Switchfoot

Features • Wednesday October 14th, 2009 • 12:00 am

Jon Foreman is writing songs for Meatloaf. I just had to get that out there.

In a whirlwind discussion covering everything from Switchfoot’s freedom to make what they want to the record-after-next, it was the unexpected twist involving Meatloaf that took me by surprise. And apparently, as Foreman describes it, the entire event was a surprise as well.

That’s not the only surprise mentioned in this latest conversation with the prolific solo artist and front man of Switchfoot. With a new album forthcoming titled Hello Hurricane, there was much to discuss. And besides Meatloaf and the new album, Foreman also gives us the lowdown on Vice Verses, their new record label and answering the major questions like “Why do we even make music?”

SSv: I read an article that says you’ve recorded four albums worth of material for the Hurricane sessions. True?

Jon Foreman: Yeah, but I don’t know if anyone’s ever going to hear it all. [Laughs] We tracked a lot of songs – songs that I’m really proud of. But they’ll be like my college degree. I went to college for three years, but I didn’t graduate. It’s that fourth year that’s the hardest one, you know. The songs were at that stage where they need that little extra push over the top, but I don’t know that we’re going to go back in time to revisit them because there’s already another good batch of 20 that we already believe in. So the goal was to finish college, but I didn’t do that either. [Laughs]

SSv: So much is made of your prolific writing style and even when we’ve talked before, we’ve discussed the number of songs and ideas laying around. So does this mean there were more tangible ideas this time around or was that allusion to your prolific nature in general?

Jon: This time around, we actually chased a lot of ideas down. In the past, we wouldn’t have chased as many of them down. They would just be left as a seed for an idea for a song and left there, whereas this time, we really chased down a lot of the weirder ideas just because we wanted to. We wanted to find just how far we could stretch things, you know? And we had our own studio and all the time in the world to do it, so we just took advantage of it.

SSv: What do you mean by the stretching aspect of things? I mean, you could easily strap banjos around everyone’s neck or convert to all laptops and really see how far you could go…

Jon: Right. You’re right.

SSv: So what’s the balance there between wanting to push it and complete reinvention?

Jon: That became the topic of discussion halfway through the record as we had songs that were really industrial and mostly technology-driven songs that had very little human instrumentation. Then we had other songs that were very different on the other side. That became the topic wondering things like ‘Who is Switchfoot? Why do we make music? Why are there 12 songs on a record? What are the ones that you’re the most excited to play for the next 10 years?’

I think for us it came down to maybe more of a lyrical element than a cohesive musical statement. The lyrical statement is much more cohesive than the musical statement. I don’t know if it was Dolly Parton or who it was, but there’s a saying of ‘If you ain’t cryin’, then why are you singin’ it?’ That theme came to be something that felt true on this record. If it doesn’t break you up in some way, maybe you don’t really believe it. Maybe it’s not something worth singing about. Maybe it’s time to move on to something else. That was a crucial element for the song selection process on this record.

SSv: Does that feel risky to move to new sonic places?

Jon: Well, we’re not endangering anyone’s life or anything. [Laughs]

SSv: [Laughs]

Jon: We had this conversation the other day about art. In one sense, nothing in art is dangerous. In another sense, art is one of those most dangerous things you could ever subject your mind to because it might even change your perspective. So I hope all of this is, in some way, risky.

SSv: How are you guys finding the label-less waters?

Jon: It’s incredible. It’s great. For us, it comes down to the idea that music is a communal experience as a band. That’s the reason why I play music. I mean, yeah, artists like Bob Dylan play entire shows in spite of the crowd. For us, we find our music in with people. I feel like that’s kind of the way we grew up – even the punk rock ethic of being yourself is in the context of community. Those were our heroes growing up in the local San Diego music scene. There were guys sneaking us into shows when we weren’t 21 and we’d help carry their gear. It was a family of sorts. So I think that’s a huge part of things for us.

SSv: So how does this affect Lowercase People? How is that?

Jon: You mean the label?

SSv: Well, the whole identity. The last time we talked, that was a particular point of discussion that you were frustrated about.

Jon: Lowercase People has been one of the things that I would definitely chalk up to a learning experience. We had hoped that all the time and money and effort invested would catch on and grow as people made it their own. It didn’t really happen the way that we thought it would. At some point you realize that you’re investing in this vision all of this money that could be going directly to things that we believe – whether that’s Habitat for Humanity or To Write Love on Her Arms or whatever. You’re trying to bring awareness and attention to these things and you realize it’s just better to directly tie it into the music.

