Switchfoot
Encyclopedia
Switchfoot is an American rock
band from San Diego
, California. The band's members are Jon Foreman
(lead vocals, guitar
), Tim Foreman
(bass guitar
, backing vocals), Chad Butler
(drums
, percussion), Jerome Fontamillas
(guitar, keyboards
, backing vocals), and Drew Shirley
(guitar, backing vocals).
After early successes in the Christian rock
scene, Switchfoot first gained mainstream recognition with the inclusion of four of their songs in the 2002 movie A Walk to Remember. This recognition led to their major label debut, The Beautiful Letdown
, which was released in 2003. It went on to sell over 2.6 million copies. They have since been noted for their energetic live shows,
and their seventh studio album
Hello Hurricane
received a Grammy
award in 2011 for Best Rock Gospel Album.
According to Jon Foreman, the name "Switchfoot" is a surfing term. "We all love to surf and have been surfing all our lives so to us, the name made sense. To switch your feet means to take a new stance facing the opposite direction. It's about change and movement, a different way of approaching life and music."
and eventually signed to his indie label Re:think Records
under the current moniker, Switchfoot. Re:think went on to distribute the first three Switchfoot albums, The Legend of Chin
, New Way to Be Human
, and Learning to Breathe. Because Re:think was bought out by Christian giant Sparrow Records
before Switchfoot's first release, however, the band's and Peacock's intentions of being marketed outside of the Contemporary Christian music
scene and reaching a wider audience were put on hold. Consequently, the band was mostly marketed exclusively to Christian radio and retail outlets early in their careers, a time Jon Foreman has described as when "half of who we were was lost."
Of Switchfoot's first three albums, Learning to Breathe was the most successful, being certified gold by the RIAA, and receiving a Grammy nomination for Best Rock Gospel Album
.
Later on in 2002, Switchfoot's music was featured prominently in the movie A Walk to Remember
, starring singer and actress Mandy Moore
, who sang Switchfoot's song "Only Hope
" during a scene in the movie. In addition to Moore's cover
of "Only Hope",
/SonyBMG.
Their major label debut, The Beautiful Letdown, under Columbia Records
/Red Ink
, represented the band's evolution from the predominantly lo-fi
, indie rock
sound of their early albums, toward a more layered, synth-influenced sound that helped launch the band to mainstream popularity. This shift sonically could be attributed to the fact that the album was the first to include keyboardist Jerome Fontamillas, formerly of industrial
bands Mortal
and Fold Zandura
. Fontamillas had been touring with Switchfoot since 2000, following the release of Learning to Breathe.
The Beautiful Letdown has since been certified double platinum, selling more than 2.6 million copies, on the strength of constant touring and the huge mainstream radio hits "Meant to Live" and "Dare You to Move". A live DVD depicting one of the band's live concerts, Live in San Diego
, went platinum as well, and a third single, "This Is Your Life
" was released to radio. In addition, the song "Gone
" received major airplay on Christian radio stations as well.
Following the runaway success of The Beautiful Letdown, a compilation titled The Early Years: 1997-2000
was released, which featured Switchfoot's first three indie albums released under Re:think records including the original artwork for all the albums. This collection has since been certified Gold
, with total sales of over 500,000 copies.
Switchfoot also received five 2005 Dove Award nominations, and won four
, including Artist of the year.
(previously the guitarist for All Together Separate
) had become the band's fifth member after touring with the band since 2003.
Nothing Is Sound, was released on September 13, 2005, and with Shirley's inclusion saw Switchfoot's sound become even more densely layered and guitar-heavy, resulting in an album that was edgier and darker than any of their previous work.
"Stars
" was released as the first radio single to promote the album, and was a solid hit on mainstream and alternative rock radio stations. It was also used in ads for HBO. "We Are One Tonight
" was released as the second single in early 2006, and was also featured in ads for the 2006 Winter Olympics.
The album debuted at #3 on the Billboard 200
albums chart, an all-time high for the band, while bassist Tim Foreman attracted headlines by speaking out against the copy-protection
used by the label and providing fans a detailed workaround on the band's message board, which was quickly deleted by Sony. This copy-protection is known as Extended Copy Protection
, which has been identified by leading anti-virus companies as a trojan horse
and a rootkit
.
During the Spring 2006 leg of the Nothing Is Sound Tour
, the band introduced "a video diary of life on the road" in the form of free video podcast
s available via iTunes
and streaming online on Youtube
.com.
In addition to featuring snippets of upcoming songs and live performances, the videos gave fans an inside look at the more casual and humorous aspects of the band members' touring lives, as well as featuring footage of the band working on their follow-up to Nothing Is Sound.
and peaked at #1 on iTunes' Top Albums chart.
Before the release of the album, Switchfoot e-mailed a newsletter on June 2 which contained a free download of the song "Daylight to Break", a statement from Foreman implying that the band wanted to have a new album out by the end of the year, as well as a thanks to their fans for helping keep the band together for ten years. The band tried to involve their fans in the creation of the album,
setting up a webcam in their recording studio and running a contest for a chance to play the cowbell in the studio with the band.
To promote the album, the band first released the song, "Dirty Second Hands
", as a "preview" single via iTunes on September 26.
The title track "Oh! Gravity
" was also released to iTunes on October 21 and was sent to radio on October 31 as the lead single for the album,
seeing limited success at alternative and modern rock radio. The album's second single, "Awakening
", was released in early 2007. Although it saw virtually no play on mainstream radio, the accompanying band-funded music video song received over one million hits on YouTube in less than three months. Along with preorders of Oh! Gravity came a 3 song EP called Oh! Switchfoot. The short cd included songs: “The Sound in My Mouth”, “C’mon C’mon”, and “Oh! Gravity (Acoustic)”.
in order to release music as an Indie band. "Neither party has any hard feelings," he said of the split a few months later. "I think for us, the reason why we signed with Columbia was because of the people that were there. So it's very understandable when all those people are gone, you don't hold any real bad feelings or good feelings towards a company name. I think that's part of the problem with the corporate entity as a whole is that there's no true responsibility."
Later in October, the band announced that they had created a new record label called lowercase people records
, in order to better make a direct connection with their fans.
Subsequently, Foreman began working on his own set of solo EP's (one named after each season of the year); the first of these was released on November 27, 2007, the last on June 10, 2008. Each of Jon’s EP’s contained six songs. At the end of this, he released a sort of “best of” album called Limbs and Branches. Foreman wrote two additional songs for this called “Over the River” and “Broken from the Start.” Once all four EP’s were released, they were released again on vinyl in limited quantity. Foreman also began a side project with Sean Watkins
of Nickel Creek
originally called "The Real SeanJon" but later renamed "Fiction Family
".
With their new status as an independent band, Switchfoot embarked on their 2007 fall tour, playing shows with Relient K
and Ruth
. The tour, dubbed the "Appetite for Construction Tour
", was designed to benefit Habitat For Humanity
, with the bands donating one dollar per ticket sold to the cause. In addition, Foreman wrote the song "Rebuild
" with Matt Thiessen
from Relient K, and released it as a way to raise additional money for Habitat. By the end of the tour, the bands had raised over $100,000 for Habitat for Humanity.
With no new album to promote, the band continued touring for philanthropic causes, booking a short national tour in March through May titled the Up In Arms Tour
), partnering with and benefitting the organization To Write Love on Her Arms
.
In March 2008, the band wrote and recorded a new song called "This Is Home
" for the film The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian
. The song was included on the film's official soundtrack
and an accompanying music video was also filmed, with footage from the film.
