Jonathan: We started looking fora new name back in December, about the same time that everything started moving along with Charlie [Peacock, owner or the re:think label]. We finally settled on Switchfoot about a month ago!
Tim: There's a term in surfing that's usually called "switch stance," actually. If you normally put your right foot forward, but you put your left foot forward instead, you're switching your stance.
Chad: THe name sort of comes from that, but I prefer to think of it as taking a new perspective, or a new look at things. YOu're going to do something different.
Jeff: It's tough to find a name that can sum up what your music and philosophy are all about, and say it in one word.
Jonathan: We all wanted something that we could stand behind; something that sounded cool, but something that also meant something to us.
Jeff: Do you all surf?
Tim: Absolutely. Every day!
Jonathan: At least!
Jeff: It seems like you have a running inside joke about someone called Willis Chin. First, there's the name of the album. Then you have the photos and references to himi n your CD artwork. There's also teh song, "Ode to Chin." It has a line I really liked: "All that you've been makes who you are now." Who has Willis Chin been, and who is he now?
Jonathan: He's a really good friend of ours.
Chad: He's the man!
Tim: The thing with Willis is an inside joke. It's been really fun for us for a long time. We even used to be named after Willis; we called the band "Chin Up". It's not so much a "joke", actually but it is "inside", since we've been the only ones who know what it means.
Jonathan: I wrote a song for Willis, and he suggested we call it "Chin Up", cause it was a "keep your chin up" type of song. We couldn't think of any other names for our band when we were first starting a year ago, so we called our band that. Eventually, we switched the name of the song to "Ode to Chin". You can't have your band named after one of your songs!
Jeff: I'm failing to think of a good example, but I know that's been done. "Bad Company" would be a really old one. It seems like most bands taht do that only have on record, though.
Jonathan: *laughs* Yeah, it's kind of a foreboding thing. So, we changed the name of the band, but we still have to give props to Willis Chin.
Tim: You've got to give a shout out to Willis!
Chad: He's about the only guy we know who can get demolished by a wave and come up smiling! He's always smiling. I think that's a good legacy. That's a good legend. He's always got his chin up.
Jeff: YOur record shows a lot of dynamic variation; sometimes from song to song, and sometimes completely within a song like "Life and Love and Why". That one starts off fairly mellows and ends up in full rovker mode. The dynamics help to underscore the emotion and the lyric, especially on that song, which is kind of like a prayer. It's an ezpression of searching, with "everyone hopeless and hoping for something to hope for".
Tim: In a sense, it is a prayer, because it's a very heartfelt lyric.
Jonathan: That lyric says: " Ask me for what am I living, or what gives me the strength, that I'm willing to die for." A lot of people in this day and age are searching for something to base their lies on. Something to live for. Something to hope for. As Christians, we have something to hope for. Christ gives us something to die for. We've got something that gives us strength. The simplicity of that is an awesome thing. The bottom line is, we have what the world is looking for.
Jeff: The song also seem to be about how people can blind themselves to those simple answers.
Jonathan: A lot of times, we don't really ecamine life, or think about things too deeply. It's easier to go through the motions day by day: get up, eat, work, sleep. When you really start thinking about life, why you're living it, and what's going on, that's a step in the right direction. It's good to ask those questions. It's getting harder to do that, though. The world's getting faster. There are so many distractions. There's a billboard everywhere you look. There's always something to be done, something to watch, or something to hear. To actually stop and think is to hear. To actually stop and think is a difficult thing to do; it requires effort. Life and Love and Why is kind of a melancholy look at things, trying to get someone to think about what's going on.
Jeff: The song that comes next on the album, "You", retains the mellow mood from beginning to end. That one's also like a prayer, with lines like "I find peace when I'm confused, I find hope when I'm let down, not in me, it's you." It's as if it's an answer to the previous song. Did you write the two songs with that in mind?
Jonathan: Those two songs together represent a theme that runs through a lot of our music. When placed with "Life and Love and Why", "You" is almost another part of that song. It's definitely an "answer to the question".
This is an interview with the band that I found in my friends magazine. I think it was a couple years ago, but it's pretty cool. Jeff Elbel is the interviewer and this was in the 7ball magazine.
Jeff: Tell me about the band name. You all grew up in Southern California; "switchfoot" sound like a surfing term.
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