Vote for Switchfoot on JFH Reader's Choice; UK "Mess of Me" support!

For up to date (most of the time) news and original opinions before they hit the update, follow us on Twitter!

-----


Switchfoot is up for voting in this year's Jesusfreakhideout Readers Choice Awards. (Thanks Vicky!) Voting ends May 8, so get your votes in!

Here are the categories to vote on:

- Switchfoot's "Hello Hurricane" and Fiction Family's "Fiction Family" are up for Rock/Alternative Album of the Year. (choose Switchfoot! hehe)

- Fiction Family is also up for New Artist of the Year, so definitely vote for them there!

- Jon Foreman is up for Male Vocalist of the Year

- "Hello Hurricane" is up for Overall Album of the Year

- Switchfoot is up for Artist of the Year

- Write-in "Mess of Me" - Switchfoot as song of the year

- Write-in Switchfoot - "Hello Hurricane" as Best Album Cover Art of 2009

^Let's make our presence felt, Footsoldiers! Vote!

-----

UK friends! As was first announced in yesterday's Switchfoot email, Kerrang Radio in the UK has added "Mess of Me" to regular rotation! This is huge.

First off, check out the "Single of the Week" features for the song by a couple of Kerrang staffers:

Single of the Week
Luke's Single of the Week



Henry's Single of the Week



Next, we need all of you UK friends to start requesting the song on the station. Here's the link to do that! Let's spread the Hurricane all over the world!

Enter the 'Mess of Me' Roadie For A Day Contest!

Freshly posted on Switchfoot.com:

That's right, you can be our roadie for day. We are partnering with Macbeth and Journey's to bring you a very special contest where one lucky winner will win a trip to see Switchfoot play Journey's Backyard BBQ on May 8th in Sacramento.



The prize package:

*Two Airline Tickets and hotel accommodations the night of the show

*Meet/Greet With The Band

*Assist with Sound Check That Day

*Stand Side Stage during the show - walk Jon Foreman's guitar out to him on stage during the show.

*One $500 Gift Certificate to Journeys

*Signed Memorabilia

*A Pair of Switchfoot's Studio Project shoe

*a trip to see Switchfoot play at Journey's Backyard BBQ in Sacramento, CA on May 8th 2010.



For complete contest details, please click HERE

You can also get a live mix of "Mess of Me!" I just downloaded my copy, and it sounds really good; it was like a well-polished, live CD mix. Perhaps its a cut from the upcoming live CD we've been hearing about. That would be pretty awesome.

At the 48th hour, they rested.... Official "Mess of Me" two-day recap!

Got an email from Corey Vidal, the Switchfoot Youtube channel manager. He's given me permission to post it in its entirety here.

Here's Corey:

It has been exactly 48 hours since 'Mess Of Me' was uploaded, which is the threshold for the 'Today' Honors. Here's where the final stats came in (I've bolded the most important ones):

Comments: 10,000+
Favorites: 1,500+
Ratings: 1,800+
Average Rating: 4.91 / 5.00
42,821 views

Honors for this video (28)

#4 - Most Discussed (Today)
#1 - Most Discussed (Today) - Music
#55 - Most Viewed (Today) - Australia
#54 - Most Viewed (Today) - Ireland
#37 - Most Viewed (Today) - New Zealand
#67 - Most Viewed (Today)
#98 - Most Viewed (Today) - Netherlands
#51 - Most Viewed (Today) - Czech Republic
#42 - Most Viewed (Today) - Music - Germany
#5 - Most Viewed (Today) - Music - Australia
#6 - Most Viewed (Today) - Music - Canada
#21 - Most Viewed (Today) - Music - United Kingdom
#3 - Most Viewed (Today) - Music - Ireland
#9 - Most Viewed (Today) - Music - India
#3 - Most Viewed (Today) - Music - New Zealand
#4 - Most Viewed (Today) - Music
#79 - Most Viewed (Today) - Music - Spain
#29 - Most Viewed (Today) - Music - Mexico
#88 - Most Viewed (Today) - Music - France
#10 - Most Viewed (Today) - Music - Netherlands
#67 - Most Viewed (Today) - Music - Brazil
#13 - Most Viewed (Today) - Music - Czech Republic
#20 - Most Viewed (Today) - Music - Sweden
#10 - Top Favorited (Today)
#3 - Top Favorited (Today) - Music
#17 - Top Rated (Today)
#2 - Top Rated (Today) - Music
#10 - Top Rated (This Week) - Music

'Switchfoot' Channel Honors:
#2 - Most Viewed Channel (Today) - Musicians
#34 - Most Viewed Channel (Today) - Partners

Other things worth noting:

Your (new) account is now a Partner.
The new 'Switchfoot' account has jumped with over 2,500 new Subscribers in the past 48 hours, putting the channel at almost 43,000 Subscribers.
Both 'TheDrewcast' and 'FictionFamily' have seen a jump in 400+ new Subscribers since it launched (the FictionFamily channel doesn't even contain any videos yet).
It has been "Popular" for the past 30 hours (therefore being seen by non-subscribers and non-followers/fans on Twitter/Facebook).
This video, in its first 48 hours, has about 3x the stats than the previous Mess Of Me video from September had at that time.
Your primary 'Music' competition on YouTube was Weezer (getting a 4-video frontpage sponsored Spotlight), Jay-Z's new song about New York City, Britney Spears' new music video about threesomes, and a character from South Park singing a Lady Gaga song.
It was featured in the 'Video' and 'Music' and 'Entertainment' categories on Digg.com, and also Featured on the front page.
Job Ang ('Joberooni') left over 1,000 comments alone.

Sincerely,
Corey Vidal

^WOW. We've done an excellent job here, friends. I'm so proud of all of you. Switchfoot will be hearing these exact words too. I'm sure they'll be excited to hear where their video has gone!!

To see today's regular update, go here. :)

A conversation on Youtube; "Mess of Me" is advancing!

UPDATE (2:20 PM PST):

Closing honors. Very great job. We made this video popular on Youtube! Well Done!


