He feels he has been in his element with the two EPs already recorded – Fall and Winter – because he’s temperamentally suited to the time of leaves falling and nights drawing in (he spent many of his early years in New England). It has given him a chance to explore themes of loss, decay and brokenness that would have made an uneasy fit in the Switchfoot catalogue. “It’s hard to be broken when you’ve got a power stack behind you and a full drum kit pounding away,” he explains. “That’s a position of power. Even if you’re singing about desperate times, you’re still coming at it with a fist.”

One thing that he’s certain of is that the solo records won’t distract from Switchfoot. “I really feel that the next Switchfoot album will be our defining record,” he says excitedly. “The EPs have been incredibly liberating. I paid for everything, I wrote everything and I produced everything. There is nothing I could do that could be more personal and over which I could have more control.

“I feel that this has allowed me to face the next Switchfoot project with my arms open wider. I’m in a band with these other guys who all have great ideas and I need to be able to loosen the reins. This has been a chance for me to get that out of my system. It’s been a real rebirth to be able to have both sides come out into the light.”

Labels: articles., interviews.