Later that year, Columbia Records
/Sony Music
released a Switchfoot greatest hits compilation album titled The Best Yet
, a sort of "final farewell from Sony".
blog that Switchfoot had begun pre-production for a new album, saying that "the new SF record is underway." Later, on October 12, 2007, Foreman also announced that the band had begun construction of their own studio in their hometown of San Diego. It was completed in the spring of 2008, and the band began recording their follow-up to 2006's Oh! Gravity.
In April, the band announced that instead of one studio album, they had actually been at work on 4 albums-worth of material, and had decided at the time to release them one after another, starting with the first one on November 10, 2009, titled Hello Hurricane
.
Upon completion of Hello Hurricane, the band began searching for "the right partners" to distribute the songs globally. On August 7, 2009, the band announced that lowercase people records
was licensing the album to Atlantic Records
, ensuring "these tunes are heard around the world." To help promote this new release, the band took a hands-on approach with their lead single, "Mess of Me
", by hiding copies of the single all across the world and encouraging fans to share it around by finding the discs and making copies of their own to hide. Through this, the single spread all across the world in grassroots fashion in advance of a traditional radio release,
which saw the track hitting the Top 15 of Modern Rock radio. This was followed by the release of "The Sound (John M. Perkins' Blues)", which went on to become the band's first Top 10 Modern Rock hit since "Dare You to Move".
On December 1, 2010 it was announced that Hello Hurricane had been nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Rock or Rap Gospel Album. It won the Grammy on February 13, 2011.
Late in 2010, Switchfoot announced, via newsletter, that they would be releasing an EP of songs that they wrote and recorded between Nothing is Sound and Oh! Gravity. It was called "Eastern Hymns for Western Shores
". For a time the location of the masters of these tracks were unknown. Once found, Switchfoot announced that the EP would be available as part of their holiday fan pack which also included a Switchfoot calendar, poster, sweatshirt jacket, and limited edition post cards, one for each of the songs on the EP. In their newsletter the band described these songs as showing their “darker” side. The EP included five never before heard songs along with a different cut of the Oh! Gravity song “Dirty Second Hands".
was released on September 27 and debuted at #8 on Billboard's hot 200. According to Butler, the core of the record rests thematically in the idea of the polarity of life. A release date of September 27, 2011 was announced on AllAccess, with "Dark Horses
" hitting modern rock radio on July 20.
In an interview with CBN.com, Bassist Tim Foreman calls Vice Verses a cousin to Hello Hurricane, not a sequel to their last album, but related in some ways. Saying it features some of his brother, lead singer Jon Foreman's best lyrical work, Tim is glad of the musical component of the project as well. "From the very beginning, we set goals, one of them being to make a very rhythmic record, a very soulful record, and a very hard-hitting record that really pushes the boundaries, the highs and the lows," he told CBN.com.
Switchfoot performed a song for the Hawaii Five-0 soundtrack, released October 4, 2011, titled "Out of Control".
Switchfoot's frontman and guitarist Jon Foreman cites his musical influences as U2
, The Beatles
, and Keith Green
,
and has said that he admires the vocal "strength and vulnerability" of Bob Dylan
and Johnny Cash
. Guitarist Drew Shirley cites U2, Miles Davis
, Stevie Ray Vaughan
, Tommy Walker
, Phil Keaggy
, Michael Jackson
, Dave Matthews Band
, and the Brand New Heavies
, while bassist Tim Foreman pays tribute to Stevie Wonder
.
Chad Butler also cites Dave Grohl
as an influence for The Beautiful Letdown.
"We've never fit in any of the genre boxes," says Jon Foreman. "I think that diversity is our strength".
With regard to their lyrics, Foreman notes "we try to make music for thinking people",
which can be characterized by his allusions to the works of philosophers like Søren Kierkegaard
and Augustine of Hippo
in the songs "Sooner or Later (Soren's Song)" and "Something More (Augustine's Confession)" respectively. "Meant to Live
", the band's runaway hit, was inspired by T. S. Eliot
's poem "The Hollow Men
",
while "Stars
", the lead single off Nothing Is Sound
, briefly "looks at things from the Descartes
perspective," according to Foreman.
band, mostly due to their continued involvement with the Christian rock scene. The band has always philosophically disagreed with this label: "For us, it's a faith, not a genre," says Jon Foreman. "We've always been very open and honest about where the songs are coming from. For us, these songs are for everyone. Calling us 'Christian rock' tends to be a box that closes some people out and excludes them, and that's not what we're trying to do. Music has always opened my mind—and that's what we want".
In addition to the general market, they also distribute their music to Christian markets, and play at larger Christian festivals.
Though they hold this position, they have not alienated their Christian fans. As in their indie
days, they are still distributed to Christian retail outlets through Sparrow Records
/EMI CMG, featured on Christian radio and charts, as well as being presented with Dove Awards
, even after having been signed to the mainstream Columbia Records
from 2003–2007 and currently, Atlantic Records
. "[Signing to Columbia was] a realization of something that we'd wanted to be from the beginning," Foreman explains. "When we were signed to re:think Records [an indie label], the goal was to get the music out to everybody. [But] when Sparrow [a Christian label] bought re:think Records, it was evident that our music wasn't going to be in the hands of everybody. As a Christian, I have a lot to say within the walls of the church. But also, as a Christian, I've got a lot to say just about life in general ... So to be able to be on Columbia and on Sparrow felt like the realization of the two sides of what we had to say. It's a dream come true to be able to have songs that are outside of the box."
Following the release of The Beautiful Letdown, the band temporarily stopped playing at Christian festivals and doing interviews with Christian organizations, as they found the speculation about their faith to be distracting from the music. Three years later, Switchfoot began going back on this policy, headlining at large Christian-based music festivals, and agreeing to be featured on the June 2006 cover of CCM Magazine
after declining the opportunity for years. Yet in many ways they used the opportunity to describe their split from the CCM industry. This has caused some, such as Spin
writer Andrew Beaujon, to take the view that "their lyrics often have two different meanings, one meaning for a Christian audience and one meaning for the rest of us. They try to relate to two different groups of people at once".
, the ONE Campaign
, the Keep A Breast Foundation, Habitat for Humanity, Invisible Children
, and To Write Love on Her Arms
.
In addition to supporting those causes, they founded the Switchfoot Bro-Am Surf Contest, an annual benefit contest and concert to raise money for various organizations serving homeless kids in the band's hometown of San Diego.
Also, before recording Nothing Is Sound, the band made a trip to several South African villages in January 2005, which inspired the album's song "The Shadow Proves the Sunshine". Seeing an orphanage filled with infants who all lost their parents to AIDS, befriending orphans in the streets, and getting involved with a children's choir called the "Kuyasa Kids" moved them to start an organization called lowercase people
. The organization originally published a quarterly online magazine for music, arts and social justice. They have also produced a CD by the Kuyasa Kids
to help raise money for the children's communities.
In 2008, Switchfoot also got involved in the musical movement to spread awareness about 21st century slavery and human trafficking
, performing "Awakening" for the documentary film Call + Response
.
Jon Foreman
has also released several solo projects, and is also involved in an acoustic
collaboration called Fiction Family
with Sean Watkins
of the band Nickel Creek
.
On Saturday, July 31, 2010, Switchfoot performed live at the 2010 Boy Scouts of America National Jamboree final arena show: "A Shining Light Across America" in Fort A.P. Hill, Virginia. Jon and Tim Foreman were both Boy Scouts in their youth, and were honored by the opportunity to perform at the Scouts' 100th Year Anniversary event.
