Quotes by Tim Foreman taken from interviews, concerts, conversations, DVD’s, & podcasts. We are constantly adding more quotes to these pages. Check back often!
FUNNY QUOTES
(When asked how they keep up with their fanbase) “A team of scientists. They all wear lab coats because they’re very efficient.”
“Tim is well!”
“Yo dawg, yo dawg! I completely agree with ya dawg.”
Tim: “Me and P-Diddy, we’ve been collaborating quite a bit.”
Interview: “Oh nice! What’s the first single?”
Jon: “It’s called P-Foot.”
“Mahal ko Philippines!”
Jon: “I feel so tall up here on the stage.”
Tim: “I like feeling tall for once.”
“I’m the stability enforcer.”
“I think this is the most I’ve ever talked on stage!”
“My goal is to be Jon.”
“More muscle without the mass!”
“We were in a Led Zeppelin cover band. I guess I would have been John Paul Jones.”
“We want to play concrete girl… we really do… but when we try we kinda feel like a SF cover band.”
“I tried to win the [cowbell] contest… but I couldn’t get on the record playing cowbell.”
“The hairflip is something that just can’t be taught”
(When asked about when was the last time he saw snow) “I read about it in a book somewhere.”
“Well, I’m finished and my bloodshot eyes can proove it. The sun has set and then rosen… risen… rosen… risen/rosen again.”
GOD/CHRISTIANITY/FAITH QUOTES
“Because of Christ, we have a reason to have the faith to keep pressing on when the storms in life come. When the storms come, we have to be prepared to face them by having a solid foundation rooted in God’s word.”
“We really want our songs to be a vehicle to challenge people to think about what matters most in this world, encourage them to make an impact in big and small ways, and to lead people to Christ.”
“The most important advice I can share with youth is for them to be aware of their limitations and the fact that they need a Savior. Time on this earth is so precious and short. Most of us don’t stop to comprehend what that really means. Most of the time, we end up taking people and situations in our lives for granted. But we need to be focusing on how we can make our lives count for what matters most.”
“Christianity is a state of mind, and not a genre of music. I am a believer, in that I associate with my beliefs in Christ, but labels can be restricting. Our songs are about life. We connect with all faiths.”
“The God I believe in is the king of creativity, that’s the high watermark of creativity.”
“The idea that God could somehow fit in my pocket, that I could pull him out when I need it, and maybe rub it, it’s ridiculous, it’s not something that fits in my daily schedule that’s convenient.”
“I am also reminded of God’s faithfulness. Thank you Jesus, my sweet Lord. You have been so good to me. I remember, and I am humbled.”
(On things that make him happy) “A sunset. People make me happy and spending time with Jesus makes me happy.”
“I consider myself a follower of Christ and His teachings. That means trying to understand who He is. I don’t have it all figured out. Some of my best friends don’t believe the same thing I do. I often learn more from dialoguing with them then from people who believe the exact same thing I do.”
“I just finished reading a physics textbook. It’s fascinating! When you read about the way our universe is constructed and how it’s held together in this intricate and elegant balance, it’s impossible not to see the design behind it. The book wasn’t written by a Christian, but you almost feel like it was. I thought it was amazing because the author is searching for truth through this beautifully woven tapestry of the universe.”
“The best part about surfing is being out right before sunset. The wind starts to die down and the sun kind of jumps in with you. It’s hard to see how anyone cannot be aware of God’s presence.”
“We’ve always been honest about who we are. We’re believers, I’m a believer and these songs are a direct reflection of who we are as people and certainly our belief if Jesus plays a large roll in who we are. But I think the moment you put any sort of label on your music, it can limit the scope of what you’re trying to do as an artist.”
“My faith is much bigger than my music.”
“I think grace is something that I’ll probably wrestle with for the rest of my life. It’s a mystery to me. Lately I’ve been overwhelmed by God’s grace and how undeserving I am of that.”
“As a band, we’re Christians by faith and not in the genre, and I think people have a hard time differentiating between the two. There is a genre that exists called Christian music and to not be part of that is not to say you’re not a Christian.”
