cubbie fink
“It looks like overnight success from the outside, but
Right: Foster the People performs in Nashville; below right:
there have been years of preparation for each of us
Mark Pontius and Cubbie Fink on tour with the “Do Good Bus.”
leading up to it,” Fink told vanguard magazine a few days after the SNL performance. Fink, the band’s bass player, took up guitar, clarinet and saxophone at an early age, but it wasn’t until he filled in on bass one night for his high school rock band that he found his preferred instrument. “Bass resonated with me,” he says. “There’s a lot that parallels my personality. I’ve never been the person upfront or desiring the most attention. I’ve always been low key, in the background. But I don’t fall away in the shadows. I have a strong presence. The bass is very much that way. It has the power to control the harmony of the song which is how people perceive the music. It was very natural to express myself on it. That free expression of emotion came on the bass.” After graduating from high school, Fink spent nearly two years working for non-profit youth organizations
“I learned a lot from him,” Fink says. “I saw him sit in
Fink describes Foster the People concerts as joyful
with a jazz trio which blew my mind. To study with
and fun, with much movement and singing along. The
someone like that was an honor.”
music is melodic, catchy and percussive.
Fink graduated and moved straight to L.A. to dive into
Still, getting a call from Saturday Night Live took them
TV work as a production assistant, grip, gaffer, editor
by surprise.
and sound designer. His first job came through fellow VU alum Meg Tyra ’07 who helped him land a job at a production house which made commercials.
“We were elated,” Fink says. “We hung out with the cast and host Ben Stiller. Everyone was super friendly and supportive. You spend three days gearing up for
“Most of the work I got in the film industry was
the taping on Saturday. By the time we went live the
through connections I made through that company,”
nerves were worked out. We had a blast.”
Fink says. “I definitely have Vanguard to thank for that connection.” He also began to take his musicianship seriously. When work was scarce he spent hours a day honing his bass-playing skills and taking lessons.
The band’s goals go beyond making music to having a positive, lasting effect on people’s lives. “The name of our band is obviously a play on Mark’s last name, but it’s also become a bit of a mission statement,” says Fink. “Doing charity was something
in South Africa. Then he came to a crossroads which
“I came to the realization that I could play, but I
we talked about early on, using music as a platform to
led him to Vanguard.
needed to get better if I wanted to work in this city,”
take care of people. Success at any level does create
he says.
a platform from which to speak out beyond the band.
“Doors were closing all around me when out of the
We are very interested in giving back to people.”
blue Vanguard came to mind,” he says. “My cousin,
He found work as musician-for-hire for various artists
Heather Watson ’04 ’08, had spoken very
and groups. Then his roommate, a Vanguard alum,
On their latest U.S. tour they partnered with the “Do
highly of her experience at Vanguard, which was part
introduced him to Mark Foster, another struggling
Good Bus” which followed the band to every city
of the reason I went there. It was an easy transition.
musician. They and drummer Mark Pontius decided to
and organized volunteers for service projects.
In the face of all the closed doors I was running into
put a band together. Fink initially thought of it as his
that seemed like a wide open door.”
“passion project on the side.”
He moved back to California, went through a bit of
“I’d always believed in Mark as a musician, so
culture shock and started attending classes.
forming the band was a no-brainer for me,” Fink says.
“I loved it,” he says. “I had a phenomenal experience at Vanguard. I got plugged into the community there, which is one of the strong points of Vanguard.” He majored in communications with an emphasis on TV and film. His favorite class: the dreaded media crit. “I really loved the challenge of digging into something I was interested in, doing countless hours of research, says. “I learned so much in that process about myself in addition to what I was studying, and developed a great relationship with professor Tom Carmody. AnnCaryn Cleveland and the TV film department were a great resource. Craig Rusch in anthropology became a mentor of mine while I was there.” Fink also took a class on the upright bass through the music department with jazz bassist Anders Swanson.
10 vanguard magazine Fall/Winter 2011
just a fun thing. Then something clicked at our first gig. We looked at each other and realized we had something special. That’s when we put everything else aside to focus on this.” Within months, Foster wrote a song called “Pumped Up Kicks.” The band posted it as a free download on their website. It generated attention almost immediately and catapulted the band to perhaps the hottest musical showcase/festival in the U.S., South By Southwest in Austin. Soon they were packing venues including a stage at Coachella with an audience of 10,000. They toured almost non-stop in 2011. “It was crazy how quickly people caught on,” Fink says. “We’re adamant about not taking steps that are too big for us. The progression has felt very natural.”
incredible,” Fink says. Next year the band heads to Europe for their first full tour there, then to Indonesia, Kuala Lumpur, Japan and third tour of Australia. Their second single, “Helena Beat,” just broke the top ten on the Alternative Billboard chart. “The cool thing about this album is there are so many workable singles,” says Fink. “Our whole team is optimistic we could push three or four more songs off the record as singles.” For aspiring artists, Fink advises persistence and patience. While struggling to make it “your character is being strengthened and whittled down to the point where when you step into a bit of success you’ll know how to handle it and carry yourself.” His other advice: “Sell yourself out for what you believe, and say something that is truly you,” he says. Learn more at facebook.com/fosterthepeople and dogoodbus.com.
Foster the People Photos by Andy Barron
organizing it and putting it into cohesive thought,” he
“But none of us were taking it all that seriously. It was
“The stories we’re hearing from every city are just