ASCAP Awards
name=top40>
— Jon Foreman
GMA Dove Awards
Grammy Awards
San Diego Music Awards
Rock on Request Awards
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
band from San Diego
San Diego, California
San Diego is the eighth-largest city in the United States and second-largest city in California. The city is located on the coast of the Pacific Ocean in Southern California, immediately adjacent to the Mexican border. The birthplace of California, San Diego is known for its mild year-round...
, California. The band's members are Jon Foreman
Jon Foreman
Jonathan Mark Foreman is the lead singer, lead guitarist, main songwriter and co-founder of the alternative rock band Switchfoot. He started Switchfoot in 1996 with drummer Chad Butler and bassist Tim Foreman ....
(lead vocals, guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
), Tim Foreman
Tim Foreman
Timothy David Foreman is the bassist for the band Switchfoot. He was born in Lake Arrowhead, California but grew up in Boston, Massachusetts and Virginia Beach, Virginia...
(bass guitar
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, backing vocals), Chad Butler
Chad Butler
Chad Matthew Butler is the drummer for the band Switchfoot which he co-founded along with Jon and Tim Foreman in 1996...
(drums
Drum kit
A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
, percussion), Jerome Fontamillas
Jerome Fontamillas
Jerome Earl Fontamillas is a Filipino American musician. Jerome has played in several bands notably with industrial rock band Mortal and Fold Zandura, with long time musical partner Jyro Xhan. He currently plays with alternative rock band Switchfoot as a guitar and keyboard player.In 1985...
(guitar, keyboards
Keyboard instrument
A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
, backing vocals), and Drew Shirley
Drew Shirley
Andrew Philip Shirley is a guitarist and the newest member of the alternative rock band Switchfoot. Shirley attended California Baptist University studying a Fine Arts degree with a Music minor. During that time he also started and led various school bands and shows. He had only started playing...
(guitar, backing vocals).
After early successes in the Christian rock
Christian rock
Christian rock is a form of rock music played by individuals and bands whose members are Christians and who often focus the lyrics on matters concerned with the Christian faith. The extent to which their lyrics are explicitly Christian varies between bands...
scene, Switchfoot first gained mainstream recognition with the inclusion of four of their songs in the 2002 movie A Walk to Remember. This recognition led to their major label debut, The Beautiful Letdown
The Beautiful Letdown
The Beautiful Letdown is the fourth studio album by alternative rock band Switchfoot. Released in early 2003, it launched the band into the mainstream on the strength of two top 20 singles: "Meant to Live" and "Dare You to Move." The album was hugely popular and remained a staple on the Billboard...
, which was released in 2003. It went on to sell over 2.6 million copies. They have since been noted for their energetic live shows,
and their seventh studio album
Studio album
A studio album is an album made up of tracks recorded in the controlled environment of a recording studio. A studio album contains newly written and recorded or previously unreleased or remixed material, distinguishing itself from a compilation or reissue album of previously recorded material, or...
Hello Hurricane
Hello Hurricane
Hello Hurricane is the seventh studio album by American alternative rock band Switchfoot. On February 13, 2011, the album won the award for Best Rock Gospel Album at the 53rd Grammy Awards. It was co-produced by the band and Mike Elizondo, after initially self-producing their work, as well as test...
received a Grammy
53rd Grammy Awards
The 53rd annual Grammy Awards were held on February 13, 2011, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. They were broadcast on CBS with a rating of 26.6 million viewers. Barbra Streisand was honored as the MusiCares Person of the Year two nights prior to the telecast on February 11. Nominations were...
award in 2011 for Best Rock Gospel Album.
According to Jon Foreman, the name "Switchfoot" is a surfing term. "We all love to surf and have been surfing all our lives so to us, the name made sense. To switch your feet means to take a new stance facing the opposite direction. It's about change and movement, a different way of approaching life and music."
Formation and early years (1996–2002)
Switchfoot was founded in 1996 as Chin Up, consisting of Jon Foreman and his brother Tim, along with Chad Butler on drums. After playing only a few shows, the band was contacted by music industry veteran Charlie PeacockCharlie Peacock
Charlie Peacock is an American singer-songwriter, pianist, record producer, session musician and author. While growing up in California Peacock was inspired by John Coltrane and began playing the piano. After completing his education, Peacock formed a band and began a career as a professional...
and eventually signed to his indie label Re:think Records
Rethink (record label)
Re:think was an imprint label of under EMI. It signed several acts, including This World Fair, The Colour, Sarah Masen and Switchfoot. Re:think is well-known for supporting the ONE Campaign as well as the lowercase people Justice Fund.-History:...
under the current moniker, Switchfoot. Re:think went on to distribute the first three Switchfoot albums, The Legend of Chin
The Legend of Chin
The Legend of Chin is the first studio album by the alternative rock band Switchfoot. It was released on June 17, 1997 under independent label re:think Records, which was distributed by Sparrow Records.-Track listing:...
, New Way to Be Human
New Way to Be Human
New Way to Be Human is the second studio album by the band Switchfoot. It was released on March 11, 1999 under independent label re:think Records, which was distributed by Sparrow Records...
, and Learning to Breathe. Because Re:think was bought out by Christian giant Sparrow Records
Sparrow Records
-Background:Sparrow Records was founded in 1976 by Billy Ray Hearn, then A&R director at Myrrh Records. Purchased by EMI in 1992, it is now part of the EMI Christian Music Group, and has been named by Billboard Magazine as "America's Best Christian Music Record Label"...
before Switchfoot's first release, however, the band's and Peacock's intentions of being marketed outside of the Contemporary Christian music
Contemporary Christian music
Contemporary Christian music is a genre of modern popular music which is lyrically focused on matters concerned with the Christian faith...
scene and reaching a wider audience were put on hold. Consequently, the band was mostly marketed exclusively to Christian radio and retail outlets early in their careers, a time Jon Foreman has described as when "half of who we were was lost."
Of Switchfoot's first three albums, Learning to Breathe was the most successful, being certified gold by the RIAA, and receiving a Grammy nomination for Best Rock Gospel Album
Grammy Award for Best Rock Gospel Album
The Grammy Award for Best Rock Gospel Album was awarded from 1991 to 2011. From 1991 to 1993 it was awarded as Best Rock/Contemporary Gospel Album. In 2011 the category was known as Best Rock or Rap Gospel Album....
.
Later on in 2002, Switchfoot's music was featured prominently in the movie A Walk to Remember
A Walk to Remember (film)
A Walk To Remember is a 2002 American romance film based on the 1999 romance novel of the same name by Nicholas Sparks. The film stars Shane West and Mandy Moore, was directed by Adam Shankman, and produced by Denise Di Novi and Hunt Lowry for Warner Bros...
, starring singer and actress Mandy Moore
Mandy Moore
Amanda Leigh "Mandy" Moore is an American singer-songwriter, actress and fashion designer. Moore became famous as a teenager in the late 1990s, after the release of her teen pop albums So Real, I Wanna Be with You, and Mandy Moore. In 2007, she took an adult pop-folk direction with the release of...
, who sang Switchfoot's song "Only Hope
Only Hope
"Only Hope" was sung by Mandy Moore for the film A Walk to Remember and is included in her compilation The Best of Mandy Moore, although left out of her 2002 release. It was slated as the second single after "Cry" which, however, was not a hit and consequently "Only Hope" was not released to radio...
" during a scene in the movie. In addition to Moore's cover
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
of "Only Hope",
The Beautiful Letdown (2003–05)
Following the exposure that came from A Walk to Remember, Switchfoot attracted attention from multiple record labels and ultimately signed with the major record label, Columbia RecordsColumbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
/SonyBMG.
