Foster the People's Mark Foster Compares Band to MGMT

Foster the People’s Mark Foster Compares Band to MGMT

2011-11-04

Story by Anne Erickson

Foster the People singer comments on band’s comparisons with MGMT

Foster the People’s “Pumped Up Kicks” took the L.A. band from underground indie status to the next-big-thing, landing at No. 3 on the Hot 100. Now, Mark Foster and his clan are following up with uber-catchy tracks, “Helena Beat” and “Call It What You Want,” both bringing Foster the People’s trademark good-natured, indie pop styling.

As for “Pumped Up Kicks,” Foster says he wrote the song in character, putting himself in the shoes of a kid being bullied and experiencing major isolation. “I write in character a lot. So, I decided to write in character and really try to psychologically get inside the head of the kid that would be going through strategies about doing something like that,” Foster told CBS Minnesota. “And really break down what his thought processes were like, and what his world was like. I wanted to convey the isolation … the lack of love.”

While the nature of “Kicks” may be controversial, Foster the People’s mission isn’t. Foster says the band has a goal to uplift and inspire their fans. “… We definitely have a heart for charity and helping people,” he said. “That was a big reason we named the band Foster the People, because we want to do more with our lives than just music and make money off making music. We want to be able to do something to help people and go a step further, because we can. We’re still defining that vision in terms of specifics, but that’s something we’ve talked about since day one.”

He also says Foster the People are their own genre. “There are really only a handful of bands that are kind of in this genre that we are in, which I don’t really know what this genre is, necessarily. So, getting comparisons to those bands [like MGMT], I think it is … the natural order of things, in terms of being the new band on the block and people just really not being able to describe it. I think it’s super different from MGMT, but I can see why people gravitate towards the spirit, because it’s youthful and fun, and has synthesizers.”

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Anne Erickson

Meet the expert - Author, writer and editor Anne Erickson is a Detroit-based music reporter and radio host. She has written for the USA Today Network, Consequence.net, Blabbermouth.net, Loudwire.com and many more. Anne holds a master's degree from Michigan State University. Contact Anne at anne@audioinkradio.com.