Mark Foster Divulges The 'Fears' He Had When Foster The People First Formed

Foster The People's success came quickly and unexpectedly. Their first song "Pumped Up Kicks" went viral before that was even a thing, and the "tidal wave" that followed was one that both excited and overwhelmed frontman Mark Foster. The band's debut album Torches recently turned 10, and Foster's been reflecting on their beginnings a lot lately. During a conversation with American Songwriter, he divulged the "fears" he had when Foster the People was gearing up to release the album.

"Early on, one of my fears was that everybody was going to want to hear an entire album of songs that had that same dusty, surfy, kind of irreverent feeling that 'Pumped Up Kicks' had," he recalled, "but the rest of the songs were very different from that. If you put 'Pumped Up Kicks' next to 'Helena Beat' next to 'Life on the Nickel' next to 'I Would Do Anything For You,' it could be four different artists."

"I was really concerned about that," Foster confessed, "but under the guiding hands of [producers] Greg [Kurstin], Paul [Epworth], and Rich [Costey], everything came together and made sense. It was eclectic, but they were the glue keeping it together."

Foster the People plan to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Torches by performing the album in its entirety during a three-night residency at The Wiltern in Los Angeles November 17, 18 and 19. It will be their first live performances in nearly three years. Get more info about the shows here.