My Switchfeed

Earlier this week, the Fiction Family album was leaked on an unofficial fan-made soundcloud account. Since then, the page has been removed by management, but copies are still roaming tumblr. If you have re-blogged a track, please delete the post, and if you know of any audio posts, please ask the blogger to remove them.

Also, I've seen a few examples of this and it needs to stop as well: leaving nasty anonymous messages to tumblr users will not help the issue. Most of these users did not know the track was leaked unofficially.

-Alex

The Fiction Family leak is NOT official. It's NOT okay to share/upload/record any tracks you managed to get during the hours the album was out. The leak was not "okayed" by anyone connected to Fiction Family. I contacted Jon about it this morning and he immediately acknowledged that this was not supposed to happen and needed to come down. PLEASE stop sharing these tracks! PLEASE do not search for them. PLEASE respect Fiction Family enough to allow them to release the songs when THEY want to, in THEIR time frame.

Track 5, "Vice Verses (Darren King of Mutemath Remix)" off of Switchfoot's newest EP, "Vice Re-Verses."

Track 3 off of Switchfoot's newest EP, "Blinding Light (Adam Young of Owl City Remix)."

541 posts. 213 pages. 956 comments.

Over the course of the last year, I've worked alongside many of you in an effort to build up My Switchfeed - the Switchfoot, Jon Foreman, and Fiction Family fansite. Recently, in the midst of our construction, the idea I've had for a while came to full view as an overwhelming amount of you left feedback. The common thread weaving through my thoughts and the responses from you indicate one main point: what differs us from any other fansite?

Mirroring our friends over at Land of Broken Hearts, lately I've been building up the site into exactly them, in a quest to find a purpose. Most of you commented that Switchbeats and the bringing back of the 'soldiers was something you loved, and something that contained a reason - and so after hard thought and discussion, I've decided that I'm going to be heading into it full time.

Starting today, not only will I be working with other fansites to manage Switchbeats, but will be publishing a weekly promotional column over at LOBH on how the singles/albums are doing. In addition, sometime in the next few months, I'm set to launch a fansite for the band Tenth Avenue North. While I'm still working on a name, I'm gathering information for the site - if you ever want to help me out over there, I'd much appreciate it.

It would stink to have to never speak to any of you again, so I'm glad that's not the case. I'll be over at the Switchfoot Boards, LOBH, Switchbeats, and almost any other place you can think of. As I move yet again to another chapter, it's nice to know I'll still be keeping the support and friendship gained from you all.

Yes, after one year, My Switchfeed is closing down - but in reality, I'm just moving along. Things will still be the same. It's all wrong, but it's alright.

Did you know? My Switchfeed's first post, while it was lost in the transfer to Wordpress, was a recording of "Chem 6a." It's all wrong, but it's alright.

Yeah, this is officially a “lost interview.”

Back in December 2011, I sent over the interview, hoping to uncover additional details on the project. Along the way, something odd occurred in my email, and the response was replaced with a period. The other day, I re-emailed Alex about information on a release date, and was told that the responses were sent over. He graciously forwarded them to me, and here we are!

(Jon is contributing two songs to the “For The Sender” project, “Unbroken” and “Never Alone.” He performed them at the first show back in January. Preview snippets of the songs are available on the FTS website).

My Switchfeed: Do you plan on making the book and CD available online for purchase? If so, when? Around the time of the performance? (the interview was sent over before the first January performance)

Alex: Absolutely. Will likely be available in September. Until then we’ll be releasing videos from the live performance.

My Switchfeed: Is the book a compilation of the letters and songs, or is it about the project itself?

Alex: It’s both, including my own story woven through the letters and lyrics.

My Switchfeed: Do you plan on continuing the project with more letters you receive through the PO box listed on your site? If so, will you open “For the Sender” to other singers/songwriters, or continue with the group you’ve established?

Alex: Yes, we will continue the project… As fa as who is involved, I’m going to let the process dictate who contributes. In other words, we’ll see!

My Switchfeed: Why do you ask for letters to be handwritten instead of typed or emailed? Do you find that more emotion comes through in a handwritten letter?

Alex: In this age of instantaneous expectation, writing something out by hand really makes you think about what you’re communicating. I think we need more of that.

My Switchfeed: Definitely. Will there be any “For The Sender” performances in the future, or outside of San Diego?

Alex: Yes! Details coming soon. We’ve done three shows so far and they’ve all sold out… Best bet is to get on the mailing list so you’ll know about tickets.

My Switchfeed: I noticed that you mentioned how everybody has a different perspective in their songwriting. Was there a common thread you found in the songs that wove all the artists’ sounds together?

Alex: There was a deep thread of hope running through the songs… I’m not sure how much of that was my influence and how much was brought inherently to the table in other people’s writing. Regardless, that’s what we ended up with. A lot of hope.

