The band goes way back with surfing roots . “ Jon and I knew each other a little bit in high school from surfing local contests . But during my sophomore year , I was in my dorm , the Marshall Lowers , when I got a call from Jon ’ s dad asking if I ’ d show Jon around campus . A few days later , this kid shows up at my door , surfboard under his arm . I was the surf team captain then , so I had a key to the gate to Black ’ s — a very coveted thing . So we drove his little Volkswagen Beetle down there and went surfing .”
( It also introduced him to the love of his life .) “ True story — I taught my wife in one of my surfing classes through Rec . That ’ s how I met her . I taught her to surf and then we ended up getting married a couple of years later . It sounds creepy — marrying your student — but I ’ m only a year older than her .”
Is that guy on the left not husband material ? ( No offense , guy on the right …) to swim and play sports and just do new things in general , it becomes so much more . They become more confident , it builds their self-worth , and you can it see happen even in simple things like doing a flip off a diving board . It made a huge impact on us and , eventually , our charity work as a band . The BRO-AM surf contest and foundation we made , for instance , supports local San Diego organizations that work with at-risk youth , especially with programs in music , art and surfing . It ’ s all about supporting the next generation and letting them know they matter .”
Chad Butler rips tasty waves at an empty Black ’ s Beach circa 1995 .
But what if they ’ d never met ? Maybe Butler would have been a doctor ? “ I started off as a bio major , pre-med . I kind of struggled through that path , taking all the science and math , and when I got to O-Chem , I said , ‘ I don ’ t know if I ’ m cut out for this .’ I was taking more music and art classes by then too , and I realized I wasn ’ t in the right major . If I had to do it all over again , I think I would have allowed myself a little bit more freedom to change majors sooner .”
Or a surf teacher … “ My job as a surf instructor through Rec was so great . Seeing the joy of somebody else experience what I ’ ve grown to love is even more fulfilling actually than doing it myself . Teaching all the international students was especially cool — they came from all over the world , and surfing was the main thing they wanted to do here . Being a kind of ambassador for the sport gave me a lot of fulfillment .”
Maybe he ' d be a camp counselor ... “ For a couple summers , Jon Foreman and I were counselors together at Knock Around Camp ( see p . 35 ). In fact , my dream back then was actually to create a kid ’ s camp all about the ocean and surfing and science — the things that I love to do . I even wrote up a proposal for it . If the band hadn ’ t taken off , I was totally into that idea of a kid ’ s camp about surfing and science .”
They found purpose at camp , really .
“ I hadn ’ t really worked with kids at all at that point , but I found that teaching them
I mean , talk about Triton spirit ! “ It just starts with gratitude for what we were given . Growing up in San Diego , experiencing surfing and music — those two things kept me out of trouble . And all of us in the band want to give back because we ’ ve been given so much — the support , education and community we have here . From high school into college and beyond , we ’ re really rooted here in San Diego . Even being all around the world , I know I ’ ll never leave .”
The SWITCHFOOT BRO-AM ( broam . org ) will be held virtually for the second time this June 19 . And there ’ s a lot more stories from the band ' s UC San Diego days — go further behind the music at tritonmag . com / switchfoot-ucsd
Rocking a concert just for Tritons at last year ' s Homecoming @ Home !
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