#4 - Most Discussed (Today)
#1 - Most Discussed (Today) - Music
#55 - Most Viewed (Today) - Australia
#54 - Most Viewed (Today) - Ireland
#37 - Most Viewed (Today) - New Zealand
#67 - Most Viewed (Today)
#98 - Most Viewed (Today) - Netherlands
#51 - Most Viewed (Today) - Czech Republic
#42 - Most Viewed (Today) - Music - Germany
#5 - Most Viewed (Today) - Music - Australia
#6 - Most Viewed (Today) - Music - Canada
#21 - Most Viewed (Today) - Music - United Kingdom
#3 - Most Viewed (Today) - Music - Ireland
#9 - Most Viewed (Today) - Music - India
#3 - Most Viewed (Today) - Music - New Zealand
#4 - Most Viewed (Today) - Music
#79 - Most Viewed (Today) - Music - Spain
#29 - Most Viewed (Today) - Music - Mexico
#88 - Most Viewed (Today) - Music - France
#10 - Most Viewed (Today) - Music - Netherlands
#67 - Most Viewed (Today) - Music - Brazil
#13 - Most Viewed (Today) - Music - Czech Republic
#20 - Most Viewed (Today) - Music - Sweden
#10 - Top Favorited (Today)
#3 - Top Favorited (Today) - Music
#17 - Top Rated (Today)
#2 - Top Rated (Today) - Music
#10 - Top Rated (This Week) - Music

-----

Some huge progress yesterday on the "Mess of Me" video. Before we get to the many successes of what we did, here are some awesome facts about "Mess of Me" and the whole "Hello Hurricane" record, as well as other topics. Here, below, is the complete excerpt of what "Switchfoot" told youtubers as they commented and promoted the record last night:

(Click each cap to see the full thing)

About the "Mess of Me" video we've been promoting:









Hello Hurricane Facts:










Vice Verse:




Random:








Fiction Family:




And at the very end, the man behind the screen name revealed himself:




^Corey Vidal, our resident Switchfoot Youtube expert! Nice.

-----

Now that you enjoyed that fact-filled time, here are some stats on the "Mess of Me" video. We've done some serious damage!

GOALS, as of 12:28 AM PST:
1,500+ Ratings (GOT IT!)
1,500+ Favorites
5,000+ Comments (GOT IT!)
75,000+ Views

^Way to go fams! We DESTROYED the comments goal, with time to spare, and the ratings goal has been excellent too.

Also, we got "Mess of Me" onto the most popular pages for a time yesterday (I hear we will be back). Also, it appeared on the front page of Youtube for a good hour or so.



^Look at that BEAUTIFUL thumbnail. ;) ~drool~

Also, check out the HONORS:


#5 - Most Discussed (Today)
#1 - Most Discussed (Today) - Music
#64 - Most Viewed (Today) - Australia
#69 - Most Viewed (Today) - Ireland
#47 - Most Viewed (Today) - New Zealand
#76 - Most Viewed (Today) - Czech Republic
#95 - Most Viewed (Today) - Music - Germany
#7 - Most Viewed (Today) - Music - Australia
#10 - Most Viewed (Today) - Music - Canada
#50 - Most Viewed (Today) - Music - United Kingdom
#7 - Most Viewed (Today) - Music - Ireland
#22 - Most Viewed (Today) - Music - India
#6 - Most Viewed (Today) - Music - New Zealand
#6 - Most Viewed (Today) - Music
#49 - Most Viewed (Today) - Music - Mexico
#22 - Most Viewed (Today) - Music - Netherlands
#18 - Most Viewed (Today) - Music - Czech Republic
#60 - Most Viewed (Today) - Music - Sweden
#14 - Top Favorited (Today)
#4 - Top Favorited (Today) - Music
#31 - Top Rated (Today)
#2 - Top Rated (Today) - Music
#13 - Top Rated (This Week) - Music





We're going for 10,000 comments by 3 pm PST TODAY! I know we can make it! We will find out today if we get Featured or not. Seeing as how Switchfoot's a Youtube Partner now, we have a solid shot! Check out what the channel got:



Also, it's starting to get some attention across the blogosphere. IF YOU have a blog, POST IT!

- You Are Music
- Umyeah
- New Music Reviews
- Driveby Media

^very nice, eh? Keep up the great work promoting guys! I hear the Switchfoot boys (especially Chad) are super stoked with our efforts! ~high fives~ all around! We need to keep the pressure on, though!

-----

Switchfoot was featured on the Myspace Homepage!



Go to their Myspace page now to listen to the new record, "Hello Hurricane!" (if you want that is)

-----

The Tucson Examiner posted a great interview with Tim Foreman. Below is an excerpt:

JW: So, your first show at The Rock, that's cool! Hope to check it out. Let's talk about what you're promoting on this tour, "Hello Hurricane". What is your personal favorite track off the new album?



TF: Hmm, well, its a bit like choosing a favorite kid. We're actually rehearsing for the tour right now, playing the whole album start to finish....There's a few that are very fresh in my mind, since we've been working on them. There's a song called "Needle In A Haystack World", the opening track. That's a song that has a lot of heart to it. It's the type of song I could see us wanting to play for a really long time, so that's always a good thing.



JW: Can't wait to hear it. I read there are actually several more albums that may come out of the same studio sessions that produced "Hello Hurricane". When could we expect to see those released, and do any of them have titles yet?



TF: We don't have any master plan for releasing them yet, but yeah. We've done that before, and it always comes back to bite us, so we're being careful not to over-commit. But we're really excited about that material. We recorded close to 90 songs and wrote even more than that; its kind of an overwhelming amount of material. That was a challenge on making this record ["Hello Hurricane"], kind of trying to see the forest for the trees and figure it out. But we do have a working title, "Vice Verses", that will probably be the next batch of songs we release.

Read the whole thing here.

-----

The North County Times is having a sort of Switchfoot week. First, here's an excerpt of a review, that wasn't so great, but not scathing either:

Opening track "Needle and Haystack Life" sounds far closer to U2 than anything Switchfoot has ever done: power ballad with soaring, multi-tracked vocal harmonies and indistinguishable instrumental tapestry behind the vocals. Almost as overproduced are "Always" and "Bullet Soul" (although the last one at least is marked by the typical Switchfoot punch on the chorus).

Still, lead singer and founder Jon Foreman is too good a songwriter to be denied for long, and "Enough to Let Me Go" is an absolute gem: great hook, spare arrangement, relaxed vocal. Mark it up as one of the band's best songs. The title track is a nice little rocker (although the vocal harmonies again hew a bit too close to the patented U2 sound for comfort), and "The Sound (John M. Perkins' Blues)" and "Mess of Me" both have the kind of raw edginess that marked the band's early recordings.

