Mark Pontius

Mark Pontius is an American musician who is best known as a founding member and drummer of the band Foster the People.

Mark Pontius
Birth nameMark Andrew Pontius
Born (1985-01-03) January 3, 1985
Orlando, Florida, U.S.
GenresIndie pop, alternative rock, indie rock
Occupation(s)Musician
InstrumentsDrums, percussion
Years active2003–present
Associated actsFoster the People, Malbec

Early life

Pontius was born on January 3, 1985, in Orlando, Florida to Larry and Harriet Pontius.[1][2] He is the youngest of five siblings which includes sister Rebecca Pontius, founder of the Do Good Bus.[3] Growing up, Pontius drummed in garage bands and community groups.[4] Pontius graduated from Lyman High School in Longwood, Florida in 2003.[5][6]

After graduating high school, Pontius moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in cinematography. He attended and graduated from film school.[7][8] He briefly lived in Australia during this time.[9]

Career

2003–2010: Malbec and early musical contributions

After moving to Los Angeles, Pontius joined the indie pop band Malbec which was fronted by Pablo Signori and included music producer Speakerbomb.[10] From 2003 to 2011, they put out seven EP's and one full length album,[11] cutting out their own niche of pop rock, hip hop and electronic music.[12][13] They signed a publishing deal with Songs Music Publishing in 2007 and had their songs synced in films and television shows like One Tree Hill, Flight of the Phoenix, Long Way Round, The Omen, Palo Alto, and NBC's Chuck, among others.[14][15][16]

Besides being the band's drummer, Pontius also directed and edited all of their music videos.[10] Pontius left the band in December 2009 to focus on Foster the People; he had been working with Mark Foster for a few months and was very excited about his work.[13] Malbec disbanded the following year.[17]

After leaving Malbec, and before Foster the People found success, Pontius produced an electronic pop-leaning solo record under the name Discovery.[18] He also worked as a session musician; he is credited on three singles recorded by JES as well as the Puddle of Mudd single "We Don't Have to Look Back Now".[19]

2010–Present: Foster the People

In Fall 2009, Mark Foster organized a band made up of himself and Pontius, among others; they played their first show as "Foster & The People" in October 2009.[20] Around this time, Foster recorded the song "Pumped up Kicks" at his workplace and it was released as an early single for the band.[21] 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. "Pumped Up Kicks" was officially re-released as the band's first single on September 14, 2010;[22] it was labeled as a "sleeper hit" due to its slow rise in popularity and eventually peaked at number three on the Billboard Hot 100 starting with the week of September 10, 2011.[23] It was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance in February 2012.

On May 23, 2011, the band's first studio album, Torches, was released and earned the band their second Grammy Award nomination, one for Best Alternative Music Album.[24] It also peaked at number eight on the Billboard 200. Three years later, 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 three.[25] 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, which featured the single "Sit Next to Me."[26]

In 2017, Pontius produced the Mr. Gabriel track "Holy Water" at his studio in Tennessee, Fat Horse Ranch.[27]

Equipment

Pontius has used a custom kit from Los Angeles-based drum makers Q Drums since 2014.[28][29][30] He uses Istanbul cymbals and Vic Firth sticks.[31][32] He also uses Pintech electronic percussion equipment, specifically the Pintech RS-5 external triggers.[9] In the past, he has used a Gretsch kit.

Personal life

Pontius lives in Nashville, Tennessee with his partner, interior designer Caroline Walkup;[33][34][35] they have one child together.[36]

Pontius is an environmental and animal rights activist;[33] he has been particularly supportive of the organization Mercy for Animals.[37][38] He practices veganism.[33]

Discography
With Malbec[39]
  • Malbec EP (2006)
  • Keep It A Secret EP (2007)
  • Dawn of Our Age (2008)
  • Answering Machine EP #1 (2008)
  • Answering Machine EP #2 (2009)
  • Answering Machine EP #3 (2009)
  • Answering Machine EP #4 (2009)
  • Answering Machine EP #5 (2009)
As Delivery (solo project)[18]
  • Takes My Time (2010)
With Foster the People
Main article: Foster the People discography

Other credits

  • With Mark Foster, Stephan Altman, and Peter Barbee: "When You Find Love" (2015) for Little Boy
  • With Mr. Gabriel: "Holy Water" (2017); producer[27]
  • With Elephant Castle: "I’m a Loser" and "Life in Outer Space" (2020); drums credit[40]
gollark: Optionally.
gollark: I'm not written in C.
gollark: Yes, with all resistances.
gollark: A subset of bees who talk about "respect".
gollark: Since they take the reasonable claim of "you should treat people fairly nicely unless they cause you not to" and magically equivocate it into something like "show deference towards other people" or "be nice to those who are bees towards you tod".

