Foster the People
Foster the People is an American indie pop band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 2009. Its members include founder and frontman Mark Foster and keyboardist Isom Innis.
Foster founded the band in 2009 after spending several years in Los Angeles as a struggling musician and working as a commercial jingle writer. After Foster's song "Pumped Up Kicks" became a viral success in 2010, the group received a record deal from Startime International and gained a fanbase through small club shows and appearances at music festivals. After releasing their debut album Torches in May 2011, "Pumped Up Kicks" became a crossover hit on commercial radio in mid-2011 and eventually reached number three on the Billboard Hot 100. The record also featured the singles "Helena Beat" and "Houdini". The group received three Grammy Award nominations for Torches and "Pumped Up Kicks".
After touring for two years in support of Torches, Foster the People released their second album, Supermodel, in March 2014. It was preceded by the lead single "Coming of Age". In July 2017, the band released their third studio album, Sacred Hearts Club, with the addition of Isom Innis and Sean Cimino, both former touring members, to the official lineup. From this album, their song "Sit Next to Me" peaked at number 42 on the Billboard Hot 100 and was certified quadruple platinum by the RIAA. Between 2018 and 2021, the band released a number of singles, two EPs and one album reissue. A new single titled "Lost in Space" was released on May 31, 2024. Their fourth album, Paradise State of Mind, was released on August 16, 2024, to mostly positive reviews.
History
2008–2009: Background and formation
graduated from Nordonia High School in the Cleveland-Akron suburb of Macedonia, Ohio, in 2002. With his father's encouragement, Foster moved in with his uncle in Sylmar, Los Angeles, California to pursue a career in music. Foster worked various jobs and at night, he attended parties in Hollywood to expand his social network. He said, "I felt like an 18-year-old Hunter S. Thompson. I was just diving into this Hollywood Hills subculture and taking it all in. I wasn't shy about taking my guitar out at a party. I wanted to be the center of attention." Foster struggled with drug addiction during his initial years in Los Angeles, saying, "It got pretty dark. My friends thought I was going to die. I was blind to it. When I was 19 years old, it got to a point where I said, 'Enough is enough'... I saw time was just passing me by. I wasn't being productive."Foster played in several bands, including one with which he auditioned for a record deal in New York. After turning 22, he says he was contacted by Aftermath Entertainment about showcasing his musical talents, but the opportunity ultimately fell through. Foster's first professional experience as a music artist was as lead vocalist on the 2006 song "Breakdown" by the Toques. For the next few years, Foster waited tables at a cafe while dealing with writer's block, but he remained in Los Angeles after landing a job as a commercial jingle writer for Mophonics in 2008. He said of the profession, "I definitely learned from the commercial standpoint what works," and he credited it with reviving his confidence in performing. The music Foster wrote spanned a wide range of genres, but he had difficulty reconciling his eclectic compositions. He explained: "I'd write one song and it'd be a hip-hop song. I'd write another and it'd be heavily electronic. Another would be like a spiritual, and another would be classic piano song. I was constantly trying to pull those elements together. It took me six years to do it." He still wished to be part of a group; reflecting on a residency he did at a venue performing electronic music, he said, "It was just me and a laptop. Really, it was terrible. I knew I needed a band."
Band formation and first shows
Foster the People was born out of a nascent relationship with drummer Mark Pontius, a film school student who left his group Malbec to found a band with Foster in fall 2009. At that time, Foster had released and was playing shows supporting a solo album; Pontius was impressed by the number and diversity of songs that Foster had written to that point, saying, "Some were on the guitar, and some were on the computer. But it was this really awesome singer-songwriter thing with a tricked-out beat, and I felt we could go wherever we wanted with this."Foster the People played their first show on October 7, 2009, at the Dakota Live Music Lounge; they played many of the songs that Foster had written for his solo record. The first iteration of the band was Foster, Pontius, and producer Zach "Reazon" Heiligman. The group soon added a bassist, Foster's long-time friend Cubbie Fink, who had lost his job at a television production company during the recession. Early on, the band performed as a quartet with producer Reazon. Reazon performed live music programming and appeared in some of their early press photos. He broke off from the group in mid-2010 and is credited as a co-writer of the song "Miss You".
Mark Foster originally named the band Foster & the People, but people misheard it as "Foster the People". Eventually, he took to the nurturing image it evoked of "taking care" of people, so the name stuck.
2010: Initial attention for "Pumped Up Kicks" and record deal
Not long after the group formed, Foster wrote and recorded a song at Mophonics called "Pumped Up Kicks", which eventually proved to be the band's breakthrough. After Foster posted the song on his website as a free download in early 2010, it drew considerable attention; Nylon magazine used the track in an online advertising campaign, and through various blogs, it went viral. The group, yet to be signed, garnered buzz with performances at the South by Southwest music festival in March 2010.Foster was emailed by many people about "Pumped Up Kicks", and needing professional guidance, he contacted artist manager Brent Kredel at Monotone, Inc. in March, saying, "Everyone is calling me and emailing me—what do I do? Who are the good guys, who are the bad guys? Kredel recalled that "He went from the guy who couldn't get a hold of anyone to being the guy who had hundreds of emails in his inbox." Kredel and Brett Williams were subsequently hired to co-manage Foster the People, and they arranged meetings for the band with several record labels, including Warner Bros., Atlantic, Columbia, and Universal Republic. In May 2010, the band was signed to the Columbia imprint Startime International in a multi-album deal. The deal did not involve ancillary rights. Foster controls publishing of the songs in North America, while a separate 2010 deal with Sony/ATV Music Publishing controls publishing outside of North America.