Next, here's an AWESOME news article about the band, with lots of new information. Check it out.

An excerpt:

Atlantic's sales pitch won the band over. Producer Mike Elizondo came on board and was "crucial as the closer."

"He was our Trevor Hoffman of four or five years ago maybe. He came at a point where we were finally starting to realize what the record was going to look like," Foreman said.

Elizondo, with such an eclectic resume as a producer and musician ---- Eminem, Dr. Dre, Natasha Bedingfield and Maroon 5, to name a few ---- would figure to push the band to new places. Foreman said that wasn't so much the case.

"He said, 'Don't be afraid of what you've done for the past six records.' We had already pushed ourselves far enough," Foreman said.

"Very few of the experimental tracks made the record. One made it on Karl Denson's new record, and I think one might make it on Meat Loaf's next record. On our record, the song that pushes things the furthest is 'Sing It Out,' a song that has no solid indicator of time until the bridge ---- we've never had that much restraint before."

Read the rest HERE.

-----

Here are pictures from Switchfoot's trip to the Grammy Museum:






See the full set here

-----

CHARTS


"Mess of Me" is holding at No. 33.

-----

VOTING

In all this "Mess of Me" Youtube promotion, try to take a little time to keep on voting at these links. Radio success is important too:

- People's Choice Awards Write-in

- 98.7 (Los Angeles) Badass 8 We were No. 6 last night! But we need to continue to put pressure on. The station is starting to spin the song more... VOTE.

- 91x (San Diego) Christy Taylor's REALLY BIG Countdown Keep requesting each day to keep it on the countdown! We were no. 1 last night. YES!

- RadioU's Top Ten Most Wanted. We still have the top spot! Well done! Let's keep it that way!

- We need to get "Mess of Me" on to KROQ, in order to get this single off the ground. Go HERE to request it! Keep it up friends! Don't slow down, WE NEED THIS. Keep going.

-

Go here to see a list of stations already playing "Mess of Me" and phone numbers to call in and request the song with!

Let's aim for cracking the Top 30 of Alternative Rock before the end of the week. I think it could happen!

"Mess of Me" Summary of the Damage

UPDATE (10:44 PM PST): We reached 5000 comments! Going for 10,000 now, and we have also snagged the No. 1 most discussed today in music. Just need to update!



As you all know, friends, the official "Mess of Me" video launched yesterday on the new Switchfoot Youtube channel. Look at what we amassed yesterday!

- Honors:

#9 - Most Discussed (Today)
#2 - Most Discussed (Today) - Music
#58 - Most Viewed (Today) - Music - Australia
#72 - Most Viewed (Today) - Music - Canada
#34 - Most Viewed (Today) - Music - New Zealand
#56 - Most Viewed (Today) - Music
#38 - Top Favorited (Today)
#15 - Top Favorited (Today) - Music
#57 - Top Rated (Today)
#6 - Top Rated (Today) - Music
#23 - Top Rated (This Week) - Music

- We also got featured on the Digg.com front page! Thanks for your hard work! This video is off to a really really great start.

- The video got featured on a popular online video aggregator website: Zoinks.tv

For our goals and special instructiosn during this campaign, go here

By Thursday, 3 PM PST, we need to have these goals met.

1,500+ Ratings
1,500+ Favorites
5,000+ Comments (GOT IT)
75,000+ Views

We're already WELL on our way. This has got more steam behind it than the other "Mess of Me" video because we have 30,000 + new subscribers on this channel. Keep up the great work and see you on the video comments section!

We may be single-handedly making music history folks... if "Hello Hurricane" explodes, this effort here, will have a large hand in that! Exciting, if you ask me.

-----

The GRAMMY Museum apparently had Switchfoot in yesterday as special guests! This info via their Twitter:

- Switchfoot is here today for our Backstage Pass program, speaking to students about developing a career in music.

- The band's manager, publicist, and record company reps are also here to share their experiences. Right now, a performance: "Meant to Live."

- Everyone on today's panel is working on Swtchfoot's new album "Hello Hurricane."

- The record's producer, Mike Elizondo, is here too. "I realized pretty quickly that I had to be a part of this record."

-----

There's a new video of an interview with Jon Foreman, about social justice. Check it out:

URGENT: We need these TONIGHT!

UPDATE (7:47 PM PST): We did it!

-----

We need, at least 200-300 people, all within the next 3 hours, to DIGG the "Mess of Me" Video. Here's what you need to do.

1. If you dont already have one, sign up for an account on digg.com. It's easy and only takes a few minutes.

2. Next, go to the "Mess of Me" video post and "digg" it by clicking the "digg" button.

And you're done! But we need at LEAST 200 of these by tonight. Once this happens, digg.com will feature it on the main site, and we will get TONS of exposure. Ready... set... GO!!!

Official "Mess of Me" Music Video is now live!

UPDATE (2:31 PM PST): Here it is!



A MESSAGE FROM LOBH and We're Awakening!:

Hello fellow fams!

As you know by now (if you don't, time to crawl out of that cave) the official Mess of Me video has been released online.

Now is the time to START PROMOTING.

Switchfoot's management really wants for this video to "blow up" within the first 48 hours, and we as fans have a pivotal role to play in that. In fact, if we don't start the ball rolling, this video will never take off. I guess you could consider yourselves the "fire starters."

So here is what YOU need to do...
First, take a look at the 48 HOUR GOAL PLAN crafted by Switchfoot's official YouTube guy, Corey Vidal:
1,500+ Ratings
1,500+ Favorites
5,000+ Comments (CHECK)
75,000+ Views


- 5,000+ Comments
You remember what to do. Last time around, we amassed 13,000 comments in a little under a month. That's INCREDIBLE. I say we can do just as well this time. 5000 comments in two days will be a piece of cake


- 75,000+ Views
Of course, who wouldn't want to watch Switchfoot greatness, right? Make sure you also:
- SHARE the song to all your friends on Facebook, Twitter, Myspace, Friendster, etc. This will ensure that as many of your friends as possible will see this video. To think, if at least all of us do this, we will cover some ground, but if at least one of YOUR friends likes it and posts it, it will just continue to spread. Let's do our part by employing the most powerful promotional tool: word-of-mouth... or... word-of-keyboard?


