Looking for an example, he turns over his right shoulder and stares out the open window of the restaurant.  We see the sun is starting to peak through the rain clouds, casting a beam of light over the crowd lined up across the street.  Foreman also notices the plethora of entertainment-themed advertisements lining the strip, and then we notice a homeless man sleeping in the garbage at the foot of the billboards.

Taking in the images, Jon reflects, “You have a human being who was created in the image of God, who will spit in the face of the same image, who will kill and murder and steal from that same image.”  His band members nod in agreement.  “I think it was Paschal who said, ‘If you look at the atrocity of man without also looking at the fact that he was created in the image of a deity, you will be depressed.  If you look at the beautiful aspects of man and forget about the terrible atrocities and what it means to be human, then you have not looked at life realistically.’”  Jon says that Switchfoot is trying to find that balance—to sing about the homeless man and the sun coming through the clouds at the same time.

But that’s not the only thing these pseudo- philosophers think and sing about.  “Are we adding to the noise?” is a question you won’t likely find Tonic or Blink-182 asking themselves, but this band wrote a song about it.  “If we’re adding to the noise, turn off this song, turn off the stereo, video...” goes the lyric.  “We live in a pop culture where we’re bombarded with so much that doesn’t matter and is irrelevant,” says Chad.  “I think we all want to do something that’s going to matter.  For me, when I wake up in the morning and go to be Switchfoot, it’s wanting to make music that has an eternal value.”

Tim jumps in our conversation for the first time.  “The other day a friend of mine  posed an interesting scenario.  He said that quite possibly the most beneficial CD for people to hear right now would be a blank CD-R.  They would be forced to not listen to anything for a whole hour, to actually think about life,” he says.  “For a lot of people, we probably are adding to the noise, but I think it’s a good question to ask of ourselves.”
 
A line of people stands outside The Roxy, an intimate setting where Aerosmith and Smashing Pumpkins occasionally return to remember their roots.  Chad Butler previously attended a concert here, while Jerome Fontamillas has actually played the club with bands Fold Zandura and Mortal.

The crowd tonight is eclectic.  Waiting in line for tickets, a girl with too much bleach in her hair claims to be “a total groupie.”