DEEP/INSPIRATIONAL QUOTES
“Sometimes really beautiful things come from the ashes of adversity.”
“Life on tour is very bipolar; highs and lows. Surrounded by people, but often alone. The same cycle everyday, but in a completely different city with completely different people. And I love it, you know, the excitement of playing the songs that I believe in. But in order to stay sane and grounded, I’m always trying to combine new experiences with something familiar. If I can look up, and look at the stars, I feel connected. I feel – at home.”
“I think hope is not simply looking around and saying that everything’s great – that’s just ridiculous. For hope to have substance, it has to acknowledge the pain. But hope is saying that’s not the final story. It’s not saying pain doesn’t exist, but it’s saying there’s not a period at the end of that sentence. It’s still being written.”
“It’s a very life-giving experience every night: to be in a room full of strangers singing the same songs, and suddenly realize that we’re not that different. You have this commonality with people you’ve never met.”
Every day you’re alive, you can change the world. It could be for the better or for the worse. It can be big waves or small waves. The very fact that you’re alive and breathing and walking outside, going to class, whatever it is, you’re changing the world with each footstep. There’s a lot of weight to that.”
(On people’s need to belong) “I think it’s in us. It harkens back to – I’m a believer and I feel like that’s a part of what’s inside of us – longing to see our creator and to see behind the curtain. Me personally, I feel like this – a lot of the time my everyday life is just scratching the surface of something much bigger. Waking up, eating breakfast, putting my clothes on, going to work – I don’t think those thoughts and feelings are unique just to me. Those are conversations and similar feelings that a lot of other people have as well.”
“I love that everyone has a story. It’s easy to see someone being rude to at a store and take it at face value. But if you sit down and talk with people, you realize everyone has a story. When you live with that in mind, you treat eachother with more respect. Believe the best in people; we’re all going through stuff. People you would never expect to have a single hard day in their lives have been through some real tragedies.”
“A lot of our songs deal with the idea that for things to change anywhere, they have to change in me first. That’s where I always start my thinking. Beyond that, it’s tough for me to wrestle with the idea that because I was born in the United States, I’m wealthier and better off than 99 percent of the planet. I would love to see simple things, like clean water, food and healthcare for people in all parts of the planet.”
“What I have found to work for me doesn’t mean that the guy that has the nice car or has the nice house is wrong. Those things have never been attractive to me. I wrestle with the future, feeling like I need to have everything figured out for 20 years down the line, instead of just being content where I am. That’s a subtler version of materalism.”
“We never stop learning. The Western world struggles so much with material things. It’s pretty much a parade from the store to the trash can. So often, we’re reduced to mere consumers that we forget what’s important and our vision becomes so small.”
“Don’t allow yourself to become hard or jaded — seek truth with a passion! You will find Truth if you seek it, but you must first decide if it is really Truth that you are seeking. If it is, be prepared to be found.”
“I think we all tend to be jaded at times, myself included. But I think a lot of times, it’s just a matter of being overwhelmed. I think a lot of us want to see change and even want to be part of the change, but we don’t know where to start. I do believe, that every day you’re alive you can change the world. Whether it be in big ways, or small ways. I think it’s important to accept that and realise that – well, it might be a small way, but you may be responsible for how we change the world today. Give it some thought. Some days it’s easier for me, than others. That’s what we’re up against.”
“I think the most difficult things that we sacrifice are the things that we have to sacrifice daily.”
“I’m thankful that honesty allows for a much larger goal than simply trying to make people happy”
“You can live in a dreamland and be completely happy or you can be painfully aware of the reality. I choose reality.”
“Crying does not make you ‘weak.’ The weakest of all are often those who have forgotten how to cry.”
“A lot of kids won’t go to their parents when they have a problem. I’ve found that’s pretty much always the best place to go. My mom, my dad always have the most wise insights with pretty much everything I deal with.”
MUSIC QUOTES
“Music for me is finding my way back home, in a song. It’s not like you always get there but, I mean you never quite get there. That’s why we keep writing, that’s why we keep singing it – always pushing for something more.”
