Episode 09 - The Legacy of The Beautiful Letdown - Tim Foreman of Switchfoot

00:00:00.000 (upbeat music) 00:00:02.580 - Hello and welcome back to another episode 00:00:10.680 of the AltWire Podcast. 00:00:12.400 I'm your host, Derek Oswald. 00:00:13.840 And today we are joined by none other than Tim Foreman, 00:00:16.640 bassist of the iconic rock band Switchfoot. 00:00:19.440 In this episode, we're going to uncover the secrets 00:00:21.580 behind their enduring success, 00:00:23.400 exploring their inspirations, challenges, 00:00:25.280 and milestones that have shaped their career. 00:00:28.000 We'll dive into the stories behind their chart-topping 2003 record, 00:00:31.280 The Beautiful Letdown, unpacking the emotions, experiences, 00:00:34.800 and universal themes that have made their songs resonate with so many people. 00:00:38.400 So buckle up and get ready for another episode of the Altwire Podcast. 00:00:42.520 The Altwire Podcast starts now. 00:00:45.200 Thank you so much for joining us today, Tim. How are you doing? 00:00:54.440 I'm doing great. How are you doing? 00:00:56.840 I'm doing pretty good, thank you so much. 00:00:59.240 Looking back on the 20th anniversary 00:01:01.060 of The Beautiful Letdown, 00:01:02.260 it's hard to believe that it's been 20 years 00:01:04.680 since I first heard Meant to Live, that's insane. 00:01:07.220 But what a timeless song from a timeless album. 00:01:09.940 What memories come to mind from that time in your career? 00:01:12.940 - Wow, so many memories. 00:01:14.540 I was talking about this the other day 00:01:16.040 with a friend of mine, that when you're younger, 00:01:20.140 there's kind of a wastefulness that is also beautiful. 00:01:23.660 You know, there's also, that was a time 00:01:25.420 It was really exciting for us. 00:01:26.860 Those songs took us all over the world. 00:01:28.820 And I think through traveling, I've grown to appreciate travel more since then and 00:01:37.420 going to other places and stuff. 00:01:39.500 But, um, at the time, you know, being barely 20, the things that I was excited 00:01:45.260 about were pretty simple, you know, like, um, finding a good, a good curb to skate, 00:01:50.620 you know what I mean? 00:01:52.100 and just being with my best friends and getting to play these songs. 00:01:55.340 And looking back, we got some pretty wild experiences for a 20 year old to 00:02:00.380 absorb. But, um, you know, 00:02:02.180 it was the only version I had of being young and 20 and, um, it was a, 00:02:06.060 it was a pretty great, beautiful, exciting time. 00:02:08.540 Now, 20 years later, what makes this particular album special for you? 00:02:12.780 What inspired you guys to go ahead and re-record the album? 00:02:15.300 Yeah, it's like you said, it's a special album for us. 00:02:18.340 we've been taking these songs all over the world, 00:02:21.100 or they've been taking us all over the world for 20 years. 00:02:24.260 And I'm really thankful that the songs 00:02:28.020 that really blew up for us, 00:02:29.700 songs like Dare You To Move, Meant To Live, 00:02:32.100 they still mean a lot to us. 00:02:33.500 These are songs that are very special and personal to us, 00:02:36.500 and they've only grown with the telling. 00:02:39.220 They've only grown with the memories 00:02:40.900 that we've attached to them for 20 years. 00:02:43.220 So these are songs that were written in a bedroom 00:02:47.220 at 2 a.m. trying to figure out life. 00:02:49.220 And now they have all these other stories 00:02:51.700 and memories attached to them. 00:02:53.340 People coming up to us after shows telling us, 00:02:56.660 this was the song that played at my wedding, 00:02:59.700 this is the song that came on the radio 00:03:01.820 when I was about to kill myself, 00:03:03.140 this is just amazing wild stories 00:03:06.220 that are much bigger than four surfers 00:03:08.780 from San Diego playing rock and roll. 00:03:10.940 And so I think the songs have grown with us 00:03:13.940 and we're very thankful that we still get to play songs 00:03:16.820 that mean a lot to us. 00:03:18.100 Now, re-records sometimes, you know, 00:03:20.180 provide an opportunity to change 00:03:21.700 things that you maybe didn't like 00:03:23.120 about the original version. 00:03:24.260 Was there anything about the original 00:03:25.620 record that the band was maybe 00:03:27.480 eager to update and improve upon 00:03:29.180 with these re-records? 00:03:30.180 Yeah, it was a really kind 00:03:32.500 of something we talked about quite a 00:03:34.240 bit. I think as as artists, 00:03:36.360 you're always trying to create 00:03:37.820 something new. And the idea of 00:03:39.260 re-creating something you've done 00:03:41.160 before is always less appealing. 00:03:43.620 But at the same time, you know, I 00:03:45.860 I think we landed on trying to find versions of these songs that are true to the original 00:03:51.580 with just little updates where we saw the opportunity. 00:03:55.820 We've been playing these songs for a while, some of these songs more than others, and 00:04:00.100 there's little updates that we've done along the way that felt like they were still very 00:04:03.620 much in the character and spirit of the original. 