Tonight, Switchfoot is kicking off their Spring Tour with special guest The Rocket Summer over in Norfolk, VA. The tour will run from today to May 27, and the guys will be heading all over the country. If you haven’t yet, be sure to check out dates and purchase tickets if they’re near you.

We sat down exclusively with Bryce Avary (AKA The Rocket Summer) for a quick interview regarding the upcoming tour. Take a look:

My Switchfeed: Hi Bryce! Thank you for taking the time to do this. Question 1 – How did you get involved with Switchfoot?

Bryce: Well, we have played several of the same festivals and recently played a show together back in October in Arizona which was amazing. I have known the guys for quite a while since we end up touring some of the same venues and have some of the same friends.

My Switchfeed: What’s your favorite Switchfoot song?

Bryce: So many good ones. If I had to though, it would be Awakening.

My Switchfeed: Nice! Give us a description of your dream tour – the venues, the bands, the fans, etc.

Bryce: My dream tour… I think you are looking at it!

My Switchfeed: Fill in the blank – If I didn’t pursue music, I would be a ____.

Bryce: Photographer!

My Switchfeed: We have a few totally random, crazy questions to see what kind of a person you are – first one: coke or pepsi?

Bryce: Coke

My Switchfeed: Dogs or Cats?

Bryce: Dogs definitely! My lab Reecie might as well be my child. She’s so great.

My Switchfeed: Snow or Sunshine?

Bryce: Sunshine

My Switchfeed: Last one! What’s next for The Rocket Summer?

Bryce: Brand new album coming JUNE! I couldn’t be more excited for this new season. Can’t wait to kick it off right with my buds in switchfoot. Thanks for the interview and I’m stoked to meet y’all out on the road!

Even though we're still under construction, our weekly "Afterlife" results are here - this is the basic week summary:

#23 on Mediabase Alternative

#26 on Alternative Billboard Charts 

#8 on the Christian Rock Billboard Charts

#33 on Christian Billboard Charts

#40 on Mediabase Christian Charts (NEW!)

#49 on Rock Billboard Charts

We have entered the Rock Billboard Charts, but since we're so low, we do not appear on the basic pre-release charts. We find out our spot on those charts tomorrow - check back on our facebook/twitter page for info. (UPDATE: The single is now #49 on Billboard Rock Charts [+1 from last week]).

And detailed results:

Billboard Alternative Chart

Current Position: #26

Last Week's Position: #25

Song Plays: 361 (+22 from last week)

Other Feats: None

Mediabase Alternative Chart

Current Position: #23

Last Week'€™s Position: #23

Song Plays: 406 (+37 from last week)

Other Feats: 1 new Mediabase station add this week.

Mediabase Christian Chart

Current Position: #40

Last Week's Position: #52

Song Plays: 71 (+29 from last week)

Other Feats: 1 new Mediabase station add this week.

Christian Rock Billboard Chart

Current Position: #8

Last Week's Position: #3

Song Plays: 211 (-20 from last week)

Other Feats: None

National Christian Billboard Chart

Current Position: #28

Last Week'€™s Position: #33

Song Plays: 840 (+156)

Other Feats: None

C'mon and Request!

Promotional material is up on Switchbeats! Keep spreading the word and requesting "Afterlife."

Let's start off with a quick "Afterlife" update - the single has entered the Billboard Rock Chart at #50!

Great news! The single has been gaining steady airplay on these two rock stations, so head over and encourage them to keep playing!

Find and check Switchfoot'€™s "€œAfterlife"€ - The only thing that you'€™re required to fill in is your name and the confirmation code.

WMMR FM KFRR FM

The guys have been having fun during their time off. Chad's been roaming San Diego (uh oh) and Tim and Jon have been...um..."partying."

"This definitely did not happen." (Credit: Jon Foreman)

"Nothing beats baseball #openingday!" (Credit: Tim Foreman)

"California in Spring...." (Credit: Chad Butler)

Nice. The tumblr contest for "Afterlife" will be ending soon! We're at 163 reblogs, and 10 winners will be selected to win an exclusive 'Afterlife' poster. Reblog THIS video to win! If you're on twitter, be sure to participate in "Come Alive", the twitter artwork contest. 5 winners will win a poster! Learn more HERE.

Is Switchfoot working with ESPN again? Tom Pelissero, senior editor of the ESPN website, made a (mean) comment about the guys:

Promotion on ESPN = Good. Negative SF comments = GET HIM.

The band "A Lion Named Roar" is opening (along with The Rocket Summer) for Switchfoot on April 15 in IN:

Tickets for the show are available HERE. Speaking of the April 15 show, The Starpress posted an article on the band HERE.