(On Vice Verses being categorised as a “funk” album) “I’m kind of scared of the F-word. Being five white surfers from San Diego, I don’t know if I’d choose that word, but there’s definitely a strong rhythmic heartbeat behind these songs. It’s the most soulful record we’ve ever made, that’s for sure.”
(On Vice Verses) “It’s a much more rhythmically driven record than we’ve ever made before. It allows the drums and the bass to really drive the motor. I don’t think you will initially think of Switchfoot when you hear these songs. For us, it’s a really exciting departure.”
(On winning the Grammys and going to Hollywood) “We kind of got to live another life for a night, when Jay-Z walks past you, you feel like you’re in someone else’s shoes. It’s fun to go to Hollywood, but that’s not what keeps us moving, making music that’s meaningful to us, playing sweaty rock shows — that’s what we truly are. That’s what motivates us.”
“The biggest compliment is having people tell you from as far away as Asia how your music helped them get through tough times. It’s no well-crafted scheme to write songs that resonate with people. We write them for ourselves, and if they inspire us, that resonates.”
(On songs that make it on the Vice Verses album) “Yah there were a few, I think initially we thought that, you know, there would be quite a few of those that would be on this one. We’re always writing while we are on tour and all, so I think it’s kind of like a good refining process where the very best of our songs were able to be refined and find a way onto this record. I think there’s like 2 of them are like that, and the rest of them are new songs that, you know, we’re really excited about – feel like a big step forward for us.”
(On debuting new materials while touring) “That’s one of the goals – is to try and kind of work out some of the new stuff as well on the road – which is always fun for us. You know, maybe sneaking in a new song or two every night.”
(On the Grammys statue on the shelf in the studio) “You know, they haven’t sent it to us yet. You hold the Grammy, you know, when you get it, and then you walk backstage, and then they take it away from you. They say they’re gonna mail you the “personalised” one, and we’re still waiting for ours *laughs*. And I was actually just wondering that (if the “personalised” Grammy statue is lost in the mail) this morning myself. You know, I look at this empty spot at my house, going, ‘hah! I wonder where that thing is! Maybe I should track that down, you know, maybe get a FedEx tracking number or something on it!’”
(On whether he feels the winning of Grammys for album Hello Hurricane is like a bitter-sweet sort of thing) “I think the people that are familiar with the band, realise that while we are believers, we are always on honoured to be associated with the name of Christ. People that follow our music know that that’s never a ‘title’ that we put on our music – that, for us, it’s more of a ‘faith’ than a ‘genre’. There’s this aspect that ultimately, a Grammy is a Grammy, and we are really honoured to receive it.”
“Because all of our songs are very honest, personal songs – you can’t drum up a feeling that you’re not feeling at the time. For instance, happy songs are sometimes really challenging to write – when you turn on the television and all you see is doom and gloom – you have to go looking for those things. I think love songs are the same way. You can’t fake something that you’re not feeling. There’s been moments of love and loneliness, and all these things can find you in a relationship, or be it outside of it. You have to write where you’re at.”
“A big picture thing that I’ve learnt that certainly applies when you start thinking about major labels – you have to make music for yourself. You can’t be thinking about what other people are going to think – who’s going to buy it? You can never second-guess what someone else is going to think and that’s true whether it’s your fans, or wherever it’s the record company – and that’s something we’ve always tried to do – is to just write honest music, that resonates with us. You never know if it’s going to resonate with anyone else. That’s always the unknown. But the moment you try to guess what will and won’t connect – that becomes a slippery slope. It does seem that the songs that resonate the most with us and connect with us, those tend to be the songs that resonate with people that listen to our songs, that listen to our music.”
“In the past, we’ve done as far as, you know, we’ve actually recorded keep our tracks for certain albums while we were on tour. There’s good and bad about that: first one was that we just kind of decided use that as kind of a sketch pad to kind of capture ideas, but then to record the real thing in our studio in San Diego – that was kind of a less stressful way of doing it. So when we are touring, we are always capturing ideas on our laptops, that sort of thing – it makes a good process for us, we can refine it as we go.”
