Carolina Productions to sponsor faith-based rock band Thursday
The Greene Street Intramural Fields are going to get loud Thursday night.
Christian rockers Switchfoot will play a free outdoor show for USC students, faculty and staff this week. The concert, sponsored by Carolina Productions, will also feature an opening set from Nashville rock group Paper Route.
Switchfoot guitarist Drew Shirley spoke with The Daily Gamecock this week to talk about the band’s history, this week’s show and upcoming projects.
The rock band has been together in some form for more than a decade, and Shirley said a lot has changed throughout Switchfoot’s career.
“The band has been through lots of musical evolutions,” he said. “We started ... as a three-piece and then went from a four-piece to a five-piece, so it’s grown.”
In addition to increasing in size, he said Switchfoot’s music has matured over time.
“The early music had a great quirky freshness to it. In the middle, we kind of found a voice,” Shirley said. “There’s been a ton of growth into that social-impacting, anthemic quality of the songs.”
The band owns a recording studio now, which has given the group freedom to explore new territory.
“When you own your own studio, you have time to mess around with different sounds. You’re not on somebody else’s time,” Shirley said. “The last two records we’ve recorded in our own San Diego studio.”
While Switchfoot’s music falls into several categories, Shirley said it’s rock ‘n’ roll at its core. The band doesn’t follow a strict formula when putting an album together, though, and has written a variety of material. Shirley said that willingness to experiment has helped grow the band’s fan base.
“We’re not afraid to put in some slower songs, some ballads, some more electronic stuff, some more rock,” Shirley said.
Switchfoot’s music touches on religious themes, and Shirley said faith plays an important part in each member’s life.
“Our faith has deepened us as people. It’s who we are,” he said. “It’s not something that we just tack on to have something to talk about. It’s really something much deeper than I can even describe to you.”
Shirley said the members have faced some discrimination due to their faith, but he can see why people don’t always see the connection between religion and rock ‘n’ roll.
“We wrestle with our faith a lot. We’re honest about it. We’re not afraid to talk about it,” he said. “I understand when it’s a curious topic for others to try to understand because at times, it’s a very curious topic for me to understand as well.”
Switchfoot is at work on a full-length documentary film and an accompanying album that will be released next summer. While the material for the album is still being written, Shirley said lead singer Jon Foreman may debut some new songs in an acoustic set after Thursday’s main show.
Shirley said hitting the road with Switchfoot has developed “a great sense of brotherhood” among the band’s members.
“My favorite part of touring is the camaraderie on the bus,” he said. “It’s almost like we’re some kind of musical army, touring with guitars instead of guns.”
At the end of the day, Shirley enjoys making music for a living and continues to be amazed by the impact it has on other people.
“Playing live is one of my favorite things to do. There’s nothing like it. The songs just take shape live; they take form,” Shirley said. “We play with all our heart, and we can just feel the whole room come together and get lost inside of this beat and this melody and this lyric.”
Doors open at 6 p.m. on Thursday, and is free for students with a CarolinaCard.