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Switchfoot not worried about labels

By Dalia Colon, Times Staff Writer
In print: Thursday, September 4, 2008

From left, Tim Foreman, Chad Butler, Jon Foreman, Drew Shirley and Jerome Fontamillas make up Switchfoot, which has won Dove Awards for Christian music.
	[Special to the Times]

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By Dalia Colon

Times Staff Writer

They're Christians in a band. But whether you consider Switchfoot a Christian band is up to you.

"It depends on whether you call Johnny Cash or U2 or Bob Dylan or whoever else a Christian musician," said frontman Jon Foreman, 31. "We'd like to get lumped in with a lot of the folks that we believe in that make music that is for everyone, but coming from a real deep place."

Originally called Chin Up, Switchfoot began as a trio in San Diego more than a decade ago with Foreman, his kid brother, Tim Foreman, on bass and college buddy Chad Butler on drums. They've since added guitarist Drew Shirley and guitarist-keyboardist Jerome Fontamillas, and after inspirational radio hits like Dare You to Move, Meant to Live and This Is Your Life, the alterna-rockers are still going strong.

Their sixth and most recent album, Oh! Gravity., features production credits by Steve Lillywhite and Tim Palmer, high-profile producers who have worked with another are-they-or-aren't-they-Christian band, U2. Switchfoot has also won several Dove Awards, Christian music's equivalent of the Grammy.

Jon Foreman called the Times from Nashville, where he had just wrapped up a solo show.

You probably get asked this a lot, but are you a Christian band?

I'm a believer. I think it's a tricky one whenever you mix faith with commerce, because the dollar bill is never going to be Christian, and I never want to use my faith to sell records. But at the same time, we've always been very upfront about our beliefs.

Who gives you the most heat about that?

Both sides. Certain people want you to fly their flag. Other folks don't have such an open mind.

Are you challenged by your own songs? What's a song whose lyrics have evolved since you first recorded them?

As far as a specific song, Dare You to Move is definitely a song that has stuck with me. I wrote that one a while back — before I was married, before we had sold a lot of the records and when we were still traveling around in a minivan.

I take it you're not touring in the minivan anymore?

No, thankfully. I think if I was still driving, we'd be dead. (Laughs)

Is there a piece of advice you would offer to up-and-coming bands?

Ultimately, no one will ever care about your music as much as you do. So with that in mind, don't just sign your life away quickly. (Laughs) Read the fine print. This is what I always tell folks: The perspective/media people think that signing to Columbia Records or having your song on the radio or MTV, that those are milestones of success. I would disagree and say that playing music you believe in for however many people are there, that's success.

Is that a lesson that came with age? When you were 19, did you still feel like, "Hey, we're successful because I believe in this"?

To be honest, I didn't ever think I would ever be able to pay rent based off music. I just didn't have that mentality. Most of my heroes around town were folks that, if you sold 30,000 records you were a superstar. You still worked at the local whatever and you toured whenever you could up the coast, and that was a successful career. The first record I made was in high school, and the break-even point was 300 records. That was success. (Laughs)

I understand that switchfoot is a surfing term. Any plans for a surfing excursion when you come to Florida?

(Laughs) If there's any waves, we always try and make time. We've begged, borrowed and stolen boards to get in the water.

Dalia Colon can be reached at dcolon@tampabay.com.