Their major label debut, The Beautiful Letdown, under Columbia Records
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
/Red Ink
RED Distribution
RED - An Artist Development Company is a Sony Music Entertainment-owned sales and marketing division that handles releases for over sixty independent record labels....
, represented the band's evolution from the predominantly lo-fi
Lo-fi music
Lo-fi is lower quality of sound recordings than the usual standard for music. The qualities of lo-fi are usually achieved by either degrading the quality of the recorded audio, or using certain equipment. Recent uses of the phrase have led to it becoming a genre, although it still remains as an...
, indie rock
Indie rock
Indie rock is a genre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom and the United States in the 1980s. Indie rock is extremely diverse, with sub-genres that include lo-fi, post-rock, math rock, indie pop, dream pop, noise rock, space rock, sadcore, riot grrrl and emo, among others...
sound of their early albums, toward a more layered, synth-influenced sound that helped launch the band to mainstream popularity. This shift sonically could be attributed to the fact that the album was the first to include keyboardist Jerome Fontamillas, formerly of industrial
Industrial music
Industrial music is a style of experimental music that draws on transgressive and provocative themes. The term was coined in the mid-1970s with the founding of Industrial Records by the band Throbbing Gristle, and the creation of the slogan "industrial music for industrial people". In general, the...
bands Mortal
Mortal (band)
Mortal was a Christian industrial/dance band fronted by Jerome Fontamillas and Jyro Xhan. Both members went on to found the alternative rock group Fold Zandura, and for a time were members of both bands simultaneously...
and Fold Zandura
Fold Zandura
Fold Zandura is an alternative rock band from California. They released four albums between 1995 and 1999 plus one white 7" vinyl. Each album was released under a different label. The two premier members also founded the industrial band Mortal. Their songs are "love songs and praise songs"...
. Fontamillas had been touring with Switchfoot since 2000, following the release of Learning to Breathe.
The Beautiful Letdown has since been certified double platinum, selling more than 2.6 million copies, on the strength of constant touring and the huge mainstream radio hits "Meant to Live" and "Dare You to Move". A live DVD depicting one of the band's live concerts, Live in San Diego
Live in San Diego
Live in San Diego is a DVD of a concert by the band Switchfoot. It was released in 2004, between the band's albums The Beautiful Letdown and Nothing Is Sound. With the exception of "Learning to Breathe", all of the songs performed at this concert were from their 2003 double-platinum selling album...
, went platinum as well, and a third single, "This Is Your Life
This Is Your Life (song)
"This Is Your Life" is a popular song by the alternative rock band Switchfoot, and their third single. "This Is Your Life" first appeared on the group's 2003 album The Beautiful Letdown and peaked at #30 on the US Modern Rock charts. The single also hit the U.S. Top 40 peaking at No...
" was released to radio. In addition, the song "Gone
Gone (Switchfoot song)
"Gone" is a song and single by rock band Switchfoot. It was released on the 2003 double-platinum record, The Beautiful Letdown. Despite not being released as an official mainstream radio single, the song achieved solid success on Christian radio due to its Christian-based references, though they...
" received major airplay on Christian radio stations as well.
Following the runaway success of The Beautiful Letdown, a compilation titled The Early Years: 1997-2000
The Early Years: 1997-2000
The Early Years: 1997–2000 is a three-disc set consisting of the first three albums by alternative rock band Switchfoot. This set was released after the band's meteoric rise to mainstream popularity with the double-platinum breakthrough The Beautiful Letdown...
was released, which featured Switchfoot's first three indie albums released under Re:think records including the original artwork for all the albums. This collection has since been certified Gold
RIAA certification
In the United States, the Recording Industry Association of America awards certification based on the number of albums and singles sold through retail and other ancillary markets. Other countries have similar awards...
, with total sales of over 500,000 copies.
Switchfoot also received five 2005 Dove Award nominations, and won four
Dove Awards of 2005
The 36th Annual GMA Dove Awards, also called the 36th Annual GMA Music Awards, were held on April 13, 2005 recognizing accomplishments of musicians for the year 2004. The show was held at the Grand Ole Opry House in Nashville, Tennessee and was hosted by Steven Curtis Chapman, CeCe Winans, Rebecca St...
, including Artist of the year.
Nothing Is Sound (2005–06)
In 2005 prior to the release of Nothing Is Sound Switchfoot announced that guitarist Drew ShirleyDrew Shirley
Andrew Philip Shirley is a guitarist and the newest member of the alternative rock band Switchfoot. Shirley attended California Baptist University studying a Fine Arts degree with a Music minor. During that time he also started and led various school bands and shows. He had only started playing...
(previously the guitarist for All Together Separate
All Together Separate
All Together Separate was a Christian rock band from Riverside, California, USA. They are frequently compared to Earth, Wind and Fire.-History:...
) had become the band's fifth member after touring with the band since 2003.
Nothing Is Sound, was released on September 13, 2005, and with Shirley's inclusion saw Switchfoot's sound become even more densely layered and guitar-heavy, resulting in an album that was edgier and darker than any of their previous work.
"Stars
Stars (Switchfoot song)
"Stars" is the first single released from Switchfoot's fifth album Nothing Is Sound. It was the most-added song on Modern Rock Radio in its first week of release and peaked at number sixteen on the US Modern Rock chart. The song was certified gold as a digital single on December 13, 2005...
" was released as the first radio single to promote the album, and was a solid hit on mainstream and alternative rock radio stations. It was also used in ads for HBO. "We Are One Tonight
We Are One Tonight
"We Are One Tonight" is a song recorded by the American rock band Switchfoot, and is their second single from the album Nothing Is Sound. This is the eleventh track on the album...
" was released as the second single in early 2006, and was also featured in ads for the 2006 Winter Olympics.
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
albums chart, an all-time high for the band, while bassist Tim Foreman attracted headlines by speaking out against the copy-protection
used by the label and providing fans a detailed workaround on the band's message board, which was quickly deleted by Sony. This copy-protection is known as Extended Copy Protection
Extended Copy Protection
Extended Copy Protection is a software package developed by the British company First 4 Internet, and sold as a copy protection or digital rights management scheme for Compact Discs...
, which has been identified by leading anti-virus companies as a trojan horse
Trojan horse (computing)
A Trojan horse, or Trojan, is software that appears to perform a desirable function for the user prior to run or install, but steals information or harms the system. The term is derived from the Trojan Horse story in Greek mythology.-Malware:A destructive program that masquerades as a benign...
and a rootkit
Rootkit
A rootkit is software that enables continued privileged access to a computer while actively hiding its presence from administrators by subverting standard operating system functionality or other applications...
.
During the Spring 2006 leg of the Nothing Is Sound Tour
Nothing Is Sound Tour
The Nothing Is Sound Tour was a 2005-2006 concert tour by the Alternative rock band Switchfoot for their CD Nothing is Sound. It followed on the heels of their first, and highly successful, headlining tour in support of The Beautiful Letdown. The tour kicked off October 17 in Ventura, California,...
, the band introduced "a video diary of life on the road" in the form of free video podcast
Podcast
A podcast is a series of digital media files that are released episodically and often downloaded through web syndication...
s available via iTunes
and streaming online on Youtube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
.com.
In addition to featuring snippets of upcoming songs and live performances, the videos gave fans an inside look at the more casual and humorous aspects of the band members' touring lives, as well as featuring footage of the band working on their follow-up to Nothing Is Sound.
