I've written so many songs that are hopeful - songs that are, like, about an old man that gives all his possessions away because he wants to help people. I wrote 'Pumped Up Kicks' just to tell a different type of story.

Once I write something, I never try to write that same style again, because I get very schizophrenic musically.

I feel like kids are getting more and more used to communicating through a glass screen than they are face-to-face, and that worries me a little.

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

A timeless pop song is the hardest thing to do as a songwriter.

In Morocco, a Muslim country, I got to hear the call to prayer five times a day. At first it felt kind of scary, kind of dangerous, because of the propaganda towards anything Muslim in the U.S. subconsciously coming out in me. By the end of the trip, it was so beautiful, and then not hearing it when I got back to L.A. really threw me off.

The phrase 'pumped up kicks,' man, I was excited when I came up with that.

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

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.

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

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 don't consider myself an entertainer. I consider myself an artist, and I think with that comes responsibility.

I worked odd jobs delivering pizza, folding chairs, telemarketing, selling kitchen cutlery door to door.

That's how life is: there are peaks and valleys in life, and that's how I like to write songs.

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.'

I think that there's a difference between being an entertainer and being an artist.

I truly believe that love is greater than politics.

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.

I think artists throughout the history of time have always been controversial and have been a voice to speak to public culture in a way that a politician can't because they'll lose their constituency.

There are a few songwriters in bands I really relate to that write a certain type of joy, because a lot of artists don't really write joy. It's a thing only a few people do.

I was afraid of the sophomore slump even before our first record came out. It was a very real fear because I'd watched so many bands I'd loved in the past not deliver. I knew it was a very real thing. I didn't know why it happens, but I'd been thinking about it a lot.

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

People worship anyone in the entertainment industry. You can be a used-car salesman and have a television commercial on the local station, and that makes you a celebrity.

We're not trying to be a mega-pop-band, but we also wouldn't be opposed to selling millions of records, either.

I look at bands like the Beach Boys, Hall & Oates and Blur, and those are the bands I want to be in company with because their songwriting is intelligent, and yet you don't need to be a musical genius to pick it up.

Foster the People wouldn't exist without Mophonics.

Mophonics is kind of a creative home for me.

I wanted to be an attorney all the way up until I was 17.

I had really bad grades in high school and didn't want to go to college, and my dad said, 'Why don't you move to L.A. or New York and pursue music? You've always been good at it.' It was the first thing that made sense to me and... It was the right move.

I don't like to write the same song twice.

I love to honour people and to write positive songs about them.

Arcade Fire has kept their indie cred. They will sell out stadiums yet still have underdog status. But when you're a band like Coldplay, people are waiting to knock you down.

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.

I'd rather be a poor singer/songwriter doing what I love than get rich from selling my soul.

Writing for other people is easier than writing for myself - it's not as personal.

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.

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.

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

I didn't want to be a soul singer.

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.

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.

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.

We're not the corporation of Foster the People. We're a band.

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

I love countermelodies, I love hooks and melodies that stick in your head. If I could put 20 melodies in a song and they would all work together, I would.

We've grown up on the Beach Boys and the Beatles and Blur and Bowie and the Clash. Also E.L.O. and Hall and Oates. Those are all artists who write songs that are accessible but still left of center. It's intelligent pop. There's still something different and complex about it.

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

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.

L.A. gives me a lot. L.A. is a city of extremes. People come here from all over the world that have these, like, giant ideas, and they put everything into it. And some people just fall flat on their face, and some people, you know, shoot like a rocket.

I'm a really extreme person, and balance is probably the hardest thing for me to maintain.