- 1,500+ Ratings
Ratings are incredibly important on Youtube. The more ratings, the higher on search rankings videos get. This is the most important statistic on videos, so PLEASE RATE THE VIDEO.


- 1,500+ Favorites
Who wouldn't want to watch this over and over again? Favorite it, not only so you can enjoy Switchfoot greatness, but also to help bolster the video's position. 1500 favorites in two day


So that's it friends! We really need to band together to make this video a success, so let's get cracking!
We'll see you on the Mess of Me YouTube Comments!
- Jeanna (http://www.landofbrokenhearts.org) and Job (http://www.wereawakening.blogspot.com)


-----

UPDATE (1:32 PM PST): The "Mess of Me" video needed some more fine-tuning, so Corey is hard at work making that happen. We should have it within an hour or so. PLEASE don't lose heart... we will get this video today to promote!!

In the meantime, here's a new video from the old Switchfootpodcast account, lightheartedly urging you to SUBSCRIBE to the new Switchfoot channel.

Jon Foreman wrote songs with Karl Denson

UPDATE:
In other updated news, we've heard back from management that Ustream AND the band will be keeping archived copies of the broadcast. So never fear if you have to miss it. I recommend you don't though, so you can ask questions and interact! :)

Also, the upcoming webcast is on ustream's front page!



--------



And the record, "Brother's Keeper" is out today! Here is a snippet of the review from AllMusic, talking about Jon Foreman's involvement:

Denson wrote or co-wrote 10 of the set's 11 tunes, two of them with Switchfoot's lead singer Jon Foreman (the set opener and first single "Shake It Out," and "Mighty Rebel"). Foreman penned the stellar "The Drums of War,"

Here's Jon's tweet about it:

- Twas honored to sing/write tunes on my friend/hero Karl Denson's new record-it's out mañana! info: http://bit.ly/3Yp6qQ

Be sure to pick up a copy on iTunes if you have some cash to spare!

--------

My good friend Bryant designed a new t-shirt featuring lyrics from Switchfoot's song, "Always." It is personally my favorite line of the song: "every breath is a second chance."

Check it out HERE

We're going to need you to VOTE for it, by going over, signing up, and giving him a 5 vote. If he wins, I believe the clothing company will adopt his shirt. Wouldn't you like an "Always"-themed t-shirt? I know I would.

--------

UPDATE: ON THE OFFICIAL CAMERA STREAM, IT'S LOOKING LIKE THE SHOW IS STARTING AT 5 PM PST, RATHER THAN 5:30 PM PST. Plan accordingly!

Today is the day of Switchfoot's live stream. Make sure you go here for the stream, or you can watch it right here on our site. We've embedded the player and live chat at the top of our page!

--------

The "Mess of Me" video has been a HUGE success, my friends. 110,000 views in one week, is one of the best opening performances by a Switchfoot I've ever seen. Take a breather. You've all done an excellent job promoting, spreading, and (dare I say) spamming this video to all your friends. More music videos are coming, so we'll need to have energy to go at it all over again. :)

AGAIN, HIGH FIVES ALL AROUND!

Switchfoot tweeted their appreciation:

- thanks for getting our #messofme video http://tinyurl.com/mykb5c up above 110,000 views! pre-order is soon, I swear!

Switchfoot rocks opening for Dave Matthews Band; streaming live Tuesday

Here's a video of their performance of "Always" in Irvine, CA last night.



Check out the rest of the videos by this Youtube user here

The setlist was also posted:

Learning To Breathe (incomplete)
This Is Your Life
I Won't Back Down
Always
Dirty Second Hands
Meant to Live
On Fire
Dare You to Move

Switchfoot tweets about the evening:

- thanks to @DaveJMatthews for a great couple nights to end the summer. Home this week and a swell on the way!

From Jon Foreman:

- Thanks to @davejmatthews and co. for a great night... had a great time playing our songs and listening to yours

-------

Switchfoot has some exciting news for us, from their latest email blast:

Big news.  So to commemorate our new record coming out soon, we will be doing a live broadcast from our studio.  We will be answering questions, talking about the new record, and even debuting a clip from our "Live at Spot X" in studio performances, which frankly, we think turned out pretty great.  It'll be for the song "Mess Of Me", which is our new single, but this video is totally different from the one we just put up on youtube.
 
We're pretty excited about it because we'll also be LIVE in our studio talking to you guys directly, which is how we prefer it. Good times.  The link you're going to want to remember is
 
www.ustream.tv/switchfoot
 
Mark your calendars for THIS Tuesday, September 15 at 5:30 PM PST.  We will go live, and it will be awesome.  
 
Speaking of awesome, thank you SO much for your overwhelming response to the "Mess Of Me" clip we recently put up over on youtube.  We just surpassed 100k views, which is crazy.  If by some small chance you haven't seen it yet, cruise on over to this page and check it out.
 
Remember, Tuesday, 5:30 (west coast).  See you there.
 
Jon, Tim, Chad, Jerome, and Drew.

^who wants to record this for us? I'm going to be out working on a reporting assignment for my class.

-------

Keep it coming! the "Mess of Me" video has these honors:

#4 - Most Discussed (This Week)
#1 - Most Discussed (This Week) - Music
#47 - Most Discussed (This Month)
#8 - Most Discussed (This Month) - Music
#27 - Most Viewed (This Week) - Music - Australia
#35 - Most Viewed (This Week) - Music - Canada
#100 - Most Viewed (This Week) - Music - United Kingdom
#67 - Most Viewed (This Week) - Music - India
#16 - Most Viewed (This Week) - Music - New Zealand
#22 - Most Viewed (This Week) - Music
#68 - Most Viewed (This Week) - Music - Czech Republic
#42 - Top Favorited (This Week)
#10 - Top Favorited (This Week) - Music
#72 - Top Rated (This Week)
#3 - Top Rated (This Week) - Music
#49 - Top Rated (This Month) - Music

^Also, we've reached 2000 favorites, 100,000 views, and 2000 ratings within our first week. What a success! Great work friends. :)

"Mess of Me" video back to No. 1...!