(On recording Vice Verses in their very own Studio X) “Yah, really it does [feel like “home” making the new record in our own Studio here in San Diego]. This was the second full length project we’ve done in there – that’s kind of a big difference because we already had one done in there, and we are able to take what we’ve learned from that and improve the studio, and then feels completely like home. We actually did a couple of songs up in L.A. just out of necessity while we were mixing – just to be close to our producer who’s mixing. And we were wishing we were in our studio; this was a really nice, expensive studio in Hollywood, but we felt like, for our uses, our studio in San Diego was a more conducive than the kind of music we make.”
(On the name of the record, Hello Hurricane) “It was a stormy season for us. We felt like we were up against the biggest challenge of our careers, trying to make an album that defined the next ten years of our music at least. Trying to do something really different. At around the same time, we’d had a chance to go down to Louisiana and work on some homes that had been battered from Hurricane Katrina. We had some encounters down there with some survivors from the evacuation – one lady in particular that was having to walk on a prosthetic leg, she had lost her leg in the evacuation process. She said, ‘I walked out of my own house on my own two feet, I’m going to walk into this one.’ She had such a hope and fighting spirit about her. She wasn’t bitter. She didn’t see herself as a victim. She saw herself as someone who was very fortunate to have what she still had – and I really took a lot from that. The idea that – the storm is coming in life for everyone – and there’s really no telling when or how, but how we respond in the path of those storms, that makes all the difference. We wanted this album to acknowledge those storms and instead of running from them, actually seeing into the storm.”
(On song Needle and Haystack Life) “I think a big part of that is life itself. That ad-mist all this confusion and chaos and pain and unanswered questions – that the very fact that life exists – that we’re here. That we’re having this conversation. That we have breath left in our lungs, and today’s another day. That, is a needle in the haystack. That is the undiscovered reality and mystery of life – that this is even possible, is a miracle.”
(On song Mess Of Me) “That song was appropriately titled because it was quite a messy process to make. We recorded over ten different versions of that song – radically different versions. We kept coming back to the guitar riff. It was a guitar riff that we thought was really exciting, and kept trying to write a song that was worthy of the energy that the guitar riff had. What that song became, was an anthemic cry about – I’ve heard it said that every man dies, but not every man truly lives – and I think the punchline is [that] I want to spend the rest of my life alive. I think our society focuses a lot on the quick-fix. Whether it’s medication, or there’s something you can just quickly take to make something go away, or to fix the problem. I think many times, it’s actually taking a hard look at myself and deciding to climb out of the mess that I’ve made.”
(On the inspiration behind the song The Sound (John M. Perkins’ Blues)) “John M. Perkins is an amazing civil rights activist who encountered hatred in every phase of life. A lot of it, based solely on the colour of his skin – as an African American man, growing up in the South. He chose to respond to that hatred with love, and not bitterness. We’re always looking for, like I said earlier – it’s hard to write a happy song nowadays – we’re always looking for heroes and he seemed definitely like a worthy candidate. The big punchline for that song is – there is no sound louder than love – and he was a man who lived it. He was a man that lived by those words.”
(On the placement of their music in movies) “I love it whenever our music is able to interface with another art form. I think movies are a powerful art form and I’m a sucker for a good film. So it’s always an honour to be a part of that. I’d love to have more songs in movies. We just had our song in a TV show last night and I loved it. It’s not always how you picture your song when you wrote it, but that’s not always a bad thing either. We always have a pretty open-mind about what people think about our songs. I think that’s part of the beauty of music – that three people can listen to a song and all get something different out of it.”
“It’s a tricky thing [to write a song especially for a film], when you’ve got an intersection of art, some sort of faith, belief or what-have-you, commerce – there’s a lot of traffic. [...] To write a song for a movie, you want that song to live and breathe, in a space beyond the movie as well – while also connecting within the movie.”
“It may sound selfish, but it seems like for us a song has to start in an attempt at writing it for ourselves. Because if we don’t believe it, who’s going to believe it? It has to be real to us. It usually comes from real experiences, trying to figure out something that we don’t understand or trying to express something too beautiful for simple conversation.”
