A LONG WAY TO ROCK
The campus roots of SWITCHFOOT .
BY JARRETT HALEY
↗ THIS IS CHAD BUTLER ’ 97 , drummer for the Grammy awardwinning , San Diego-based band , SWITCHFOOT . Or better yet — the UC San Diego-based band !
It all started in a Revelle dorm : “ I remember Jon writing our first single ; he was sitting on the floor with his acoustic guitar playing this song about a chemistry class . We put that song — Chem 6A — on our first album . Even now on tour , other UCSD alumni we meet say , ‘ I know what that song ’ s about . I took that class .’”
( Left ) The band as students : Jon Foreman , Chad Butler ’ 97 and Tim Foreman ; ( below ) rocking Price Center .
They played premier venues too , like … the Price Center ! “ They would have bands every Friday or something . To play on that stage as a UCSD student , in front of probably 50 people , I was like , ‘ Wow , this is big time .’”
But you may have known them by a different name . “ At first we were called Chin Up , but we switched names and announced it during a concert at the Pub : ‘ Hey , thanks for coming out to see us . Until now we ’ ve been called Chin Up , but we ’ re changing our name to … SWITCHFOOT !’ And it was just crickets . People were like , ‘ What ? What ’ s a switchfoot ?’”
It ’ s a surfing thing — standing opposite your natural position . “ It ’ s an awkward stance — something you ’ d do if you were clowning around with your friends . But for us , it was great . We thought , let ’ s go with this name that reminds us of surfing . Now , 20 years later , we ’ re still called that . I love it .”
46 TRITON | SPRING 2021