Nicci caught up with Switchfoot back stage at London Forum before their headline show that night to talk about their recent album 'Hello Hurricane', plans for a new album, playing Download Festival and much more.

So you have been together as a band since 1996, how have you found your time in the music industry through the years?

(Chad) A lot has changed
(Jerome) Did they have cassettes back then?
(Chad) Actually our first record ‘Legend of Sin?’ that came out in ‘97 came out in cassette and I have one I saved it for prosperity because that was the only record that ever came out on cassette. But yeah a lot has changed. I think that for us the goal has always been communication with our audience to stay connected with the people that listen to our music we see it as a two way conversation and I think the technology has allowed us to stay connected has got better whether its twitter, myspace, facebook all that stuff or having a webcam in the studio. Those types of things have just…incredible ways to allow an audience n to try to break down the barrier between the stage and the audience
Jerome – And as far as making music the technology has gotten more accessible. I mean we built a studio back home in San Diego and we we’re able to we were able to record this album ‘Hello Hurricane’ the whole album there and back ten years ago you had to actually go to a studio to record and now you can take it to your own place you know?
(Chad) you don’t even have to go to the studio you can phone it in
(Jerome) (laughs) I didn’t even change I was still in my pjs
(Chad) It’s all wireless these days
(laughs)

What would you say your biggest highlight and biggest disappointment as a band has been so far?
(Jerome) for me it would be the fact that we are able to travel around the world like coming out here to London is always exciting and we were able to go to the Philippines where I was born and a few years ago we went to South Africa so yeah the fact that our music is accessible around the world and that we are able to go out there and play is a really big honour
(Chad) that’s a dream come true to be able to play music that you believe in with your best friends. You know I guess looking back maybe not realising how wonderful it was to play music before it was a job and just the freedom you have when you’re just starting out and you can’t wait to get to the next gig or the next tour r whatever. I think that’s maybe advice that id tell people starting out. Enjoy the small moments. There’s something great about playing music for twenty people in your backyard

You released your latest album ‘Hello Hurricane’ towards the end of 2009, are you happy with have the album has gone down with both your fans and the press?
(Chad) Yeah
(Jerome) Yeah
(Chad) For us it was a really difficult record to make. It was the hardest record we’ve ever made. So I guess to feel like it’s connecting with people half way round the world it’s tremendously fulfilling because it was so difficult to make you know? It took almost three years. We sort of cut ties with the music industry for a period of time like Jerome said we went back home, built a studio in our home town and really tried to explore some new direction so we ended up picking out of eighty songs that we recorded twelve for the albums so that was a very difficult process. br>
What themes and stories do you cover within the songs on ‘Hello Hurricane’?
(Jerome) The theme for ‘Hello Hurricane’ is that you can’t stop the hurricanes that are going to hit your life it’s your response to it that is what matters and facing it head on

When working on ‘Hello Hurricane’ I understand that you gathered four albums worth of material and will release them one after another with the next album release being titled ‘Vice Verses’, can you give us more information on the album such as when we can expect it to be released and what is feature on it?
(Chad) Well I think as an artist you’re always excited about the new song that you’re working on you know the new music so yeah its something that we’re working on even while we’re on tour. You knw then looking forward to finishing up the tour this year then going home and recording in early 2011. So we’re gunna finish up that album but yeah we’ve already started the process and yeah Vice Versa would be the title and we’d like that record to come out early

‘Hello Hurricane’ is your first album release on Atlantic Records, how would you say they compare to the other record labels that you have worked with in the past?
(Chad) So far so good
(Jerome) So far so good yeah
(Chad) you know its funny because we’ve been an independent band on an indie label on a major label then independent again so to find the right partner for these songs was a long process and we were very hesitant to work with a major label again but think we’ve found a true partner and it feels really good. They wouldn’t leave us alone, we said no month after month after month saying no, we don’t want to deal with another label but we ended up working it out

How do you go about writing your music is it all planned or is it done in a spontaneous way?
(Chad) John is a song writing machine he’s just a phenomenon. As the primary song writer he comes up with a lot of ideas and then brings them to us in simple whether it’s just him his guitar saying “Hey, what do you guys think of this idea?” or recording it on his phone as a voicemail and sending it to us
We love to dive in as a group and wrestle with song ideas and ultimately the ones that move us on a heart level on a deep emotional spiritual level those are the ones that end up making the record.