00:04:07.380 It's funny, growing up, you're always learning something new and you're always forgetting 00:04:12.060 something. 00:04:13.060 And this was a chance to kind of hold the two ends of that intention and speak into something 00:04:18.360 that you did a while ago with some new things that you've learned, but then also go back 00:04:22.260 and pick up a few things that you dropped along the way. 00:04:25.720 I think one of the big updates of the new version though, that was apparent right off 00:04:31.780 the bat was just how much John has grown as a singer. He was just kind of finding himself 00:04:37.300 as a singer when we made that album and there's a special quality to that. His voice has only 00:04:42.580 grown since that. And it was great to kind of hear that on these new versions. 00:04:47.020 Definitely. And that's something I noticed too, listening through it. I mean, they sound 00:04:50.740 just as timeless as the original record did, but you're absolutely right. One of the things 00:04:54.860 that is just so much stronger is John's voice. It sounds so, so good on that record. I'm 00:05:00.700 curious though, what did the early days look like? I think you guys were originally called 00:05:04.340 Chin Up, right? What was the story behind that name? 00:05:07.380 Yeah, we started as a three piece. I was still in high school. John and Chad were in college 00:05:13.500 and we were playing music because it was fun. You know, I don't think any of us saw music 00:05:18.700 as a viable career path. None of the bands that we grew up idolizing in our scene were 00:05:26.220 ever able to do it as a full-time job. These are bands that came up in the San Diego scene 00:05:32.180 and they're playing in backyards and garages and it's a very DIY scene that we come from. 00:05:40.220 And so, you know, I think that was the version of music that was modeled for us. And so we 00:05:45.260 were following that path of playing music because we loved it and playing it wherever 00:05:51.300 we got asked to play it, whether it was a coffee shop or a bar, a church that we just 00:05:56.700 loved playing music together. And, um, uh, so we didn't give the name a lot of 00:06:02.300 thought. We're, uh, we had a, a kind of a best friend amongst our group. He 00:06:07.340 wasn't in the band, but he almost was just because he was like our spirit 00:06:10.980 animal, our mascot, uh, his name, Willis Chin. He was just, uh, one of those guys 00:06:15.780 that was always making us laugh. And, um, you know, one of, one of the best guys 00:06:21.320 you'll ever meet. And so, you know, it was kind of a lighthearted way to, to 00:06:25.900 throw him into the band name. He was at all the shows anyways. And then, um, 00:06:31.500 when we actually got a record deal, an indie record deal, which was completely 00:06:37.220 surprising to us, we decided maybe let's take a little harder about our name. 00:06:42.580 And so we switched the name to Switchfoot, but, um, we named our first 00:06:46.380 album, The Legend of Chin, and put a bunch of Willis Chin's baby photos and 00:06:51.220 childhood photos in the album. 00:06:54.020 Now, have you guys ever thought about maybe revisiting some songs from those 00:06:57.660 earlier albums and updating them the same way you did with The Beautiful 00:07:00.460 Letdown? 00:07:00.900 Yeah, I'm not sure. 00:07:02.500 We're still fresh off of this experience and, um, it was definitely enjoyable, 00:07:06.780 but it was also a pretty big challenge. 00:07:08.780 It was a pretty big undertaking to really make sure that we were doing the 00:07:13.940 original version justice. 00:07:15.260 I think the worst thing in the world to do would be to spend a year working on 00:07:20.220 something and have people not like it as much as the original. 00:07:23.780 You know, we put a lot of thought and effort into it. 00:07:25.860 And, uh, I think we're excited about, you know, our next endeavor being something 00:07:30.460 new, some, uh, working on some new songs. 00:07:32.820 Who knows if there's more re-records in our future? 00:07:35.100 Uh, probably too early to say at this point. 00:07:37.540 Now, after those first three albums, where was the band at mentally when you 00:07:41.500 guys began writing that fourth album? 00:07:43.380 What was the mentality going into writing that record? 00:07:45.620 I think we all thought that it was our last record. 00:07:48.540 Most of the bands that we grew up watching and going to shows, they never 00:07:52.860 even made a third record. It seemed like it's one or two records and done. And we had made 00:07:57.740 three and there had been some exciting things that happened along the way. But at the same 00:08:03.540 time we were barely able to sell, you know, a hundred tickets in a few markets following 00:08:10.640 our third album. And so it wasn't exactly, it was an exciting thing when you're 18 or 00:08:16.220 19 years old, but not exactly like a sustainable career, you know? So it's kind of that point 00:08:21.660 in life where our drummer Chad had just had a kid and it's that, you know, okay, what 00:08:28.740 is the next 10 years of our lives look like type of questions that we were asking ourselves. 