Switchfoot

0:00We have our own private place now. Yeah last time I was in here was talking Jurassic Valley. Nice. You guys fans them? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. You do cover crazy in love. So you got like a little bit. Yeah man. You know. Bye once Vipeon say you busting that on tour got only knows any of those covers. We version is awesome. Oh, thanks man. That's that's like sacred ground. You know you can't screw that up. So um, but yeah, we've done a few covers. We did the bad religion. Sorrow. That's kind of a. Okay, cool. Kind of a good. I don't know. That's that's one of my bad religion songs. That's a little different for you guys. That song is amazing man. I grew we all grew up

0:46listening to bad religion and all the epitaph bands. Oh, really? It's just up the road. Yeah. And like the surf videos back then. It wasn't so much Jack Johnson is pretty much like, you know, all the penny wise and sprung monkey and all those bands. So that's kind of, I guess, if you if you if you went surfing, that was what you listened to on the way on the way down the beach, you know, a little more pump up them with the surf music is now. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Have you seen the video though? The broke down melody movie? I love I love his I think his his films are a lot better than his music. I you know, I think he's he's great. I think his films are amazing. They're great. They really capture the vibe of what it is to be on the road in a foreign country, you know, trying to find surf. Trying to find that up here. Yeah. Yeah. That's we will get some tomorrow, actually. Oh, really? Yeah. Where you are, Edmonton? Oh, the mall there has. Oh, yeah, of course. I've never been up there. Yeah. So we we we usually bring boards in, you know, just to try and see what we can scare up, you know. So we're going to try and see if we can.

1:54Kind of block everybody out of the way, pull for an hour. So and see what we can do. That'd be amazing. Yeah. I'm sure you got the star power now. This try. We you know, you got to try. If you know anyone up there, let them know we're coming. Do you notice that a lot of start? Like you have the star power now or you can just, you know, I'm going to switch foot. I get in the restaurant. No, man. It works the other way. Yeah. You're trying to get into the country or something. Hey, we're playing a show up here in Canada. And they're like, Oh, yeah, you got the weed on the bus. Yeah. Go over. It's like the long hundred person line. I think like the funny thing is is when people they'll they'll come like we have this one meal where like everyone in the restaurant came over and wanted a picture and autograph. You know, it's cool. It's it's really fun and people are friendly. We're friendly and and but at the same time, it can be a little awkward because it kind of almost pre supposes the idea that you want people to notice you, you know, and.

2:54Yeah, I have a really hard time with that, you know, because I'm fairly awkward. That situation, you know, I don't know. It's just it's supposed to be an awkward thing to people. You know, you're kind of like a product in that in that regard. Yeah, we're in then and then people when like if people ask, so you're in a band, you know, what band are you in it? And then they they apologize if they haven't heard of you, which is kind of a strange phenomenon because it's like the idea is that that there's some desire to be. Everywhere to be a household name, you know, which I don't think we've ever had as a band, you know, so it's the type of thing where it's like, oh, there's no need for a pod. You know, we're we're we're loving exactly where we're at, you know, but at the same time, you know, you're writing music probably to get out there to people, right?

3:40To send a message. I mean, it's there's a lot of political songs in this record. At least the record starts off that way. Yeah, you know, you kind of you kind of want people to at least to think right. Well, you want to get the songs out there. But you certainly I think the the point of the music is never to get your face out there, you know, and and I think I think a lot of times songs can can change the world in very subtle ways, you know, they affect maybe the scenery of the stage more than than the dialogue, you know, and but it affects a plot in a much more subtle way, you know, I think for us, it's kind of been maybe a socratic dialogue that we've kind of adopted in our songwriting where it becomes asking questions rather than delivering, you know, patent answers.

