After their platinum certified single “Pumped Up Kicks” leaked on Hypem.com at the beginning of the year, Foster the People quickly transformed from being just another underground L.A. band to becoming one of the most demanded trios in the country. Currently on tour to support the success of their first album Torches, the band has started off the fall season with shows at ACL and Popped!, as well as several sold-out shows throughout North America. After being number one on the Alternative radio charts for seven consecutive weeks, number 15 on the Billboard Top Album Charts, receiving two MTV VMA nominations and being praised by The Washington Post and Spin, it’s safe to say that Foster the People has already reached huge success and their time is just beginning.
While they stopped to play to a sold-out crowd in Orlando, I caught up with their drummer, also an Orlando native, Mark Pontius to discuss their music, quick rise to fame and how they’ve managed to appeal to both the underground hipsters and the mainstream crowd.
You tweeted about being nervous for last night’s show in Orlando. How do you usually deal with your nerves prior to a set?
I usually just breathe deeply and stretch my arms but I don’t get nervous too often. Last night was unique because I’m from Orlando so my friends and family came out to watch. It ended up being an amazing show and just one big family reunion.
I guess you can’t afford to get nervous, especially at this point in your career. Only a week into your current tour and almost every show is sold-out, which is rare for such a new band. How does it feel? Did you expect such a great turnout from your fans?
It feels amazing! It’s pretty unbelievable. It’s crazy because at the beginning of the year we were playing shows in Southern California and barley filling 300 person venues, but now our tour is pretty much sold-out, minus a few cities. Tonight for example, we’re playing a sold-out show in Atlanta at a 4,000-person venue.
How are you dealing with all the fame?
It’s kind of weird. When you’re growing up you think, “Wow, that must be so fun!” but now that fame is happening to us, it’s weird and like a bubble. You kind of know what’s going on but on the other hand, not really. It’s funny because it’s usually friends of ours who inform us of our fame. The best though is when friends of mine who I haven’t seen in a while talk about this great band called Foster the People and I’m like, “Oh hey, I’m the drummer,” and they’re just so shocked!
It’s crazy how quickly fame prevailed for you guys! Foster the People went viral after “Pumped Up Kicks” became popular on Hypem.com, and then everything blew up once you guys played this year at SXSW and signed to Columbia Records?
Yeah, it was pretty nuts. Everything snowballed after SXSW and we had meetings with four or five different labels. Finally, we decided to sign with Columbia and have been pleased with our decision since.
What made you choose Columbia Records over the others?
Columbia has such a good roster with great bands that are career artists. And that’s exactly what type of label we were looking for.
What are you doing as a band to make sure you guys become career artists, rather than a band with just one successful album? Where do you see Foster the People in the future?
We’re really just focused on getting this record Torches going and then working on our second. It’s crazy because the second record really depicts the next five years of our lives as musicians. So we want to make sure that we keep the groovy and popness in our music. More than anything though, we want to step outside the box and push the levels. From there, hopefully we’ll push both realms and have something really successful.
The greatest and most unique part about your music is that it appeals to both the underground hipster culture and the mainstream crowd. How are you managing to appeal to both crowds?
Yeah, it’s great. In New Orleans for example, I remember looking around at the crowd to find a young children dancing and an older woman totally rocking out. And that’s exactly our goal: to create music for everyone to enjoy.