00:08:34.220 So we went into the studio to make one more album and it wasn't, it wasn't even with the 00:08:38.860 goal of, you know, let's see if we can make this last forever. It was just, let's see 00:08:43.820 if we can make the record that we have always wanted to make so that there's no regrets 00:08:49.500 so that, you know, when we move on to whatever's next in our lives, 00:08:53.260 we look back at this album and that's the album that we always want to make, 00:08:57.460 you know, 00:08:57.780 something that we're just completely proud of and captures who we are right now. 00:09:01.900 And, um, so we did that, uh, without a label. 00:09:05.780 We recorded it in 17 days, including mixing, 00:09:10.220 which is extremely fast with a producer named John Fields that we had just met. 00:09:14.420 And we did it up in LA and, uh, you know, 00:09:18.380 It was so exciting to work at that fast pace. 00:09:20.940 We really thrive off of that. 00:09:23.220 We had a bunch of stations built in the studio, 00:09:25.420 and we were just literally running from station to station. 00:09:28.260 Drums, bass, guitars. 00:09:30.380 And after 17 days, we had a complete album recorded, mixed, 00:09:34.580 and we started getting calls from major labels 00:09:38.020 that had caught wind of the album. 00:09:39.980 And everything moved quickly for a moment. 00:09:42.980 It was kind of surreal to suddenly be having conversations 00:09:46.260 with major labels, which was something that in those days, 00:09:50.140 that was like the Holy Grail. 00:09:51.420 Very few bands, especially from San Diego, 00:09:54.100 were ever in those conversations. 00:09:56.900 And so, you know, we ended up siding with Columbia Records 00:10:00.980 and we felt like we had somehow just won the lottery 00:10:05.140 and they flew us to New York to play for kind of the, 00:10:09.020 all the bigwigs at the label. 00:10:10.940 And we're flying high at this point. 00:10:13.460 We can't believe that this is happening. 00:10:16.240 And halfway through our second song, 00:10:19.680 the head of the label walks out and says, 00:10:23.440 I don't hear any hits. 00:10:25.120 Why do we keep signing this garbage? 00:10:27.600 And dropped us. 00:10:29.080 And the song he walked out on was a song called 00:10:31.800 Dare You to Move. 00:10:33.080 - It's one of your biggest songs! 00:10:35.280 - Yeah. 00:10:36.680 It was this real existential moment of like, 00:10:39.280 okay, that's what he thinks, that's his opinion. 00:10:43.120 What's our opinion? 00:10:44.440 What do we think of these songs? 00:10:45.760 What do we think of this record? 00:10:47.160 Now we're back to, uh, you know, 00:10:49.960 where we've always been, which is an indie band without a major label. 00:10:54.240 And, um, uh, so we decided to put it out anyways, um, an indie label. 00:10:58.840 And then, uh, you know, a couple million albums later, Columbia decided to pick 00:11:04.060 the album back up because it was still in their system under contract. 00:11:08.200 And, um, I'm really thankful for that whole experience. 00:11:11.560 It really kind of galvanized us as a band, 00:11:15.880 forced us to get our heads right. 00:11:18.500 Because I think any creative endeavor, 00:11:20.840 there's gonna be people that get it and people that don't. 00:11:23.440 And it can be really cart before the horse 00:11:26.040 to be making music that you hope someone else will like 00:11:30.080 when you have no idea. 00:11:31.400 The best and truest thing you can do as an artist 00:11:34.160 is to make music that resonates with you. 00:11:36.880 I think we did exactly what we set out to do with that album. 00:11:40.200 we made an album that we were proud of. 00:11:41.760 And and I'm just really thankful that 00:11:44.080 here we are 20 years later talking 00:11:46.140 about, you know, how that album 00:11:48.080 went around the world and ended up 00:11:50.520 in a lot of people's ears. 00:11:51.720 ♪ I dare you to move ♪ 00:11:54.980 ♪ I dare you to move ♪ 00:11:58.360 ♪ I dare you to lift yourself up off the floor ♪ 00:12:03.360 ♪ I dare you to move ♪ 00:12:08.440 ♪ I dare you to move ♪ 00:12:11.240 ♪ Like today never happened ♪ 00:12:15.040 ♪ Today never happened before ♪ 00:12:20.080 And I think what really helped with that around that time was the soundtrack for 00:12:24.240 A Walk to Remember. Your music played a really huge role in that film. 00:12:29.040 What are your memories from that time on collaborating on the soundtrack? 00:12:33.360 Yeah. As a band, 00:12:35.760 there's things that come in and out of your life that are exciting and it's hard 00:12:40.760 to know in the moment what are the things that are going to move the needle or 00:12:45.680 resonate, you know, on a larger scale. And that was one of those things. 00:12:49.560 Mandy Moore was an up and coming singer and actress, 00:12:53.720 actor and has become really incredible at both 00:12:57.440 through the years. 