4:28Yeah. Is that why you decided to go kind of political for a few songs? Um, yeah. Is that what the way things are going? No, no, I think I think politics is something that is unavoidable. The serial you purchase in the morning down to the milk down to the microphone you're talking in. It all comes in a place and and a specific location in time, which is, you know, completely influenced by politics, you know, the metal in the microphone is influenced by the trade that goes on. So I mean, to some extent, we are products of politics and politics is a product of who we are as well. What are you thinking for this next election? I'm sorry, it's just going off my head here. Don't be at all political and deep. We should be talking about music and we will. Yeah, yeah. But you know, I'm just thinking, it's like, there's candidates on both sides and I'm like, oh, I like Giuliani. I like Obama. Yeah. Yeah. It should be interesting this time for the first time in a little while. There's, it's, it's, you're not voting to vote against somebody. Yeah. You're voting for somebody, you know, so it's, it's one of those things where, um, that's exciting. You know, I think that hopefully there'll be a, uh, a larger

5:33turnout because it's, it's that type of an election. You know, it's a lot easier to vote for someone than against somebody else. You know, I think it's almost like, um, I mean, the reason why we all believe in democracies because we don't trust each other, you know, we trust each other to a certain degree. Yeah. We like, it's like, uh, we have an equal mistrust for everyone. So that we put the power in everyone's hands and we'll somehow be all right, you know. Do you think your country's ready for, for a black president? I'm going to like to think so. But yeah, honestly. I I hope so I hope that I think so. I mean I think that that it would dramatically influence It would change everything you know in race relations in a lot of especially the south

6:19You know do you notice it in San Diego? I mean I remember living in LA and you didn't hear about it as much But I'm thinking like you guys tour a lot and you go to Mississippi in Alabama I bet it's still I still be so tired to generations You know it's such a generation old thing and and so it's hard to know I mean certainly among our peers everyone's Excited yeah, you work in music right everyone loves everyone such a kind of forward-thinking community that we run in that you know It's hard to it's hard to know yeah, I think I mean Again, it's the idea that whatever is different is somehow stranger or offensive or you know, I think that that type of Mindset is always kind of the fallback for humanity, you know whether it's

7:06Sex or or race or religion we all we tend to throw stones at the things that aren't like The way we think you know so I hope that that wouldn't play a part in the election But I think to some extent, you know like Tim said with older generations. I'm sure people Yeah, but I think it could definitely change I mean Certainly the the voter turnout in different, you know segments of the population that hasn't been there in the past would certainly be coming out to the polls You know yeah, hopefully yeah, and I think if you did get elected I think it would change even the Middle East conflict I mean they realize that you know you guys you want to change something's different, you know Yeah, you're more accepting and I think that's that's kind of what you need right now

7:51I I mean I I think in many ways You know a black president would be amazing but I in many ways It's almost like it you have to go all the way and get a black woman president to really see change You know there was one running I remember in the Democratic primaries last year I can't remember her name Yeah, I don't know I don't know that the world's ready for America's ready for that But I mean that would certainly mix it up. Yeah, be cool. Let's talk about the record. We should get we should get on some music Alright, let's talk about some Yesterday's pops out of nowhere on the record you got you got the electric sounds then you got this really cool little melodic tune in there And then it goes back to the electrics what made you like I would probably have closed the record out with that But you decided to throw it in was like track nine which is always the best track on a CD I've noticed and this one happens to be the case and what made you throw it in the middle? Well it it is a little bit

8:41Different than the rest of the record and that was the reason why we didn't want to close with it It felt like it it ended the record on Kind of a reluctant You know kind of kind of inside type of note, you know where where it's a little bit more introspective and and the record really isn't That you know and so we wanted to fit it in there, but we had to push it a little earlier I Think for us Tim I wrote that with with Tim and you know for both of us it kind of takes on different meanings For where we were when we wrote it But I mean essentially it's a song about loss, you know, and I think I mean loss is something that's essential to being human

9:27Mm-hmm, but at the same time, you know pain is never a fun Topic to talk about yeah, so it's it's one of those things where sometimes writing a song about it can kind of bring closure Yeah, now when you say you wrote together how did that work for you guys you come up with a guitar riff and then the piano or How did that one come together? I think it was in Portland right and it was like yeah one or two in the morning and John had this it's really pretty melody And he had and actually yesterday was was one of the lyrics and melody Okay, I kind of had it already kind of an infant stage there and we just Kind of it just really actually can't wrote itself pretty quickly in a matter of like 20 or 30 minutes. Oh wow and it is a pretty I think emotional experience because

10:17You know just writing in that headspace and I'm trying to come to closure with these different instances that we were both kind of Wrestling with at the time it really makes you appreciate what you do have when you're writing about issues of loss You know it makes you kind of take a second look at who's around you and Appreciate them a whole lot more. Yeah, luckily brothers in a band too pretty cool. Yeah things are going well I assume yeah, you know, I mean we always get the question about like I'm not gonna go there and Oasis and you know blood and guts, you know, and I Mean we get along pretty well, you know, I think every brother is gonna have fights every now and then well It's like band members. Yeah, I fight with the other guys. Yeah, I don't want anyone to be excluded That