Noted for their energetic live shows, Switchfoot has received many awards, including recognition at the San Diego Music Awards, GMA Dove Awards and the Grammy award in 2011 for "Best Rock Gospel Album" for their seventh studio album, Hello Hurricane.

Jon Foreman sighting! Sean Watkins tweeted that he was featured in the new Watkins Family Hour podcast, and sure enough, there he was! Head on over to iTunes HERE to see Jon join on "Go Tell It On A Mountain" and "Just Rob Me."

Switchfoot sighting! Vice Verses has been featured playing on a new Logitech speaker: (Thanks LOBH)

 

Don't forget to request to 2 stations today!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO US!

One year ago from Monday, I created an account named "myswitchfeed" on a blogging site called tumblr. Since then, over 50,000 of you have visited us via tumblr and wordpress! It's hard to believe that it's been one year already. So today, in celebration of us, we'll be taking you through a timeline of history for this special birthday post.

(Yeah, it's Thursday, and our official anniversary was Monday...but i've been away and super busy, so chill).

Starting Out

On April 2, 2011, I dove into the switchfoot world for the first time as I created a fan blog on Tumblr called "My Switchfeed." Within an hour, we had our first follower! This was our first post:

4/2/2011: My Switchfeed opens!

My Switchfeed, the unofficial fan blog for Switchfoot, is now open! Check back often for band news, pics, videos, quotes, songs, interviews, and much more!

That wasn't the worst of it. I still cringe every time I look through our archive.

This is what the site looked like just after we launched:

Those were some HEAVY three pages, eh? Our theme changed mid-April:

At that point, only about six pages existed on the site:

I had developed "Weekly News Podcasts" - weekly videos which summed up the week in switchfoot news. The concept was killed in June 2011. This was the opener for the podcasts:

Our early twitter account:

And our very first social networking icon:

Do we finally know what we're doing?! Well...we're getting there.

After the Vice Verses album art was released in mid-June 2011, we had our first makeover!

We also re-did our blog for the 2011 Bro-Am:

A screenshot of our LENGTHY song of the week: (sarcasm)

We also kept a site counter in the "about" page, ticking off the time to Vice Verses....

Oh yeah, that's a pretty looking HTML widget. Heh.

This was my favorite tumblr layout. We used it from early July to late September:

In those days, our posts were short & sweet. Instead of long compilation posts, each piece of news had its own separate area, which made it easier for Tumblr folks to re-blog and share the word.

Right before the release of Vice Verses, we updated for the last time on tumblr:

And then, we rocked your world (um...kinda) by announcing that we would be leaving tumblr! This was our moving post:

Hey everyone! I have some exciting news for you today. First off, please use the myswitchfeed.tumblr.com domain until further notice instead of the .com one.

We are leaving Tumblr.

What???!!! Our main site, myswitchfeed.com, will be upgrading to a WordPress site within the next few days. This will mean better updates, pages, downloads, everything. I’ll let you know when the site’s up and running.

We aren’t forgetting about you Tumblr folks.

For every update on the myswitchfeed.com site, it will be streamed to your dashboard. So be sure to follow myswitchfeed.tumblr.com to get all the updates!

This is a very exciting time for us and i’m so glad you guys are here to help!

gracias!

-Alex

Back to Square One

And we were off! Everything I had come to know about Tumblr was lost as I began to dive into code and settings in unfamiliar territory. While we were under construction and testing out things, this was what our site looked like:

Yikes. We then proceeded to officially open the site! My friend Kourtney began writing for the Song of the Week around this time, and October rolled around quietly as the year continued. My Switchfeed was being completely redone in content - everything from the biographies to the features were being upgraded. Since then, we have added hundreds of pages deep in the site, containing archives, downloads, songs, artwork, information, and much more. Here's what we looked like for the beginning of October, carrying on our Tumblr theme:

Before we knew it, it was Jon's birthday!

And then Halloween came in:

This is what our Twitter account looked like around that time:

Christmas came! We finally began to get the hang of it as our pages were once again redone with better HTML coding.

And the snow melted away to reveal Spring!

This is what the site looks like as of today:

Again, it's difficult to believe that it's already been one year. In that time, we've gathered about 50,000 site visitors, 300,000 video views, almost more video subscribers than Jon Foreman, hundreds of fams communicating with us on social networks, and made friends with more of you than I would've ever thought possible.

Over the course of the year, I've come to know so many of you, and instead of drowning you in cheesy speeches, I'm just going to leave it at a "thanks" for all you do. You rock!

On that note, I have another announcement - it's time for another site construction project! Over the next few weeks, massive changes are coming to our pages, and we're going to be completely starting over from scratch and re-designing the site. More details will be coming soon.

Happy Birthday to Us!

-Alex