It’s only fitting that a band as sun-soaked as San Diego’s Switchfoot is filming a surfing documentary. While working on the project, the band is on tour with a stop at the Westcott Theater on Friday at 8 p.m. On Sept. 14, The Daily Orange spoke with drummer Chad Butler about working on new music, the band’s current tour and its filmmaking aspirations.

The Daily Orange: How has your documentary “Fading West” been going?

Chad Butler: It’s been going great. We’ve been working on it for nine months, and the inspiration really came from watching U2’s “Rattle and Hum” and “Dumb and Dumber.” We don’t take ourselves too seriously, but we think this is our latest and greatest project. We’ve always wanted to soundtrack a movie, so this way we have control over audio and visual.

 The D.O.: Will the soundtrack feature a more surf-related sound?

CB: Probably not that ’60s jangly guitar people think of when they think about surfing. Our music has really been influenced and inspired by different places we’ve been to on tour. Surfing is a way of life for us and something we like to do while on tour and at home. We have a shared love for the ocean and staring out at the infinite horizon. But, we’re in Pennsylvania right now, and the waves aren’t too good out here.

 The D.O.: When do you think fans will get to see the project?

CB: Next summer is the goal. There’s an annual surfing contest and music festival in San Diego that benefits homeless kids, and during something great like that seems like a natural fit to get it out there.

The D.O.: Do you ever get tired of playing “Meant to Live” or “Dare You To Move” on tour?

CB: No, I love those songs. It’s not the case for a lot of bands, but some of our well-known songs are my favorites. We asked a lot of questions when we wrote those songs, and soul searching never goes out of style. Every night we play these, we sing them to our own souls. We’re changing our set list a lot, but we keep those in there.

The D.O.: How has it been releasing music independently?

CB: It’s an evolving thing. The goal is always to find people who will get the music out there. We’ve always had artistic freedom, but right now we have freedom from deadlines and pressure. We’ve been dreaming of doing a movie for a while, and we finally got the chance to. “Vice Verses” has been amazing to play live, too. Our goal was to make stuff that would sound great live, and we’re proud of the album.

The D.O.: What was the process of your remix album, “Vice Re-Verses,” like?

CB: As a drummer, I really appreciate different rhythms and feelings, so I love collaborating. It’s like giving someone the keys to your car and watching them drive as fast as they can go. J.T. (Daly) of Paper Route, who’s actually on tour with us, remixed a song for it, and he’s been pushing our live show. It’s great to bring one of our favorite bands on tour with us.

Published on September 26, 2012 at 11:03 pm

Contact Erik: ervanrhe@syr.edu | @therealvandyman