Hope Deserves an Anthem
Switchfoot is an American rock band from San Diego, California. The band’s members are Jon Foreman (lead vocals, guitar), Tim Foreman (bass guitar, backing vocals), Chad Butler (drums, percussion), and Jerome Fontamillas (guitar, keyboards, backing vocals). After early successes in the Christian rock scene, Switchfoot first gained mainstream recognition with the inclusion of four of their songs in the 2002 movie A Walk to Remember. This recognition led to their major label debut, The Beautiful Letdown, which was released in 2003 and featured the hits “Meant to Live” and “Dare You to Move”. The album sold over 2.6 million copies. They have since been noted for their energetic live shows,[2][3][4] and their seventh studio album Hello Hurricane received a Grammy award in 2011 for Best Rock or Rap Gospel Album.
/According to Jon Foreman, the name “Switchfoot” comes from 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.”[5]
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.
–Jon Foreman
Formation and early years (1996-2002)
Switchfoot was founded in 1996 as Chin Up, consisting of Jon Foreman and his brother Tim, along with Chad Butler on drums. After playing a few shows including the Foreman brothers’ dad’s megachurch North Coast Calvary Chapel in Carlsbad, California, the band was contacted by music industry veteran Charlie Peacock and eventually signed to his indie label Re:think Records under the current moniker, Switchfoot. Re:think went on to distribute the first three Switchfoot albums, The Legend of Chin, New Way to Be Human, and Learning to Breathe. Because Re:think was bought by Christian giant Sparrow Records before Switchfoot’s first release, however, the band’s and Peacock’s intentions of being marketed outside of the Contemporary Christian music scene and reaching a wider audience were put on hold. Consequently, the band was mostly marketed to Christian radio and retail outlets early in their careers, a time Jon Foreman has described as when “half of who we were was lost.”[6]
Of Switchfoot’s first three albums, Learning to Breathe was the most successful, receiving a Grammy nomination for Best Rock Gospel Album.
Discography
- The Legend of Chin (1997)
- New Way to Be Human (1999)
- Learning to Breathe (2000)
- The Beautiful Letdown (2003)
- Nothing Is Sound (2005)
- Oh! Gravity. (2006)
- Hello Hurricane (2009)
- Vice Verses (2011)
- Fading West (2014)
- Where the Light Shines Through (2016)
- Native Tongue (2019)
- Interrobang (2021)
- This Is Our Christmas Album (2022)
Background Information
| Also known as | Chin Up |
| Origin | San Diego, California, United States |
| Genres | Alternative rock, post-grunge, hard rock, indie rock1, Christian rock, power pop, pop rock |
| Years active | 1996–present |
| Labels | Rethink,Columbia, Sony BMG Lowercase People, Atlantic, Fantasy, Vanguard, Sparrow |
| Members | Jon Foreman Tim Foreman Chad Butler Jerome Fontamillas |
| Past members | Drew Shirley |
| Website | www.switchfoot.com |
“Where I Belong” from Vice Verses
“Storms on the wasteland
Dark clouds on the plains again
We were born into the fight
But I’m not sentimental
This skin and bones is a rental
And no one makes it out alive”
- Citation: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Switchfoot ↩︎