Music & Media Artists Moved to Action: Switchfoot

Inspired by the cultural phenomenon of global activism, Millennia has initiated a campaign we

call “Music & Media Artists Moved to Action.” Increasing numbers of individuals and artists are

pursuin

g creative ways to address critical world issues. The global village continues to shrink,

opening ne

w opportunities to work with local communities worldwide. The potential for positive

change is limitless. We hope to pass our inspiration on to you and nurture your ideas with an

interview with Artists Moved to Action: Switchfoot

Switchfoot is a Grammy-nominated alternative rock

band from San Diego, California… 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.

Switchfoot first gained mainstream recognition after the

inclusion of four of their songs in the 2002 movie A

Walk to Remember. This recognition led to their major

label debut, in 2003, “The Beautiful Letdown

”, under

Columbia Records/Red Ink. The record 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. It went on to sell over

2.6 million copies and produced the band's best-known

singles, "Meant to Live

" and "Dare You to Move".

The Beautiful Letdown has since been certified double-

platinum, and went on to sell more than 2.6 million

copies. The album, Nothing is Sound, debuted at #3 on

the Billboard 200 albums chart, an all-time high for the

band. Switchfoot's album, Oh! Gravity. was released

on December 26, 2006, earning considerable critical

acclaim. It entered the Billboard chart at #18 and

peaked at #1 on iTunes' Top Albums chart.

On August 10th, Jon Foreman revealed that the band

had severed ties with Columbia Records in order to

release music as an Indie band. "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." 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.

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 Jon

Foreman worked with Relient K's Matt Thiessen on the

song "Rebuild

" in conjunction with the theme of the

tour to raise additional money for Habitat. By the end

of the tour, the bands had raised over $100,000 for

Habitat for Humanity. Since March 2008, the band has

been on a short national tour (the Up In Arms Tour),

partnering with the organization To Write Love on Her

Arms. The tour will end in May 2008, soon after which

the band will begin recording the new studio album.

Other humanitarian causes, include DATA

, the One

Campaign, the Keep a Breast Foundation, Habitat for

Humanity, and Invisible Children

. The Annual

Switchfoot Bro-Am Surf Contest is a benefit contest and

concert run by the band to raise money for Care House

and Casa de Amparo, organizations serving homeless

kids the band's hometown of San Diego.

]

Also, before

recording Nothing Is Sound the band made a trip to

several South African villages, which inspired the

album's song "The Shadow Proves the Sunshine".

Seeing things like an orphanage filled with infants who

all lost their parents to AIDS, palling around with

orphans in the streets, and getting involved with a

children's choir called "Kuyasa Kids" moved them to

start an ambitious organization called

Lowercase People

The organ

ization publishes 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.

The band also recently wrote and recorded a new song

called "This is Home

" for the upcoming film, The

Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian. It will be included

in the official soundtrack for the movie, and was

released as a single on April 25, 2008, along with an

accompanying music video.

We finally caught up with Tim Forman while on tour

with a few questions.

1. How are you using Millennia gear? latest projects?

on the road? Any on-line MP3 examples of your music

recorded with Millennia gear?

A better question might be what AREN'T we using

Millennia gear for. These have become our go-to mic

pre's for almost everything these days. Jon has been

especially busy over the past year, releasing 4 solo eps,

and a full-length collaboration with Nickel Creek's Sean

Watkins.

The Origin STT-1 is our secret weapon, and our

complete one-stop signal chain for most single-input

situations, including vocals. The HV-3, Origin STT-1,

and TD-1 can all be heard on the Jon Foreman EPS,

available at jonforeman.com and iTunes. We've also

begun work on our seventh Switchfoot record, to be

released sometime in late '08/early '09.

2. We were excited to see Switchfoot involved with

more than just music. Tell us more about your social

activism and the inspirations behind some of the

initiatives you have created and are involved with.

Many of our musical heroes (Dylan, U2, Cash) are

people who never saw a disconnect between art and

action. That's an awareness that we've been gradually

growing into as a band the past 10 years or so. These

songs come from a very honest place, trying to make

sense of this planet, and wanting to see things change.

We've done a lot of touring over the years, seen some

amazing places, and met some incredible people. But

at a certain point, you begin asking the question, "what

are the footprints that we're leaving with our music?"

Many times, the answer is surrounded with lots of

intangibles -- a moment, a feeling, a conversation.

These snapshot moments are a huge motivator for us,

and certainly a big part of why we do what we do. But

we wanted more than just intangibles. We've recently

refocused our touring around specific goals – causes

that we can sink our teeth into, grab hold of and see

change taking place right before our very eyes.

In the past year, we've been heavily involved with

Habitat for Humanity, and we are planning a

summer/fall tour in support of them called the Music

Builds tour. We've also been working closely with To

Write Love on Her Arms, IJM, and the ONE campaign.

LowercasePeople.com, our own non-profit, has become

a safe place for people within the art community to talk

about these causes, along with other important issues

surrounding social justice and community. Lowercase

People has also become a facilitator for us to think

outside the box, and to launch events such as our

Annual Switchfoot Bro-Am charity surf contest (now in

its 4th year).

It's exciting to see what can happen when an entire

community rallies together for a cause much larger

than itself. We've merely planted a few seeds here and

there within our small sphere of influence, and the

people around us have responded in a big way. I think

this is just the beginning.

3. The trend toward global social activism, what Paul

Hawken recently called the "largest and fastest growing

movement in history," is emerging without charismatic

leaders, grand theories, or defining events. What are

some ways people can become authentically engaged

for global good especially in the recording or music

industry?

Creating good, authentic art that targets thoughts and

questions that are important to the artist will almost

always resonate as a good catalyst for change and

motion. In fact, this is not a new concept at all. If you

want to be a part of music that shakes things up, then

be prepared to reach deep in your artistic endeavors.

We've had a saying for a few years now within the

band: "If you're not cryin', why are you playin' it?"

4. We see you have a new label - what direction are

you going there?

We always had a vision within Lowercase People for

intersecting beauty and truth, art with action. We've

had the opportunity to shine a spotlight on some artists

that are doing great things artistically as well as

socially. Now that we are an independent band, we're

excited about the possibilities of lending our own music

to this vision.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank you for

the inspiration your music has given us, as we take new

footing facing the opposite direction as well, realigning

life goals and embarking on new social ventures. A

wave of change is breaking – catch it!

This section is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation

License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Switchfoot