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The Switchfoot phenomenon is a curious one.

On one hand, the five-piece rock band from San Diego is selling out secular venues across the country, as it has The Bijou Theatre in downtown Knoxville for a Saturday night performance. The group's most recent album, last year's "Oh! Gravity," charted as high as No. 18 on Billboard's Top 200 Albums chart, and there's no denying that Switchfoot's high-energy, fist-pumping brand of rock is something that's almost impossible for anyone who hears it not to get caught up in.

On the other hand, the band has been something of a favorite among Christian rock fans as well. Switchfoot's last three albums have all charted at No. 1 on the Christian charts, and the band has accumulated a total of eight Dove Awards, the Christian music industry's version of the Grammys.

The conundrum might puzzle fans from both camps, but for the band members themselves, it's all part and parcel of who they are.

"First and foremost, I think it's an incredible honor to be associated with Christ, and certainly as individuals and as a band, we've always been very open about our faith, and it's a big part of who we are," bassist Tim Foreman told The Daily Times in a recent interview. "Yet I feel like at the moment you try to put your faith in your back pocket and market that, it seems like it's very limiting to who feels like they can listen to the songs. Music has always been something that has pulled people together opened them to new ways of thinking.

"With any label you can put on our music, I hate to think that would limit the scope of what we're trying to do or limit who we play these songs to. I feel like as a band, we're no different than most people — we're on the journey and we're wrestling with issues as we go, and a lot of songs are about more about things we don't understand than the things we do. Music is a safe place to open up a dialogue and not feel like we have to put the pen down at the end of the song.

"If there's any finger-pointing going on in our music, it's always pointing at our own chests," Foreman added. "We're asking, 'Why can't I get it together? Why can't I figure it out?' And it's an honor to take a song that's very personal and find out it means something else to somebody on the other side of the world."

The band was originally founded in 1996 as a group called Chin Up, with members vocalist Jon Foreman, his brother Tim on bass and drummer Chad Butler. After playing only a few shows, the guys were signed to re:think Records, changed their name to Switchfoot (a surfing term; the sport is a favorite among the Southern California lads) and released three albums — "The Legend of Chin," "New Way to Be Human" and "Learning to Breathe," which was nominated for a Grammy for Best Rock Gospel Album.

In 2002, the band catapulted to stardom thanks to the use of its music in the Mandy Moore film "A Walk to Remember." Thanks to the exposure, the group's major-label debut, "The Beautiful Letdown" (released in 2003), would go on to sell almost 3 million copies. Suddenly, the members (now including guitarist Drew Shirley and guitarist/keyboardist Jerome Fontamillas) found themselves touring the world, playing to thousands and faced with success they could have never imagined.

For many young guys, such an accomplishment would be more than enough reason to heartily embrace the rock 'n' roll lifestyle. The guys in Switchfoot, however, answered a higher calling, Foreman said.

"For me, music has always been about being a part of something bigger than myself, whether that was when I was 12 years old going to punk rock shows and feeling like I was part of a bigger community or listening to Bob Dylan and being turned on to a new way of thinking and looking at life," he said. "Music has gotten me through a lot of hard times, and I think that's something we're conscious of as a band. We're not being overly idealistic about changing the world with rock songs, but we're aware of taking what we've been given and making the most of it.

"It's a funny thing because it sounds selfish to say it, but you have to write for yourself. If you don't believe it, nobody's going to believe it, and it's an amazing honor to feel like people are connecting with the music. At the end of the day, that's a goal, but before anyone else hears it, you have to decide, 'Do I love it or do I hate it?' And if you don't love it, you shouldn't put it out, and if someone else doesn't love it, that shouldn't change your opinion of it."

With the success of "Oh! Gravity," released in December to a warm critical reception and a huge response from fans, the band is considering what the next step will be, Foreman said. There's always the annual surfing contest (the Switchfoot Pro Am) the band holds every hear in San Diego to benefit a local charity, and there's always the next record. But as far as the five members of Switchfoot are concerned, the sky is the limit.

"I look back to our first record, and it was written from a 19-year-old's perspective of grappling with issues that are not entirely different from what we deal with today, but from a different worldview," he said. "Having traveled the world a lot more and seeing a lot more things, we've been talking a lot lately about how to use our platform for things a lot bigger than Switchfoot. That's something we've always tried to do, but we're learning how to do that better.

"We've been a band for a long time, and now feel like we have a freedom to say, 'What do we want to do for the next two or three years?' Do we want to play at clubs, or prisons? Do we want to go to South America and work in orphanages? The sky's the limit, and what we're excited about is bringing our music to less likely places where the music is maybe secondary."