“Yesterdays. Jon and I wrote it together late one night in a hotel in Portland, Ore. For me it’s about the death of a loved one. Many times we write songs for ourselves. The starting point is trying to figure it out for myself, wrestling with the ugliness of death and loss, but also the beauty of the hope that we have in Christ. If someone who’s grieving listens and knows that someone else has been there too, that would be an honor.”
(On Oh! Gravity.) “It sounds a collection of songs that haven’t shaved for three or four days, you know?”
“For us, we treat the song as king. We really tailor each song to what that song happens to need. If a certain song needs an electric violin or trumpet or whatever, you know, anything goes.”
“I think if you’re going to be on the road 355 days out of the year and just really pouring your heart into the music, it’s got to be songs that you’re passionate about. I don’t think any of us could do this for four albums if we didn’t believe in it.”
“It can’t be about the numbers. It has to be about being able to make music and be satisfied with the art that you are making.”
“Yes we indeed have been making rockus music.”
“For me the album is kind of like a scrapbook of the last couple years. Each song reminds me of a different place on the map. ‘The Shadow Proves the Sunshine’ was a song that will always remind me of South Africa. I think when you travel to places like South Africa you realize that what we have here in the US, for better or for worse, is very different then the rest of the world. You kind of get a better perspective of what real life really is.”
“Sometimes it takes a little friction to start a fire. You can take a one dimensional song and make it two dimensional if you make it through the fire.”
“The goal was always for the songs to be famous, not for our faces to be famous.”
“It’s music for thinking people. It’s honest and from a very personal space. Sometimes the songs that seem the most vulnerable and personal become the most universal, because everyone can relate to pain and loss.”
(On Nothing Is Sound) “Overall it’s still a hopeful record, but it’s still framed against a very dark backdrop.”
“I’m a believer, but the music we play is rock ‘n’ roll. We don’t claim to have all the answers. Music is our vehicle for exploring the planet.”
“Music, by nature, I think is a very spiritual thing. You know, it’s something that comes from your soul.”
BAND QUOTES
(On Jon, and their music) “Jon is really not satisfied coasting through life. We’re like-minded, and like to dig beneath the surface. We do a lot of talking as a band, and big picture thinking… We like to think about what song we want to be playing in the next two-to-10 years. Our songs often deal with the polarity of life, the light and the dark, the pain and the hope. It shines through.”
(On their “Spot X Studio”) “It’s actually named after a surf spot in New Zealand, funnily enough.”
“KL likes Drew’s voice!”
(On Drew’s guitar hero skills) “I think he’s better at it than he is at real guitar. When was the last time you got like a 98% on a Switchfoot song?”
“You’re my little oyster Chad.”
“Thank you for that warm introduction Jon.”
“Jon is very good at feeling out the crowd and giving them what they want.”
(On Jon) “And this is Jon Bon Jovi”
“We’re very proud to be from San Diego.”
“I met this guy [Jon] right here when I was zero years old. We’re brothers. We met Chad in high school through the surf community in San Diego, which is pretty tight. We started playing music in different local bands.”
“Chad fell asleep during our set. For those of you who know Chad, you are aware of his tremendous sleeping powers”
“I’m glad to see Chad recognized for his dancing abilities. He was bred for his skills in dancing.”
“Jerome is our resident cowbell instructor. I don’t think he’s a black belt, but he’s definitely a brown belt.”
“Jon’s kind of a song-writing machine, he describes it sometimes as being an archaeologist you sort of dig each song up, some you find intact and its real quick others you have to piece ‘em together. As a band he’ll come to us with a song idea basically an acoustic guitar, and a basic vocal melody, partial lyrics, and we’ll kinda throw it on the operating table and tear of the limbs and then stitch it back together and see if it can still walk and breathe.”
(On Jon) “He’s definitely a thinker. He’s one of those guys who isn’t content to accept life and drift through. He wants to question everything.”
(Talking about favorite songs) “There is a song called ‘Living on a Prayer’… wait was that us?”
