Switchfoot interview
10-18-2001
by Robin Parrish

We didn't have much time to talk (we were late or they were late; I don't really remember), so here's a quick little interview with Tim and Jon Foreman of Switchfoot from Gospel Music Week...

Robin: Where's Chad?

Jon: He's home with his wife who's pregnant.

The old "pregnant wife" excuse, huh?

We're in the middle of a 70-day tour, so this was his only chance to get home to see her, so we're like, "Go! Get out of here!" (Laughs.)

You know, I feel like I should ask you some really deep, theological questions... You guys tend to address such mature theological ideas in your songs.

I think it's just that life is worth thinking about, and that's going to come out in song. I don't think we're trying to be deep. 'Cause I don't think I'm all that bright.

Tim: (Laughs.)

I hope that's not the image we give off. I think that life is definitely worth living well, so I want to be thinking about it to make sure I'm doing that. Our latest album has a lot to do with the simple idea of movement, motion. There are things that are wrong with the world, and wrong with me, and I want to be a part of changing that.

Robin Parrish talking to Jon and Tim Foreman of Switchfoot

You guys spend a lot of time on the road, don't you?

Umm... We're not one of those bands who's always touring. We like to find a rhythm. But so far this year, we've been on the road non-stop.

Wow.

It has it's cool aspects and it's uncool aspects.

What's the uncool?

Maintaining relationships is hard.

Also, I think it takes its toll on you. You think you're doing alright, but one day all of a sudden you wake up, and you're like, "Man, I am messed up. I need to go home. I need to walk into the desert and search my soul for a while. It gradually wears you down until you suddenly realize how down you are.

What's God teaching you lately?

A couple of days ago, on the tour, it was like I woke up, and I was like, "I so don't want to be near anyone right now." For one thing, I'd been talking to people for the last 500 days or whatever, and secondly, that's no attitude to go into your day with. So I got alone with God and I was reminded of how we're not called to be sufficient. We're called to be completely dependent upon our Creator. The relationship that He establishes with us, I think we often tend to think of ourselves as growing and maturing in Christ -- meaning that we lean less and less on our maker. But in fact, it's the other way around.

See, I told you you were deep.

(Laughs.) Well, it's just the simple idea that I'm a blumbering idiot on my own. (Laughs.)

I've been learning a lot about servanthood. This week, we've had a lot of questions to answer about servanthood. Almost every interview has been bringing up things like, "What is the primary role of the church?" And I really believe that one of the primary roles is us being used as instruments of change, by being servants. Because I think that's one of the most powerful ways of showing the love that God gives to us. To channel that to others, through servanthood. To clothe the naked, to feed the hungry, to befriend the friendless. That's something that I want to do more, and I want to consciously make that change in myself.

I was talking to Ken Tamplin yesterday about this whole thing he's been doing for the persecuted people in Sudan, and he was telling me all these horrific stories about the stuff that's going on. And after hearing that, you suddenly feel so ridiculous, that we're here doing things like this, when things like that are going on in the world.

We have a thing on tour, actually, supporting the Sudanese. Not about giving money or anything, but just this pamphlet that kids can go and give to their parents and their pastors, basically asking everyone to be in prayer, united around them. But anyway, the thing that's oddest for us, is being in this band and trying to communicate the importance of that. I mean, the kids just want you to play your songs. And I can understand that, but at the same time, there's an irony, because this sort of thing is what we're about, you know?

Robin Parrish talking to Jon and Tim Foreman of Switchfoot

Yeah. Before we run out of time, I want to pick your brains about commercialism in the Christian Music industry. It's so omnipresent before us here at Gospel Music Week, so it really brings all of that to the front of your attention, that you can more easily overlook or forget the rest of the year. What are your thoughts?

I think it's already interesting enough that we have a mix between commerce and art. There's already that tension, where you want to be creative and you want to be expanding boundaries, but you also want to sell your product. Then you add religion, and whenever you mix religion and commerce, that's always very interesting and delicate. It's important to understand that in a perfect world, they all do work together, to help each other. But this is an off-shoot of the Body of Christ. It's still being sanctified, it's still being redeemed. So absolutely there's still imperfection within the Christian Music scene.

I think there's two things you can do about it: you can say, "forget you," and go do your own thing and be a band in the mainstream world; or you can say, "We're a part of the church, and we're imperfect too, so let's bring about change."

I had a really good conversation with a friend of mine the other day about whether the Christian Music industry does more harm than good. I mean, if you're a Christian band, you don't have any place in the world; you're supposed to play in the church. And beyond that, there's been some bad things that have happened in the Christian Music industry, which reflect poorly on all of us. But then we're reminded of how God uses even His own church, which so often is a terrible example of who He was. Yet still, He is at work in His church, and I think the same is true in the Christian Music industry. We're all just sinners saved by grace, and both of those facts are going to come blatantly across.

Yeah, I think the conflict between ministry and industry is one that can never truly be settled.

Yeah, and I think it's important to recognize that, too. It's a healthy thing to be wrestling with those issues, to never put it to rest, to never think that you've figured out the balance. Because it's healthy to constantly be questioning yourself, to be making sure that your motives are pure.

Robin Parrish and Jon & Tim Foreman of Switchfoot