You are playing the Forum in London tonight, what can people expect from your live show?
(Jerome) It’s your basic sweaty rock show. We really enjoy the fact that there’s a dialogue with us and the audience with us singing out to the audience and the audience singing it back to us. We’re really excited that we can connect that way. Coming out here across the pond has always been good. We played here a couple of years ago nd the response was incredible
(Chad) ‘Across the pond’ I like that
(Jerome) I’m trying to get to the language of London

You are heading back to the UK on the 13th June to play the Download festival, are you looking forward to that and will you be checking out some of the other bands at the event?
(Chad) That’s going to be intense. I think we’re playing on the same stage as ‘Napalm Death’
(Jerome) and ‘Motorhead’
(Chad) I’m trying to think of who else is playing, there are so many bands

What day are you playing?
(Jerome) Sunday, I think ‘Aerosmith’ are headlining so I’m excited to see ‘Areosmith’
(Chad) oh yeah, ‘Janie’s got a gun’ I’ll be singing along to that
(Jerome) (laughs) yeah me too

Throughout the majority of the summer you are doing a massive American tour, are all these dates with the Goo Goo Dolls and how did the tour come about?
(Chad) we’re doing a lot different shows I mean we’re basically on tour for the rest of the year. We are doing some dates in July and August with Goo Goo Dolls. Johnny Rzeznik and the rest of the guys and Mike the drummer is a good friend of mine and they approached us about opening for those guys and I think it’ll be a good time you know, we’ll see. We’ve never toured with them before we played one show
(Jerome) we played a show with them earlier this year back in the states
(Chad) We like putting ourselves in challenging situations. It’s funny because one night we’ll be headlining a festival and the next night we’ll be opening for some other band. Day to day it’s different. It keeps you on your toes

If you could share the stage with any band past or present who would it be and why?
(Chad) Beatles
(Jerome) Radiohead

What music have you currently been listening to on your Ipod?
(Chad) ‘Mumford and Sons’, I just brought that record this week that one and
(Jerome) I have the ‘Muse’ album, that’s really good
(Chad) Also ‘Phoenix’

MySpace seems to be a big tool in the music industry these days with artists communicating with their fans over it and some even ditching their own website and having just a MySpace site, what are your opinions on MySpace as a tool in the music industry?
(Jerome) It funny because I don’t go on Myspace a lot
(Chad) You’re a facebooker
(Jerome) I go on facebook but I think one of our old A&R reps a long time ago said “You know, there are a million bands on Myspace, how many can you hear in your lifetime” so using the internet as a tool to push your music is always a good thing that’s my opinion
(Chad) Yeah it kind of goes back to the ability to communicate. It’s a good tool its great the amazing thing I think if we were starting out today in this environment would be the access that you have globally to an audience with very little money. If you’re just a baby band working out of your garage for fun you can have people listen to your songs all over the world instantly. I think that’s a beautiful thing. For us we’ve always tried to make our music accessible to people because we want to get the songs are out there and try to eliminate the middle man, try to eliminate the barrier so I’m all for technology that allows people to hear peoples music

Where would you like to see yourself this time next year?
(Jerome) Back here
(Chad) I actually lived in England up until I was about nine years’ old so great memories of being in London and I hope we come back here next year

One last random question that we ask every band, if you could be an animal out of a Zebra and a Giraffe which one would you be and why?
(Chad) I would go with the zebra
(Jerome) Becuase you like stripes
(Chad) I look good in stripes its very thinning
(Jerome) I like giraffes I’d liked to be a giraffe because I’d like to see where I’m going

Interview By Nicci Peet