Quotes from Mark Foster

When you're underwater with goggles on, a couple of your senses are taken away, and it becomes this purely visual thing. It's just you and yourself.

With 'Torches,' I wanted to make a great pop record; I wanted every song to be exciting, not to have too much space, no long pieces of music without vocals. I kind of wanted to write the perfect pop album.

Going out and volunteering sounds simple, but many people don't volunteer because they don't know where to start.

I was rambunctious - a boy's boy, full of energy. I wasn't a bad kid. I just liked to talk.

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.

Our audience isn't One Direction, Katy Perry, Rihanna fans.

There are career waiters in Los Angeles, and they're making over $100,000 a year.

I like to write about real-life topics, and I like to write about different walks of life.

We need to do a better job of loving each other beyond race, beyond belief, beyond our difference.

I don't care if it's Dr. Dre or Dr. Luke or Brian Eno. When you're in a studio and making music together, it becomes pretty apparent if you see eye to eye.

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.

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.

I feel like my calling is to show people joy: to make them feel like there's something to look forward to.

When I put Foster The People together, I just wanted to play music with friends.

I want to make music for everyone. I'm not trying to start a super exclusive group. I don't want a clique of people where you have to wear a certain type of clothes to come to our shows, or you have to be the ages of this and this.

At the end of the day, I use music to be able to communicate to people.

During 'Torches,' I was more concerned with communicating the spirit of the song than the actual lyrics.

Walking into the studio making 'Scared Hearts Club,' it was important for us as artists to write a joyful record, but using joy as a weapon because joy is the best weapon against oppression; it's the best weapon against depression.

Every single song on 'Torches' was a little self-contained pop song, so there wasn't any fat on the songs; there wasn't a lot to cut.

I could have pigeonholed us and wrote a whole record like 'Pumped Up Kicks,' and we would have been this breezy, nostalgic West Coast Beach Boys recreation band. That's not the type of writer I am. Once I try one style, I move on.

I've written hundreds of songs, and I tend to think that my instincts are pretty good when it comes to what people are going to like and what people aren't going to like.

I love exploring music.

I feel like trying to write a song in order to be a big hit is just not something I'm interested in because it's not going to come from an authentic place of expression.

In Cleveland, music was always a big part of my life. That's really where I cut my teeth.