Switchfoot is a Grammy-winning band that takes its name from surfing jargon. It's no coincidence. The San Diego-based alt rockers have a deep relationship with surfing, and since 2005 the band has merged their love of surf and music to stage the annual Bro-Am, a very popular surfing competition in their hometown.
"It's basically a dream come true for us," said Switchfoot's bass player, Tim Foreman, on the phone from a tour stop in New Orleans. "It is our chance to combine all of our favourite things in one day for a good cause."
There are 10,000 people expected on San Diego's Moonlight Beach this Saturday (June 16) to see a variety of acts including Switchfoot and local act the Howls, as well as a surf tournament on the beach that will include Surfing Walk of Famer Rob Machado. Proceeds from the event benefit Stand Up For Kids, a San Diego-born outreach program that works with homeless kids across the city and America.
The Bro-Am, says Foreman, is a "testament to the community we come from, and also the people who listen to our music. We have people flying in from all over the globe ... it's an incredible event to be part of."
Aside from playing the event, members of the band partake in the surfing competition, which isn't a chore for them. Being able to surf is "kind of a requirement" for being a member of Switchfoot, says Foreman.
"There's three of us who started the band and have surfed all our life – Jon [Foreman], Chad [Butler] and myself. And Jerome and Drew being the newer members were initiated and forced to surf and have been learning along the way."
Foreman, who writes many of the band's songs, draws a parallel between surfing and songwriting: "The things that attract me to surfing and a good song is exploring the unknown, and staring the infinite horizon in the face. Wondering what it's all about and what happens next. The big draw for me is wrestling with things that I don't understand. And I think surfing you're staring it in the face every day – trying to understand the infinite."
The band's popularity has taken them around the world several times, and they often pack their boards to take advantage of the exotic, wave-friendly locales they visit on tours. After the Bro-Am, the band will continue work on their next project, a film and CD called Fading West.
"[Surfing] is a big part of what this year is about for us," says Foreman. "We're visiting a lot of our favourite surf spots throughout the year – Australia, New Zealand, Bali, Hawaii, South Africa. And we're surfing and playing shows along the way and capturing it on film. We've set pretty big challenges for ourselves, not only to come up with songs to fit the film, but scoring it from a cinematic perspective. It's almost like making two albums at once."
And while they didn't catch any Canadian waves during their recent northern tour, the Foremans have taken in the waves in the closest thing to a Canuck surfing hotspot.
"We have surfed in [Tofino, B.C.] Without wetsuits. My brother and I were there on a family vacation as kids and we were on the beach and watching some pretty fun waves. Everyone was wearing cold suits and we were wearing trunks. We asked to borrow some boards and we went out until we couldn't take it anymore. I can vouch for the fact that you guys have some really fun waves, if you're willing to battle the cold."
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How I write: Tim Foreman of Switchfoot