11:04That song at least reminds me of like the first time I heard switch but learning to breathe back in like first year University and It was going back to that sound but you guys the past few records have been more Antemic more, you know Well like production a lot more production a lot more, you know bigger sound what made you change and and go in that direction was just like Well try this I mean the production on this whole record has been a Dramatically different and a lot of that has been kind of an intentional shift I think I'm I think I'm just kind of I mean for all of us We we wanted to go to a different place, you know, that's kind of why we went with Palmer and Lillie white to make this record because we felt like they were Offering kind of more of a timeless approach to music making simply because they made a lot of our favorite records

11:55Yeah, 20 years ago, you know, so I was the Palmer with I mean, I know Lillie white but Palmer's I mean he he's done. He's done you too. Oh really? He's done Pearl Jam Okay, cool. Yeah, yeah, I mean ten He's the one who kind of see I heard the band doesn't like it though. There's too much reverb Yeah, he didn't like the way that he mixed it. Oh, okay he was kind of transitioning from that more Reverborate days of Mixing that may have been the last big record that had a big sounding like reverb out Yeah, I think it was man, but you know, it's one of those things where um For the production of of awakenings

12:44He he actually implemented this this idea that that came from kind of the old school days where you'd set up a loop of Tape that you'd run around the 24 track machine where you'd sing one note and then by looping the tape around a mic stand It would go on indefinitely right that one note. Yeah, so So then you'd sing and then you'd sync up another another tape machine and record that note on to the tape machine and not and then By doing that you you end up getting a chord of voices of all one person singing one note And then you you you put all of those Chacks up on the faders of the board and you play it like an instrument

13:30So it's like a realist on that song. Yeah, it's like the the stuff that you you hear the voices that come in Which is kind of I think it comes from that that 10cc track that that um You hear the voices coming in and they're actually being played That's that's how we did that, you know, and obviously today you don't have to use a mic stand and in a loop of tape You know, it's a little bit faster, but at the same time It was great to be able to play my voice like a Answer I mean things like that. Um, it was great to kind of go back to a little bit more of a perhaps primitive Style of recording but at the same time I think maybe more powerful because

14:18You know, you're not relying on the bells and whistles You're really fighting for the feeling of the song and really trying to make that the focus Yeah, how are you pulling that off live? Okay, we actually um We haven't played that song yet live. There's that that one and maybe two other songs on the record We we haven't played yet. It's one of those things where Having six records now Yeah, you can only like Put the new ones in You know every so often so but yeah, that's that's probably the next one I want to learn That's amazing how long it take you guys to pick up a song a new one throw it in a day That's the sound check and all that quick, you know, especially a song like that. Yeah, it's really stripped down

15:05I think that's been a fun thing about this record is that you know one of the The mottos on this record was if there's a guitar being played I want to hear what it's playing You know, I don't want 10 or 15 guitars of just layers upon layers I want to be able to hear that guitar part and I want to hear that bass and you know Just I think there's a lot of power that can be had in simplicity Definitely and there's definitely a feeling that can be captured, you know in that and that that's more what we're going for was It was a feeling versus perfection. Mm-hmm. Yeah, I think For all these songs you try and reinvent them live, you know, you I've never been the type where I want to play the exact record Night after night you have to mix it up, you know, we had string players with us

15:52No way back home in California to start and end the tour the way we don't get them up in Canada Sorry unless you know any nearby a couple cool-eyes or Armada gorgistro Fair enough so some of the things where you're always trying to mix it up and figure out ways to make it interesting for the people That are going to multiple nights and for yourself, you know, most of most of them. Yeah A lot of shows on this tour. Yeah, almost all check them out from time to time How do you guys choose a setlist? How do you decide which old songs to throw in? And I think everyone's been doing a setlist every like we've been taking turns. Oh, you mix it up every night. Yeah, that's cool Not only, you know, mix up the songs but mix up who writes it who writes the setlist out so you'll show up, you know Half hour four or five minutes before the show and you see the setlist it'll be