00:12:58.720 But at the time she was just coming up, 00:13:00.320 I don't think any of us had any idea 00:13:02.160 the impact that film was going to have. 00:13:05.000 We'd been in other films and TV shows before. 00:13:08.240 And so, yeah, when that opportunity came, 00:13:10.680 you know, it was exciting 00:13:11.960 and they kept adding more and more of our songs. 00:13:14.440 It started with one song, Only Hope 00:13:17.200 and ended up with, I think, 00:13:18.360 five of our songs on the soundtrack. And, um, you know, it was one of those surreal 00:13:22.520 experiences that, uh, you, we had no idea the impact that it was going to have, you 00:13:28.360 know, that it really opened the door for a lot of people to our music, particularly around 00:13:34.200 the world. There's places like Philippines that we would have never been if it wasn't 00:13:39.600 for that movie where that movie, you know, had really big impact over there and open 00:13:44.680 doors to all sorts of international markets that we would have never visited otherwise. 00:13:49.840 And yeah, really thankful that that happened. I think that was a great example of music 00:13:55.320 being used for a common purpose. Sometimes you see music as a fish out of water in like 00:14:00.800 a truck commercial or something, and it doesn't really resonate with what the song was written 00:14:05.640 about. But that was a really heartfelt movie. And I think a lot of the songs really resonated 00:14:13.160 with the story arc. 00:14:14.920 And yeah, I like the film. 00:14:16.840 Yeah. 00:14:17.660 And Only Hope is at such a pivotal point in the movie. 00:14:21.400 It's when the male lead falls in love with the female lead in the movie 00:14:24.720 because she sings it in the play. 00:14:26.520 And it's just a central part of the film. 00:14:29.360 And it's your guy's song, which is just absolutely insane. 00:14:32.520 You mentioned something about the Philippines, which actually brought me to 00:14:35.600 a question I wanted to ask you. 00:14:36.960 Theology and philosophy feel like core themes for Switchfoot. 00:14:41.120 How has traveling and performing in different parts of the world shaped your 00:14:46.120 perspective as musicians? 00:14:48.040 How has it shaped your theological and philosophical perspectives? 00:14:51.920 Yeah, I love traveling. When you do something a lot, 00:14:55.640 you either get really jaded and cynical about it or you love it more and more. 00:15:00.500 And I'm thankful that travel is one of those things for me that I'm going to be 00:15:04.080 a lifelong traveler, whether I'm playing music or not. 00:15:07.320 I just love seeing other places, meeting new people, new cultures, new languages. 00:15:13.720 There's something intoxicating about that to me, feeling a sense of smallness in a big 00:15:19.120 place and also a sense of belonging in somewhere you've never been. 00:15:24.880 Those two polar opposites are what is at play when you travel. 00:15:30.600 And I think traveling broadens your perspectives, gets you outside of the things that feel important 00:15:37.300 in our little bubbles and you see a bigger picture and a bigger story and all of that 00:15:43.420 has been very central to the musical journey we've been on too and the songs we write. 00:15:49.580 And I think one of the biggest goals we've always had in our music is to bring people 00:15:55.660 together from different walks of life, from different beliefs, and to find a commonality. 00:16:03.580 We're much more interested in what we have in common than what we have, than the differences 00:16:07.340 that we have. 00:16:08.340 And that's something that you get with travel. 00:16:10.000 And that certainly has, we've brought that into our music along the way. 00:16:14.340 Now, would you say that, traveling the world and experiencing the love and support of so 00:16:18.920 many different cultures has enriched your spirituality and faith. 00:16:23.360 And if so, how so? 00:16:25.060 Yeah, absolutely. 00:16:26.460 I think as a believer, to travel the world and see what that looks like in Bangladesh, 00:16:35.300 what that looks like, what it means to be a believer in Australia, in South Africa, 00:16:43.860 in Mexico. 00:16:44.860 I think it broadens your perspective of the journey of faith that I'm on, that we're all 00:16:49.780 on and that it can... 00:16:52.700 A lot of times we mistake culture for fate and there's cultural differences, 00:16:56.900 but at its core, 00:16:58.760 keeping the main thing is something that I think traveling and seeing how that 00:17:03.500 is lived out in other places, it becomes evident. 00:17:06.960 Now switching gears a little bit, 00:17:09.840 creative differences are pretty much inevitable when it comes to throwing a 00:17:14.040 bunch of musicians in a small room. 00:17:15.720 Were there any times over the years when working on either The Beautiful Letdown 00:17:20.640 or other albums where you guys had disagreements and is so, what do you feel are the best ways 00:17:26.040 to overcome conflict in a band? 00:17:28.200 I do believe that some element of conflict is necessary for good art. I think, yeah, 00:17:37.700 you may write a song or two that somehow sidesteps conflict, but I think as a body of work, as 00:17:45.280 a career. 