“Letdown” isn’t a word you’d normally associate with a band on top of the charts, but in Switchfoot’s case, their smash-hit Beautiful Letdown CD was beautiful indeed. The San Diego band’s third release catapulted them far beyond their local fame, thanks in no small part to primetime television airplay — including MTV, who latched onto their singles “Dare You to Move” and “Meant To Live.”

“We’ve been touring non-stop for two years since The Beautiful Letdown was released,” says Switchfoot drummer Chad Butler. Midway into the tour, Chad added a new set of Roland V-Drums to his road rig. “My friend Mario Calire from the Wallflowers had brought a V-Drum kit to work on demos on the road, so I got the new V-Pro kit and was amazed by the playability of the new hi-hat, and the depth of control that the new TD-20 brain had. We set it up backstage in the dressing room and created a rehearsal rig for recording demos.”

One example of how the V-Drums are being used live is on the song “This is Your Life.” Chad tells us that “the recognizable electronic kit sound” is from the V-Drums. “I assigned the hat, snare, and kick sounds to the three pads. The sounds are great. I also use the Brass Biggie [modeled snare], and love tweaking the amount of snare buzz. It’s amazingly natural sounding.”

Switchfoot keyboardist Jerome Fontamillas relies on Roland gear as well. “For my live setup, I use the MC-909. It has great sounds and the flexibility to trigger samples on the fly. On a side note, my first keyboard was a Roland Juno-106.”

Both Chad and Jerome are anxious to get started on the next Switchfoot CD. “One ‘problem’ with having a successful record,” says Chad, “is that you don’t get to put out any new material until the current one runs its course on the radio. So naturally we’ve been itching to work on new songs, but are not having time to get off the road and record.”

As the band sails through Los Angeles on a whirlwind tour that includes an appearance at the American Music Awards, Chad leaves us with this comment about his experience using Roland instruments: “Rugged, roadworthy, great-sounding gear that inspires great music!”

For more on Switchfoot, visit their official site at www.switchfoot.com.