• • My final project: Music and Identity
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  • Analysis of Switchfoot and the influence of its music
  • Readings for my project
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The site I created: http://switchfootandidentity.wetpaint.com/

                For my project, I created a wetpaint (wetpaint.com) site on music and identity—concentrating on the band Switchfoot. A brief history of Switchfoot (This was actually written in a previous blog of mine): They are a band originally with a Christian foundation and now an American alternative rock band. Started in 1996 as Chin Up, Jon Foreman, his brother Tim, and Chad Butler were the founders of the current band. Then the band was signed into Re:think records. Because Re:think was originally a Christian giant called Sparrow records, Switchfoot’s music, at the beginning of its career as a band, was labeled Contemporary Christian music. The Legend of Chin, New Way to Be Human, and Learning to Breathe were albums created under Re:think. The band’s success launched it into major record labels, Columbia Records/SonyBMG and Lowercase Labels. The album, The Beautiful Letdown, sold more than 2.6 million copies, putting the band in mainstream competition. The group then went through a drastic change from a “Christian band” to a seemingly secular band with Christian values. They refused to do interviews with Christian organizations and declined offers to be in the CCM magazine. Jon Foreman, the lead vocalist, said that because their original intentions were to reach as many ears as possible, this needed to be done. However, now that they have a huge group of faithful fans, they are no longer reserved about their Christian faith.

                Before I dive into the written component of my project, I’ll tell you how I came upon this project. My original plans for this project were too broad and unrealistic. I desired to create an interactive website open to the public for religious discussion. Way too idealistic. After some questions and prodding from Dr. Campbell, my project idea was honed down drastically. Dr. Campbell realized I was interested in music after my blog posting on Gamelan music http://courseblogs.gardnercampbell.net/sahngeun/2009/03/23/gamelan-music/

Our discussion then drew attention to Christian music with questions like, what is Christian music? What bands are “Christian”? Of course, Switchfoot entered my mind. And bingo. My project idea gave birth.

               I enjoyed working with wetpaint to create a website. I found that I got the hang of it quicker than I thought I would. It reminded me of sites like xanga.com where you don’t have to mess with complicated html stuff. It’s very easy to use! I was even more intrigued to find out how wetpaint actually started http://www.wetpaint.com/page/about/ This all started when one of their friends had cancer. The diagnosed friend went online to find out more about his cancer but could not find what he really wanted—the experiences and input of those with the same illness. And the idea for wetpaint gave birth! They created wetpaint for social publishing—to provide something where you can create “websites that mix all the best features of wikis, blogs, forums and social networks into a rich, user-generated community based around the whatever-it-is that rocks your socks”.

                I chose the layout for this project based on what I thought best represented Switchfoot. Something modern and dark, “real” colors. For aesthetics, I also added a widget “New Gallery Photos”. The main page has the summary of who Switchfoot is and what I intended to do with the website. Below this summary, I created four different links to pages for interviews, music videos, lyrics, and outside readings.

                For the interviews, music videos, and lyrics, the format for the pages are similar. On the left side, I would have resources—youtube videos and lyrics. And on the right side, I would leave my commentary and analysis on the material.

                For the interview page, I stopped commentary after the second video because Tim Foreman explained the identity of their band Switchfoot in 45 seconds. All the other videos were derivations of the same material. From this material, I found that a lot of what Switchfoot members had to say reflected their Christian beliefs and had consistent Christ-like values like humility, desire for ultimate truth, and a desire to reach as many people as possible—not just people within the Christian community. One reason they are not strictly labeled “Christian” is because they do not want to be confined to a box. Tim says, “The moment you put any sort of label on your music, it could limit the scope of who you are as an artist”.

                In the music video portion, I ran into a problem. All of Switchfoot’s music videos cannot be embedded. Dr. Campbell mentioned that this might have something to do with intellectual property rights. But I went on despite this stumbling block and added my commentary to each of the three videos. For all the music videos I’ve encountered from Switchfoot, I was able to derive both a Christian and secular theme. I concluded that this was possible because it was one of Switchfoot’s goals—to be able to relate to a vast audience.

