Famously known for acclaimed tracks such as “Dare You To Move” and “Meant To Live”, Switchfoot are coming back to Australia in a few weeks to touch the hearts and souls of many with their empowering rock music. The band have explored many avenues that have helped their music connect with many people around the world, reflecting a sense of hope and purpose. Since the release of last year’s record, Fading West, Tim Foreman talks about the journey of the band, Soundwave and the impact Switchfoot has made with their work for several humanitarian projects. With the support of his band mates, music has always been a constant inspiration in his life.
So for the most part, Switchfoot have been categorised as a Christian Rock band. When you guys formed this band, was this initially the genre of music you guys wanted to get into?
Well, we’ve always played music for everyone so I think that’s the reason why we’ve never called ourselves this [Christian] type of rock band. We play songs that ask the big questions, songs of hope and meaning and purpose but they’re not just for people that think the same as us.
So in the past you’ve dealt with wanting to break out into a mainstream audience. Since this has happened, how does it feel knowing that your music has been distributed to a wider audience?
Well, that was always the goal, you know. I feel like music at best is something that brings people together. For them to find a larger platform and larger audience is very meaningful for us cause I think there are songs that are important for us; they’re songs that ask the bigger questions of life and purpose. The music that I’ve always been drawn to was always doing that; the kind that takes you somewhere. Hopefully our songs have provided hope to a lot of people.
I was doing my research this morning and I’ve noticed that you guys have received positive feedback from your music. How do you feel about that?
It’s really affirming and it feels really good to hear that our music is connecting. We hear amazing stories every night when we’re on tour; the stories where our songs have gotten people through tough times and that’s what music was for me growing up and to be that for someone else is truly an honour. At the same time, it’s a really interesting thing that these songs are very personal to us; they’re written internally on our own lives. Sometimes the songs that are the most personal are the ones that find a broad audience because we can all relate to human emotions of hope, pain and heartache whilst desiring to see things change for the better.
That’s so true. Hearing songs like “This is Your Life”, “Breathe”, “Dare You To Move” – those are amazing songs. I’m sure when people come across those songs, they go “Wow, this is amazing. This will get me through life” cause I felt the same way when I first heard those songs.
Thanks. We hear amazing stories about them – it really feels good that we’re part of a bigger story, you know.
I believe that some of your songs were used in the film A Walk To Remember and also the TV series, One Tree Hill. Do you think that using your music in films and TV shows have helped given you a perspective of the different meanings conveyed in your songs?
Yeah, that’s something we’ve always enjoyed about music; the same song can mean different things to different people depending on what they’re going through. I think that’s a good thing and just because we wrote the song, doesn’t mean our meaning is the only one there; sometimes songs find their meaning years after they were written. Years later something happens and it takes on a new meaning and it grows.
Following up on that, when it comes to songwriting do you and Jon write songs in combination with your Christian faith and your day-to-day life experiences?
Yeah, I think we integrate everything that we’re going through and what we’re dealing with. Music is the perfect outlet for that and our faith absolutely integrates with all of that. We’ve always tried to write honest songs and also songs that are important to us.
So what keeps you inspired when it comes to creating music?
I think just life. Often times the things that inspire songs are the harder aspects of life; the struggle, the challenges, the things that don’t make sense to us because the world doesn’t make sense and these songs kinda help us work through it. It’s a safe place to say I don’t have it all figured out and here’s what I’m wrestling with. It’s not that happy songs can’t be written but often times if everything is going great, we’re more likely to go surfing than write a song.
Would you say that both you and Jon are emotional people that’s why your songs are a reflection of who you are as a band?
My brother and I are very different in that way. I think he really feels the bumps on the road very deeply and he’s got a very tender heart towards every high and low and I think that’s what makes the songs that we write and the way he sings them is so special. I’ve never seen him where he’s not truly feeling what he sings and I think that I’m probably the more emotionally-leveled of the two of us. I think we balance each other out in this journey of life.
