This Grammy-winning rock band (and its individual members) are revisiting their harmonious, guitar-driven roots.
Last week, while it rained here in New Jersey, we hopped on a call with Tim Foreman of Switchfoot. The bassist, whose brother Jon Foreman is the frontman of the acclaimed alternative band, has a lot of exciting things on his plate. Outside of Switchfoot doing what they do best (and enjoying it as they go), he has a new solo album on the way, two singles already out in the world, and – on this day – it was the birthday of good friend and Switchfoot drummer Chad Butler. This meant that we immediately extended celebratory wishes and asked how the day has been thus far. “We’re recording,” Tim Foreman told us. “We’re in the studio, so this is kind of like a typical Switchfoot day when we’re not on tour. Jon, Chad, and I went surfing this morning and we were like, ‘Alright, see you at the studio,’ and headed to the studio to keep chipping away at this new Switchfoot record we’re working on.”
A tease of what’s to come? We can’t say, but there is more than enough to keep us satisfied at the moment no matter what, which is precisely why we got to ringing up Tim Foreman in the first place.
We have to talk about the new Switchfoot single that features none other than Buddy Guy. It’s titled “Last Man Standing,” and I have not heard guitars in a song like this, especially from you guys, in quite some time. It is so meaningful. You’ve all pointed to Buddy Guy being an influence on your musicality and overall career, so what has it been like for you to be able to say, ‘We have a song with Buddy Guy’ and have it be out now?
Yeah, I mean, it doesn’t even sound real! You’re saying it, and t doesn’t sound real. It’s amazing, you know? It is such a gift.
The guitars are something that we are really excited about right now. We’ve been a band a long time, and so we’re always kind of trying to find new places to go, and coming back to strong guitars feels like a new place again for us because we kind of took some time away from like really embracing guitars in our sound, and who better to kick that off than Buddy Guy?
Photo by Paul Natkin
Absolutely! Do you think that this single release with Buddy Guy is a precursor or an inspiration for the Switchfoot record that is in the works?
As a human, but definitely as a musician, you’re always responding to something, reacting to something, running from something, and heading towards something. That journey is very much part of what you do, especially as a musician. The last thing you did plays a big part in what you do next, so coming off of this Buddy Guy song where it’s dirty, bluesy, and a rock guitar kind of approach, we’ve gotten really excited about that sound. I wouldn’t say that that’s the approach, and it’s definitely not a blues record that we’re making, but I think this single with Buddy Guy got us excited about guitars as kind of our first go-to instrument for exploring new ideas.
These guitars are going to add a grooviness to whatever you’re already doing. Now, I’ve been a fan since Oh Gravity, and hearing a song like “Last Man Standing,” it doesn’t necessarily take me back to those early Switchfoot moments – since that was a little bit more alternative with some post punk stylings in there – but there is that guitar sound and palpable energy that has me feeling like I just discovered this band all over again.
Ah, I love to hear it! We are definitely trying to harness that energy. I think this new record that we’re making harkens back to that time, like you mentioned Oh Gravity, and it definitely harkens back to some of that kind of enthusiastic loud guitar music of the time [Laughs].
I remember around that time of the Oh Gravity era, you guys were really keen on thanking the fans for being the community that surrounded you and inspired you and pushed you forward to even get to releasing that record. Almost 20 years later (which is crazy to think about), I think a big part of what makes this band what it is, is that very same community you’ve built.
I am glad you mentioned the community, because that’s definitely a big heartbeat behind everything we do. You know, I think we’ve always tried as a band to kind of downplay what happens on stage, including in our biggest shows. We go on stage with a plan, with a set list, but then we never follow it because what’s happening off stage, because of the energy that’s coming at us from the crowd. We feel like that is more important than whatever we had planned. We try to embrace that and take whatever path the crowd kind of dictates for that night, so the community truly is a big part of it.
We’re very fortunate to have a fan base that has allowed us such creative freedom. I think a lot of bands feel kind of handcuffed in a particular lane that they had success with at some point, and now they’re stuck in that lane. I feel like our fans have really allowed us a lot of creative freedom to explore something different with every album and to go with us on those journeys.
Tim, we have to talk about “When You Walked Away,” the first single of your solo project, Bongo Chico. I know that a full album is coming at the end of May, which I’m on the edge of my seat for, and I’d love to talk about the kind of aesthetic that is being shaped right now for this project by you and the soundscapes here. Just based on these two singles, I can tell that there are some nostalgic elements at play. These songs give off the feeling of just making art to make art, for the fun and the expression of it all. How did everything come about? And do you have that same feeling of crafting honest, nostalgic, melodic music from the ground up?
