Drew Shirley of Switchfoot – Project Greenroom Interview

“Come on boys, play it loud.” – Switchfoot, “Where I Belong”

The best example I can give of a band that gets better with each record is Switchfoot. Starting off with The Legend Of Chin in 1997, to Vice Verses, it is impossible not to notice the growth. Switchfoot have crafted, in my mind, a perfect album; the good feeling you get after you listen to it is unlike anything.
To start off touring for the record, they enlisted Anberlin and set off on a cross-country co-headlining tour. I got to sit down in NYC and chat with Drew Shirley about their new album, their Bro Am charity, and even shared a few laughs about his parents.

How does it feel to be back in NYC?
The city is a great place. It’s so mysterious to us, because I can never figure out where I am, or where I’m going (laughs). But, it’s fantastic we always have great shows here. The people here are so welcoming, diverse, and there’s so much heart here.

There must be a lot of excitement in the Switchfoot camp right now being that you are about to release Vice Verses. Coming off Hello Hurricane, which won a Grammy, did you feel any pressure?
We don’t really feel a lot of that pressure. The Grammy kind of came out of left field, it was sort of a surprise. Wow, that’s cool, now my dad thinks I have a real job (laughs). Seriously, my dad was like, “Wow! You guys must be doing really well!” I was like dad, I’ve been doing this for fifteen years, come on!
So we were actually working on Vice Verses when the Grammy came in. We were in the studio, went to L.A., won the Grammy, then literally next day, back in the studio. It was very surreal, and we are truly thankful and very fortunate.

On this album you worked with Neal Avron, who has worked with artists such as Fall Out Boy and Yellowcard, and Mike Elizondo, who is sort of a hip-hop guru. How did that combination make Vice Verses?
I have no idea (laughs). These two guys are so good at hearing a song, and finding the best parts of it and drawing it out of you. Mike’s just always smiling and having fun like, “Yeah lets try that, check out this beat!” Neal is very “I have a list of things we want to do today,” and it’s great it keeps us on track. He was very great at letting each of us have time, and focused on each guy. At this part in our career, we are kind of like five producers. This is our eighth record, and not that we’re hot shots or anything, but we kind of know what we’re trying to get in the studio. He helps us get all our ideas together and stay on track.

With Vice Verses, did you guys have anything in particular you wanted to explore?
Yes, musically speaking we wanted to focus on the drums and bass. We wanted it to be so good, that you didn’t need much on top of it. So, some of the verses are very sparse, just drum and bass, and a little bit of “icing.” I focused on the crazy noises, the stuff that you go, “what was that?” “How did that happen?” I couldn’t do it again if I tried (laughs).

With a career spanning eight studio albums, and where trends have changed before you notice, how have Switchfoot managed to stay relevant?
I have to hand it to our fans; they stick with us. We’ve seen a lot of the record industry change. However, we are focused on just a good song. I think that aspect of what we do has carried us through eight albums. Looking for a good song, an honest song, an honest expression, and the music to fit it. Having them match up, the lyrics, the music, the melodies, and I think people gravitate to that, young and old.
We’re not a “fad”-driven band, we’re more of a song-driven band. We are really thankful to have Jon as our lead singer; I have to pay him a huge compliment. His songwriting has gotten so good on this album. For all the records, but on this record I think these are 12 of the best songs he has ever written. You can take that to the bank and cash it!

In addition to your music, you have your annual Bro Am, which brings your love of surfing and music together. How did it start, and evolve in to the level it is now?
It started on the bus one day while we were all just talking. “What if we did a surf contest? We know all these surfers, I bet they would come out.” So we started calling them, and they were like, “yeah! We’ll do it!” We started calling friends in bands, “Hey will you come play?” They all play for free. All the money we make goes to charity. Then, we had this idea to do an auction, where we have the rich people come, and buy stuff and donate, and just have fun with the live auction I do. It’s funny; it’s like, “$1000, $2000 in the back, $4000, $5000, $6000, sold!” (laughs)
We just have a great time doing because it’s for charity. It’s homeless kids in San Diego, and now Stand Up For Kids has branched out all over the country. It’s one of the best days of the year; combine surfing, music, the community, and a great cause, it’s all there; the Bro Am.

Have you done much surfing in the NY or NJ area?
I haven’t surfed these places over here, some of the guys may have. I’m the guy who goes, “is it sunny and warm, and are the waves really good? Ok I’m coming!” However, if it’s freezing cold or early in the morning, chances are I have a cup of coffee (laughs).
Jersey is not for you.
Sorry Jersey, I’ll be there with my cup of coffee, and my guitar. The other guys can go get wet. No offense though!

With Vice Verses you had a variety of different pre-order packages. Is it important to try and think “outside the box” to come up with ways for fans to buy music?
That’s right. A lot of people these days want more then the song. They get the song free, it’s almost like the music is free, and anything else you give to enhance or support that makes them look at the band like they never have. The super-deluxe we made hand-written letters of what it means to us to make the record, we made a DVD of us at home and at our local sports where we hang out. There was also studio footage, and just all kinds of extras.

It’s only the beginning of the tour, but how does it feel to be out with Anberlin? You guys have done one-offs together, but never a full tour.
They’re great, they’re awesome, and they rock! So much energy live, and the way they perform is very cool and moody, just Rock N’ Roll. We’ve known them for years, so it’s about time. Our fans are really excited about our new record, so this is going to launch it. We’re playing new songs every night, we’re selling the record every night, and we’re going to try and do something special every day of the tour.

Can we expect a lot of touring off this album?
Oh yeah. We’ll be on tour a full year man. Sorry mom and dad, I’ll be gone for a while.
You won a Grammy though, so it’s not like you’re just driving around the country!
Ha ha! Exactly! Like I live at home or something (laughs). “Mom, dad, I have to leave now I’m going on tour.”
“Can you do my laundry before I leave?”
Ha ha and make me cookies! But no, we love what we do man; it’s the best job in the world. We get to travel the world and play music. We’re very fortunate to make a living off of it, and play music. We don’t take that lightly. But, we take ourselves lightly. I’m completely ridiculous, and I know that (laughs).

It’s been since ‘96, so, another 15 years?
Yeah, this is just the first half. We might have to tour with a chiropractor, but whatever we have to do. I’m into it though; I love music and I want to do it as long as I can. We’re going to give it all we have. That’s what you expect from artists. You want to just be able to give as much as you can to the people, to the music, and into the passion of doing this. So yeah, this album is really exciting to us.