Friday, November 6, 2009

New Ustream mini-concert; more song stories, and other

For an official recap of our 48-hour, highly successful "Mess of Me" Youtube campaign, head over here.

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Switchfoot is having a new Ustream performance this coming Monday!

MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA -- (Marketwire) -- 11/05/09 -- Ustream is continuing its leadership in live interactive music events and will be powering a live performance with Switchfoot on Monday, November 9th at 6:15pm Pacific/9:15pm Eastern. The rock band is celebrating the November 10th release of their new album "Hello Hurricane" with a live set on Ustream at www.ustream.tv/switchfoot and on the band's Facebook page through Ustream on Facebook. Switchfoot will play two songs from the new album: first single "Mess of Me," which is already climbing the charts at rock radio, and "The Sound," which is currently featured in the national advertising campaign for the BlackBerry Storm. Switchfoot has been utilizing Ustream's technology to connect with fans via webcasts since September, and November 9th marks their third live broadcast and first performance using the service. Fans will be able to utilize Ustream's new social stream and interact live through status updates on Facebook, Twitter, AIM, and MySpace.


SOURCE

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The North County Times has been really working Switchfoot in advance of their first "Hello Hurricane" show this Sunday, and the release of the record on Tuesday. Here, they talk to Jon Foreman about some more stories behind the songs. Here's an excerpt.

"I wonder about whether I talk about them (songs) too much sometimes, kinda like a magician giving away tricks or something," he said. "I feel like most people who listen to our music are strong enough to have their own opinions, even if they might differ with mine. As long as my own analogy of the song doesn't become the final authority of what it means."

"Needle and Haystack Life"

"Needle and Haystack Life," about finding hope when the world seems meaningless, kicks off "Hello Hurricane." The song endured several treatments.

"Needle was originally cut half time. Essentially the way we cut the song originally (was, it) had a 'When the Levee Breaks' (Led Zeppelin) kind of drums over top of it. You can imagine a heavier, sluggish song, whereas now it's almost thick and frenetic, with eighth notes just flying out."

As the lead track, its final form makes for a smooth transition from previous albums, but that's not why it was given sprightlier legs.

"It was actually in part a decision that came from our intention to make a record rather than a collection of songs, in that we already had a few songs that filled that slower tempo. And it was fighting with 'Always' for a slot on the record. 'Needle' was going to be cut from the record, and we kind of had a change of heart. 'We've got to make this thing happen, so how do we do it?' If we cut it twice as fast as far as the drums are concerned, with the doubletime on the hat ---- that whole feel ---- then suddenly it's in a totally different sonic space than "Always."


It's a very interesting read. Go here to read the rest of it.

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Mammoth Press had an interview with Jon Foreman as well. Check it out:

I understand you started off with about 80 or so rough song ideas for this record. How did you come up with all those and then whittle them down?

I think the easiest thing is coming up with the ideas. For me, I tend to view songwriting as kind of like a diary of sorts, so to write a song a day is not that big of a deal for our style. The trickiest part is determining which of those diary entries are worth spending a few days of your life on and sinking your time and energy into. The whole process of making this record really allowed us to come to terms with who we are as a band, who we are as people and what type of music we want to make.

It was a really roundabout journey that we took, but at the same time I feel like to be able to at this point in our career step away from the music and really ask ourselves some big questions about why we’re playing was crucial to make this record and a big part in which songs were chosen. We came up with the idea that the song had to have a piece of you within it. I think it was Dolly Parton who said, “If you ain’t crying, why you singin’ it?” That was kind of the benchmark for which songs we decided would make the record.


Read the rest here.

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AZCentral.com did a highly inaccurate overview of Switchfoot. Either way, here's an excerpt.

Latest effort: "Hello Hurricane" hits stores on Nov. 10. The album, Switchfoot's first for Atlantic Records, finds them abandoning their pop-punk/emo style for a more ambitious sound inspired more by MUSE and U2.


You can see the rest here

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In random tv news, "Yet" was playing on last night's episode of "Vampire Diaries." Anyone have a capture? :)

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San Diego peeps! Switchfoot announced this on Facebook:

On release day, Switchfoot will be at Sam Goody in San Diego. The in-store event on Tuesday 11/10 starts at 7pm. There will be an acoustic performance by the band and they will be signing their new cd Hello Hurricane!
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324 Horton Plaza
San Diego, CA 92101

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