Switchfoot 'Fading West' into the Rio Theater Thursday

 Inspiration, vulnerability, the ocean and music will all come together on the big screen as Grammy Award-winning band Switchfoot rolls into town.

The band will be screening their feature film, “Fading West”, and performing a full set of songs throughout a 43-city tour, stopping in Santa Cruz on Nov. 7 at the Rio Theater.

 “Fading West,” named after the band’s upcoming ninth album, follows the member’s lives as surfers and musicians while they journey around the world in search of inspiration. As three of the five Switchfoot members grew up surfing, the sport holds a big role in the film, with pro surfers Tom Curren and Rob Machado making appearances.

  “[There is a] big correlation between the inspiration of being in the water and our music,” said the gregarious Switchfoot guitarist and keyboardist Jerome Fontamillas in a phone interview while in Texas.

  In addition to following their surfing and travels, the film allows fans to see through a window of vulnerability and connect to the band on a more personal level. “I think the fans get a better grasp of who we are as a band. They see who we are in a deeper way,” said Fontamillas.

  The film was a way to open themselves up to the world as well as explore their inner selves. Fontamillas considers the vulnerability of opening up the most intimidating factor of the whole process.

  “The idea of being vulnerable: opening up your heart, opening up who you are. It’s always tricky because you’re always putting up this wall, in front of people. You want people to see you a certain way, but to really find out who you really are, you have to let that wall down.”

  “Fading West” shows the audience what they don’t normally see from the band —including their goofier side.

  As they tour the film and their latest three-song “Fading West EP” —a preview to their 2014 release— the band hopes to bridge the gap between themselves and their fans. Switchfoot’s set will feature a question and answer period in hopes of engaging their fans in a dialogue.

  “You come out [seeing] what you wouldn’t normally see in a regular concert.  We’re a little more personal, we reach out,” said Fontamillas.

    Another form of reaching out was through their music. In the year and a half of filming and traveling the world, the band’s quest to find inspiration was fulfilled and transcribed into music. The band was too eager for fans to hear their new material to wait until January—hence the “Fading West EP” released on Sep. 24.

  One of the standout tracks, and Fontamilla’s favorite is “Love Alone Is Worth the Fight.”  The song is about a “journey through trials and coming out of it stronger,” Fontamillas said.  A summer-esque song with a building keyboard melody to hook people in, woah-ohs to to sing along to, and a tone of liberation resonating throughout as guitars wind up and crash down.

  A hard second is the lethargic, bass-driven “BA55,” offering a slightly perturbed tone as dizzy synthesizers circle distorted guitars, that engulf Jon Foreman’s murky vocals as he sings “and then my soul flies.”

  Both tracks are expected to be performed at their Santa Cruz show, along with old fan favorites like their 2003 radio hit “Meant to Live.”

  No stranger to Santa Cruz, the band has performed at The Catalyst several times before, always met with success.  Fontamillas, who spent four years of his adolescence studying at Monterey Bay Academy, is happy to return to his youth hotspots including Capitola, the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk and Pizza My Heart.

  “It’s always nice to go to my old stomping grounds. It’s been really cool.”

  The screening for "Fading West" starts at 7:30 p.m., doors at 6:45 p.m.

  Tickets are available at www.ticketweb.com and at Tomboy store located at 1207 Soquel Ave. for $31/General Admission, $37/VIP.