| | Issue #19.35 :: 03/26/2008 - 04/01/2008 | On the good foot
Crossover crusaders Switchfoot take their jobs seriously. But there’s more to life than music, and giving back, they say, is just as important
| BY MICHAEL THAMES
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Switchfoot
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AUGUSTA, GA - From Hollywood soundtracks, to the top of the charts, to iPods the world over, Switchfoot has taken their place among a fraternity of niche artists who are able to not only break into the mainstream, but actually thrive once they get there.
“One of the strangest things with our music is how you don’t really know all its implications when you write the song,” said the band’s guitarist Drew Shirley. “But later, you say ‘Wow. That has so much more subtext now.’ For instance, ‘Dare You to Move': that song’s been around awhile, but it never stops becoming and changing in what it means. It resonates, just like a guitar would resonate if you hit a piano right next to it at the same frequency.”
With hit singles like “Meant to Live,” “Awakening” and the Dylan-inspired “Happy Is a Yuppie Word,” the band has proven its ability to transcend the traditional boundaries of faith-based musical convention by foregoing the archetypal songs of the sweet-by-and-by and instead confronting the bitter-here-and-now.
Adding to their allure is lead singer Foreman’s lyrical approach and nonreligious perspective on a world not necessarily characterized by its idyllic nature, but rather by the existence of honest hope amidst loneliness and pain. The band’s seemingly endless capacity to connect with audiences through frighteningly open and often painfully honest songs has resulted in the accumulation of a mass of fans from as far away as Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
For over a decade, these San Diego natives have probably spent as much time surfing, giving back to their communities and advocating various humanitarian causes as they have writing songs, touring and playing their genre-defying brand of rock ‘n’ roll to sold-out crowds.
Switchfoot’s desire to come to the aid of the afflicted has served as an impetus for several jaunts across the country throughout their career. For example, the band participated in last year’s “Appetite for Construction Tour,” which was co-headlined by Relient K in support of Habitat for Humanity.
Guitarist Drew Shirley said that, thematically, Switchfoot just seems to be a natural fit for the various causes they take up.
Just as their mission to help the tangibly less fortunate spurred last year’s whirlwind tour, this year has found Switchfoot in league with Brit-rock band Athelete and an organization called “To Write Love on Her Arms (TWLOHA).” The goal of this year’s “Up In Arms Tour” is to raise both awareness of and to confront what’s seen as a growing pandemic in today’s youth… deep depression, hopelessness and a form of self-harm known as “cutting.”
Two years ago, TWLOHA founder Jamie Tworkowski, a longtime friend of Switchfoot, chanced upon a young lady who had been struggling with profound depression, addiction and self-injury — including an attempted suicide. In a poignant narrative posted on his Web site (twloha.com), Tworkowski details the efforts of a community of friends intent on making the young woman part of their family and sharing in her burdens on the days leading up to her entrance into rehab.
The story eventually ended up on various social sites, such as MySpace and Facebook, and found its voice via the iconic black T-shirts with the organization’s logo printed on front, causing the project to blossom into a full-fledged movement — and Switchfoot was there from the start.
“I don’t think he really knew going into it, and neither did we [how big the project would get], when he told us about his idea,” Shirley said. “At first, we were like ‘Oh, cool,’ you know. That’ll be interesting. But as far as the number of people that would be moved to it, we really had no idea.”
Shirley said that the band relishes the opportunity to help Tworkowski in his endeavors. In fact, one of TWLOHA’s most popular shirts is emblazoned with the motto “Love Is the Movement” which is taken from the title of a Switchfoot track.
“That we can come alongside an organization like TWLOHA and kind of co-lift up with them, it’s just so great,” Shirley said. “It’s the whole idea of ‘Up In Arms.’ It’s like a big group hug.”
Switchfoot’s latest album, “Oh, Gravity,” has been lauded as Jon Foreman’s greatest foray into candid songwriting. With the group recently leaving the Columbia label to create their own (called “lowercase people”), Shirley says they will be free to use a greater degree of artistic liberty on future albums.
“We’re always trying to reinvent what we do, but I guess we’re musicians and that’s just how we are,” Shirley said. “Turn things around, throw them upside down, play the guitar through something weird and see what it sounds like. Jerome and I mess around with sound the most, trying to make it sound weirder. If there’s a weird note on a song, you’ll know where it’s coming from!”
Shirley says their next album is still in the works, but will likely differ somewhat from previous records.
“I just think when you get older as a musician — not like we’re super old — but when you’ve got five albums under your belt, you kind of look at things differently,” he said. “You start to say things like ‘What am I using this platform for?’ or ‘Where are we trying to go with this song?’ If it’s not honest, if it doesn’t make you feel something, then we just chuck it.”
“You know, you only try to write the songs that are actually going to evoke emotion. And basically, if you come from such an honest place, then that will resonate with people. That’s what speaks to people — honesty.”
But one thing Switchfoot does not plan on changing is their philanthropy on the road. Whether causes like Invisible Children or organizations like Habitat for Humanity and TWLOHA, the band sees this as their opportunity to positively impact the world.
“This is why we do what we do,” Shirley said. “I mean, if it was just music, if I was just there to play my guitar and not really care, and I would be like, ‘You know, it’s just too much.’ Being on the road is just too grueling to only play guitar. But to see all the people who are impacted and influenced positively… I wouldn’t trade it for anything.”
Switchfoot
USC-Aiken Convocation Center
Wednesday, April 2
7:30 p.m.
$20-$25
803-643-6900
uscatix.com | |
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