Early career (2002–2008)

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."^[9]

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."^[4] 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. 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."^[10]

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.^[11] 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.^[12] Foster co-composed^[13] 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.^{[14][15][16][17][18][19]} As a solo artist, Foster wrote the song "The Ballad of Andy", detailing the life and tribulations of Dick.^[20] Foster also worked as a music producer, producing songs for bands like Frodad and The Rondo Brothers, among others.^[14][21]

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. 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."^[22] 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.^[14] 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.^[23]

Foster the People (2008–present)

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.)^[24] 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.^[25] 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". Another song called "Polartropic (You Don't Understand Me)" was featured in the soundtrack of the 2012 animated film Frankenweenie.^[26] He played solo shows around Los Angeles to support his record.^[27]

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).^[28] 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.^[29] He preferred the title "Foster the People" as it conjured an image of care and development.

The first song Foster released with the band was "Pumped Up Kicks", a song about gun violence recorded at Mophonics in 2009. He wrote and recorded the song in five hours using Logic Pro software, originally intending the first version to be only the demo.^[30] The demo ended up becoming the full version of the song and "Pumped Up Kicks" was released by Foster online in early 2010. Through internet outlets, the song gradually gained traction with the public, eventually making its way to television shows like Entourage and advertising campaigns for companies like Nylon. In May 2010, the band was signed to Columbia Records imprint Startime International for a multi-album deal due to the song's increasing success. It was officially released as the band's first single on September 14, 2010, and would go on to produce an immense popular following for the band.^[31]

In January 2011, "Pumped Up Kicks" was released on the band's first non-commercial single release, Foster the People, and started to climb the American charts a few months later. It was labeled as a "sleeper hit" due to its slow rise in popularity. It eventually peaked at number 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 starting with the week of September 10, 2011, and ending on the week of October 29, 2011.^[32] It was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance in February 2012. "Pumped Up Kicks" was certified Diamond by the RIAA, one of only 129 songs to achieve that certification.^[33]

On May 23, 2011, the band's first studio album, Torches, was released and earned Foster his second Grammy Award nomination, one for Best Alternative Music Album. He has stated that the album was one produced from "perspiration over inspiration."^[34] It also peaked at number 8 on the Billboard 200.

Alongside Isom Innis, then a touring member of the band, Mark Foster produced electronic music as Mister Smims of the duo Smims & Belle. Under this moniker, Foster and Innis released a notable remix of "Blue Jeans" by Lana Del Rey in 2012, featuring Azealia Banks.^[35] Smims & Belle's final (confirmed) release to date was their 2014 remix of a single from Foster the People's second album.^[36]

Three years after Torches, the band released their second album, Supermodel, on March 14, 2014. It is currently their highest-peaking studio album on the Billboard 200, at number 3. Foster has said that the theme of the album was influenced by his fascination with the "ugly side" of capitalism as well as the popularity of social media and the social pressures humans feel. In response, he has marked it as a piece which reminds him of the fortune of having a supportive community to maintain an optimistic attitude.^[37] He discussed with the Los Angeles Times the revelations he had while touring for the previous album that helped him formulate the theme behind Supermodel: "I went to India, I spent some time in the Middle East and I went to Northern Africa — places where the priorities are completely different. Those cultures aren't focused on individuals. They're focused on communities. That changed how I will look at life. I saw people who had joy and human connections and they don't have one one-thousandth of the things we have here. But they have something we don't have, 'a sense of community.'"

In June 2014, Luke Pritchard – with whom Foster had collaborated previously – revealed that the pair had between three and four unfinished tracks yet to be released.^[38]

In 2015, Foster was a producer of the soundtrack for the World War II drama Little Boy^[39] (of which one track featured Mark Pontius). It was his first experience scoring a film, and was especially exciting to him due to the "guitar-driven" soundtrack he created.^[40]

On July 21, 2017, Foster the People released its third album, Sacred Hearts Club, an album influenced by the global issues of the current times and the sentiment that Foster felt for those affected by events associated with terrorism, racism, homophobia, and elections. Foster said upon the album's release: "I wanted to slap people a little bit, throw some cold water on them. This record, it would have felt wrong to do that. I felt like people needed a hug."^[41] The album features hit single "Sit Next to Me", which has been RIAA certified Double Platinum.^[42]

In September 2019, Foster the People released the EP Pick U Up. The band has also released two (non-EP) singles, a reworking of a Mobley song, and several collaborations with The Knocks, MØ and Louis the Child. Mark Foster is currently co-writing a horror film.^[43]

In December 2020, Foster debuted his radio show Escapology on Sirius XM's Alt Nation.^[44] On December 11, the band released their EP In the Darkest of Nights, Let the Birds Sing, a record based on the concept of love.^[45]

In August 2021, it was announced that Foster would feature on Taylor Swift's forthcoming album Red (Taylor's Version), which was released on the same day as Foster the People's Torches X^[46] in November 2021.^[47] Foster had originally co-written the song "Forever Winter" with Swift in May 2012.^[48]

As a solo artist

• "Sorry Little Lucy" (2007)
• Solo Songs (2009)^{[lower-alpha 1]}
• "Polartropic (You Don't Understand Me)" (2012) for Frankenweenie
• Little Boy (soundtrack) (2015) with Stephan Altman
• Let Me Go (The Right Way) [soundtrack] (2022)
• Unstable (Soundtrack from the Netflix Series) (2023) with Sven Faulconer

As Smims & Belle (with Isom Innis)

• "Blue Jeans (Remix)" (2012) with Lana Del Rey and Azealia Banks
• "Beat Illuminati" (2012)
• "Best Friend (Remix)" (2014) with Foster the People^[36]
• "Ghetto Blastah" (2015)

With Foster the People

• Torches (2011)
• Supermodel (2014)
• Sacred Hearts Club (2017)
• In the Darkest of Nights, Let the Birds Sing EP (2020)