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Show Switchfoot releases new album Hello Hurrican hits stores Nov. 10 Brittany Marsden StaffWriter Elizondo had on the creation For alternative rock band Switchfoot, and new sound behind Hello their latest album, Hello Hurricane, is Hurricane. cs a new beginning. This new We had a chance to reinvent ourselves with Mike beginning started in 2007 when the band decided to go independent and record what Elizondo, he said in a press release. Good songs can be they call the toughest record they have ever made. played in many different ways and still add up. For me, that Building their own high quality studio San the in their hometown of meant tearing things apart Diego was towards first bands a little bit and, as a result, going independent. step The band had more freedom to experiment Hello Hurricane has some with new sounds without haring to worry of the most aggressive tones about reporting to someone else. weve ever had when it comes There were no rules and no time to guitars and drums. The name of the album constraints, said drummer Chad Butler in a phone interview. We had a blank was inspired by the story of canvas to do whatever we wanted; to create a woman in New Orleans an artistic statement of the new sound of who lost her leg during the Switchfoot. evacuation after Hurricane For the first half of the recording season, Katrina. The band met her Jon Foreman takes a picture of the crowd at Switchfoots 2009 BroAm Benefit Concert in San Diego, Calif the band was living the dream said Butler. when they were helping were to rebuild homes in New working hard, being productive They and chasing every idea. With their newfound freedom, Orleans. At the time the woman was learning to walk bigger than we had dreamed. A turning point in the record came when Switchfoot the band tracked more than 80 songs and allowed on her prosthetic leg. Butler recalls how the woman with themselves to get lost in the music. said she walked out of her house in New Orleans on brought in Mike Elizondo (known for his work However it got to the point that the list of songs Eminem, Pink and Maroon 5) to produce the album, her own two feet, and she was going to walk into her reminded and ofwho reminded He really we were us became so big and overwhelming, it became hard to new house on her own two feet. Switchfoot can that there said certain are us define the kind of album they were going to make, That really was an inspiring story for us, Butler songs only able were said Butler. I think that we at Butler. deliver, said. That spirit of facing the storms of life head on. point heart a focus the us what to on meant most on freedom became that to Butler also said he feels this record is really hopeful songs According to Butler, it was the the challenge. To try and sort through that list and level. It was with that mindset that we were able to and brings a different and uncommon message. make it into one album was difficult, he said. It finally whittle 80 songs down to the 12 that made the Foreman also sees the record as carrying a message of was discouraging at times because we didnt know if record. hope in times of adversity. Jon Foreman (vocalsguitar) also noticed the effect we would ever finish. What we started became much See SWITCHFOOT on page 15 back-to-basi- Macbeth actor profile Conor Montgomery as Macbeth Mathew Wennergren StaffWriter weeks pouring over it. Macbeth, a Shakespearian tragedy, is being produced by Westminster Colleges theater department. The play runs Nov. 12 through 14. Macbeth is a tragedy about a Scottish warrior (Macbeth) who returns home from a battle with a prophecy from three witches that tell him he will be the king of Scotland. Murder, treachery and chaos ensues. Connor Montgomery will be playing Macbeth, a role he views as a once in a lifetime chance. Montgomery was raised in Cedar City, Utah where is father was heavily involved with community theater. I just kind of grew up with it, said Montgomery. In high school he auditioned and played in several productions including The Music Man and a festival cut of Hamlet. One of the other things that he grew up with was Cedar Citys famous Shakespearean Festival, which has won Tony awards for its production of Shakespeares plays. Macbeth will not be Montgomerys first production at Westminster. Among others, he was involved with Tartuffe where he played Orogon, a French aristocrat and Hancock County where he played one of the leads, Josiah. Although Montgomery is not new to theater, he g. I got said auditioning for Macbeth was could and just spent a few every copy of the script that I nerve-rackin- VOLUME XLIII: ISSUE 6 Macbeth, he says, is a challenging role because of the incredibly diverse nature of the character. At the beginning of the play, Macbeth is a model of virtue, but by the end hes collapsed into a murderer, he said. That transformation, Montgomery says, is a tough thing to communicate on stage. Montgomery says he is thrilled to be working with Westminsters theater on this play and has the highest respect for the department. He was very excited that they were doing a Shakespeare production. Its been years since they have done a Shakespeare production, he said. One of the reasons Montgomery loves working with Westminsters theater is the Voughts. That would be Michael and Nina Vought whom Montgomery says he has very high respect for. Nina Vought is in charge of costuming and set design concept. Michael Vought directs many of the plays that Westminster puts on including, most recently, Third. Michael Vought did not direct Macbeth but has helped with the play from the beginning, including bringing in the director, Barbra Smith, to helm the production. One of the toughest things about doing a production of Shakespeare is getting the dialogue right. However there is an interesting element to Shakespeares writing 10 that makes the lines very unique in the world of theater. Montgomery said, Memorizing Shakespeare is basically memorizing poetry and one of the advantages of that is that the lines come off your tongue in a very specific way, if you get it wrong it actually feels strange in your mouth. Montgomery is pulling influence for the role of Macbeth from himself he said, I havent watched any other productions of Macbeth, I just put a lot of myself into it. Something he feels helps make Westminsters theater department stand out. We put a lot of ourselves into the parts we are playing and we all have a huge passion for it. Montgomery also feels a strong connection to the role hes playing in Macbeth. A lot of the aspects of Macbeths character I can relate to, his indecisiveness and he wants to be and powerful while his said. virtue in he In a strange way, tact. keeping Macbeth is what I want to be, except the murdering, power hungry warlord part, in the beginning he is very indecisive about what he wants, but by the end he knows exactly what he wants and how to get it. Macbeth opens on Thursday Nov. 12, with a preview on Wednesday. Montgomery said, Im pretty sure will be blown away by this production. jj? people well-respect- ed |