Switchfoot | 6th Annual Bro-am
urfing, music, non-profits and a day on the beautiful San Diego beach; what could be better? The 6th annual Bro-Am took place just days ago and toted some of the biggest acts of today such as The Almost, OK GO and Bro-Am originators Switchfoot. Once again going beyond the music, the Switchfoot dudes, who admittedly spent more time dreaming of being pro surfers than musicians, have established the Bro-Amas a way to not only have a killer time in the sun but to make an impact on their community. This year the benefit event centers around Stand Up For Kids, an organization that began in San Diego that works with at risk teens. The Foreman brothers along with the rest of Switchfoot join the pros on the waves and even have a surf-jousting competition. The kids get to spend time with their heroes, both in the surfing world and the music world, and everyone gets a great entertaining day catching rays and enjoying tunes. I caught up with Tim Foreman just as he arrived home after a stint overseas. The Switchfoot bassist couldn’t be more excited for the event as he spoke with great enthusiasm, even after a long trip home. You can check out highlights from the 6th annual Bro-Am at www.switchfoot.com.
Give us a brief history of how the Bro-Am got started.
Tim Foreman: This is our sixth year doing it and it started as kind of a dream really that we had been talking about for a lot longer than just six years ago. We talked about putting together a surf contest on the beach for charity and one year we just decided to just kind of go for it. We kind of threw it together as more of a BBQ on the beach kind of vibe with a little scaffolding, nothing fancy. We were blown away with how many people showed up because it was really just a homespun idea that we had. It made us really proud to see our community just really excited about the concept. Everyone really got what it was about which was more than a surf contest or a concert, it was about the community coming together. So ever since that first trial run, it’s just been an amazing event every year and its getting bigger. We’re just so proud of what it has become.
Explain a bit about why you chose Stand Up for Kids as the organization for the Bro-Am to focus on?
TF: This will be our third time working with them, its been three years in a row. We’ve really fell in love with them. When we first found out about what they’re doing. They’ve been active in San Diego for quite some time now. It started in San Diego but they’re actually a national organization. They’re very hands on with the kids that are on the streets and kids in crisis. A lot of these kids in the San Diego chapter we’ve had the privilege of meeting over the years and we know they’re stories that are very unique and tremendous. The people that work at Stand Up have amazing stories themselves, many of them have come from similar situations and are not reaching out to kids in those situations. It’s great to be working with an organization that is so hands on.
For the at risk youth attending this event, what will they experience?
TF: We like to say it’s the perfect day because it at least involves all of our favorite things: surfing, music, the beach in San Diego. It’s a festival on the beach where they’ll be vendors selling food and it’s just a fun time. It’s a lighthearted family friendly kind of event. The level of surfing is actually kind of amazing, a lot of our favorite pro surfers show up to compete so if you’re into surfing that’s kind of amazing to show up and see the level of surfing going on there. The bands this year are really stellar, OK GO, The Almost, Kate Voegele, just a bunch of our favorite musicians. So whether you’re into surfing or music or just want to hang out at the beach, you can’t go wrong.
I’m a northwest kid and I’m definitely not a surfer so explain to me and others like me out there the importance to you of bringing together your music community with your surfing community.
TF: In San Diego, the surf community is definitely a big part of our upbringing. Here we are as this band that has always kind of integrated the lifestyle that comes with surfing and music. They’re both big parts of who we are. We spent a lot more time growing up trying to be pro surfers rather than pro musicians (laughs) so this is our chance to live the dream.
Switchfoot, obviously, has been all around the world, so besides it being your hometown, what draws you to wanting to make an impact in San Diego?
TF: They’re some surprising statistics coming out about San Diego and the surprisingly high level of teen homelessness. The child trafficking them stems from that also is a huge problem. There are a surprising number of kids who have no where else to go. These aren’t kids who have chosen to be homeless. There are a lot of misconceptions about homeless kids. They look like any other kid, they don’t’ want you to know they’re homeless. They’re couch surfing from one house to the next or camping out on the streets. These are kids that come from broken homes or abusive situations or kicked out of the foster system which is flawed in many ways and so Stand Up for Kids offers them a safe place to come and find community and feel like they’re not alone. They get them plugged into jobs and help to start breaking the cycle.
Yeah, it’s staggering to see the amount of homeless down there and how easily it can transition into trafficking.
TF: Yeah, these kids in many ways have been victimized their entire lives even before becoming homeless and now they’re on the streets and it’s a very dire situation. There are a lot of predators.
What are you looking forward to most this year?
TF: Musically, the lineup is the best it’s ever been this year. A lot of our friends are flying in to do it. The level of surfing is probably the best too with Rob Machado, Hobgood, Curran and a lot of surfing heroes showing up so I’m claiming this to be my favorite year yet and it hasn’t even happened yet.