                I particularly enjoyed doing the lyrics page of the website. I got the lyrics from a website called songmeanings.net. I actually innocently stumbled upon this page a couple years ago when I was looking for lyrics to a song on google. I immediately memorized the url to site because I loved the idea. It not only had almost all the songs I could think of, but it also provided the opportunity to give input on the meanings of lyrics and the ability to see what others thought of the lyrics. This website started very much how wetpaint.com began. Here’s the about page http://www.songmeanings.net/about/ Someone was disturbed at the lack of information on the net for a subject. For this, it happened to be song lyrics. Users are able to not only comment but also submit their own lyrics.

Before writing my commentary on the lyrics I posted, I browsed the comments for the selected lyrics on songmeanings.net and found them very insightful. Just like the music videos, I (and fellow commenters on the lyrics) found both secular and Christian views for each song.

For the outside reading page, I just wrote small summaries of how I thought three class readings related to my project and Switchfoot. About the readings…was it just me, or were they dense and hard to read? I honestly had to plow through some of the class readings and read sections over to understand. I think it mostly had to do with technical vocabulary and a lot of things that we had to read were on subject matters that I was unfamiliar with. But class discussions helped me understand the big picture of the readings.

Anyway, that is my project in a nutshell. Again, here is the link http://switchfootandidentity.wetpaint.com/

Self evaluation:

Like most of my fellow classmates, I did not know what to expect of this class. I saw “youtube” in the class name and immediately was interested. I thought it would be more of a hands on class though. The readings were tough for me.

I started off on the wrong foot. I actually got in trouble for missing too many classes (But I did get better!) And I also was slow to catch on to other assignments like blogging, wiki participation, and delicious. Blogging was not new to me but wiki and delicious were. After some prompting, I believe I did improve on everything. I gave extra effort for the class.

I learned a lot from the class. My nature is to listen and observe, but this class required input and outward participation. It was honestly a bit hard for me in this area, but again, I did improve after some prompting. I also learned a lot about aspects of New Media—how there’s a lot more than what meets the eye in technology. I learned about great ideas from great people. I learned to appreciate the computer and web much more.

Overall, I do not regret taking this class. I feel like even my personal progression in the class was a learning experience.

 

 

 

 

All the formatting for the Identity and Music page is done. Now, I need to focus on the real, grimy stuff–commentary and analysis on interviews, music videos, and lyrics. I also added the “Outside Readings’ link and need to add commentary and analysis on that as well.

I should have everything done in time. Most commentary and analysis is already processed in my head; I need to organize and elaborate now in writing.

The paper should also be the same. Because the site I will have finished creating will be the object of my paper, I should not have too much trouble writing about it.

On a side note, I spent a little over half an hour trying to add music playlists to the site but with no avail. The widgets either did not work or did not have the songs I was looking for by Switchfoot.

You can check out the progress if you like:

http://switchfootandidentity.wetpaint.com/#mywetpaint

has gone a long way.

Who knew how complicated the internet is? The tool that seems to be the very center of many aspects of our lives actually started off with technical terms and goals set.

Pg. 797 “The Web does not yet meet its design goal as being a pool of knowledge that is as easy to update as to read.” This has definitely come to life.

I believe, in fact, that all the goals stated have been met.

Just as we do not call the web “W3″, I find it hard to relate to all these technical terms but find it very interesting to see how complex the web really is.

Project: I’m working my way through it. I have technical issues getting some music videos onto the site because all of them seem to have banned embedding.

I thought the boy, Jarish, mentioned in Turkle’s Video Games and Computer Holding Power was interesting. His story is peculiar.

Everything physically described about him and his circumstancees in the physical world make him appear a seemingly hopeless boy with an unsuccessful future. However, it’s revealed that he excels in video games. His skills and techniques in video games are above average.

Now, what can this do for him? Well, obviously, it’s psychologically an esteem booster. Jarish seems to know his circumstances in the “real world” but finds comfort in the balance that he has in knowing and having a growing relationship with video games.

So my question is…Is this healthy? Even though it seems like an esteem booster; in the long run, is it really healthy for Jarish? Where will this get him?

Like Turkle points out, video games do have great benefits–they teach you skills and hone techniques that might come in handy in real life.

But I don’t know. Is it really worth all that time and money and abandonment of reality? Is the outcome enough to outweigh the costs?