...on the Most Discussed This Week (Music) Honor on Youtube! Thanks to your tireless efforts, "Mess of Me" continues to dominate all forms of discussion-related honors on Youtube's channel. Now, here are the honors we've accumulated to this point:

#8 - Most Discussed (This Week)
#1 - Most Discussed (This Week) - Music
#66 - Most Discussed (This Month)
#10 - Most Discussed (This Month) - Music
#31 - Most Viewed (This Week) - Music - Australia
#41 - Most Viewed (This Week) - Music - Canada
#78 - Most Viewed (This Week) - Music - India
#19 - Most Viewed (This Week) - Music - New Zealand
#29 - Most Viewed (This Week) - Music
#94 - Most Viewed (This Week) - Music - Czech Republic
#44 - Top Favorited (This Week)
#7 - Top Favorited (This Week) - Music
#81 - Top Rated (This Week)
#5 - Top Rated (This Week) - Music
#69 - Top Rated (This Month) - Music

^This is great news! But we aren't quite there yet, friends. We need to keep the momentum of this video going. We are doing VERY WELL. Here are the next goals, straight from Corey Vidal's mouth:

Next big goal is 100,000 views.
Also, 2,000 Favorites.


IF you haven't favorited the video yet, please do so. And when you send this video around to your friends, ask them for a simple favorite and rating as well. Those will go a long way into making this video spread.

SO, here's what's been happening so far. We've been doing really well with comments, but the ratings and favorites are the stats that are really holding us back from this video spreading all over the 'net.

Let's make it a point to ask fro RATINGS and FAVORITES next time we post the video. Keep up the good work though. There was a good hour-long window tonight in which the "Mess of Me" video was seen regularly on the home page of Youtube, for the world to see. That's what we want. We are so close. Let's keep it up!



------

Switchfoot opened for Dave Matthews Band last night, and they all seemed pretty stoked about it.

Andy Barron tweeted this from the side stage:

- watching dave matthews band from sidestage while listening to his in ear mix. snare was really loud. http://twitpic.com/hjmj7



Jon Foreman had this to say:

-Thanks to DMB and Co. for a wonderful night... And thanks to San Diego for being the place where my bed resides!

------

Here's a nice little video recap from the Florida show last Thursday.



------

Our friend Anothersffan reports that "This Is Home" could be heard during the Kids Choice Music Choice channel last night.

"Mess of Me" still doing well; another "Always" video

Keep it rolling... we're doing a great job friends! Been in contact with Corey Vidal the past few days, and he is pretty stoked about how well the "Mess of Me" video is doing. But again, we still need to keep the ball rolling. Keep on commenting and rating and sharing! We're very close to the point where this video will start to promote itself, meaning the comments and views will start pouring in from outside the Switchfoot fan base. But until then, our work continues. Here are the honors we are currently sitting on.

#13 - Most Discussed (This Week)
#2 - Most Discussed (This Week) - Music
#90 - Most Discussed (This Month)
#13 - Most Discussed (This Month) - Music
#38 - Most Viewed (This Week) - Music - Australia
#50 - Most Viewed (This Week) - Music - Canada
#91 - Most Viewed (This Week) - Music - India
#24 - Most Viewed (This Week) - Music - New Zealand
#38 - Most Viewed (This Week) - Music
#64 - Top Favorited (This Week)
#14 - Top Favorited (This Week) - Music
#89 - Top Rated (This Week)
#6 - Top Rated (This Week) - Music
#93 - Top Rated (This Month) - Music

^We are working on getting to No. 1 most discussed this month, and we have already secured the spot. Youtube is just slow in updating, because we have already beaten the No. 1 video. So keep it up! We want to build some distance between us and the rest of the competition!

Our goals by the end of today:

- 100,000 views
- 2000 ratings
- 2000 favorites
- 10,000 comments

^WE can do it! Let's go!

UPDATE: We've reached 10,000 comments today!
UPDATE2: We've reached 2000 FAVORITES today!

--------

Here's a video of another live performance of "Always" "that was recorded live at a private VIP event hosted by EMI CMG on 9/11/09 at Walt Disney World Hollywood Studios."



ENJOY!

Switchfoot Song Stories!; "Always" debuted live

"Mess of Me" Promotion:

- Keep rating, commenting, and viewing the "Mess of Me" video! We have new goals!:

Ratings: 2000
Faves: 2000
Comments: 10,000
Views 100000

--------

Live at the Ft. Lauderdale Culture Room last night, Switchfoot played "Always" for the first time live.



^Check out Jon rocking' that keyboard! It's as good as I thought it'd be!

--------

And, LOBH found the song stories for the upcoming "Hello Hurricane" record.

READ LOBH for more!

--------

Also, last night:

Twitter:
- NFL kickoff game just played Mess of Me in the opening kickoff show! High fives everyone, -d http://twitpic.com/h940e

BREAKING; "Mess of Me" has made it! VIRAL

UPDATE (4:19 PM):

Here are our NEW GOALS for this video, to be had by the end of tomorrow:

Ratings: 2000
Faves: 2000
Comments: 7500
Views 100000

Read below to find out how to help!

--------

Yes, friends, I've just spoken with Corey Vidal, and Switchfoot's "Mess of Me" video has entered Youtube's rotation of 100 Most Popular Videos. This, my friends, is no small feat. We have done some good work here!

HOWEVER, our work certainly isn't done. The goal now is to keep this video on THERE, solely for the purpose of bringing in the non-Switchfoot fans.

Pretty much every Switchfoot fan and their grandmothers and dogs and cats have seen "Mess of Me" already. It's now time to bring this song to the rest of the world!

So, here's what's happened. So, Corey tells me that its been seen on the FRONT page of YOUTUBE! Here's what we need to do now.

FIRST:

Keep on refreshing the Youtube home page, until it shows up under "Videos Being Watched Now" section. When you find it, make sure you click from there. Youtube registers that it was clicked from the home page. This will then help to boost its rankings!

So, here's the link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9lg7Utdnyk&feature=popular

Make sure you click into the video from here, to help in boosting "Mess of Me"'s Popularity. The "feature=popular" tag at the end is what denotes to Youtube that this video was clicked from their home page. This is one way of doing it.

BUT, we definitely want you to find the video FROM THE HOME PAGE, and click on it. This will be a more powerful indication to Youtube than simply going to the link.

