Foster the People
This indie rock trio makes dance-oriented, atmospheric and psychedelic pop.
January 24, 2012, 2:23 p.m.
What do you get when you have three guys, all in their mid-twenties, who wanted to become a pop/rock band? You get Foster the People! This indie rock trio includes Mark Foster, Cubbie Fink and Mark Pontius. The group was first formed in Los Angeles, California with the name Foster and the
People. When people continuously misread the name, the group decided to switch to Foster the People.
The three band mates were all friends before Mark Foster brought them together in hopes of pursuing a music career. Foster explains,” I’ve been playing music and writing songs on my own for a while. I was happy being a solo artist for a long time, but eventually it reached a point where I was like man I’m ready to put a band together again. And so I did."
Foster the People began performing for charity events such as Toms Shoes “Day without Shoes” until the band could figure out what direction they wanted to go in with their music career. Their first song was titled “Pumped up the Kicks,” which was played on the radio station KROQ in 2010. The single quickly earned the band a lot of attention online. The song also reached number one on the Billboard’s Alternative Chart as well as 13 on Billboard’s Hot 100.
In 2011 the group got into the Coachella Music Festival, and their first album,“Torches," was released on May 23, 2011. Foster describes it as "super versatile. I think that the one quality that distinguishes it as a body of work is just joy. It’s a joyous record. I think there’s an underlying joy in all the songs, even if the lyrics are dark. You haven’t heard anything like it yet from us.”
“Torches” debuted at number 8 on the Billboard 200 chart and sold 33,000 copies in the first week of being released.