After Foster the People signed their record deal and to avoid burnout, Startime allowed the group to pace themselves and not rush an album that would cash in on the popularity of the song. From July to September 2010, the group wrote new material that would appear on their debut album, and they chose Paul Epworth, Rich Costey, and Greg Kurstin to co-produce the record with Mark Foster.
2010–2011: Initial tour and music licensing
Without much experience as a live act, Foster the People were booked in October 2010 to play several club shows. At this point a trio, the band recruited musicians Sean Cimino and Isom Innis to tour with them. Booking the group proved difficult, as concert promoters were hesitant about an artist without previous touring experiences. Foster the People promoted these concerts by emailing fans who had downloaded "Pumped Up Kicks" from their website about the shows. In early 2011, the band was booked to perform at April's Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. Meanwhile, the group continued to grow its fanbase with a month-long residency of concerts in January at The Echo nightclub in Los Angeles. According to booking agent Tom Windish, by the group's third show at the venue, "there were hundreds of people trying to get in outside.... It was an obvious turning point that could be measured in numbers." The residency also drew the attention of music supervisors in attendance who would later help the group license their music.Foster the People issued its first commercial non-single release in January 2011, a self-titled EP featuring "Pumped Up Kicks", "Houdini", and "Helena Beat" that was intended to hold fans over until their first studio album, Torches, was completed. Fans who purchased the EP through the iTunes Store were able to apply it toward the purchase of their full-length debut album. The EP drew the attention of organizers of March's South by Southwest festival, as well as executives looking to license music for upcoming season finales of television series. Columbia senior director of creative licensing Jonathan Palmer said, "The plan helped us a great deal to set up more opportunities rather than chasing the release date. So by the time we put the record out in May, we had already placed several songs." Half of Torches songs were licensed—among them are: "Pumped Up Kicks", "Houdini" ; "Helena Beat" ; "Don't Stop " ; and "Call It What You Want". Palmer commented, "I haven't seen this kind of a range of song licenses from one album since we worked the first Ting Tings record three-and-a-half years ago. That was an album where we licensed nine or 10 songs on the album. We're kind of in a similar situation ."
2011–2012: Breakthrough of "Pumped Up Kicks" and release of ''Torches''
Beginning in July 2010, Sirius XM satellite radio's Alt Nation channel began playing "Pumped Up Kicks", followed by many alternative radio stations including Los Angeles terrestrial stations KROQ-FM and KYSR in January 2011. Mark Foster credits Sirius XM's airplay with the song's success, saying, "Alt Nation played our music before any other radio outlet in the country." On January 29, the song debuted on Billboards Rock Songs chart and a week later, it debuted on the Alternative Songs chart. In May, the track debuted at number 96 on the Billboard Hot 100, and later that month, the group released their first full-length studio album, Torches. The success of "Pumped Up Kicks" and appearances on many late-night talk shows, including Last Call with Carson Daly, The Tonight Show, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, and The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, helped the record debut at number eight on the Billboard 200. To promote the album, the group undertook a concert tour in the US and Europe for much of the second half of 2011, with most dates sold-out. By the time the group took a break in December, they had toured for 10 consecutive months."Pumped Up Kicks" proved to be a crossover hit, charting across several different radio formats; in addition to peaking at number one on the Alternative Songs chart in June and number three on the Rock Songs chart in July, the song broke into the top 40 of the Hot 100 in late July and appeared on the Adult Top 40 and Mainstream Top 40 charts. Columbia senior VP of promotion Lee Leipsner said, "It was one of the only alternative bands I remember in a while that you could actually dance to. And the fact that the record has a groove and rhythmic feel to it—not heavy guitar-based at all—gave us a wide opportunity to cross the record." He credits the song's crossover success and push into the top 40 to a June presentation of new music by Tom Poleman of Clear Channel. According to Leipsner, "After we showed our presentation, we had so many Clear Channel major-market programmers come up to us and say, 'The record I want to play besides Adele is Foster the People.'" "Pumped Up Kicks" peaked at number three on the Hot 100, spending eight consecutive weeks at the position. According to Nielsen Soundscan, over 321,000 copies of Torches have been sold in the US. "Pumped Up Kicks" finished 2011 as the sixth-best-selling digital song of the year, with 3.84 million copies sold.
The band was named in a lawsuit filed by Brandon Dorsky on May 24, 2011, alleging a breach of an oral contract between him and Foster, and that Dorsky had named the band. The case was settled for an undisclosed amount in July 2011.
Foster the People appeared as the musical guest on the October 8, 2011, episode of Saturday Night Live, playing "Pumped Up Kicks" and "Houdini". Kenny G appeared as a guest performer on the latter song. At the end of the year, the group received two Grammy Award nominations: Best Pop Duo/Group Performance for "Pumped Up Kicks" and Best Alternative Music Album for Torches. At the awards ceremony, the band and Maroon 5 performed with The Beach Boys, one of Foster's childhood idols, in a medley of songs to celebrate the Beach Boys' 50th anniversary. Reflecting on Foster the People's sudden rise to success, Foster said, "For so many years, it was slow, playing in front of rooms full of 10 people and trying to get your friends to come... And then all of a sudden, it kind of took off. It's been a fast incline, so we've had to just work really hard, keep our heads down and just stay grounded. At the same time, we've had a lot of fun during the process." The group continued to tour throughout 2012. By the time the group's final US tour for Torches concluded in Los Angeles in July 2012, the group had played 295 shows in the previous 16 months.