Quotes of All Topics . Occasions . Authors
I love exploring music.
Music is the great equalizer.
I don't like to write the same song twice.
I was an only child, so I was alone a lot.
I'm not really worried about writer's block.
I was always extremely independent growing up.
Travelling alone was like laundry for my thoughts.
Foster the People wouldn't exist without Mophonics.
I think my inner child wants to take over the world.
I wanted to be an attorney all the way up until I was 17.
Our audience isn't One Direction, Katy Perry, Rihanna fans.
We're not the corporation of Foster the People. We're a band.
A timeless pop song is the hardest thing to do as a songwriter.
I love to honour people and to write positive songs about them.
I didn't record 'Pumped Up Kicks' out of a sense of moral obligation.
Art is observing society around you, representing it through your eyes.
At the end of the day, I use music to be able to communicate to people.
The phrase 'pumped up kicks,' man, I was excited when I came up with that.
Pressure has always been more of a friend than a foe for me with songwriting.
When I put Foster The People together, I just wanted to play music with friends.
There are career waiters in Los Angeles, and they're making over $100,000 a year.
Writing for other people is easier than writing for myself - it's not as personal.
When I started really playing music, I pretty much quit sports. I quit everything.
I'm not in this to make money. I would not have sold my soul to be on 'American Idol.'
In Cleveland, music was always a big part of my life. That's really where I cut my teeth.
I'm a really extreme person, and balance is probably the hardest thing for me to maintain.
I like to write about real-life topics, and I like to write about different walks of life.
There were times when I was terrified to go to school because it felt like a jail sentence.
I was rambunctious - a boy's boy, full of energy. I wasn't a bad kid. I just liked to talk.
I'd rather be a poor singer/songwriter doing what I love than get rich from selling my soul.
I started out with piano when I was little. That, for songwriting, is my favorite instrument.
'Torches' opened a lot of doors. Ultimately, it turned into an experience to be reckoned with.
That's how life is: there are peaks and valleys in life, and that's how I like to write songs.
We need to do a better job of loving each other beyond race, beyond belief, beyond our difference.
During 'Torches,' I was more concerned with communicating the spirit of the song than the actual lyrics.
I worked odd jobs delivering pizza, folding chairs, telemarketing, selling kitchen cutlery door to door.
I remember, when I heard Jeff Buckley's 'Grace,' on first listen I just thought it was such a great song.
I feel like my calling is to show people joy: to make them feel like there's something to look forward to.
If I'm with people who are really positive and go with the flow, that's when the best ideas come out for me.
I play guitar, bass, drums, piano, and pretty much any sort of stringed instrument - besides violin or cello.
Once I write something, I never try to write that same style again, because I get very schizophrenic musically.
We're not trying to be a mega-pop-band, but we also wouldn't be opposed to selling millions of records, either.
I don't consider myself an entertainer. I consider myself an artist, and I think with that comes responsibility.
Going out and volunteering sounds simple, but many people don't volunteer because they don't know where to start.
It's funny: the one time I got star-struck was when I met Snoop Dogg. I gave him a hug and said, 'I love you, man.'
There's a lot of bands that blow up quickly, but then they die quickly. Longevity is the healthy thing; that's the pursuit.
If I was 13 years old and Kurt Cobain tweeted me some advice or even just said hi, my whole world would be affected by that.
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.
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.
One thing about Foster the People is that it's taking pieces of a lot of different genres of music and kind of melding them together.