00:17:47.440 Conflict is how we grow. 00:17:49.080 We don't grow through easy experiences. 00:17:52.600 We grow through struggle. 00:17:55.120 And within a band, the conflict is necessary to elevating anyone's ideas. 00:18:01.160 That's why you form a band. 00:18:02.520 That's certainly part of why you form a band is you need other opinions. 00:18:07.160 I think that's what makes life interesting is people that disagree with you. 00:18:12.000 And so I think we've learned to respect the conflict. 00:18:15.200 Whereas maybe in the early days, we have brothers in the band, my brother and I, we've, there's 00:18:19.760 always going to be conflict. 00:18:21.760 We've refined conflict over years and years of living together and, um, we've learned 00:18:27.920 to respect it. 00:18:28.920 You know, I think when we started this band, we weren't as good at it. 00:18:32.400 And I think we've realized that if there's friction, if I have an idea and John has an 00:18:38.480 idea and they're differing points of views, that means that there's something better that 00:18:44.600 we haven't found yet. 00:18:46.080 And it also means that we both care. 00:18:48.720 I think the moment there's no conflict, it means usually that one of us has just checked 00:18:54.560 out, which is the worst thing that could ever happen to any band, to any group of people 00:19:01.600 that are trying to do something that's great and trying to grow. 00:19:05.320 There's going to be conflict. 00:19:06.560 You're going to be pushing each other. 00:19:07.960 Sometimes that growth is painful and there's something better waiting on the 00:19:13.000 other side of it. 00:19:13.840 And it is special for you to be in a band with your brother. 00:19:17.440 Families rarely get their due appreciation for enduring the, 00:19:22.480 you know, 00:19:22.920 the absence of their loved ones while we, 00:19:24.840 the audience benefit from their presence on tour. 00:19:27.080 How have you balanced your personal life with the demands of being in a high 00:19:31.760 profile rock band? 00:19:33.280 And how would you say these demands have kind of changed over the years? 00:19:35.840 Yeah, it's interesting. 00:19:37.600 I think it's been important for John and I to have things that we share outside of 00:19:43.260 the band. 00:19:43.780 And I think that's not just true for John and I, that's certainly within the three 00:19:47.600 of us who have been on this journey since the beginning, John, Chad, and I. 00:19:50.740 Having surfing as something that we all love to do that has very little to do 00:19:56.000 with Switchfoot has been something that's kept us together. 00:19:59.640 You know, when we're not on tour, we're still meeting up most mornings to go for a surf before we go into the studio to work on anything. 00:20:08.440 And I think, you know, having that as an anchor point that's outside of the bizarre reality of the stage and being in a rock band has been very grounding for us. 00:20:20.160 And speaking of family, your son Jet is extremely talented. 00:20:25.520 What has it been like watching him grow as a musician and following your footsteps? 00:20:29.920 When did you first realize he had that musical talent? 00:20:32.960 Yeah, thank you. I definitely agree. I'm a proud dad. It's been interesting because, 00:20:39.120 you know, he's been coming on tour with me since he was... I started bringing him when 00:20:43.440 he was four years old, grabbing a sleeping bag and throwing him on the tour bus. And 00:20:48.080 we always have had the best times on tour together, but he was really not interested 00:20:53.120 in the music at all. It was all about, can we get through soundcheck and so we can go 00:20:58.880 out and have adventures and go explore? And then he'd fall asleep when the show happened. 00:21:04.320 It was much more about the adventures that we would have while we're on tour than it was about 00:21:08.560 the music. And about maybe two years ago, he really discovered his own love for music in a big way, 00:21:17.520 you know, and started writing these songs. And I was just blown away by how good the songs were. 00:21:22.640 He didn't really know a lot about music. 00:21:25.760 He didn't have a lot of training because he had just not been interested in that. 00:21:30.040 We tried a few times over the years and my kids have taught me anything. 00:21:33.920 Timing is everything. 00:21:34.920 And I think every kid's different. 00:21:37.960 But for my kids, trying to force surfing or music or any of my passions on them doesn't 00:21:44.000 work as well as letting them be themselves and find the things they're passionate about. 00:21:49.040 and then reinforcing and encouraging the things that they're excited about. 00:21:52.820 So when I just, you know, when he discovered his own passion for music, kind of a separate 00:21:57.520 from me and Switchfoot and all the times that he'd been on tour with us, that was a really 00:22:01.880 special thing, you know, to kind of see it become his. 00:22:06.260 Now do you guys ever collaborate? 