Jon: “That’s not us”
Chad: “That your favorite karaoke song though”
“We were just playing music because it felt natural, it was what we did… I don’t think we ever tried to get signed or anything like that. We made tapes to give to our friends and it ended up in the hands of a producer, he called us up and we signed to an indie label called Re:think. And I was 17 or 18… it was my senior year in high school and we just started touring and I think it was like 4 years, 5 years later, that we kinda realized we were professional musicians.”
(On why people by Switchfoot records) “Because Jerome looks so good.”
“The reason we chose to go independent had a lot to do with just the huge amount of respect we have for the people that come to our shows and buy our records and sometimes there can be people standing in the middle, between an artist and the people that buy the records, like copy protection and things like that. So the idea that we can release the music straight to the people who come to our shows and treat them in a way that we feel is respectful to the people who buy our music, means alot to us.”
FANS/CONCERTS/TOUR QUOTES
“Every night we do a completely different set. It keeps it fresh for us, but I think it’s good for the show and the audience too, because if we’re kind of on our toes, kind of not expecting anything to happen, then anything CAN happen. It’s when you try and duplicate the same thing night after night that the show gets stale.”
“If you do the same thing every night, it’s going to get boring for you and therefore, boring for everyone else. I think what we love about live music is that every nights different and we really try and do a tottally different thing every night, then leave that show there and move on. Don’t try and duplicate the same thing again.”
“When you travel around, a lot of people just assume that you want American food, you know, burgers and fries. That’s not us at all. Just leave all that at home and try the local fare.”
“Certainly, I miss being able to loaf around and go surfing two or three times a day but, at the same time, what I’m doing now is so rewarding. I’m getting to play music that I’m passionate about and something I really believe in. I don’t think anything could take away from the feeling of doing that every night.”
“I wear a moustache disguise in public. In airports and stuff like that, people come up and get autographs now. It’s fun to meet people, as long as you can keep it on that level where it’s still a conversation. That’s what we’re always trying to do, break down that weirdness between the stage and the crowd.”
“Whether it was Bob Dylan or Bob Marley or James Taylor, there are a lot of songs that got me through hard times growing up. To have a kid come up after a show and say, I was really contemplating suicide and I heard your song, what do you say to that? That’s obviously much bigger than just four guys playing music. But it’s an amazing feeling.”
“It’s kind of typical at the end of a tour that bands that are touring together start playing pranks on each other, especially the last night of a tour. And the last night of a tour anything can happen, and everyone’s ready for it. And so we were touring with [another band] two years ago, and it was the last night, and they came out during our set dressed up in crazy outfits and playing drums and different things… So we thought, ‘OK, we’ll get them back.’ So they were playing in the middle of their set, and we sneaked under their backdrop, and we’re going to run out in these big sombreros. We came out during the wrong song and so we tried to sneak back under, no one in the crowd saw us, but their drummer saw us. So he’s playing this song, and he’s looking at us, and he’s pointing with his stick trying to get the bass player to see us. And he’s saying, ‘Pour water on them, pour water on them,’ while he’s playing. And the bass player is saying, ‘What? Alright.’ So the bass player goes to the stage hand and says, ‘Our drummer wants you to go pour water on him, I don’t understand it.’ So here comes the stage hand with a big two gallon container of water and just dumps it on their drummer, and the drummer is hitting him with his sticks saying: ‘No, no!’ It gets all over his drums all over his symbols. So the rest of the set water is going everywhere. So we figured we might not even want to come out after that.”
“Life off-stage hasn’t really changed, but life on-stage has become less realistic than ever”
“When you’re on the road, the internet is kind of your lifeline to anything back home. You can see us wandering the airport looking for an internet connection.”
“Living out of a suitcase, you can really lose your sense of who you are. It’s a weird head space to live in, and we haven’t come up for air as far as touring goes. Ultimately, the music keeps us going. Jon and I are brothers, but it really feels like I have five brothers on the road with me.”