References
  1. Harper, Sarah. "Interview with Mark Pontius of Foster the People". KnightNews.com. Retrieved December 4, 2019.
  2. "Larry Pontius (author) on AuthorsDen". AuthorsDen.com. Retrieved December 5, 2019.
  3. "Rebecca Pontius at NationBuilder". NationBuilder. Retrieved December 4, 2019.
  4. Clyde Brothers (interviewer); Mark and Rebecca Pontius (interviewee) (2012). Mark and Rebecca Pontius on "The Bubble" with the Clyde Brothers (Podcast). Clyde Brothers. Event occurs at 13:00–15:25. Retrieved December 5, 2019 – via youtube.com.
  5. "Mark Pontius - Lyman High School - Longwood, FL". lymanhighschool.net. Retrieved December 4, 2019.
  6. Clyde Brothers (interviewer); Mark and Rebecca Pontius (interviewee) (2012). Mark and Rebecca Pontius on "The Bubble" with the Clyde Brothers (Podcast). Clyde Brothers. Event occurs at 24:45–29:00. Retrieved December 5, 2019 – via youtube.com.
  7. "an interview with foster the people". Baeble Music. Retrieved December 4, 2019.
  8. Clyde Brothers (interviewer); Mark and Rebecca Pontius (interviewee) (2012). Mark and Rebecca Pontius on "The Bubble" with the Clyde Brothers (Podcast). Clyde Brothers. Event occurs at 52:00–01:02:25. Retrieved December 5, 2019 – via youtube.com.
  9. "Mark Pontius Talks About Why He Chose Pintech". Pintech Percussion. May 19, 2014. Retrieved December 4, 2019.
  10. Potts, Ricky. "Artist Interview: 1-on-1 with Malbec". Retrieved December 4, 2019.
  11. "Malbec on Apple Music". Apple Music.
  12. "SONGS Music Publishing". SONGS Music Publishing. Archived from the original on October 9, 2011. Retrieved August 3, 2011.
  13. Martens, Todd (June 26, 2011). "Foster the People: Pumped up, indeed". latimes.com.
  14. "Malbec on Chuck". wordpress.com. April 21, 2009.
  15. TV.com. "Chuck: Chuck Versus the Colonel". TV.com.
  16. "SONGS". October 9, 2011. Archived from the original on October 9, 2011. Retrieved December 4, 2019.
  17. March 18th, Kevin Bronson on; 2014 (March 18, 2014). "Ears Wide Open: Beginners". buzzbands.la. Retrieved December 5, 2019.CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  18. "TAKES MY TIME, by Delivery". Delivery. Retrieved December 5, 2019.
  19. "Mark Pontius". Discogs. Retrieved December 5, 2019.
  20. "CONCERT BLAST 10/05 – 10/11 « SUPERGOODMUSIC". Retrieved December 5, 2019.
  21. "Foster the People's Mark Foster on". Seattle Weekly.
  22. "The dark meaning of Foster the People's lyrics in Pumped Up Kicks". Chicago Tribune.
  23. "Top 100 Songs - Billboard Hot 100 Chart". Billboard.
  24. "How an entire hipster generation fell for Foster The People and their irresistible debut Torches". October 27, 2017.
  25. Martens, Todd. "Foster the People goes political with 'Supermodel'". Los Angeles Times.
  26. "Foster the People interview: 'This record had its own pressure'". The Independent.
  27. GABRIEL, MR (April 7, 2017). "#NewMusicFriday Single "Holy Water" OUT NOW! Produced by @MarkPontius". @callmemrgabriel. Retrieved December 5, 2019.
  28. MarkPontius (November 14, 2014). "Xmas came early this year yall. Thank you @jeremy_berman at @QDrumCo for making my wonderful drums. This thing purty!pic.twitter.com/PqjWdH6nK0". @MarkPontius. Retrieved December 4, 2019.
  29. "Q Drum Co on Instagram: "One of my favorite kits we built this year for Mark Pontius of Foster the People. Mahogany, maple re-rings, stained maple hoops on all…"". Instagram. Retrieved December 4, 2019.
  30. "Mark Pontius on Instagram: "Kicking off the tour tonight in San Diego with this shinny new stainless steel kit from @qdrumco. It sounds even better than it looks.…"". Instagram. Retrieved December 4, 2019.
  31. "Mark Pontius". istanbulcymbals.com. Retrieved December 4, 2019.
  32. "Mark Pontius". vicfirth.zildjian.com. Retrieved December 4, 2019.
  33. "Mark Pontius of Foster the People". GOOD SAINT. Retrieved December 4, 2019.
  34. "An open, industrial loft in DTLA gets a cozy makeover". Los Angeles Times. June 11, 2016. Retrieved December 4, 2019.
  35. "walkup—About". walkup. Retrieved December 4, 2019.
  36. "Mark Pontius on Instagram: "Your children are not your children. They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself. They come through you but not from you,…"". Instagram. Retrieved December 4, 2019.
  37. Limited, Alamy. "Stock Photo - Mark Pontius of Foster The People (l) attends the Mercy For Animals Hidden Heroes Gala at Unici Casa on August 29th, 2015 in Los Angeles California". Alamy. Retrieved December 4, 2019.
  38. "Mark Pontius and Caroline Walkup arrive at Mercy For Animals Presents..." Getty Images. Retrieved December 4, 2019.
  39. "Malbec". Discogs. Retrieved December 5, 2019.
  40. https://elephantcastlemusic.bandcamp.com/track/im-a-loser
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