey for you for you guys.

Drew: Yeah, and you know, we don't really use the word hurricane lightly. You know, a few of us, Jon and Tim, grew up on the east coast. We've seen, like you said, that what happens in your home town, and we don't take that lightly. And you know the album title, Hello Hurricane, wasn't specifically about just the physical weather system of a hurricane. We really started just looking around and its really just a symbol of something that's massive, and destructive, disorderly, and just confusing. We're suffering an economic hurricane right now, if you will. There are social hurricanes that we've written about in some of the songs on our album. You know, sometimes, relationships can be just completely sending you in different directions and you don't know whats going on, and its confusing and its like a hurricane. Now the name of this album stems from us, seeing the storm and realizing that we want to embrace the storm and basically cope, knowing that we are going to get out the other side. We want that album to carry that message of the lyric in the title song, because actually, in Hello Hurricane it says: "Hello Hurrcane, you can't silence my love." So we came up with it, and put that title even before the album was written. Our bass player Tim actually said "What do you think of this as a contract, you know as a title," and we were like wow, that's amazing. It's powerful, it's the message of that we've been talking about and thinking about and going through. I mean, to be honest, as a band, we went through a really hard two years. In the past two years that this album kind of came through on that journey, and it was very emotional for us as a band because we lived it, we lived this message. And you know, its something that we want to speak at from the experience that we've had. While it might not be as hard as it is for someone who's in the actual hurricane or lost loved ones in that way, but it does carry that same heart.

Jen: Definitely, Drew with Switchfoot joining us this afternoon. So excited, its the album release date. You can pick up your copy in stores now its called Hello Hurricane and be sure to check out ticket servant .com to find about chances for you to meet these guys November 19th. and ticket servent street and greet.

Please feel free to give me your comments/suggestions/questions/criticisms (yes I like those too). Because I like knowing what you guys think.
Thank you for reading!

-Bleah Briann.