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Mark Foster was writing commercial jingles and just beginning to work with his band, Foster the People when his life changed at the drop of a song.
That single, "Pumped Up Kicks," was innocently posted to the band's website as a free download in 2010 and then included on their debut album, Torches, the following year. It didn't take long before its upbeat composition and emotional message catapulted Foster the People into the public consciousness.
As the story goes, Foster wanted to take a break from his day job at a nearby beach, but forced himself to stay inside and write a song. Five hours later, Foster had played every instrument on a demo that would be the version of "Pumped Up Kicks" released to the world.
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It pretty much went viral immediately and helped Foster the People (which includes drummer Mark Pontius and bassist Cubbie Fink) land a spot at the South by Southwest Music Festival in Austin and a deal with Columbia Records' Startime International imprint.
Talk about motivation to stick with the grind.
"I've heard a lot of other artists talk about this as well, like, 'I'm not inspired right now. I've got writer's block. I'm just not really feeling anything,'" Foster told the Columbian. "And I've felt that way, too, just not being inspired and wanting to wait for inspiration to come before I wrote. But I wasn't inspired when I wrote 'Pumped Up Kicks,' and that's what came out. So … it just solidified the notion that perspiration is more powerful than inspiration."
"Pumped Up Kicks" mixes sunny harmonies, a danceable beat and a singable chorus that makes it infinitely catchy.
The song saw a rapid ascension, as it proved to be a crossover smash, peaking at No. 1 on Billboard's Alternative Songs chart, No. 2 on the Adult Alternative Songs chart, and No. 3 on the Rock Songs, Adult Top 40 and Mainstream Top 40 charts.
By the end of 2011, "Pumped Up Kicks" also received a Grammy Award nomination for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance, in addition to being a big part of Torches' platinum-certified success.
If you want to learn how to play Foster the People's breakout hit, Fender Play has a lesson that dissects its simple progression of three commonly used open chords on the guitar from instructor Jen Trani.
In it, you'll run through downstrums on the E minor, G, D and A chords to ace this global chart-topper. Check it out above, and if you're not a member of Fender Play yet, click here for a free trial.
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