Now, people who have no idea who Switchfoot is will be able to stumble upon it. That is our goal. Those are the people we WANT.

SECOND:

Keep rating, commenting, and sharing the video. The more we talk about and spread it, the more popular it becomes, the more new viewers we get!

"Mess of Me" starting to spread; Switchfoot debuts "Free" live

Great work yesterday on the video, friends! We surpassed 4000 comments last night, which is INCREDIBLE for a first-day video. To put it all into perspective, the video for "Awakening" has 5,991 comments – TOTAL.

Also, just right now, I found that we have reached the goals we set out for the first day of this here video:

- 2000 comments (CHECK)
- 500 ratings (CHECK)
- 25,000 views (CHECK!)

~high fives all around~ Switchfoot would be proud of you all!

Over the last two days, we've amassed quite the array of honors. Always a good sign we're getting close to going viral:

#7 - Most Discussed (Today)
#1 - Most Discussed (Today) - Music
#70 - Most Discussed (This Week)
#8 - Most Discussed (This Week) - Music
#51 - Most Discussed (This Month) - Music
#70 - Most Viewed (Today) - Australia
#41 - Most Viewed (Today) - New Zealand
#81 - Most Viewed (Today)
#72 - Most Viewed (Today) - Music - Germany
#10 - Most Viewed (Today) - Music - Australia
#10 - Most Viewed (Today) - Music - Canada
#57 - Most Viewed (Today) - Music - United Kingdom
#22 - Most Viewed (Today) - Music - India
#7 - Most Viewed (Today) - Music - New Zealand
#8 - Most Viewed (Today) - Music
#52 - Most Viewed (Today) - Music - Mexico
#44 - Most Viewed (Today) - Music - Netherlands
#44 - Most Viewed (Today) - Music - Brazil
#30 - Most Viewed (Today) - Music - Czech Republic
#16 - Top Favorited (Today)
#4 - Top Favorited (Today) - Music
#66 - Top Favorited (This Week) - Music
#46 - Top Rated (Today)
#5 - Top Rated (Today) - Music
#20 - Top Rated

Also, it can now be seen on the second page if you click on the "Videos" tab at the top of Youtube.com!



^That is some major damage done! We've accomplished so much, and the video has amassed over 4000 comments and over 1000 ratings. Today is the last day our video will be eligible for the "Today" honors, but we can go for "Monthly" honors!

Also, part of getting a video to go viral is to spread the song like a virus ourselves! Keep sharing it with your friends, tweeting about it, posting it on Facebook and Myspace, and just saturating your surroundings with the sounds of Switchfoot! We can do it! We need to give the song as much momentum as we can before it gets sent to radio (sometime this week).



---------

MissAnnaBee was at the 99x Radio Event that Switchfoot apparently played yesterday in Atlanta. Look what she got on tape! "Free," live and acoustic for the first time ever. ENJOY:



^thanks so much MissAnnaBee!

---------

Paste Magazine has a new feature on Switchfoot's new album, "Hello Hurricane." Much of it is what we already have known and heard, but they have a schnazzy new press photo:



---------

Radio News

- "Mess of Me" has been added to the Albany, NY Alternative station, WEQX!

We'll keep you updated as more adds start to come in. It's officially available for adds at Alternative/Modern Rock and Active Rock radio this week.

---------

And last, but certainly not least, our newest writer Bleah makes her debut with this FootColumn she wrote up! Give her a big round of applause guys!

Go HERE to read it! YOU ROCK BLEAH!

Make "Mess of Me" VIRAL

The "Mess of Me" video has been a pretty solid hit on Youtube so far, thanks to the help and support of the fans of Switchfoot. We have met two of the three highlights/goals that Switchfoot's Youtube Manager Corey Vidal outlined, namely:

- 2000 comments (CHECK)
- 500 ratings (CHECK)
- 25,000 views

^Ok, that last one may require some work. As of 1:50 AM PST, the video has only logged 4,340 views. We have our work cut out for us.

Here's what we need to do. Everyone who has twitter needs to tweet and rewet this video like heck, and to incorporate the #messofme hashtag. If we can make it a trending topic, with a link to the video, we can totally blitz the video and bring in the unique views we need to make this video viral.

That being said, yesterday's work was an epic success. Look at the big-time honors we pulled in for the video:

#18 - Most Discussed (Today)
#1 - Most Discussed (Today) - Music
#44 - Most Viewed (Today) - Music - Canada
#56 - Most Viewed (Today) - Music - New Zealand
#37 - Most Viewed (Today) - Music
#49 - Top Favorited (Today)
#9 - Top Favorited (Today) - Music
#8 - Top Rated (Today) - Music
#55 - Top Rated (This Week) - Music

^The more No. 1 Honors we get, the more likely its going to go viral.

WHAT IT MEANS for a video to go "VIRAL"

If a video goes viral, it means it spreads across the internet like wildfire. Those can net widespread exposure for the creator, and in this case, Switchfoot's "Mess of Me" campaign would gain a HUGE boost if this first video goes viral. So, we've got our work cut out for us footsoldiers. "Mess of Me" goes to radio this week. Let's give radio programmers something to chew on.

-----------

Absolutepunk.net has a new news piece/press release on Switchfoot.

http://www.absolutepunk.net/showthread.php?t=1313752

HELLO HURRICANE, SWITCHFOOT'S SEVENTH FULL-LENGTH ALBUM,
SET FOR NOVEMBER 10 RELEASE ON ATLANTIC RECORDS

BAND WILL PLAY SELECT DATES WITH
DAVE MATTHEWS BAND IN SEPTEMBER

SWITCHFOOT'S BRO-AM CHARITY EVENT HAS ITS MOST SUCCESSFUL YEAR TO DATE,
RAISING THOUSANDS FOR AT-RISK YOUTH
On November 10, Atlantic Records will release Hello Hurricane, the seventh full-length album from the multi-Platinum, San Diego-based rock band SWITCHFOOT. Hello Hurricane is the group's first album on Atlantic Records and its first studio album since 2006's Oh! Gravity, which debuted at No. 18 on The Billboard 200. SWITCHFOOT has been hard at work on Hello Hurricane, tracking more than 80 songs at the band's self-built home studio and selecting the very best of them for the record. The band recorded the album with noted producer/bassist Mike Elizondo (Dr. Dre, Rilo Kiley, Eminem, and Pink). The edgy, driving lead single "Mess of Me" goes for adds at Modern and Active Rock radio this week.