00:22:07.880 Do you help him with songwriting or is he pretty much contained in his own little bubble? 00:22:12.020 I always tell him that the ideas he'll come up with are way better than mine. 00:22:17.540 you know, he will ask me for an opinion here or there or to help him kind of produce a song 00:22:23.740 that's already pretty far along to get it to the finish line. And I'm always happy to, 00:22:29.380 honored to jump in, but I like to see him go as far as he can first because I really 00:22:34.420 like the way his brain works. 00:22:36.580 It's funny too, cause sometimes when you would listen to the son of a musician, you'll notice 00:22:43.820 they're following in their father's footsteps. It sounds similar. 00:22:46.580 His music couldn't be much more different from Switchfoot if you tried, 00:22:51.060 you know, it's a lot more... like one thing I heard almost had disco elements in it. 00:22:55.260 You guys have kind of had some danceier songs, but you know, 00:22:59.460 I've always considered you guys to be more like a rock band. 00:23:01.860 So it's fun to see how he's probably inspired by his dad, 00:23:05.620 but he's not copying his dad, which I think is cool. 00:23:07.900 Yeah, for sure. Yeah. He's his own person. 00:23:11.220 And he's turning me on to new artists all the time that he's listening to. 00:23:15.580 And he's in that, that time of life where you're just, 00:23:19.420 you're listening to music constantly. 00:23:21.060 You're passing music from your friend to your friends. 00:23:24.940 And it's great to see him just expand every day. 00:23:27.740 Since we're on a lighthearted kick here. 00:23:31.700 One of the things that I feel is the easiest way to keep the heart and soul 00:23:35.220 healthy is through laughter. 00:23:38.380 If you can think back over your long career at Switchfoot, 00:23:41.380 what are some of your funniest memories with the band? 00:23:43.780 (laughs) 00:23:45.580 - Yeah, there's quite a few. 00:23:48.100 The first one that came to mind just now 00:23:50.740 was our first tour post COVID. 00:23:53.260 It was very indicative of the whole post COVID experience 00:23:56.340 now that I think back to it. 00:23:58.780 You know, it's just kind of cathartic. 00:24:00.620 Here we go, we're coming out of this dark, 00:24:02.760 long, dark tunnel, and now we're back together again, 00:24:06.340 And we're, here we go, we're walking on stage. 00:24:09.220 And so it's our very first night of tour. 00:24:12.260 Uh, first tour post COVID and I'm walking on stage and we had told our 00:24:17.620 lighting guy to keep it real dark. 00:24:19.860 It was so dark and we had, uh, I had forgotten we had added another riser to 00:24:26.200 our stage set, so I wasn't used to where it was and I walked straight into the 00:24:31.380 corner of the riser and did like a Superman. 00:24:35.540 Somehow I stayed on my feet, but my shin got like a big hole in it. 00:24:39.820 Bled through my sock and my pants had like a blood stain on them. 00:24:45.340 Um, by the end of the show, you know, but that was how the, the first 00:24:49.540 show started was with me just falling right across the stage. 00:24:54.020 And, uh, you know, it was indicative of the false starts that we had as a 00:24:58.300 society coming back from that, that strange and interesting times. 00:25:02.700 It wasn't all, We're back. 00:25:04.980 There was some false starts along the way. 00:25:08.100 I swear to God, every, probably every two weeks, I find another black and blue on my 00:25:13.700 leg that I don't know where I got it from. 00:25:15.900 Probably because I walked into the corner of the bed frame or something. 00:25:18.220 I'm always getting hurt. 00:25:19.220 There you go. 00:25:20.220 So I think it's funny. 00:25:21.220 I'm just glad that it wasn't worse. 00:25:22.820 I'm glad you didn't fall off the stage. 00:25:24.780 I got a good chip out off my bass too. 00:25:27.260 Like took a, like a splinter off of the corner of my bass. 00:25:30.700 And I love those things. 00:25:32.140 My basses at this point, the ones I brought on tour, they all are dented and bruised and 00:25:37.060 dinged up. 00:25:38.160 And I think that's how instruments should be. 00:25:39.860 You know, they've got stories to tell. 00:25:43.060 And so now whenever I see that dent in the corner of my bass, it gives me a little chuckle. 00:25:48.400 And how has your bass setup changed over the years? 00:25:50.780 What are some of your favorite additions to your gear? 00:25:52.980 Well, it's been fun. 00:25:55.380 The re-recording of The Beautiful Letdown kind of brought me back to falling in love 00:25:59.980 with the bass that I hadn't played since then. It's an old, uh, 00:26:04.120 music man and I don't know why I ever stopped playing them. 00:26:07.940 They're great basses and a really unique sound. 00:26:11.540 So in preparing for this beautiful letdown tour, 00:26:14.980 I've been playing it a lot more, I'm going to play it tonight. And, uh, 00:26:20.260 I think, uh, yeah, it'll, it'll be my main bass, you know, 00:26:23.820 for this tour coming up, 00:26:25.420 which is fun because it's a bass I haven't played in 20 years. 