Getting To Know You — Switch

Artist Name:
Switch

Genres:
Christian, Top 40, Modern Worship

Hometown:
Based in Oklahoma City area

Label:
DREAM Records

Switch is a collective of worship pastors from Life.Church, a multi-site church meeting at 34 physical locations in 10 states and globally at Church Online. As an extension of the church’s mission to lead people to become fully devoted followers of Christ, Switch is passionate about creating modern music that encourages listeners to pursue a relationship with Jesus. Following the success of its first EP, Symphony, Switch was named Billboard’s 2019 Top New Christian Artist and the title track “Symphony” earned the Hot CHR Chart’s #1 Song of the Year in 2019. The group will release its debut full-length album, Symphony, in February 2020.

CCM: Do you have a favorite song from the new album? Why?
Switch: “Count Me In” is a really special song to us all—both lyrically and melodically.

When we wrote it, there were many people in our church, and even people on our staff, who were facing overwhelming odds. One of the lines says, “Even when my legs are weary, I’m not going to give up that easy. Whatever comes, count me in.” It was written as a declaration of victory over the enemy, and it’s our prayer over the global Church.

From a musical aspect, we love that it begins with a simple vocal and a kick drum. It’s not cluttered, busy, or big. There’s no panic in the chorus—just a calm resolve to follow Jesus despite the odds. To us, it sounds like what that step of faith feels like.

CCM: What led you to pursue a career or ministry in music?
Switch: As a group, we’re passionate about creating songs that combine music with the truth of the Gospel. Getting to live out that passion through Switch is really the stuff that dreams are made of. The name “Switch” started with our student ministry at Life.Church, which has the same name. It comes from the idea that at some point in their faith journey, everyone has to make the switch from a religion they’ve heard about to owning their own faith. Even though we created Switch music with our students in mind, we’ve heard from people of all ages that the songs have made a difference in their lives, and ultimately, that’s what we hope for with every song we put out.

CCM: How did you arrive at the name of your new album?
Switch: The album was named for our single with the same name. The song, “Symphony,” is all about finding peace in the middle of chaos. We all experience trials in our lives—that doesn’t change from one generation to the next—but even when we go through those hard times, we can trust that God is weaving together a beautiful symphony. It seemed like a fitting name for our new full-length album since our hope is that people can find comfort in the songs for those moments where they feel out of control and need to be reminded of God’s love and grace.

CCM: What can listeners expect in terms of the sound, style and lyrics?
Switch: All of our songs are essentially faith-filled pop songs. The sound is influenced by Top 40 music, so our melodies sound familiar to anyone who listens to that kind of music. For this album, we worked with Louis Biancaniello who has produced albums for some top mainstream pop artists, which was cool and made it a lot of fun!

CCM: Who are your biggest musical influences?
Switch: Honestly, we find inspiration in so many different places. Our sound is influenced by modern pop music, and we get ideas from our contemporaries, but we’re definitely trying to break musical boundaries with our songs and try new things. We were really digging Top 40 sounds like what you might hear from Halsey, Billy Ilish, and Diplo during the process of writing this album.

CCM: What was the songwriting process like on this record?
Switch: For this album, it feels like we really took a lot of risk and tried to push the envelope compared to what we’ve done before. We played around with melodies that are very different from what we would typically do in a chorus, and the lyrics are even more thoughtful. While the EP was a little more straightforward, we feel like people will really have to pause and listen to some of these songs to fully feel the power behind the lyrics.

CCM: How important is your faith or spirituality within your music?
Switch: As pastors and songwriters, we really believe our purpose through music is to shine light on God’s truth, so our faith is the most important aspect of what we do. Our hope in God is at the core of who we are—as individuals and as a group.

CCM: What message do you hope listeners will take away from your music, regardless of what they believe?
Switch: This album really has a good mix of carefree songs that are easy to listen to, along with songs that speak to deeper issues and the struggles we all go through. That combination of songs is very intentional. When people listen to this album, we hope they will be reminded that Jesus is in everything. Through all the highs and lows, He’s always there, no matter what.