Oh! Gravity. (2006–07)
Switchfoot's next album, Oh! Gravity., was released on December 26, 2006 to considerable critical acclaim. It entered the Billboard chart at #18and peaked at #1 on iTunes' Top Albums chart.
Before the release of the album, Switchfoot e-mailed a newsletter on June 2 which contained a free download of the song "Daylight to Break", a statement from Foreman implying that the band wanted to have a new album out by the end of the year, as well as a thanks to their fans for helping keep the band together for ten years. The band tried to involve their fans in the creation of the album,
setting up a webcam in their recording studio and running a contest for a chance to play the cowbell in the studio with the band.
Dirty Second Hands
"Dirty Second Hands" is a song from Switchfoot's 6th studio album Oh! Gravity. This was the first song released from the album, made available for purchase online as a single. Despite this, the song was never released to radio....
", as a "preview" single via iTunes on September 26.
The title track "Oh! Gravity
Oh! Gravity. (song)
"Oh! Gravity." is a song written and recorded by the American rock band Switchfoot, and is the title track from their sixth studio album of the same name...
" was also released to iTunes on October 21 and was sent to radio on October 31 as the lead single for the album,
seeing limited success at alternative and modern rock radio. The album's second single, "Awakening
Awakening (song)
"Awakening" is the second single off Switchfoot's sixth studio album, Oh! Gravity.. The single was released to radio in March 2007. It hit Hot AC radio stations with an impact day of March 26, 2007 and eventually peaked at No. 54 on that format's charts...
", was released in early 2007. Although it saw virtually no play on mainstream radio, the accompanying band-funded music video song received over one million hits on YouTube in less than three months. Along with preorders of Oh! Gravity came a 3 song EP called Oh! Switchfoot. The short cd included songs: “The Sound in My Mouth”, “C’mon C’mon”, and “Oh! Gravity (Acoustic)”.
Major label independence, The Best Yet (2007–08)
Later, on August 10, 2007, Jon Foreman revealed that the band had severed ties with Columbia RecordsColumbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
in order to release music as an Indie band. "Neither party has any hard feelings," he said of the split a few months later. "I think for us, the reason why we signed with Columbia was because of the people that were there. So it's very understandable when all those people are gone, you don't hold any real bad feelings or good feelings towards a company name. I think that's part of the problem with the corporate entity as a whole is that there's no true responsibility."
Later in October, the band announced that they had created a new record label called lowercase people records
Lowercase people records
lowercase people records is the record label founded and run by the members of the band Switchfoot. It was founded after the band split with their major label, Columbia/SonyBMG. The label's name was drawn from the lyrics of a song written early in the band's career, "Company Car" from 1999's New...
, in order to better make a direct connection with their fans.
Subsequently, Foreman began working on his own set of solo EP's (one named after each season of the year); the first of these was released on November 27, 2007, the last on June 10, 2008. Each of Jon’s EP’s contained six songs. At the end of this, he released a sort of “best of” album called Limbs and Branches. Foreman wrote two additional songs for this called “Over the River” and “Broken from the Start.” Once all four EP’s were released, they were released again on vinyl in limited quantity. Foreman also began a side project with Sean Watkins
Sean Watkins
Sean Charles Watkins is a guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter. He is a member of the contemporary folk band Nickel Creek, the duo Fiction Family and the supergroup Works Progress Administration.-Nickel Creek:...
of Nickel Creek
Nickel Creek
Nickel Creek was an American progressive acoustic music trio consisting of Chris Thile , Sara Watkins and Sean Watkins . The band was founded in 1989 and released 6 albums between 1993 and 2006...
originally called "The Real SeanJon" but later renamed "Fiction Family
Fiction Family
Fiction Family is a musical collaboration between Switchfoot frontman Jon Foreman and Nickel Creek guitarist Sean Watkins. The duo's self-titled, full-length album was released on January 20, 2009....
".
With their new status as an independent band, Switchfoot embarked on their 2007 fall tour, playing shows with Relient K
Relient K
Relient K is an American rock band formed in 1998 in Canton, Ohio by Matt Thiessen, Brian Pittman, and Matt Hoopes during the band's junior year in high school and their time at Malone University...
and Ruth
Ruth (band)
Ruth is a four piece Christian indie band from Battle Ground, Washington. Ruth's debut album, Secondhand Dreaming, was released June 26, 2007.-Formation:...
. The tour, dubbed the "Appetite for Construction Tour
Appetite For Construction Tour
The Appetite For Construction Tour was a three-month 2007 concert tour that was co-headlined by rock bands Switchfoot and Relient K, with special guests Ruth....
", was designed to benefit Habitat For Humanity
Habitat for Humanity International
Habitat For Humanity International , generally referred to as Habitat for Humanity or simply Habitat, is an international, non-governmental, non-profit organization devoted to building "simple, decent, and affordable" housing, a self-described "Christian housing ministry." The international...
, with the bands donating one dollar per ticket sold to the cause. In addition, Foreman wrote the song "Rebuild
Rebuild
"Rebuild" is a song written by Jon Foreman of Switchfoot and Matt Thiessen of Relient K. The song was written in conjunction with the bands' 2007 Appetite for Construction Tour, featuring members from all three bands on tour, Switchfoot, Relient K, and Ruth...
" with Matt Thiessen
Matt Thiessen
Matthew Arnold Thiessen is a Canadian-American musician, known for being co-founder, lead singer, guitarist, pianist, and primary songwriter for the Christian rock band Relient K. With Relient K, he has released six full-length albums, including three that were certified Gold, and three that...
from Relient K, and released it as a way to raise additional money for Habitat. By the end of the tour, the bands had raised over $100,000 for Habitat for Humanity.
With no new album to promote, the band continued touring for philanthropic causes, booking a short national tour in March through May titled the Up In Arms Tour
Up In Arms Tour
The Up In Arms Tour was a two-month-plus long 2008 concert tour that saw San Diego rock band Switchfoot touring with popular philanthropic organization, To Write Love On Her Arms....
), partnering with and benefitting the organization To Write Love on Her Arms
To Write Love on Her Arms
To Write Love on Her Arms is an interfaith, American non-profit organization which aims to present hope for people struggling with addiction, depression, self injury, and thoughts of suicide while also investing directly into treatment and recovery...
.
In March 2008, the band wrote and recorded a new song called "This Is Home
This Is Home
"This Is Home" is a song written and recorded by the alternative rock band Switchfoot, and is featured on the soundtrack for the 2008 film The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian. The song was featured during the end credits of the film. It was the 17th most-played song on U.S...
" for the film The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian
The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian
The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian is a 2008 epic fantasy film based on Prince Caspian, the second published, fourth chronological novel in C. S. Lewis's epic fantasy series, The Chronicles of Narnia. It is the second in The Chronicles of Narnia film series from Walden Media, following The...
. The song was included on the film's official soundtrack
The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (soundtrack)
The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian is the soundtrack of the film of the same name. Harry Gregson-Williams is the composer of the soundtrack, which was released on May 13, 2008 ....
and an accompanying music video was also filmed, with footage from the film.
Later that year, Columbia Records
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
/Sony Music
Sony Music Entertainment
Sony Music Entertainment ' is the second-largest global recorded music company of the "big four" record companies and is controlled by Sony Corporation of America, the United States subsidiary of Japan's Sony Corporation....
released a Switchfoot greatest hits compilation album titled The Best Yet
The Best Yet
The Best Yet is the first "greatest hits" album from alternative rock band Switchfoot, released on November 4, 2008.Columbia Records, the band's former record label, was the mastermind behind releasing the record, with heavy input concerning the tracklist coming directly from the band itself...