The back-to-basics approach employed has yielded a career-defining album that lead singer Jon Foreman views as "a new beginning." Elizondo's unique background facilitated a departure for the band, allowing it to build on SWITCHFOOT's foundation, punctuated by hard-hitting instrumentation and soaring choruses, and elevating the music to a new level.

"Hello Hurricane acknowledges the storms that tear through our lives," states Foreman. "This album is an attempt to respond to those storms with an element of hope, trying to understand what it means to be hopeful in a world that keeps on spinning."

The band recently kicked off the co-headlining Crazy Making Summer Tour with Universal Motown Records group Blue October and featuring special guests Ours and Longwave. Following that outing, SWITCHFOOT will open for Dave Matthews Band, on two Southern California dates (September 12th & 13th). See below for itinerary.

SWITCHFOOT - comprising Jon Foreman (vocals/guitar), Tim Foreman (bass), Chad Butler (drums), Jerome Fontamillas (keys/guitar) and Drew Shirley (guitar) - has hosted the annual BRO-AM, a surf contest, charity auction and concert, for the past five years. The June 2009 BRO-AM benefited local San Diego area chapters of StandUp for Kids, a non-profit organization dedicated to making a difference in the lives of at-risk and homeless youth. Final numbers are still being tallied, but it is estimated that this year's event grossed approximately $93,000, making it the most successful to date. (www.standupforkids.org)

Moved by the moral and universal consciousness of events like BRO-AM, Foreman created http://www.theworldyouwant.com, an online destination people can visit for daily doses of inspiration and to share their own stories. "Every day you're alive you change the world - with every breath, every action, and every thought," he writes. "What is the world you want? Let your life live out your decision. The World You Want website is a place where goodness, beauty, and truth in everyday life are given the spotlight. Who are the people in your life who are creating the world you want? We want to know...we want to hear their song...we want to sing along."

The track listing for Hello Hurricane is as follows:

1. Needle and Haystack Life
2. Mess of Me
3. Your Love is a Song
4. The Sound (John M Perkins' Blues)
5. Enough To Let Me Go
6. Free
7. Hello Hurricane
8. Always
9. Bullet Soul
10. Yet
11. Sing It Out
12. Red Eyes


SWITCHFOOT Playing With DAVE MATTHEWS BAND:
Sep 12 Cricket Wireless Amphitheater Chula Vista, California
Sep 13 Verizon Wireless Amphitheater Irvine, California

-----------

Slightly speaking of punk, Mike Shea, founder of Alternative Press had this semi-flattering thing to say about "Hello Hurricane" and Switchfoot:

Twitter:

- i usually hate Switchfoot- but this new record "Hello Hurricane" is actually really good..check it out when you can..

BREAKING: "Mess Of Me" by Switchfoot, new single from new album "Hello Hurricane", out November 10

UPDATE: Switchfoot's Youtube Manager Corey Vidal just messaged me, and said that this is our GOAL to make damage happen with this video:

"2,000 comments. 500 ratings. 25,000 views."

^Let's make it happen!

Switchfoot JUST tweeted about the brand new tour footage music video they put together for "Mess of Me," and it is one of the most epic things I've witnessed in awhile.

- wanna hear the studio version of 'mess of me'? new video featuring tour footage and the new song! please RT! http://bit.ly/1ErbIg #messofme

HERE it is.



Subsequent tweets surrounding:

- Thanks for being a part of the hunt for #messofme around the world! Send us pictures/maps of where it's been...

- For those of you who still haven't heard #messofme, here's your chance: http://is.gd/32RYs sing it out! jon

^I suppose that officially ends the #messofme treasure hunt? Boy, wasn't it fun? What we're going to need you to do now though is to help spread this single further, this time broadcasting it to as many of your friends, family, and co-workers as possible.

The ways we can do this are:

1. Watching it - This will ensure that the view count goes up. Feel free to view it as many times as possible. BUT PLEASE avoid scripts that auto-refresh the page. It may be caught by Youtube.

2. Commenting on it - The more discussion we can have for this video, the more people will chime in. The more people chime in, the higher up the charts this video will go. I know we all love to talk, so here we go!

3. Rating it - Ratings ARE UBER IMPORTANT on Youtube. We are only given one rating per day, but make sure you do take the time to give the video five stars in order to get it up the Ratings charts on Youtube as well.

4. Emailing it, posting it on Twitter, sharing it on Facebook, embedding it on your blog or website - This is where you can get creative. Put the video ANYWHERE and EVERYWHERE it can be seen. If nothing else, it floods your friends' news spaces and twitter feeds with Switchfoot and "Mess of Me." Best case scenario being that new fans will be had for the band.




THANKS for all the help! Stay tuned tomorrow for the writing debut of our newest writer, Bleah! (aka Blonde4Christ) :)

"Mess of Me" song stories.

Interlinc has posted an article written directly by Jon Foreman about the lead single, "Mess of Me." Here it is in it's entirety:

"He not busy being born is busy dying." - Bob Dylan

"You were born a white man in mid-twentieth century industrial America. You came into the world armed to the teeth with an arsenal of weapons. The weapons of privilege, racial privilege, sexual privilege, economic privilege. You wanna be a pacifist, it's not just giving up guns and knives and clubs and fists and angry words, but giving up the weapons of privilege, and going into the world completely disarmed. Try that." - Ammon Hennessy

Lyrically the song is yearning for abundant life to spring from past mistakes. The song attempts to explore the darkest parts of the human animal and transcend them, rising above these gloomy moments to find true life. If you're Freud, you call these darker urges the death drive. If you're St. Paul, you talk about doing the things you don't want to do. Whatever you call them, these dark places destroy us if we leave them unchecked. I feel that tension everyday, between the right and the wrong, between life and death. And yet there is no easy path to freedom from self. It’s a narrow road and few find it. We've all thought about the quick fix: that special something/someone that could take the pain away. Yet the problems in my life are much bigger than any temporary solution. We die a little everyday- physically, spiritually; we are in sorry shape. Ain't no drug to make me well. Ain't no drug that can relieve me from the monster of myself. Ain't no one to blame. But my decision is made. I want to follow this through... I want to spend the rest of my life alive.