00:26:28.540 And I am a fellow bassist as well. 00:26:31.000 So yes, Stingrays are very near and dear to my heart. 00:26:33.760 But it's funny, like you talk about, you look at a certain bass guitar or 00:26:37.220 something that happened to like a chip on it and it brings back memories. 00:26:39.760 One of my favorite bass guitars that I have, it's a Fender and I say that in 00:26:46.560 air quotes because it's one of those that are, you know, one of the knockoffs. 00:26:50.640 But what I like about it is I got it used at an auction. 00:26:54.080 It's completely made of wood. 00:26:55.880 It has a natural wood finish. 00:26:57.360 but there's little cigarette burns all over it. 00:27:00.680 It's the most janky looking bass, 00:27:02.280 but the character and sound of it is beautiful. 00:27:05.200 But I just laugh every time I see it 00:27:06.760 because that poor bass was put through the ringer 00:27:09.840 by whoever had it before. 00:27:11.720 He abused it with cigarettes and everything. 00:27:14.400 It's just funny when you said that about the chip 00:27:16.160 in the bass, it made me think about that. 00:27:18.080 So what is one of the most memorable fan experiences 00:27:21.240 you had? 00:27:22.080 'Cause you guys have met so many different fans 00:27:23.880 over the years. 00:27:24.960 What is one of the most memorable experiences 00:27:26.800 with a fan that stood out to you? 00:27:28.440 I think something that makes our band unique is we really embrace the chaos of live music 00:27:34.160 that anything could happen. 00:27:36.440 We make a different setlist every night and we rarely follow that setlist when we get 00:27:40.640 on stage because the crowd is, they're equal participants and they're co-creators in the 00:27:46.800 evening, right? 00:27:47.880 And so I'm thinking back to the first time that I remember someone holding up a sign 00:27:54.840 asking if they could come play a song with us. 00:27:57.640 It would have been about 20 years ago. 00:27:59.560 It was definitely when we were touring 00:28:00.960 the beautiful let down and it was in Little Rock, Arkansas. 00:28:05.040 And there was a kid, it looked like he might've been 10, 00:28:09.120 maybe 12 years old, really little kid. 00:28:12.440 I'm pulling up a sign, can I play Meant to Live with you? 00:28:16.360 And so John brought him up and with the guitar strap, 00:28:20.640 he was like half our height. 00:28:22.320 With the guitar strap, the guitar is like, 00:28:24.760 basically hitting the ground. This is, to my knowledge, the first time we've done this. 00:28:29.080 So I just have no idea how this is going to go. And then he launches into the riff by 00:28:33.880 himself and just absolutely slayed it. Like I don't even know how his fingers could do 00:28:39.560 those bends on that guitar that was so huge on him, but he crushed it. And the crowd just 00:28:45.880 went absolutely nuts. And we've since met him a few times at other shows. You know, 00:28:52.320 out, he's obviously full grown and shreds at the guitar. Really cool dude. But it was, 00:28:58.500 it's cool to have that memory of the first time that we had ever invited someone on stage. 00:29:04.900 And since then we've had a lot of those experiences, some of my favorite moments on stage, you 00:29:10.540 know, and it doesn't always go as well as you hope it would, but that's, I think that's 00:29:15.940 part of what we love of live music is, uh, it's not supposed to be perfect, it's supposed 00:29:20.820 to be human and dangerous and there should be an element of risk involved, you know, 00:29:26.260 and you get to the end of the song and we all as a onstage and off, we all feel like 00:29:32.180 we were a part of something that will never happen again. 00:29:34.460 [Music] 00:29:59.060 I love it when bands do that. 00:30:00.460 I think it's one of the most magical things, having a fan come up on stage and perform. 00:30:04.380 One of my favorite instances of that, it was actually a viral video a couple of years back. 00:30:09.740 Logic brought like this 10 year old kid onto the stage to rap along with him. 00:30:14.540 And it was the cutest thing because some of Logic's songs are parental advisory. 00:30:19.420 So the particular song that this kid was going to rap along to did have some 00:30:24.060 inappropriate language. 00:30:25.060 And it was the cutest thing. 00:30:26.660 before launching into it, he goes, he shouts to his mom in a crowd, he says, Can I say 00:30:30.600 those words? 00:30:31.600 So cute. 00:30:32.600 But actually, Beautiful Letdown is not the only thing that's soon to celebrate its 20th 00:30:39.600 anniversary. 00:30:40.600 BRO-AM is soon to be 20 years old as well. 00:30:43.920 Are there any plans in the works for that? 00:30:46.080 Yeah. 00:30:47.080 That's another one of those that I really can't believe it's been 20 years. 00:30:51.040 And I can't believe how that event has grown. 00:30:54.280 It started with a simple idea. 00:30:55.600 We were on a flight back from Australia, missing our hometown. 00:30:59.800 And we just decided, what if we threw a party on the beach, surf contest, and raising money 00:31:06.480 for at-risk and homeless youth in our community. 