, a sort of "final farewell from Sony".
Hello Hurricane and Eastern Hymns for Western Shores (2008–2010)
Prior to the label split, Foreman had announced in a March 17, 2007 MySpaceMySpace
Myspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....
blog that Switchfoot had begun pre-production for a new album, saying that "the new SF record is underway." Later, on October 12, 2007, Foreman also announced that the band had begun construction of their own studio in their hometown of San Diego. It was completed in the spring of 2008, and the band began recording their follow-up to 2006's Oh! Gravity.
In April, the band announced that instead of one studio album, they had actually been at work on 4 albums-worth of material, and had decided at the time to release them one after another, starting with the first one on November 10, 2009, titled Hello Hurricane
Hello Hurricane
Hello Hurricane is the seventh studio album by American alternative rock band Switchfoot. On February 13, 2011, the album won the award for Best Rock Gospel Album at the 53rd Grammy Awards. It was co-produced by the band and Mike Elizondo, after initially self-producing their work, as well as test...
.
Upon completion of Hello Hurricane, the band began searching for "the right partners" to distribute the songs globally. On August 7, 2009, the band announced that lowercase people records
Lowercase people records
lowercase people records is the record label founded and run by the members of the band Switchfoot. It was founded after the band split with their major label, Columbia/SonyBMG. The label's name was drawn from the lyrics of a song written early in the band's career, "Company Car" from 1999's New...
was licensing the album to Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records is an American record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and jazz...
, ensuring "these tunes are heard around the world." To help promote this new release, the band took a hands-on approach with their lead single, "Mess of Me
Mess of Me
"Mess of Me" is a song written and recorded by the alternative rock band Switchfoot and was the lead single off their seventh studio album, Hello Hurricane. It was shipped to Modern Rock/Alternative, Mainstream rock, and Active rock radio formats, while a music video was sent to all applicable...
", by hiding copies of the single all across the world and encouraging fans to share it around by finding the discs and making copies of their own to hide. Through this, the single spread all across the world in grassroots fashion in advance of a traditional radio release,
which saw the track hitting the Top 15 of Modern Rock radio. This was followed by the release of "The Sound (John M. Perkins' Blues)", which went on to become the band's first Top 10 Modern Rock hit since "Dare You to Move".
On December 1, 2010 it was announced that Hello Hurricane had been nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Rock or Rap Gospel Album. It won the Grammy on February 13, 2011.
Late in 2010, Switchfoot announced, via newsletter, that they would be releasing an EP of songs that they wrote and recorded between Nothing is Sound and Oh! Gravity. It was called "Eastern Hymns for Western Shores
Eastern Hymns for Western Shores
Eastern Hymns for Western Shores is an EP of previously unreleased Switchfoot songs. It was first available for purchase on the band's annual Holiday Package for 2010; it was announced that it would be included in the package and what the entire contents were on November 9, 2010.The EP was released...
". For a time the location of the masters of these tracks were unknown. Once found, Switchfoot announced that the EP would be available as part of their holiday fan pack which also included a Switchfoot calendar, poster, sweatshirt jacket, and limited edition post cards, one for each of the songs on the EP. In their newsletter the band described these songs as showing their “darker” side. The EP included five never before heard songs along with a different cut of the Oh! Gravity song “Dirty Second Hands".
Vice Verses (2011-present)
Switchfoot's most recent record Vice VersesVice Verses
Vice Verses is the eighth studio album by American alternative rock band Switchfoot. It was released on September 27, 2011. "Dark Horses" was the first single released from the album, with a July 20 radio date and August 2 digital release. Vice Verses debuted on the US Billboard 200 at No...
was released on September 27 and debuted at #8 on Billboard's hot 200. According to Butler, the core of the record rests thematically in the idea of the polarity of life. A release date of September 27, 2011 was announced on AllAccess, with "Dark Horses
Dark Horses
"Dark Horses" is a song written and recorded by the alternative rock band Switchfoot, and serves as the first single off their eighth studio album entitled Vice Verses. It was debuted on the band's on July 20, 2011 and serviced to radio the same day...
" hitting modern rock radio on July 20.
In an interview with CBN.com, Bassist Tim Foreman calls Vice Verses a cousin to Hello Hurricane, not a sequel to their last album, but related in some ways. Saying it features some of his brother, lead singer Jon Foreman's best lyrical work, Tim is glad of the musical component of the project as well. "From the very beginning, we set goals, one of them being to make a very rhythmic record, a very soulful record, and a very hard-hitting record that really pushes the boundaries, the highs and the lows," he told CBN.com.
Switchfoot performed a song for the Hawaii Five-0 soundtrack, released October 4, 2011, titled "Out of Control".
Style and influences
Since Switchfoot's first release in 1997, the band's sound has evolved significantly. The style of the early albums with independent label Re:think Records consisted primarily of guitar-driven alternative rock, characteristic of a three-man lineup, though they also incorporated string arrangements with slower songs.U2
U2 are an Irish rock band from Dublin. Formed in 1976, the group consists of Bono , The Edge , Adam Clayton , and Larry Mullen, Jr. . U2's early sound was rooted in post-punk but eventually grew to incorporate influences from many genres of popular music...
, The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
, and Keith Green
Keith Green
Keith Gordon Green was an American gospel singer, songwriter, musician, and Contemporary Christian Music artist originally from Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, New York. Beyond his music, Green is best known for his strong devotion to Christian evangelism and challenging others to the same...
,
and has said that he admires the vocal "strength and vulnerability" of Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
and Johnny Cash
Johnny Cash
John R. "Johnny" Cash was an American singer-songwriter, actor, and author, who has been called one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century...
. Guitarist Drew Shirley cites U2, Miles Davis
Miles Davis
Miles Dewey Davis III was an American jazz musician, trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. Widely considered one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Miles Davis was, with his musical groups, at the forefront of several major developments in jazz music, including bebop, cool jazz,...
, Stevie Ray Vaughan
Stevie Ray Vaughan
Stephen Ray "Stevie Ray" Vaughan was an American electric blues guitarist and singer. He was the younger brother of Jimmie Vaughan and frontman for Double Trouble, a band that included bassist Tommy Shannon and drummer Chris Layton. Born in Dallas, Vaughan moved to Austin at the age of 17 and...
, Tommy Walker
Tommy Walker
Thomas Luttgen Walker was an American producer of live entertainment events who was director of entertainment at Disneyland during its first twelve years of operation, and later produced spectacular events at celebrations including three Olympic Games and the centennial of the Statue of...
, Phil Keaggy
Phil Keaggy
Phil Keaggy is an American acoustic and electric guitarist and vocalist who has released more than 50 albums and contributed to many more recordings in both the contemporary Christian music and mainstream markets...
, Michael Jackson
Michael Jackson
Michael Joseph Jackson was an American recording artist, entertainer, and businessman. Referred to as the King of Pop, or by his initials MJ, Jackson is recognized as the most successful entertainer of all time by Guinness World Records...
, Dave Matthews Band
Dave Matthews Band
Dave Matthews Band, sometimes shortened to DMB, is a U.S. rock band formed in Charlottesville, Virginia in 1991. The founding members were singer-songwriter and guitarist Dave Matthews, bassist Stefan Lessard, drummer/backing vocalist Carter Beauford and saxophonist LeRoi Moore. Boyd Tinsley was...
, and the Brand New Heavies
Brand New Heavies
The Brand New Heavies are an acid jazz and funk group formed in 1985 in Ealing, a suburb of London, England.-Biography:The Brand New Heavies began in the 1980s as an instrumental acid jazz group called Brother International....