16:41Completely different than you would have ever imagined. Yeah, well, it's bit partially because like We all kind of space out and then five minutes before the show. It's like where's the setlist? Oh, well, I wrote this Let's use that The other reason is we're we're recording the bootleg of every night on this tour and so I at the end of the show Oh, that's cool So we record like five or six songs at the beginning of the set so by the end of the set they're all burned and ready to go That's awesome. And so that way at the end of this, you know, if we do a different setlist every night We'll have 39 live CDs at the end of this tour. Yeah, like Pearl Jam, right? They're never in the CDs That's kind of cool in the way that music's moving that way. It's kind of unfortunate I mean because you know iTunes it's kind of wrecking the whole concept of an album at least I'm thinking it well Which is too bad though. There's a lot of like indie Labels and bands that are very outspoken about the idea that iTunes is ruining the record

17:32But the record in itself is a relatively new concept That back in the day, I mean you look at all the old Motown records or even the old stuff In rock and roll it was all driven by singles, you know, and I think it's moving back to that for better for worse You know where it's kind of the Motown philosophy they they put a bunch of guys and girls in a room and They plan the record or the the single and they'd say well would you rather buy that or a ham sandwich? you know and then if if the if the vote actually was for the the single then they'd actually put a It out the rest of the stuff they just shelved, you know, and and it was only the biggest bands that actually got to record a record

18:21I mean this is true for the Beatles. They their first stuff was just single covers. Yeah and covers so I mean It's nothing new. It's just you know if you're a fan of the record then it's unfortunate But at the same time it's it's I think it's actually a victory for music in many ways because it puts a power back into the hands of Small bands rather than big industry, you know, and that's I think that's gonna win You know every every day. Yeah, I mean I am with you It's a catch 22 because I'm a fan of the concept of a record as a whole. Yeah, and I but I think that music fans, you know Still still can and will do that, you know Dive into a record and all the nuances and how it flows from the first track to the fifth to the twelfth or whatever

19:09You know, but iTunes is kind of just scratching the itch I mean the itches there whether they're putting out singles or not. Yeah, it's just kind of what our society is Is moving towards is just kind of like information on demand. Exactly quick quick quick quick quick quick Now I was talking to the very naked ladies the other week and they were saying that they they're thinking about just Well, they're on their own label now, right? They're not a major anymore So they were thinking we're just gonna record a song throw it out there whenever we've done recording it We don't really need albums anymore. Maybe one day we'll have a batch and we'll throw in a record But you know they want a song here's a song you think you guys will do that? I don't know. I mean we've done that kind of all along. Well the new record you kind of did with the first two Yeah, the first two and we released just Basically for everyone who's been with us for a long time for free. There's a song we put out online

19:57That and then Various other little things that we've thrown at people on the way, you know, it's it's a type of thing where You've got all these songs and it feels like you're not doing your job If you're if you're waiting three years between record It's kind of the reason why we put this one out within a year of the last record. I'm supposed to be an EP too Is that true? Yeah, we weren't trying to make a record it was Kind of a record by accident, you know, we came up pretty good for an accident. Yeah, yeah Well, that's the that's the thing is it almost came out in a way that it couldn't have come out if we were trying to make a record There's a honesty and kind of a Just anything goes attitude when you're just recording for fun. Mm-hmm. There's no commercial like oh well

20:43That'll never get played on radio. That's this that's that, you know, it's like oh does it I like it? It's cool, you know, let's go let's move on and then you know 30 songs in we're like wow this is There's this is kind of starting to be cohesive. I can see certain songs kind of stacking up together And so yeah, it was kind of a record by accident and I'm really thankful the way it came out because I know it couldn't have come out That way if we were really trying to make a record from the get go cool I ask every man five questions five quick questions one word answers I mean some of the questions you'll see you can't give one word, but it'll work You guys can both answer if you want to come on into the mic All of them okay cool I pod or CDs I pod let her McCartney

21:37No, but that's just I mean that's that's a really tough question because They're I love them both for the record. I go CDs too. Oh, yeah, okay again in the game Although I will say at home. I only have a record player so nice third answer of vinyl I guess that would be mine. I just hooked up my vinyl the other day and he's a preamp still but I'm working on it Alcohol and marijuana I abstain cool fair enough song you've written your most proud of Probably yesterday's really cool. It's my favorite song in your record and one word first thing that comes your mind switch foot quickly we It's not bad that's me that's you