This tune has lived several lives all revolving around the guitar hook. It started out as a song called "I Saw Satan (Fall Like Lightning)" I wrote it a couple years back when I was stealing heavily from scripture. We dragged it into the studio with Charlie Peacock for a week of recording at Big Fish Studios and came out with a really great bridge. Then we wrote a new chorus, called the song "There Ain't No Drug" and built the verse lyrics around the new chorus. We made the bridge the chorus after that. (And at this point I was about as lost as you, dear reader. These are the limitations of having no limitations!) So we stepped away from this song. We knew it was a great one, we were just too inside it. When we came back to it we realized that we were really close... we just needed the final push- so we re-tracked everything at Mike's place. Tim was the champion of this tune: lifting it from one phase to the next, never giving up on the riff. I'm really proud of Tim for pushing through till the final version that ended up on the record.

^That's is an interesting read, for sure. "Mess of Me" definitely seems to be a labor of love from the Switchfoot boys. I for one will certainly be listening to this song with much more appreciation than I already do bestow upon this song. :)

Note: Be sure to catch the live acoustic show on Charlotte, NC's WEND radio station here, at 11:30 - noonish, EST.

FootSoldiers! Rise up!

Jeanna has a message for you all, directly from Corey Vidal and the Switchfoot team:

I just got off the phone with Corey Vidal (the dude with the briefcase in the video AND Switchfoot's new official YouTube dude) and we've been talking promotion for this video. Let me fill you in... Redlight (Switchfoot's management) wants to get this video to get AS MANY HONORS AS IT POSSIBLY CAN WITHIN THE FIRST 24 HOURS OF POSTING. Why? Because if the video gets high (or the highest) honors for the day, it will be posted on the YouTube home page, which means THOUSANDS of people who might never have seen it, are going to see it... and hopefully... like it.

And we want YOU GUYS to help us out. Think about... we... Corey, Redlight, me, Chris (the other star of the video), and YOU GUYS are actually helping to shape the success and future of "Mess of Me". We're dictating how this is going to go. We are actually TANGIBLY helping Switchfoot.

So here is the plan... and NOTE! all of this HAS to be done within the next 24 hours!

1) View the video - The more views the better! HOWEVER! DO NOT use GhostMouse or some other automated form to rack up more views. It won't work and Corey could get in big trouble if YouTube thinks he is trying to fake hits.

2) COMMENT! COMMENT! COMMENT! - Get in a conversation with another fan in the comments. Post your thoughts. Even just post a simple "Great" or "Good"... it doesn't matter. JUST COMMENT!

3) Favorite - Favorite this video. Get your friends to favorite.

4) Share it! - Retweet Switchfoot's post. Retweet Corey's post. Tweet the video. Facebook the video. Myspace the video. E-mail the video. Get others to watch it.

The goal is to get as many honors as we can get for this video in the next 24 hours.
Again, this is shaping the life and success of "Mess of Me". We've got that power.
Ready. Set. GO!

Come on guys! I believe in you all. Make Switchfoot proud! ;)

-----------

UPDATE: HERE ARE THE HONORS we have so far, as of 10 AM, PST

#8 - Most Discussed (Today) - Canada
#3 - Most Discussed (Today) - Entertainment - Canada
#30 - Most Discussed (Today) - Entertainment
#54 - Most Discussed (This Week) - Canada
#10 - Most Discussed (This Week) - Entertainment - Canada
#73 - Most Discussed (This Month) - Entertainment - Canada
#16 - Top Favorited (Today) - Canada
#8 - Top Favorited (Today) - Entertainment - Canada
#72 - Top Favorited (Today) - Entertainment
#33 - Top Favorited (This Week) - Entertainment - Canada
#14 - Top Rated (Today) - Canada
#3 - Top Rated (Today) - Entertainment - Canada
#59 - Top Rated (Today) - Entertainment
#58 - Top Rated (This Week) - Canada
#7 - Top Rated (This Week) - Entertainment - Canada
#85 - Top Rated (This Month) - Entertainment - Canada

1:55 PM PST

#7 - Most Discussed (Today) - Canada
#3 - Most Discussed (Today) - Entertainment - Canada
#28 - Most Discussed (Today) - Entertainment
#54 - Most Discussed (This Week) - Canada
#10 - Most Discussed (This Week) - Entertainment - Canada
#73 - Most Discussed (This Month) - Entertainment - Canada
#13 - Top Favorited (Today) - Canada
#5 - Top Favorited (Today) - Entertainment - Canada
#59 - Top Favorited (Today) - Entertainment
#33 - Top Favorited (This Week) - Entertainment - Canada
#14 - Top Rated (Today) - Canada
#2 - Top Rated (Today) - Entertainment - Canada
#47 - Top Rated (Today) - Entertainment
#57 - Top Rated (This Week) - Canada
#7 - Top Rated (This Week) - Entertainment - Canada
#85 - Top Rated (This Month) - Entertainment - Canada

7:59 PM PST


#1 - Most Discussed (Today) - Canada
#15 - Most Discussed (Today)
#1 - Most Discussed (Today) - Entertainment - Canada
#6 - Most Discussed (Today) - Entertainment
#54 - Most Discussed (This Week) - Canada
#10 - Most Discussed (This Week) - Entertainment - Canada
#73 - Most Discussed (This Month) - Entertainment - Canada
#100 - Most Viewed (Today) - Entertainment - Canada
#97 - Most Viewed (Today) - Entertainment
#16 - Most Viewed (Today) - Entertainment - Netherlands
#91 - Most Viewed (Today) - Entertainment - Sweden
#11 - Top Favorited (Today) - Canada
#3 - Top Favorited (Today) - Entertainment - Canada
#48 - Top Favorited (Today) - Entertainment
#33 - Top Favorited (This Week) - Entertainment - Canada
#11 - Top Rated (Today) - Canada
#1 - Top Rated (Today) - Entertainment - Canada
#44 - Top Rated (Today) - Entertainment
#53 - Top Rated (This Week) - Canada
#6 - Top Rated (This Week) - Entertainment - Canada
#85 - Top Rated (This Month) - Entertainment - Canada

^HOLY CRAP. Good work footsoldiers!