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Foster The People in Spokane (2017) Taken by me, Payton Norberg
Foster The People is an indie-pop/rock band formed in 2009 from Los Angeles, California. Foster The People broke through the indie-pop music scene in 2010 with their hit "Pumped Up Kicks" from their first album/EP, Torches. The band originally included three members; Mark Foster, Mark Pontius, and Cubbie Fink. Cubbie Fink left in 2015, and the band added Sean Cimino and Isom Innis. Mark Foster, the genius behind the music, is the writer, lead singer, guitarist, and pianist. Mark Pontius is the drummer, Sean Cimino plays guitar, piano, keyboards and backing vocals, and Isom Innis mostly plays piano, keyboards, and percussion. Mark Foster writes virtually all the songs but always gets input and help from his fellow bandmates. Foster The People have 3 albums; Torches (2011), Supermodel (2014) and Sacred Hearts Club (2017). Each album has proven their creativeness, talent, and range. Foster The People won Top Rock Song at the Billboard Music Awards in 2012 for Pumped Up Kicks, along with 4 nominations in other categories. Foster The People have been nominated many times for their albums and songs, and are recognized as an iconic and influential indie-pop band in the 2010s that shaped the genre for the upcoming years. Foster The People has been my favorite band since I discovered them in 2012. They are now one of the biggest bands in indie-pop, but I hope I can show more people their breathtaking music.
Foster The People not only has amazing music, and to me, not one bad song, but they also recognize their huge platform and use it for good. Mark Foster, the owner of the Foster The People Twitter account, regularly posts about politics, as a progressive activist. Foster actively recognizes the inequalities in society and the media today and uses his platform to address and call attention to it. Mark Foster (and the rest of the band) have addressed multiple times their opposition about Trump and his administration, and the racist, sexist, xenophobic, and corrupt ideologies he has. Foster The People are constantly advocating for change and helping people do so by informing and providing directions on how to get involved. This band not only provides us with great, talented, and mesmerizing music, but also uses their platform for good.
This link to a Los Angeles Times article explains the political agenda of Foster The People's second album. Mark Foster is interviewed since he writes the songs, and explains the political agenda he wrote about on their second album, Supermodel. Foster explains how the album sort of "exposes" modern day politics, and the people we tend to put on Pedestals. Foster draws attention to Western culture, consumerism and the dangers of Capitalism. He says that we tend to "worship" politicians and make them a huge celebrity.
In this link, Relix showcases Foster The People and their new (at the time) album, Sacred Hearts Club. In the beginning of the article, the main keyboardist is showcased, sharing how much time and effort he has put into the album, with little to no time to relax. The band explains how they wanted this album to have a 60's/70's psychedelic rock feel. It in fact did, but they also included a lot of other genres on this fluid album. Foster and Innis started making the album in 2014, right after the Supermodel tour. The album ended up being a great success, and showed their fans and audiences how versatile and creative they can really be.
In this CNN article, Foster focuses on the gun violence in America, and how he brought awareness to it in their breakout hit, Pumped Up Kicks. This article was written in November of 2017, when the Las Vegas shooting was still fresh and lingering. He explains that the song is about a boy fantasizing to shoot up his school. Foster says that he wanted to draw attention to gun violence with this song, hoping it would get better, but it in fact, got worse. Foster explains how the lawmakers have made little to no progress with the gun violence epidemic, and that needs to change.
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