(On traveling to South Africa) “It was more an awareness and soul-searching trip than anything else. Instead of being these Westerners thinking we have all these things to go and offer them, we wanted to go and learn from them and learn about the beauty over there instead of wanting to fix it.”
BRO-AM/STANDUP FOR KIDS/HOMELESS YOUTHS QUOTES
(The people/figure that helped shaping Vice Verses) “Our first single, ‘Dark Horses,’ is heavily inspired by the homeless kids in our hometown of San Diego. We do an event every year called the Bro-Am. It’s a surf contest and concert on the beach. And it benefits StandUp For Kids, which is an organization that works with these homeless kids. They are the true dark horses. In [nearby] Seattle there’s a huge culture of homelessness amongst kids on the streets. These aren’t kids who chose homelessness. They’ve been thrust into an adult world as children – from broken homes, from being kicked out of homes, from dysfunctional parents, a variety of situations. They’re the dark horses this society has written off. And you can’t count them out.”
“The impetus is always something around kids, that’s something that is always close to our hearts – whether it’s in South Africa or wherever we’ve gone to. The kids are the receiving end of most of the tragedies surrounded the community or the family in a situation. So to protect the kids, and living in San Diego, we pretty much know which organisations are doing the great work. And there’s not just one, Care House is one of the several, and we try to use different organisation every year.”
SURFING/BASEBALL QUOTES
“My vice verses are surfing, music, and just about anything that brings me home.”
(On starting his days while recording a new album, with a surfing session) “It’s a great way to gain perspective – before you push record in the studio – to go out and get wet and remind yourself that there’s a lot going on in this planet, and there’s a lot of things bigger than rock and roll. It’s important to have that perspective, before you dive in.”
(On when/what age he started becoming interested in surfing) “[At the age of 6], we were still in Boston at the time, so it was kind of a hard thing to be a surfer in Boston. I didn’t really start surfing until we spent some time in Virginia… Virginia Beach, and then moved out west to California when I was 13. So it was around that age that I really started surfing.”
(On if his kids are into any kind of sports, music, or surfing yet) “I’ve got a son, and he’s really into surfing. When we are surfing, he’ll stay out as long as he can, and I have to drag him back in. He’s 6, and it’s kind of a dream to have your little kid to like something as much as you do.”
“We all surfed. Australia is always a good excuse to catch some waves, you know.”
“We’ve been to Australia. We kinda scored. We got unlucky a few times, and this time we scored some pretty good waves on the west part of Australia. Which was pretty neat, because it was kind of a secluded area, you know, not the kind of area a lot of people will ever see, so it’s pretty, not a lot of surfers out, and a lot of great waves.”
(On whether he was a baseball fan as a kid) “Yah I was! I think I’m more of a bigger baseball fan now than I was on T-ball, Little League, and I kind of got into surfing – that’s what I spent most of my childhood doing. But later on in High School and further on, I kind of got more into the intellectual side of baseball – the strategy behind it all, and kind of to appreciate it more.”
(On hanging out with the San Diego Padres) “That was amazing. I’m still kind of flying high from it, and that was couple days ago. And it was kind of like any baseball fan’s dream day, and I felt like a little kid who won some sort of fantasy date or something *laughs*. I showed up kind of just before noon, and some of the more notable Padres peeked out and took me to the local club house. They had a locker room for me, and personalised jersey, and [I] got suited up and went to play catch with them a bit then he started hitting me grounders and I took batting practice; I kinda got the full deal with the team; I threw out the first pitch. And not a day that I will forget – that’s for sure.”
(On whether he’s strictly a Padres fan or a Red Sox fan) “Yah I kind of have two allegiances. I think they played each other in early this year, and I fought for the home team But I grew up in the Red Sox, so I’ll always have that too.”
(On something you will never hear a girl say) “Hey, let’s go to a baseball game!”
(On competing in surfing championships) “Those are the formative years for a boy, and those memories really stick with me. I had some great friends and great times there.”
LOVE/FAMILY QUOTES
(Fatherhood and career) “Being a Dad is very humbling! You realize very quickly how much personal growth is needed to fill the role properly. But I think it provides good balance to the often warped reality of being on stage. There is nothing like changing diapers after playing a show for 10,000 people to bring you crashing back to reality!”
