Foster the People Quotes
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Foster the People wouldn't exist without Mophonics.
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When I put Foster The People together, I just wanted to play music with friends.
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I wrote 'Pumped Up Kicks' when I began to read about the growing trend in teenage mental illness. I wanted to understand the psychology behind it because it was foreign to me.
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I was rambunctious - a boy's boy, full of energy. I wasn't a bad kid. I just liked to talk.
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Fear just crushes creativity, and if I let fear into the studio and into the songwriting, I was going to let it kill the artist inside of me.
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When I started really playing music, I pretty much quit sports. I quit everything.
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I've played so many gigs in front of around seven people. It's difficult to keep motivated, but it's all about growth. The love of music kept me going.
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I play guitar, bass, drums, piano, and pretty much any sort of stringed instrument - besides violin or cello.
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I write in character a lot.
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Music is the great equalizer.
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L.A. gives me a lot. L.A. is a city of extremes. People come here from all over the world that have these, like, giant ideas, and they put everything into it. And some people just fall flat on their face, and some people, you know, shoot like a rocket.
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I write songs based on things I see in the culture around me.
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There's a lot of bands that blow up quickly, but then they die quickly. Longevity is the healthy thing; that's the pursuit.
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I was always extremely independent growing up.
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A timeless pop song is the hardest thing to do as a songwriter.
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I'm really into the recycling of art. That one piece of art inspires another piece of art, which inspires another piece of art. I really like that idea.
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I remember, in middle school, I went to four different schools. That was a rough patch. But it's also what shaped me as a person.
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I wrote 'Don't Stop' just like I wrote 'Pumped Up Kicks' - I didn't try to make either a hit. I just wanted to write a song I liked.
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I wanted to be an attorney all the way up until I was 17.
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One of the things with the second record, a word I held close to my chest was 'brave.' To take chances to go outside the box and explore. To continue to toss off any expectation that our fans or anyone else might have of us, to just tap into who I am as a writer and artist and really just operate within that freedom of creation.
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We've grown up on the Beach Boys and the Beatles and Blur and Bowie and the Clash. Also E.L.O. and Hall and Oates. Those are all artists who write songs that are accessible but still left of center. It's intelligent pop. There's still something different and complex about it.
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Through technology and social media, we're able to create an identity online that shows people the face that we want them to see and rather than who they really are.
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My aunts and uncles were like, 'You've got such a great voice - why don't you try out for 'American Idol?'' I'd say, 'Because I'm a songwriter, not a puppet.' Even if I won and became really successful off a show like that, I'd be miserable.
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Art brings to life things that can seemingly be dead, and can put a fresh perspective on things that are living. It's so important we keep creating.