Well, I love everything you’re saying. Those are all definitely those goals of mine. You mentioned nostalgia; it’s an interesting thing, because I’ve been doing music my whole life, but never specifically for myself to sing. When I’ve written songs, it’s typically with my brother and we’re writing for him to sing ’em, and it’s a really different head space. It is kind of an existential one when you’re suddenly like, ‘Well, what do I sound like? What does my voice want to sing? What are the themes I want to sing about?’ It was kind of hard and overwhelming at first, because it could be anything. Then it took this path of, ‘Well, I haven’t really written about my life and stories that have happened along the way,’ and when you start picking at those stories, there’s this kind of musical and visual aesthetic that’s attached to them that almost hearkens back to all the music that I grew up loving and listening to at those times. So, yes, I did try to harness some of that nostalgia, but then steer it into something musically that feels very current, too. It was a really fun challenge for me.
The fact that it’s a fun challenge and you worked through it to create a full album says it all, and it shows how much heart is being put into this. Even on “1995,” all of that can be heard. I think it’s so wonderful, and it seems like you’re having a great time with it.
Yeah! It’s a project I didn’t think I wanted to do until I suddenly did [Laughs]. My brother Jon had been trying to talk me into doing a solo project for a while, and it didn’t really sound like something I wanted to do, but timing is everything. I think around this time last year I was kind of like, ‘You know what? I think I have the bandwidth in my life to start thinking about something like that.’ I became curious enough after wondering what that would sound like, but when I started on the project, I wasn’t even sure I could do it. It was more of like a hypothetical. ‘Well, let’s just explore a few songs and see what happens,’ but eventually I was like, ‘If I can get to 10 songs, then I might have an album that I want to put out.’ I ended up with like 15 that I liked, so I was like, ‘Ok, I guess I’m doing this!’
I love that, and I love a lot of the influences that I can hear within the layers of these songs, like the Beatles and the Shins and Phantom Planet, even early Spoon and early Rolling Stones. Those are pretty powerful influences to have, if they’re at all accurate. [Laughs] Do any of those really resonate with you? Is that something I’m hearing correctly?
All of those references were big for me and still are! That’s been the fun thing about this project: trying to capture something that feels timeless, but is also paying homage to specific time periods along that path that have all been important to me. Being able to nod to Vampire Weekend who are more recent, but then also the Beatles, and find commonality in there, and then also find something that’s uniquely mine in that space, as well… it’s been a lot of fun.
Everything has been melodic and light and honest and fun and sweet. Do you think any of Bongo Chico will appear anywhere on stage at any point? Or are we not sure just yet?
I’m not sure. The other guys [in Switchfoot] have been so supportive, and I think they’re excited about the idea of picking a song every now and then to working into the Switchfoot set. We’ll see how often that happens and how natural that feels, but they’ve been nothing but supportive and encouraging to that end.
That’s quite special to have, especially coming off of this really outstanding Switchfoot song with Buddy Guy. This is a cool era to be in, and since we’re talking about otherworldly collaborations, is there someone in your world with this solo project that would be another Buddy Guy level collaboration for that?
Gosh, those types of questions really get my head spinning [Laughs]. I have so many musical heroes. I mean, it just goes straight for the top, like the ultimate would absolutely be Paul McCartney. We actually got to meet our first Beatle the other day when we were in Nashville. We got to meet Ringo [Starr] and that was absolutely mind blowing.
Paul McCartney is the reason why I picked up the bass, so to be able to meet him and do something with him would be just an absolute dream come true.
I more than understand that and I just love the energy that is in “Last Man Standing.” I love the energy in Bongo Chico, too. It’s such a whirlwind time for you in the best way.
I think in the Bongo Chico project, a recurring theme that I wrestle with from a bunch of different angles is the idea of beginnings and endings, and about how they are two sides of the same coin. It’s been a fun thing to think about. As you know, I’ve been doing music for so long, yet starting a project that feels absolutely new has me learning new things, and that gives me a lot of enthusiasm for moving forward and what lies ahead with Switchfoot. I think anytime you’re learning, that’s a good place to be, and music is one of those endless mountains that you can climb forever if you allow the adventure to continue to captivate you. I think we feel very captivated by that adventure and the growth that we’re feeling with this new project, and it is really exciting to us.
TO KEEP UP WITH BONGO CHICO & WHAT’S TO COME WITH TIM FOREMAN, CLICK HERE! FOR ALL THINGS SWITCHFOOT, VISIT THEIR WEBSITE!