(Best part of being a parent and a musician) “Traveling all over the world can be an amazing adventure. I’m always thinking up creative ways to bring my family with me, because sharing the adventure with my kids is an incredible experience.”
(Challenging part of being a parent and a musician) “Without a doubt, the most challenging part of wearing both hats is trying to stay involved and connected with my kids when I’m away.”
(On the high divorce rate in the modern-day society) “Well, I can only speak for myself in that – I think marriage is an amazing adventure and mystery. It’s a very meaningful, challenging, amazing experience. I do look around and I wonder what it means on a larger scale, to a lot of the people who flippantly marry or decide to call it quits. But not being them and not being in those situations, I can’t really speak to that.”
(On marriage and being away from home) “[You have to be] intentional about what you are doing while you are away. Being away from family is not something to be casual or flippant about you know. ‘Ah yeah I’m going away for a couple of weeks!’ No, that’s a serious thing and you’d better make sure that you are making good use of that time.”
(On having a family) “It keeps you humble and puts you in your place. When you step off the stage and 3,000 people were just singing along to every word and then you change a dirty diaper, I think it’s very healthy.”
“Marriage and birth are two plateaus that are hard to top.”
IMMERSING AND EXPOSING KIDS WITH THINGS PARENTS LOVE (QUOTES)
(The kids and Switchfoot music) “They like it. They each have favorite songs of ours, and we’ll have dance parties and practice our air-guitar moves.”
(The music the kids currently enojy) “At this age (Jett, 6; Layla, 1), the music they like is all still basically influenced by what we expose them too. I’ve always thought that The Flaming Lips is the perfect band for the job, because the songs and sounds are so interesting and fun, and both parents and kids can enjoy it on different levels. Be careful with the Chipmunks though — those songs will destroy you.”
(How he immerses the kids with his childhood/long-time interests) “With interests that I hold very dear, such as music and surfing, I’m very strategic in how I approach them with my kids. The goal is to expose them to things that we might enjoy together, without forcing my own interests on them, or pushing them so hard that they hate it. So with both music and surfing, I always let it be their idea. They are always surrounded by it, and I just wait until they show interest and then help walk them through it and have fun. My son likes to play the Rhodes and the electric guitar, and of course every kid likes the drums.”
MISCELLANEOUS QUOTES
(On President Barack Obama, and his trying of changing the world/society) “I think he’s certainly trying. I have a soft spot for anyone who’s trying to shake things up. I think he’s encountered a lot of opposition. He’s done some things well, and he’s done some things, not as well. I’m sure he’s learning a lot. But I do appreciate the fact that I do, feel like he is trying to tackle a lot of issues all at once… and I appreciate that. ”
(On whether he thinks President Obama deserves a 2009 Nobel Peace Prize) “I think he certainly deserves to be in the conversation. I don’t know if I’d go so far as to say that – that I would be throwing my hat in the ring. At the same time, I’m definitely not anti. Because I do appreciate that – I really feel like he is trying to exact change – and that’s something that I’d like to support.”
“I’d like to live in a foreign environment, somewhere where I don’t speak the language. Second, I’d love to take a two-week trip to surf places I have never surfed. Third, learn a trade I have never experienced, like how to build a car – something totally different than music.”
“I like to build things with my hands, wood, you know. I just like the tangible rewards of spending a day swinging a hammer, and then you step back and you’ve actually built something. Very different from music. Music’s much more of err… well it’s hard to put your finger on what you did. You’re recording a song, but at the end of the day it’s not really tangible or physical. So I like the contrast of having something physical. It’s kind of how I balance out what I do with the rest of my time.”
“That’s what we all love about live music and going to see a band. You never know what is going to happen. I think we feed off that reckless type of approach, where anything can happen.”
Fan: “What’s the weirdest thing you’ve ever signed?”
Tim: “Um. I signed the hood of a car once. That was pretty weird…”
“We have been known to snowboard here and there.”