The band is working on a new album that Foreman hopes will be out this fall.

“You don’t want to press these things. You want to let them come in their time,” he says. How much new material they play is up to his brother.

“Tim’s in charge of that. It depends on what kind of mood he’s in,” Foreman says.

"We want everybody to feel welcome at a Switchfoot show. It's a really exciting thing for me to look out in the audience and see people of all faiths and colors and creeds just knowing that music draws people together more than tearing them apart."

The Switchfoot work ethic, Mr. Fontamillas said, is borne from the idea that success can be fleeting and takes real effort to preserve. He said the good news is that music is never about the goal but rather the continuing journey.

"People ask me if I feel like I've hit the top," he said with a laugh. "But a musician is always trying to tune the craft. There is always someone out there bigger and better, and that's good to think about.

"For me, success will always be how I treat my family, my wife, my church and my community. After all, we could be the choice of the day now and tomorrow be Milli Vanilli. Music is fickle."

“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.”

Labels: interviews.

the flowers are here, the skies are blue, and the water is starting
to warm up a bit. And the spring EP is out there, ready for your
ears and mind.

Tomorrow the boys and I embark for the colder climes for our spring tour with TWLOHA. I'll take a little bit of the pacific sand with me
to help get me through the month away from home. So, if you're up in the colder spots longing for spring- the EP should help bring you out west.

The musical journey that these EPs have taken me on has been one of the most challenging, fulfilling process I've ever been a part of.
Thanks to everyone who has walked with me along the way.

enjoy spring!
jon

I think “Spring” is Foreman’s most ambitious EP yet. In recent years, his songwriter has taken on a bleaker tone (one need only look at the tracklisting for the last two Switchfoot records to know what I mean). “Spring” is quite a mood shift from the first two EPs, and the instrumentation reflects this wonderfully. From the opening bars of the first track (”March - A prelude to Spring”) you will realize you are being treated to the best, the indie music scene has to offer: honest, intelligent lyricism treated to a lush backdrop of graceful guitar chords and up-beat brass. There is a hint of style of Beirut in this track, a style which complements Jon’s distinct vocals.

...Jon somehow topped his efforts in “Fall” with this latest EP; some of the best solo work I’ve heard in a long while. I am almost breathless in my expectation for “Summer.” Having reached the mountain top, one’s first inclination is to take a second or two to breathe the air up there, relish the moment…and then look around for any other peak that may be higher. The search for perfection, being never fully acheivable, is never fully ‘enough.’

But that has never stopped Jon from trying, and he inexplicably continues to draw closer

"Chad is a rock - not only with is timing but with his personality. He's as steady as they come. Back in the early days, and many times in between, he's acted as manager for Switchfoot. He's a real people person, always puts others first; and he's just the type of guy that you can depend on for anything, just always there. He is definitely the artist of the group. For instance, just two days ago, Chad was busy making T-shirts like we used to back in the old days. He's the guy you go to for the details because he's definitely the best with the stencils."

They say that album number two is the most difficult album to make. This is probably because a band has all the time in the world to write material for their first album, and seemingly no time at all to write the second (because of endless touring). Although Jon has never left us with a shortage of songs, this was easily our most difficult recording experience to date. We set aside our entire summer to record, but due to other factors we were unable to begin recording until the fall. I (Tim) was already committed to taking a full 16 units at UCSD, so besides juggling classes and surf contests, I was flying out to Nashville every weekend for 3 months. Chad's wedding was also during this time, making him out of commission for 3 weeks. Beyond these pressures, more than ever before, we were feeling growing pains. The pressure of excellence, placed upon ourselves, to make an album that showed enormous growth as a band was like luggage that we carried with us at all times. As the main songwriter, Jon felt this pressure the most. Songs such as 'Let That Be Enough' and 'Only Hope' were written in direct response to the weight of Jon's new burden, and the song 'New Way To Be Human' was rewritten almost 50 times before he was satisfied. This album, like none before or after it, was a labor of love. Three months later, we were left with an album we were proud of, but even more importantly, a better understanding of who we were as a band." -Tim

New Way to Be Human makes good on the debut's potential, assuring Switchfoot's status as one of the most exciting young bands around. Its 10 thought-provoking tunes take a refreshing approach to themes of yearning, human frailty and redemption. Songs like "New Way to Be Human" and "I Turn Everything Over" burst with enthusiasm, while "Only Hope" and "Under the Floor" develop the meditative aspect of the band's sound. Switchfoot's growth becomes evident not only in the spirited rhythm section of bassist Tim Foreman and drummer Chad Butler, but in the increased clarity of guitarist Jon Foreman's songwriting vision.

"Our first album basically consisted of songs I wrote in my room, for my room," says Jon, who's also the group's lead vocalist. But Jon notes that Switchfoot's experiences since that album's release have expanded his perspective, both personally and musically. "Now, we actually have a voice," he says. "We had to decide what we wanted to say. We tried to be much more focused with our songs for New Way to Be Human."

"The first time I went to the Foreman house, they had everything set up in one 10' x 12' bedroom," recalls producer Charlie Peacock, who signed the group to his indy re:think label after hearing a rough demo recorded in that room. "That was their reality. Since then, they've traveled all over the U.S. and Europe. They've seen there's a whole big world out there. The new music reflects that, and there's a new maturity to this album."

Labels: album reviews.

Jon Foreman is best known as the sensitive rock-prophet front man of San Diego band Switchfoot. The band’s anthemic cries against rampant materialism and purposeless existence somehow struck a chord with just the sort of folks their songs depicted. MTV (a bastion, we would add, of rampant materialism and purposeless existence) even placed hopeful (if angsty) tunes like “Meant to Live” in their rotation.

Switchfoot, perhaps, has faded from mainstream consciousness. Nevermind. In the intervening years, the quintet has worked hard to establish themselves as indie-rock mainstays, not mere MTV darlings. Recent work may not receive the attention of previous releases, but I like to think of their subtle exodus as a sort of monastic retreat ala Rivers Cuomo. They’re honing their craft, these five. They will emerge pensive, melancholic. In other words: a bit more indie (whatever that means).

Maybe. Maybe not. It would seem that Foreman, however, listens to this sort of artist (the pensive; the melancholic; the indie). Listen. You’ll hear it in Fall/Winter—half of a seasonally themed project. (Bet you can’t guess the title of the next installment.)

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.