I thought the story was interesting overall. I was expecting something more at the end of the story though.

I was expecting Selden Bishop to somehow find a way to crack the Kimon people or something else revolutionary. But instead, it was pages of him thinking things through and coming to a conclusion that isn’t exactly confirmed. All the reader gets is the confirmation from the cabinet–which was kind of creepy.

I finally started up the wetpaint page:

Switchfoot And Identity

I chose a background that I thought matched Switchfoot–it seemed modern.

All I did was add some photos I found online in the gallery, write the summary of my project, and created links that I will be filling with my research.

I will probably only post a few interviews, music videos, and lyrics that I think will highlight the project’s ideas.

Later, I will create another link “Readings” and connect ideas with the readings, which I mentioned previously, to come to a conclusion of the research and results.

Switchfoot, a band originally with a Christian foundation, is now an American alternative rock band. Started in 1996 as Chin Up, Jon Foreman, his brother Tim, and Chad Butler were the founders of the current band. Then the band was signed into Re:think records. Because Re:think was originally a Christian giant called Sparrow records, Switchfoot’s music, at the beginning of its career as a band, was labeled Contemporary Christian music. The Legend of Chin, New Way to Be Human, and Learning to Breathe were albums created under Re:think. The band’s success launched it into major record labels, Columbia Records/SonyBMG and Lowercase Labels. The album, The Beautiful Letdown, sold more than 2.6 million copies, putting the band in mainstream competition.

The group then went through a drastic change from a “Christian band” to a seemingly secular band with Christian values. They refused to do interviews with Christian organizations and declined offers to be in the CCM magazine. Jon Foreman, the lead vocalist, said that because their original intentions were to reach as many ears as possible, this needed to be done. However, now that they have a huge group of faithful fans, they are no longer reserved about their Christian faith.

This project will analyze the lyrics, music, and music videos of Switchfoot. Interviews from Switchfoot and outside readings of New Media will also be used. The aspects of Switchfoot and their music that appear Christian and secular, accordingly to both audiences, will be analyzed. The response will also be informally analyzed through youtube video comments, blogs, etc.

I will be using

“Will There Be Condominiums in Data Space?” by Bill Viola

“The Medium is the Message” by McLuhan

and

“Time Frames” by McCloud

In Viola’s reading, I’ll mainly be comparing how Viola writes about finding questions rather than answers–for Switchfoot said something similar in an interview.

In McLuhan’s I’ll be comparing how his reading is about how the medium is a “window” and how technology affects Switchfoot’s music career. And also how the invention of something represents its creator.

For McCloud’s reading, I’ll be comparing his ideas to how I am analyzing Switchfoot. In the same way McCloud analyzes aspects of comic strips, I’ll analyze Switchfoot’s music, lyrics, and videos.

Here’s another music video by Switchfoot.

Organizing just exactly what I’ll be doing for my project:

1) Create a wetpaint page where I’ll lay out the process of my research.

2) Research on Switchfoot. This will include interviews, music videos, lyrics, webpages, etc.

3) Research on the response of different audiences by reading comments on videos and interviews and perhaps even the quantity of people that watched a certain video.

4) Formulate a paper and response on what I get through research. What exactly is the band Switchfoot trying to do? Are they “Christian”? Are they secular? Are they neither? And see how their message (their portrayal and lyrics) affects listeners.

Awakening-Switchfoot A music video by Switchfoot. Judge for yourself. What do their lyrics and music video mean to you? Can you see both Christian and secular aspects?

After talking to both christian and non-christian friends, I have decided that my previous idea for my class project is a bit over the top. After a few talks with friends, I realized that my idea would very likely cause unnecessary angry debates and negative emotions.

So, as a solution, I was contemplating on creating a site/database with all of Christian contributions to the art of our society. I would include all current artwork, music, writings, etc. Websites, youtube videos, audio clips, etc. are the type of material that will be presented on the site.

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Oh, and the “Deschooling Society” strangely reminds me of communism.

• WP Themes

  • Activate
  • Blindigo
  • Blue Zinfandel
  • Eye Candy
  • Detour
  • Frequency
  • Gladiola
  • Radiance
  • Vertigo
  • Vertigo Squared
  • Wonderland