The three original members of Switchfoot — guitarist and singer Jon Foreman, his brother and bassist Tim Foreman and drummer Chad Butler — met through the enjoyment of sports. Enjoyment of music, however, has led the members of the group to where they are now.

“We grew up in San Diego going to high school and college together,” says drummer Chad Butler. “We kind of met through the surfing community down there. That was a big part of our lives, back in the day.”

Butler says the band members were pretty active surfers, but never ended up being able to do it professionally.

“We were amateurs, but competitive amateurs,” Butler says. “We grew up with a lot of guys that went professional, and we went into music.”

Butler says the band formed when its members were in college. They’ve been working hard pursuing their musical dream ever since.

“Eventually, we put out some albums and started touring,” he says. “We’ve been a hard-working band for years. We’ve played about 150 to 200 shows the last few years, playing in the sweaty rock clubs for anyone who would listen.”

Butler says the transition between Switchfoot’s 1997 debut album, “Legend of Chin,” and current album, “The Beautiful Letdown,” was made much more smoothly, because the band had the experience of being on an indie label before going mainstream.

“We had a lot to learn, and I’m glad that we were able to kind of learn the ropes before we got signed to a major and started getting on the radio and MTV and all that stuff,” Butler says. “What’s funny, it’s like over the last year, it’s not selling a million records or playing stadiums that keeps us going. It’s those sweaty rock clubs for 1,000 kids who are singing at the top of their lungs. That’s what we live for. That’s what keeps us excited.”

Butler says the situation behind the band getting signed was very convenient and allowed the band to hold on to its artistic creativity.

“We had recorded ‘The Beautiful Letdown’ without a major label,” Butler says. “That’s actually the cool part about the story, is that we were able to have artistic control and not feel any corporate pressure in the creative process. But then, once we were done with the album, they liked it so much, they got behind us and put it out and put it on the radio.”

Butler says he and the Foremans appreciated the freedom they had with the recording process.

“It’s not necessarily a pressure as much as it is, you know, we’re sort of being carried along by this giant of Sony music, which is a good thing,” he says. “We’re having our music put into places where people wouldn’t otherwise be able to hear it. So we’re really passionate about these songs.”

Butler says Switchfoot is still able to perform at clubs on tour, which allows the band members to be able to experience the same intimacy their shows possessed during earlier years.

“We really like the energy of a packed room rather than playing to a half-empty arena,” he says. “We have done a lot of big shows opening for big bands and radio festivals and those kinds of things where there are 50,000 people there. It’s a huge gap between you and the audience. Those are always really impersonal.”

Butler says one of the things he is most grateful for is the opportunities the band members’ parents took in supporting their children musically.

“Luckily, we all grew up in musical families where they appreciated the arts and supported us in what we are doing,” Butler says. “I think that’s rare. Not every kid would get the chance to have their parents take them and buy them a guitar when they are young, or get them a drum set. And we’re really fortunate to have those things around the house.”