Switchfoot Interview: Oh! Gravity...Why Can't We Keep it Together?
Switchfoot has come a long way. With their album The Beautiful Letdown going double-platinum in 2004, the ensuing Switchfoot projects have just gotten better and better.
by Courtney Lee
Posted: Thursday, February 8, 2007, 22:36 (GMT)
Switchfoot has come a long way. With their album
The Beautiful Letdown going double-platinum in 2004, the ensuing Switchfoot projects have just gotten better and better.
Despite being critically acclaimed on a worldwide scale, the five-piece Californian rock band remain humble as ever. Long having claimed to be "Christian by faith, not by genre", frontman Jonathan Foreman likes to emphasise that 'who you are offstage is what really matters' - and that life should be your testimony as a Christian. Recently having released their latest project Oh! Gravity., 3/5 of the guys from Switchfoot joined the Christian Today crew offstage, in London's Shepherds Bush Empire during their European tour. (Jonathan Foreman; leadsinger, Jerome Fontamillas; background vocals, keys, guitar, Drew Shirley; guitar)
How is the European tour going so far?
Jerome: It's amazing.
Drew: Great.
Jonathan: It's something to be thankful for. You can come half-way around the world and you have people singing along. That's an honour.
Any memorable experiences?
Jonathan: [In Germany], we went to the club next door, and there was a jazz session.
Jerome: In Hamburg.
Jonathan: Yeah. There was a club next door that was...
Drew: A bit open-minded.
Jonathan: A little bit of mic-nite. So there were all these guys with trumpets.
Jerome: Flute players!
Jonathan: It was a club where we found out that the Beatles used to play in. So [I nudged the guys] and said 'We gotta play there!' So we went over there, and it was great. We had the flute player join in on "Let Your Love Be Strong"...
Jerome: "Faust, Midas, and Myself". [Both tracks from Oh! Gravity.]
Jonathan: Yeah, "Faust"... It's stuff like that that keeps it fresh, you know?
It's great that your music is spreading all around the world. I was in Korea two years ago and your music was playing in a restaurant there.
Jonathan: Cool. I've got a lot of Korean friends. Our first record The Legend of Chin was named after a friend who is Korean.
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The comments below are readers' personal opinions and are in no way intended to reflect the editorial opinion of Christian Today.
Added: Thursday, April 19, 2007, 22:29 (BST)
Thank you for the interview. Switchfoot has been such a tremendous blessing in my spiritual journey. I admire what they're doing with lowercase People. PLEASE don't let success (or excess) spoil you, guys! I love them as songwriters and musicians, but I love them even more as fellow Christians - check: make that fellow sinners. You guys are some of the greatest sinners I know! (That didn't come out right, did it?)
Paul Lai, Orlando, USA
Added: Monday, February 12, 2007, 3:06 (GMT)
These guys are so awesome. They are so kind and really humble people. I love how they know where they came from, you can just tell by the way they are. I can't wait for the show I'm gonna go to in March!
dudette, USA
Added: Friday, February 9, 2007, 11:00 (GMT)
Switchfoot are completely awesome, and this interview really reveals how absolutely cool these guys are. I wasn't able to make the show in London this time - my girlfriend thought rocking the night with Switchfoot was not the best way to spend our anniversary together - women eh? Don't worry, by the time you guys come back to London I will have converted her.
Tim O'Donnell, London, England
Added: Friday, February 9, 2007, 7:50 (GMT)
It's cool that Jon Foreman says that part about "Calling yourself anything more than a sinner is a lie." I think he is really being cautious in not wanting to look hypocritical at any point as a Christian.
Dave M. Deorkson, Michigan, USA
Added: Friday, February 9, 2007, 7:49 (GMT)
I was at the concert, it was absolutely fantastic!
Cary Lowell, London