, while bassist Tim Foreman pays tribute to Stevie Wonder
Stevie Wonder
Stevland Hardaway Morris , better known by his stage name Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer and activist...
.
Chad Butler also cites Dave Grohl
Dave Grohl
David Eric "Dave" Grohl is an American rock musician, multi-instrumentalist, and singer-songwriter who is the lead vocalist, guitarist, and primary songwriter for Foo Fighters; the former drummer for Nirvana and Scream; and the current drummer for Them Crooked Vultures...
as an influence for The Beautiful Letdown.
"We've never fit in any of the genre boxes," says Jon Foreman. "I think that diversity is our strength".
With regard to their lyrics, Foreman notes "we try to make music for thinking people",
which can be characterized by his allusions to the works of philosophers like Søren Kierkegaard
Søren Kierkegaard
Søren Aabye Kierkegaard was a Danish Christian philosopher, theologian and religious author. He was a critic of idealist intellectuals and philosophers of his time, such as Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling and Karl Wilhelm Friedrich Schlegel...
and Augustine of Hippo
Augustine of Hippo
Augustine of Hippo , also known as Augustine, St. Augustine, St. Austin, St. Augoustinos, Blessed Augustine, or St. Augustine the Blessed, was Bishop of Hippo Regius . He was a Latin-speaking philosopher and theologian who lived in the Roman Africa Province...
in the songs "Sooner or Later (Soren's Song)" and "Something More (Augustine's Confession)" respectively. "Meant to Live
Meant to Live
"Meant to Live" is a single by alternative rock band Switchfoot. It peaked at #5 on the US Modern Rock chart, #6 on U.S. Top 40 radio, and #18 on the U.S. Hot 100. It is the first track on the group's 2003 major-label debut album The Beautiful Letdown, and was also featured in a UK version of a...
", the band's runaway hit, was inspired by T. S. Eliot
T. S. Eliot
Thomas Stearns "T. S." Eliot OM was a playwright, literary critic, and arguably the most important English-language poet of the 20th century. Although he was born an American he moved to the United Kingdom in 1914 and was naturalised as a British subject in 1927 at age 39.The poem that made his...
's poem "The Hollow Men
The Hollow Men
The Hollow Men is a major poem by T. S. Eliot. Its themes are, like many of Eliot's poems, overlapping and fragmentary, but it is recognised to be concerned most with post-World War I Europe under the Treaty of Versailles , the difficulty of hope and religious conversion, and, as some critics...
",
while "Stars
Stars (Switchfoot song)
"Stars" is the first single released from Switchfoot's fifth album Nothing Is Sound. It was the most-added song on Modern Rock Radio in its first week of release and peaked at number sixteen on the US Modern Rock chart. The song was certified gold as a digital single on December 13, 2005...
", the lead single off Nothing Is Sound
Nothing Is Sound
Nothing Is Sound is the fifth studio album by American alternative rock band Switchfoot. It was released on September 13, 2005, and début at number three on the Billboard 200. The first single from this album was "Stars," which was the number one most-added song on Modern Rock Radio, and received...
, briefly "looks at things from the Descartes
René Descartes
René Descartes ; was a French philosopher and writer who spent most of his adult life in the Dutch Republic. He has been dubbed the 'Father of Modern Philosophy', and much subsequent Western philosophy is a response to his writings, which are studied closely to this day...
perspective," according to Foreman.
Switchfoot and Christian music
Switchfoot is often referred to as a Christian rockChristian rock
Christian rock is a form of rock music played by individuals and bands whose members are Christians and who often focus the lyrics on matters concerned with the Christian faith. The extent to which their lyrics are explicitly Christian varies between bands...
band, mostly due to their continued involvement with the Christian rock scene. The band has always philosophically disagreed with this label: "For us, it's a faith, not a genre," says Jon Foreman. "We've always been very open and honest about where the songs are coming from. For us, these songs are for everyone. Calling us 'Christian rock' tends to be a box that closes some people out and excludes them, and that's not what we're trying to do. Music has always opened my mind—and that's what we want".
In addition to the general market, they also distribute their music to Christian markets, and play at larger Christian festivals.
Though they hold this position, they have not alienated their Christian fans. As in their indie
Indie (music)
In music, independent music, often shortened to indie music or "indie" is a term used to describe independence from major commercial record labels or their subsidiaries, and an autonomous, Do-It-Yourself approach to recording and publishing....
days, they are still distributed to Christian retail outlets through Sparrow Records
Sparrow Records
-Background:Sparrow Records was founded in 1976 by Billy Ray Hearn, then A&R director at Myrrh Records. Purchased by EMI in 1992, it is now part of the EMI Christian Music Group, and has been named by Billboard Magazine as "America's Best Christian Music Record Label"...
/EMI CMG, featured on Christian radio and charts, as well as being presented with Dove Awards
GMA Music Awards
The Gospel Music Association Dove Awards are presented annually by the Gospel Music Association for outstanding achievements in the Christian music industry. The awards are usually presented during a ceremony in Nashville, Tennessee, that features performances by a number of the industry's newest...
, even after having been signed to the mainstream Columbia Records
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
from 2003–2007 and currently, Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records is an American record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and jazz...
. "[Signing to Columbia was] a realization of something that we'd wanted to be from the beginning," Foreman explains. "When we were signed to re:think Records [an indie label], the goal was to get the music out to everybody. [But] when Sparrow [a Christian label] bought re:think Records, it was evident that our music wasn't going to be in the hands of everybody. As a Christian, I have a lot to say within the walls of the church. But also, as a Christian, I've got a lot to say just about life in general ... So to be able to be on Columbia and on Sparrow felt like the realization of the two sides of what we had to say. It's a dream come true to be able to have songs that are outside of the box."
Following the release of The Beautiful Letdown, the band temporarily stopped playing at Christian festivals and doing interviews with Christian organizations, as they found the speculation about their faith to be distracting from the music. Three years later, Switchfoot began going back on this policy, headlining at large Christian-based music festivals, and agreeing to be featured on the June 2006 cover of CCM Magazine
CCM Magazine
CCM Magazine was a monthly magazine published by Salem Publishing, a division of Salem Communications. It was first published in July 1978, and it has always been a Christian music magazine. On January 16, 2008, Salem announced that the April 2008 issue would be the final printed issue of the...
after declining the opportunity for years. Yet in many ways they used the opportunity to describe their split from the CCM industry. This has caused some, such as Spin
Spin (magazine)
Spin is a music magazine founded in 1985 by publisher Bob Guccione Jr.-History:In its early years, the magazine was noted for its broad music coverage with an emphasis on college-oriented rock music and on the ongoing emergence of hip-hop. The magazine was eclectic and bold, if sometimes haphazard...
writer Andrew Beaujon, to take the view that "their lyrics often have two different meanings, one meaning for a Christian audience and one meaning for the rest of us. They try to relate to two different groups of people at once".
Other projects
Switchfoot has been involved in a number of humanitarian causes, including DATADATA
Debt, AIDS, Trade, Africa was a multinational non-government organization founded in January 2002 in London by U2's Bono along with Bobby Shriver and activists from the Jubilee 2000 Drop the Debt campaign....
, the ONE Campaign
ONE Campaign
The ONE Campaign is an international, nonpartisan, non-profit organization which aims to increase government funding for and effectiveness of international aid programs....
, the Keep A Breast Foundation, Habitat for Humanity, Invisible Children
Invisible Children
Invisible Children: Rough Cut is a 2003 American documentary film. Its subject is the abduction and forced enlistment of children by the sectarian Lord's Resistance Army in Uganda.-Synopsis:...