Yeah that’s true because sometimes you need be level-headed when it comes to dealing with problems and I guess it’s hard when it comes to your emotions especially because once you’re feeling down or something, it takes over from there and it affects how you live as well.
Yeah, absolutely.
So I believe that the last time Switchfoot was here was in 2012 for Soundwave festival. I’m sorry you guys had to cut it short, I think you guys had a family emergency that you had to attend to so you didn’t end up going to Perth or Adelaide. How were those shows anyway? The ones that you did do.
We were having a great time on the tour. We were doing sideshows as well and those are always really fun because it’s our own crowd but we also enjoy the challenge of getting in front of new fans and bringing our songs to different places and the Soundwave fest of that year was very metal in the lineup and so it was actually a lot of fun to feel like we were one of the only rock bands on a metal lineup. We enjoyed the challenge of looking out from the stage and seeing a crowd that we wouldn’t typically see.
Yeah, each year Soundwave puts out the heaviest lineup unimaginable and there’s like a mixture of pop punk and indie rock bands and you’re just like, “What? This doesn’t make sense” but at the same time, it’s good to experience different sorts of genres in that field.
Yeah absolutely. We were really enjoying ourselves and it was a shame to have to cut the trip short but obviously life happens and it kinda reminds us that there’s more important things than rock and roll and my brother’s daughter was going into emergency surgery and it was a really scary time for us. We’re glad he was able to fly straight home and obviously that’s where he needed to be and it makes me happy to say that everything is wonderful with my niece and she’s as beautiful as you could imagine.
At least it wasn’t a hassle for him to go there straight away because he was able to do that in the last minute.
Yeah absolutely.
You guys released an album last year called Fading West. Will your set list for your upcoming Australian shows consist songs mainly from that record or will it be a mixture of old or new songs?
It’s gonna be a blend. We’re one of those bands that every single night is a different set list and we really enjoy mixing it up and I think that’s what I think is great about being in a band. We have this pretty massive collection of songs at this point that we pull from and we rotate it around, mainly a lot of older songs and songs from Fading West and we really feed off from the crowd as the night goes on. We have a set list that looks one way but we’re more than happy to scrap it and go on a different direction if that’s the way the crowd feels.
Oh cool. So would you say that the audience have been positively reacting towards the songs you’ve been playing from Fading West ?
Yeah, it’s been amazing. It’s been a really well-received record for us and it’s a lot more driven by big memorable hooks as opposed to big guitars we’ve kinda been known for in the past. A lot of that was driven on the journey we were on when we were making Fading West. We were actually making a movie at the same time, also titled Fading West and actually a large portion of that film was shot in Australia and documents the whole Soundwave journey that we were on, having to cancel shows and all the drama that happened there. It’s kind of a heavy experience to watch for us because that was a really chaotic time for us and I think it captures the reality of a band on tour; the highs and lows and the kind of brotherhood that we have that we carry with each other through tough times. The entire album was kind of us responding to that journey and it’s fun to listen to every song because it takes me back to a specific place in the film.
That’s amazing to hear, man. Gauging from what I just heard, you guys are obviously so supportive of one another and you’re pretty much a resilient band which is good to see cause you deal with challenges as they come in a really mature way and I think that’s really important.
Oh, thanks. We’ve been through a lot together, you know. There’s two of us that are brothers in the band but it really feels like five brothers at this point.
I think it’s amazing that Switchfoot is heavily involved in many humanitarian projects. Would you say that doing these projects have motivated you to write songs that make people aware of certain issues that are happening around the world?
Yeah, you know I think it’s one of those things where the songs that we write motivate some of the projects we’re involved in and some of those projects motivate our songs; they all feed into each other the idea that we see the world as it is and the flaws it has. I think singing those songs every night feels natural to connect with something that’s tangible in that aspect and it feels good knowing that we can make a difference.
Fading West is available now.
———-