So instead we’ve just done tours to support the things that we believe in. LP as a zine still exists in my head and we’re hoping to launch something called TheWorldYouWant.com in the next few months here. That would give us another chance to shine the spotlight on people we feel are doing beautiful things with their life and take whatever spotlight we’ve been given and shine it on people we feel are living incredibly well.

SSv: Let’s move to the album for a minute. Biggest surprise for fans?

Jon: I honestly have no idea. I’ve lived with the songs long enough that they don’t surprise me anymore.

SSv: But surely there’s a reaction from people you play the album for.

Jon: I think the second song, “Mess of Me,” the single, definitely sounds like new territory where we’ve never been before. And there’s a few moments like that on the record that are more aggressive than Switchfoot’s ever been. So that may be the first thing that surprises people.

SSv: Is the response good? Are people glad that you’re heading in those directions?

Jon: Maybe not everyone. For the most part, I think so. For the most part, I think we’re desensitized toward people’s anger toward the electric guitar. Zeppelin doesn’t scare us anymore, so even moms can appreciate it. [Laughs]

SSv: It seems there were several tunes put together with Charlie Peacock two years ago and those were shelved. So what’s the story from those sessions to Hello Hurricane? Did any songs make it through?

Jon: Yeah, we spent a week with Charlie about two years ago. It was before we built the studio and before any of that. He’s kind of a father figure for me in a musical sense and we wanted to get back to the beginning of this whole situation for us, which started more than 10 years ago when we signed to his label, Re:Think. So that was really important for us.

One of the songs that made it from those sessions was “Mess of Me.” It suffered several more versions since that time… [Laughs] But that guitar riff is still intact.

SSv: So that was the only song to make it through that timeline?

Jon: There might be a few others that I’m not thinking of, but that’s the one that comes to mind. There were several other songs that made it close, but I don’t know if any of them made it to the final 12.

That’s one thing that I learned on this record, is that if you want to make a good record, you have to leave a lot on the cutting room floor. You have to be ruthless with the situation and chopping songs and chopping parts and that kind of thing. You can’t be worried about that.

SSv: Does that become more or less painful as you go?

Jon: Well, this time around it was less painful because I think there are now other outlets for these songs. I know these songs will get out there somewhere. One of them might get out there on a Meatloaf record. That’s really funny to me, but you never know how it will happen. You know it’s a good song, so it will fit somewhere. Maybe never, but you have to believe most of these will get out there.

SSv: [Laughs] That’s not what I thought you would say.

Jon: [Laughs] Yeah, I know! That’s a whole different story. [Laughs]

SSv: Which is?

Jon: We went up to meet with Rob Caballo who’s a producer hero of ours and he’d taken a liking to the record and he had us over for dinner. We shake hands with him and he says, ‘Hey, dinner’s almost ready, Meatloaf’s in the other room.’ So I said, ‘Man, I love meatloaf and my brother really loves meatloaf.’ Which he does, when we were kids, every time my mom cooked it, he loved it. So I thought he was talking about the dish and it was actually Mr. Meatloaf himself. He’s the nicest guy and he shakes our hands and says, ‘You can call me ‘Meat’.’

It was an amazing night and a few weeks later, Rob told me they were still looking for songs. So we played him a few and one of them was one he really liked. They cut it for the record, so I don’t know if it will make the final round, but I’m honored to be a part of the process. [Laughs]

SSv: [Laughs] That’s an amazing story.

Jon: Yeah, we’re aware there are now outlets for the songs that we never would have expected. [Laughs]

SSv: Can you define Vice Verses for me?

Jon: Vice Verses is an attempt to continue the title which would be an alliteration. Hello Hurricane is two ‘h’ words and so we needed another one like it. For me that song is about polarity – every blessing being a curse and this idea of singing through it, through the vices and finding the other side of them. A line in the song says, ‘I know there’s meaning to it all/I know there’s a little resurrection every time I fall.’ Those are the polarities there. ‘You’ve got your babies/I’ve got my hearses/Every blessing comes with set of curses/I’ve got my vice/I’ve got my vice verses.’

That’s going to be the concept for the next record, the polarity of it all.

SSv: And that’s also the working identity?

Jon: Yes, if the next record came out today, it would be called Vice Verses. We’ve got pretty much most of the songs ready to go. I’m really excited about it. It’s going to be great.

SSv: You’ve yet to release Hurricane and you’re already excited about the next one.

Jon: Yeah, it’s funny because we’ve been playing “Vice Verses” live before we’ve been playing any of the tracks from this record. [Laughs] But that song didn’t fit on this record. It felt different, not in a bad way, but it wasn’t cohesive. And this record was an attempt to say one thing and we really wanted to say what we wanted and felt strong enough to leave “Vice Verses” off of the list.

Tagged as: Rock, San Diego