, and To Write Love on Her Arms
To Write Love on Her Arms
To Write Love on Her Arms is an interfaith, American non-profit organization which aims to present hope for people struggling with addiction, depression, self injury, and thoughts of suicide while also investing directly into treatment and recovery...
.
In addition to supporting those causes, they founded the Switchfoot Bro-Am Surf Contest, an annual benefit contest and concert to raise money for various organizations serving homeless kids in the band's hometown of San Diego.
Also, before recording Nothing Is Sound, the band made a trip to several South African villages in January 2005, which inspired the album's song "The Shadow Proves the Sunshine". Seeing an orphanage filled with infants who all lost their parents to AIDS, befriending orphans in the streets, and getting involved with a children's choir called the "Kuyasa Kids" moved them to start an organization called lowercase people
Lowercase people
lowercase people is an organization that is divided into three major divisions: The lp Online Magazine, lp apparel, and the lowercase people Justice Fund. The organization was founded by the alternative rock band Switchfoot...
. The organization originally published a quarterly online magazine for music, arts and social justice. They have also produced a CD by the Kuyasa Kids
to help raise money for the children's communities.
In 2008, Switchfoot also got involved in the musical movement to spread awareness about 21st century slavery and human trafficking
Human trafficking
Human trafficking is the illegal trade of human beings for the purposes of reproductive slavery, commercial sexual exploitation, forced labor, or a modern-day form of slavery...
, performing "Awakening" for the documentary film Call + Response
Call + Response
Call + Response is a documentary film by Fair Trade Pictures to support human rights activism against human trafficking and slavery on a community level. The film explores the 21st century slave trade and offers first hand accounts on the issue from Cornel West, Madeleine Albright, Daryl Hannah,...
.
Jon Foreman
Jon Foreman
Jonathan Mark Foreman is the lead singer, lead guitarist, main songwriter and co-founder of the alternative rock band Switchfoot. He started Switchfoot in 1996 with drummer Chad Butler and bassist Tim Foreman ....
has also released several solo projects, and is also involved in an acoustic
Acoustic music
Acoustic music comprises music that solely or primarily uses instruments which produce sound through entirely acoustic means, as opposed to electric or electronic means...
collaboration called Fiction Family
Fiction Family
Fiction Family is a musical collaboration between Switchfoot frontman Jon Foreman and Nickel Creek guitarist Sean Watkins. The duo's self-titled, full-length album was released on January 20, 2009....
with Sean Watkins
Sean Watkins
Sean Charles Watkins is a guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter. He is a member of the contemporary folk band Nickel Creek, the duo Fiction Family and the supergroup Works Progress Administration.-Nickel Creek:...
of the band Nickel Creek
Nickel Creek
Nickel Creek was an American progressive acoustic music trio consisting of Chris Thile , Sara Watkins and Sean Watkins . The band was founded in 1989 and released 6 albums between 1993 and 2006...
.
On Saturday, July 31, 2010, Switchfoot performed live at the 2010 Boy Scouts of America National Jamboree final arena show: "A Shining Light Across America" in Fort A.P. Hill, Virginia. Jon and Tim Foreman were both Boy Scouts in their youth, and were honored by the opportunity to perform at the Scouts' 100th Year Anniversary event.
Discography
- 1997: The Legend of ChinThe Legend of ChinThe Legend of Chin is the first studio album by the alternative rock band Switchfoot. It was released on June 17, 1997 under independent label re:think Records, which was distributed by Sparrow Records.-Track listing:...
- 1999: New Way to Be HumanNew Way to Be HumanNew Way to Be Human is the second studio album by the band Switchfoot. It was released on March 11, 1999 under independent label re:think Records, which was distributed by Sparrow Records...
- 2000: Learning to Breathe
- 2003: The Beautiful LetdownThe Beautiful LetdownThe Beautiful Letdown is the fourth studio album by alternative rock band Switchfoot. Released in early 2003, it launched the band into the mainstream on the strength of two top 20 singles: "Meant to Live" and "Dare You to Move." The album was hugely popular and remained a staple on the Billboard...
- 2005: Nothing Is SoundNothing Is SoundNothing Is Sound is the fifth studio album by American alternative rock band Switchfoot. It was released on September 13, 2005, and début at number three on the Billboard 200. The first single from this album was "Stars," which was the number one most-added song on Modern Rock Radio, and received...
- 2006: Oh! Gravity.Oh! Gravity.Oh! Gravity. is the sixth album by the San Diego based alternative rock band Switchfoot. It was released on December 26, 2006.To give fans a preview of the new material, Switchfoot released the downloadable single "Dirty Second Hands" to major online music stores on September 26...
- 2009: Hello HurricaneHello HurricaneHello Hurricane is the seventh studio album by American alternative rock band Switchfoot. On February 13, 2011, the album won the award for Best Rock Gospel Album at the 53rd Grammy Awards. It was co-produced by the band and Mike Elizondo, after initially self-producing their work, as well as test...
- 2011: Vice VersesVice VersesVice Verses is the eighth studio album by American alternative rock band Switchfoot. It was released on September 27, 2011. "Dark Horses" was the first single released from the album, with a July 20 radio date and August 2 digital release. Vice Verses debuted on the US Billboard 200 at No...
Awards
Orville H. Gibson Guitar Awards- 2001: Les Paul Horizon Award for the most promising up-and-coming guitarist — Jon Foreman
ASCAP Awards
- 1997: Best New Artist
- 2006: Impact Award awarded "to celebrate the success and influence of his songs in mainstream rock music"
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— Jon Foreman
- 2006: Top 50 list of Most Performed Song of 2005 — "Dare You to Move"
GMA Dove Awards
- 2004: Rock Recorded Song of the Year — "Ammunition"
- 2004: Rock/Contemporary Album of the Year — The Beautiful Letdown
- 2004: Rock/Contemporary Recorded Song of the Year — "Meant to Live"
- 2005: Artist of the Year
- 2005: Short Form Music Video of the Year — "Dare You to Move"
- 2005: Long Form Music Video of the Year — Live In San Diego
- 2005: Rock/Contemporary Recorded Song of the Year — "Dare You to Move"
- 2006: Short Form Music Video of the Year — "Stars"
- 2010: Rock Recorded Song of the Year – "Mess of Me"
Grammy Awards
53rd Grammy Awards
The 53rd annual Grammy Awards were held on February 13, 2011, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. They were broadcast on CBS with a rating of 26.6 million viewers. Barbra Streisand was honored as the MusiCares Person of the Year two nights prior to the telecast on February 11. Nominations were...
- 2011: Best Rock or Rap Gospel Album - Hello Hurricane
San Diego Music Awards
San Diego Music Awards
The San Diego Music Awards are an awards show held annually in San Diego, California to recognize the best bands and artists in local music. The awards have been held since 1991 and were originally organized by the city's main local music publication, , which eventually became the alternative...
- 1997: Best New Artist
- 2001: Best Pop Artist
- 2001: Best Pop Album — Learning to Breathe
- 2002: Best Adult Alternative Artist
- 2003: Best Pop Album — The Beautiful Letdown
- 2003: Album of the Year — The Beautiful Letdown
- 2004: Song of the Year — "Dare You to Move"
- 2006: Artist of the Year
- 2007: Album of the Year — Oh! Gravity
- 2010: Album of the Year – Hello Hurricane
- 2011: Artist of the Year
Rock on Request Awards
- 2009: Best Christian Artist