Mark Foster (musician)

Mark Derek Foster (born February 29, 1984) is an American musician, singer, and songwriter, best known as the lead singer of the band Foster the People.

Mark Foster was born on February 29, 1984, in Milpitas, California, and grew up outside Cleveland, Ohio.

As a boy, he sang in the Cleveland Orchestra Children’s Chorus and played the drums, guitar, and piano.

As a teenager he played in garage bands.

His first gig came in 2001, when his high-school band competed in a local Battle of the Bands.

In 2002, he graduated from Nordonia High School in Macedonia, Ohio.

After graduating from high school in 2002, Foster followed on his father's advice and moved out to live with an uncle in the San Fernando Valley neighborhood of Sylmar, Los Angeles.

As a result he would be closer to pursuing his musical dreams.

In an interview with NPR's David Greene, Foster detailed his reaction to the intimidating city into which he had thrown himself, reflecting: "You really got to have a strong sixth sense to be able to kind of navigate the waters because the weird thing about LA is just—especially in Hollywood—is just like, the entertainment industry is kind of bizarre. It was the first time that I realized that people that were mentally ill also happened to be in like, powerful positions."

Foster's early years in Los Angeles were very difficult for him; of that time, he said "For eight years, I just scraped by as a starving artist delivering pizzas, sleeping on couches, sleeping in my car and all of those things."

Foster worked various odd jobs during his first several years on his own while trying to grow his own social network.

These included waiting tables, painting houses, telemarketing, and bartending.

Foster co-composed and performed lead vocals on the Toques' song "Breakdown", featured in the 2006 film Stick It.

He found early work as a musician working for comedian Andy Dick, for whom he wrote songs and scores for film, television, and short film projects, as well as toured with, over a period of around seven years.

As a solo artist, Foster wrote the song "The Ballad of Andy", detailing the life and tribulations of Dick.

Foster also worked as a music producer, producing songs for bands like Frodad and The Rondo Brothers, among others.

At the same time, Foster was a drug addict, but after seeing its impact on his health and his friends, he decided that he would rehabilitate himself.

His roommate, actor and singer Brad Renfro, also was a drug addict, dying from a heroin overdose on January 15, 2008.

Foster was the producer of the last song that Renfro ever recorded.

Fifteen months after his former roommate's death, Foster released a song called "Downtown", on which he reflects on the life and death of Renfro.

Foster finally landed a job as a commercial jingle writer for the record label Mophonics in 2008.

In this position, he was able to write jingles for brands such as Honey Bunches of Oats and Verizon.

(Foster has discussed his use of medical cannabis, prescribed for work-related stress, in the composition process.) However, he was still struggling with finding the right tunes to further break into the music industry.

Due to issues of writer's block and being unable to focus various elements of his music together, he came to the realization that he needed help in the form of members of a band.

The following year, Foster recorded and released his first and so far, only solo album, Solo Songs.

The nine-track album included demo versions of two songs from the Torches album, "Don't Stop (Color on the Walls)" and "I Would Do Anything for You".

After struggling to create a successful band in his early twenties, Foster finally had his big break as the founder and frontman of Foster the People in 2009, which he formed alongside his two friends Mark Pontius and Cubbie Fink.

In October 2009, Foster organized a three-person band made up of himself, colleague Mark Pontius, and longtime friend Jacob "Cubbie" Fink (whom Foster had initially met through a mutual friend whilst attending acting school).

Pontius was so appreciative of Foster's musical style that he left his band Malbec to join him as the drummer of the new band.

Fink had recently lost his position at a television production company as a result of the recession, so he joined as the bassist.

The band was initially going to be called "Foster and the People", but after the majority of his friends mistook the name as "Foster the People", Foster decided to name it the latter instead.

The band has since released three studio albums: Torches in 2011, Supermodel in 2014, and Sacred Hearts Club in 2017.

In a 2012 interview with The Baltimore Sun, he talked about how he particularly valued bartending and encouraged aspiring musicians to follow in his footsteps: "Kids hit me up on Twitter and I tell them to learn how to bar-tend. There are career waiters in Los Angeles and they're making over $100,000 a year."

In his first six years in Los Angeles, Foster did not have much success with breaking into the music business as a solo artist.

At age 21 his band almost secured a record deal in New York.

About two years later, he was given the opportunity to work with Dr. Dre's record label, Aftermath Entertainment.

However, the deal fell through and he was left without solid footing for a solo musical career.

Another song called "Polartropic (You Don't Understand Me)" was featured in the soundtrack of the 2012 animated film Frankenweenie.

He played solo shows around Los Angeles to support his record.

He talked about his previous addiction in 2014, saying, "I work really hard to stay grounded and not let any of that stuff influence how I live my life. A lot of it is a mirage, and an unhealthy one to buy into."