00:31:10.480 And the music part of it was kind of almost an afterthought. 00:31:13.040 It was mainly a surf contest that first year, which was hearkening back to some of our earliest 00:31:19.120 memories at that beach in the summertime. 00:31:22.240 We'd ride our bikes down there and have a moonlight beach with some friends and we'd throw $5 00:31:28.440 into a hat and we'd judge each other and have our own surf contest. 00:31:32.640 The winner take all kind of thing. 00:31:34.600 I never won by the way, but this was like, okay, well let's do that. 00:31:38.780 Only instead of someone taking home the hat at the end of the day, let's give it to the 00:31:43.640 kids in our community, the charities that are supporting these kids. 00:31:47.960 And I think we were young enough and dumb enough to think that it would work, that it 00:31:51.520 actually did. And it's just grown to be this huge event that the whole community has wrapped 00:31:57.820 their arms around and makes me really proud of my hometown and the love and support that 00:32:05.020 everyone is showing kids who are trying to graduate high school homeless. It's a season 00:32:11.200 of life that's hard enough as it is without knowing where your next meal is coming from, 00:32:15.320 where you're going to sleep that night. It's a really special event. Coming up on 20 years, 00:32:19.800 We've got some things planned. 00:32:21.640 We just had our 19th annual, and so we're already, the wheels are already spinning of 00:32:26.040 what we're going to do next year to really celebrate that whole journey. 00:32:29.680 What are Switchfoot's plans for the next chapter? 00:32:32.480 How does the band want to carve their legacy? 00:32:34.360 Yeah, that's a great question. 00:32:36.640 I think going back through the beautiful letdown has really given all of us an appreciation 00:32:42.300 of this journey we've been on, not just as a band, but as a community. 00:32:45.680 There's a lot of people that have supported us along the way and given us a floor to crash 00:32:51.840 on or come to the show every time we've been in town. 00:32:56.540 And it really feels like a family. 00:32:58.760 And that's something that I think is unique and special. 00:33:02.000 We started doing these live streams during COVID that we've continued. 00:33:06.500 And there's been this way to even further create this sense of community, where once 00:33:10.960 Once a month, we gather and hang out and laugh about the journey we've been on. 00:33:15.680 So it's been a really special season for us. 00:33:17.680 I've seen our fans come together and create friendships with each other from around the 00:33:23.600 world. 00:33:25.120 And that's something that we're really excited about when you talk legacy. 00:33:28.280 I think anytime I see or hear of friendships, marriages, families that were started around 00:33:35.840 a Switchfoot show, that's like probably the biggest honor that we could ever have as a 00:33:41.840 band is to see a bigger story being written around these songs. 00:33:48.540 That's what gets me excited about what's next for us. 00:33:51.040 And I think coming off of re-recording a bunch of songs, we're all really excited about recording 00:33:56.700 new songs, you know, so we're just starting to have those conversations of what is the 00:34:01.640 next albums? 00:34:02.640 What does that look like? 00:34:03.640 What do we want to sing about? 00:34:05.480 We're definitely energized and blown away by the reception that the beautiful let down our 00:34:11.200 versions had. And that's given us a lot of wind in our sails. 00:34:15.120 Excellent. Excellent. I do want to thank you so much for taking the time out to speak with 00:34:19.920 us today. Absolutely been a fan of you guys for over 20 years. So having the opportunity 00:34:25.720 to finally speak to you is awesome. Before we go, is there just anything else that you 00:34:30.240 would like to add to the fans that are listening in today? 00:34:33.000 I just want to say thank you. 00:34:34.760 This is a season in our life as a band and individually where we're really reflecting 00:34:42.840 on the beautiful journey that we've been on, not just as a band, but with this whole community 00:34:48.960 and so much thankfulness for all the highs and lows along the way and for everyone who's 00:34:55.560 sung along with us. 00:34:57.400 Not just the last 20 years since Beautiful Letdown, but 25 years since we've been a band 00:35:01.960 And yeah, just a lot of gratitude. 00:35:04.360 Thank you so much. 00:35:05.920 And that brings us to the end of this episode. 00:35:10.920 We'd like to thank Tim for joining us today and for giving us a behind the 00:35:13.800 scenes look into their career and the recording of the beautiful Letdown. 00:35:17.000 Please be sure to check out the re-recorded version of that record on your DSP of 00:35:20.760 choice and look out for tour dates as they become available in your area. 00:35:24.240 My name is Derek and this has been another episode of the AltWire Podcast. 00:35:28.400 Thanks for listening. 00:35:29.600 (gentle music) 00:35:32.180