Thanks to stalking out American indie band Switchfoot while they were here in Singapore last week, we now know stuff about ‘em that you don’t know about!

  These folks love barbequed stingray and laksa. Who doesn’t!

Hear, hear. The guys from Switchfood love da Singaporean foot. Okay, we were fooling around with you there, we meant that Switchfoot loves Singapore food. Contrary to what most people think, they don’t really miss American cuisine back home when they go on tours. I mean, they’ve got their entire lives to eat that, right? We figure they’re into the whole exotic local flavour thing, and from what we gather – they like it hot and spicy.

Said bassist Tim Foreman during a media conference here last week, “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. We just leave all that at home and try the local fare."

Guitarist and funnyman Drew Shirley might just set up a sugarcane juice factory back home in San Diego

Drew couldn’t stop gushing about sugarcane juice. I swear he must have said the word ‘sugarcane’ just about five times during the conference.

“I’m (going to) start a sugarcane juice factory,” he said. “They would love it in San Diego. Buy one of those rolling machines; you know, some lemon in there – it’s gonna be a big hit. Thank you Singapore.”

Did you know!? Keyboardist Jerome Fontamillas used to milk cows before he was in the band!

How about that! A milking man in a famous band! Now here’s a man who’s really good with his hands. We’ve also learnt (unofficially) that Jerome is currently cutting a hip-hop/dance album. A multi-faceted musician! We likey.

Let’s just say his plans to take over the world might just come in handy. When someone in the room asked if the band wanted to take over the world with their music, Jerome quipped, “That’s why they asked me to be in the band”, much to everyone’s amusement. He’s no stranger to new cultures, he’s of Filipino descent, you see. Just like Apl.de.ap.

 Switchfoot likes to play Guitar Hero 2 and Tony Hawk Skating games

Well, no surprise there, since more than half the band plays the guitar. We figure they must be really really good. As for Tony Hawk skating games… Well, they surf good, so we doubt virtual skating would be too difficult for them. Gaming on the go is their style, having armed themselves with a mobile Wii console on the bus.

Drummer Chad Butler admitted that they might be better at their day jobs though: “I think we actually (might) probably only (be) good at the Guitar Hero, the uh – what’s the new version? Rock Band?” Drew added, “Guitar Hero is awesome!”

We think he might have been referring to Tony Hawk’s Proving Ground. As far as we know Mr Hawk doesn’t have a Playground yet.

Jon plays Tetris and likes White Rabbit Candy

Speaking of games, lead singer and guitarist Jon Foreman added, “I play Tetris a lot on the plane.” Well I’ll be damned! We play – well actually I play – tetris a lot. Anyway he‘s taken a liking to that damned retro local sweet White Rabbit Milk Candy too, which is a funny thought because I actually thought I was getting too old for that. Also, Jon likes reading books and poetry to draw inspiration for his music, since he acts as one of the primary lyricists in Switchfoot. What an intellectual hobby.   (Ed’s note: Tetris AND White Rabbit Milk Candy? Ben, you could be Jon. Doppelganger!)

Bassist Tim Foreman likes building things from scratch in his free time

As I type this down the Bob the Builder song kept playing over and over in my head. Strangely ‘Tim the Builder’ sounds very fitting too. I reckon it’s the three-letter name thing. ‘Ben the Builder’? Nice.

Anyway, Timmy said, “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.”

‘Building’ stuff as a hobby just makes Tim seem that much more down-to-earth. Not that he isn’t, of course. Besides being the youngest in the band, Tim is also significantly smaller than the rest of the band. Thus I have affectionately crowned him as…

TINY TIM! He may be small, but Tiny Tim packs quite a punch. He’s a real kickass bassist.

  They play dead really, really well

While rocking to the song ‘American Dream’ during their concert last Thursday, the whole Switchfoot gang suddenly froze in mid-song, each hanging lifelessly in their respective “poses” – all of which were rather tastefully done. Jerome had his hand high up in the air in an almost Superman-like pose, Drew had his head low while crouching in a guitar-ripping stance, Jon was clutching his mic with poise, Chad had both drumsticks in the air and Tim seemed like some cut-out figure of a guitar strumming action hero.

After a couple of minutes of life in still motion…

They rocked on in unison, jamming to a harmony so precise it knocked the crowd off their feet. While most of the audience was bewildered as to what in the world was happening, they soon caught on, waiting patiently for the band to break out of their immobile stance.

Do not for a second be fooled into thinking that Switchfoot is one of em’ one-hit-wonder bands like *ahem* Hoobas *ahem* tank. While Switchfoot is more well-known for singles such as ‘Meant to Live’ and ‘Dare You to Move’, they have a string of brilliant tunes like ‘On Fire’, ‘Stars’, ‘American Dream’ and my personal favourite ‘Twenty-Four’.

What’s most impressive about Switchfoot is how amazingly good these guys sound  during their live sets. According to Tim, Jon is “very good at feeling out the crowd and giving them what they want”, something which proved to be the key difference between them and lesser bands as the local audience enjoyed themselves thoroughly at their gig here.                          

The night ended on a high as Switchfoot closed off a memorable first-time-ever in Singapore with ‘Dare You to Move’. We wish the band further success with their upcoming album!

PHOTOS: FELICIA TAN

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