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The Pumped Up Kicks makers have done good. And while the 2011 release propelled them into Billboard Music Award history, it’s their third album Sacred Hearts Club – post Cubbie Frank – that fuses together everything we love about the outfit; new-psychedelia, punk, fuck, electronic, dance and hip-hop. Today band member Isom Innis catches up with GRAZIA and as he needs to get a flight to our great country tomorrow to perform at Falls Festival, we’ve interrupted his Christmas drinking game. “We’re actually right now in the middle of a little early Christmas celebration,” says Innis. “We’ve got these party poppers, we’re playing charades, trading cheap gifts and drinking wine. Can you hear the jingle bells?”
We’re so excited for you guys to return to Australia. Tell me what can we expect from your Falls Festival shows?
Innis: “OK, you can expect poisonous snakes and some really large spiders [laughs]. We will have six musicians on stage with us – there’s guitars, a couple of drum kits – we are literally throwing everything we’ve got at it.”
Do you connote dangerous reptiles and insects with Australia?
“Oh yeah, I think of driving in a rental van down the Great Ocean Road – because there are no tour buses or anything! In America, we get spoiled and end up riding around in these big tour buses but in Australia, you actually have to interact with your band mates and deal with the poisonous spiders, which I believe aren’t all that bad so I’m glad to know that beforehand so I don’t freak out entirely when they jump out at you when you’re opening a door!”
Which location are you most looking forward to performing in?
“It’s hard to pick a favourite because we’ve bene all around now to Byron Bay, Sydney, Melbourne and we’ve never played in Lorne but it’s exciting to be there this year. I actually was there in 2011 for a couple of club shows and afterwards we rented a car and drove down the Great Ocean Road. I’m excited to come back and actually play a show there!
Are you playing in Marion Bay?
“You know, my Australian geography is all over the place! How close to North is Tasmania?”
It’s actually the most South location you can get. But also the most beautiful I believe!
(Editor’s note: Foster The People are playing in Marion Bay for Falls Festival on Saturday December 30. Tickets are still available here).
How does an Australian crowd differ to a Glastonbury or A Coachella crowd? What makes us unique?
“Well there’s no mud [laughs]. People in Australia are just really good-looking. I feel like, feel like such a loser.
“In all seriousness, one of my favourite things about Australia collectively as a country is their incredible music taste.”
“We always pay attention to what Triple J is playing and you know, I feel like you guys are always responsible for eclectic, cutting-edge taste. You lead the taste of the world. I think you guys have produced some of the best bands in the world like Tame Impala. And then you support people like us. Never in our wildest dreams did we think music would reach overseas like it did and you guys have supported us and we don’t forget it. We’re looking forward to getting back and getting to play Sacred Hearts Club for everyone for the first time.”
Thank you – that’s such a big compliment to say we’re tastemakers when we’re so far down under the earth…
“[Laughs] You are! You guys have one of the first New Years too though, right? The Sydney Opera House, that is the first hour of the New Year, is that right?”
Of course, we’re ahead of time. We live in the future. Do you have any pre-show rituals? What gets you pumped up before a show?
“We definitely listen to a mix of different music. Different people take the AUX cord before certain shows but we listen to a lot of post-punk, a lot of hip-hop which really inspires us to get on stage.”
We’re excited for you to bring Scared Hearts Club down here. What inspired Doing It For The Money?
“It was a song that Mark [Pontius] originally wrote… the lyrical subject was a bit different but I remember touring in Malaysia six years ago and just loving the song. But like many songs, you finish them and they just sit on your hard-drive and nothing becomes of them. But a couple of years ago, I had a dream and in that dream I heard the chorus for Doing It For The Money. I texted Mark and was like, ‘Hey, do you remember this song from about four years ago? We should bring this back’. At the time we were working on Sacred Hearts Club and were already immersed in the aesthetic of the record we were already making. So we took that existing track and Sacred-Heart-Club-ified it if you can use that as a phrase. Mark actually re-wrote the lyrics from a different perspective. Its’ actually my favourite track on the record but one of the these days, I think we’ll have to release the demo of it because it’s a really interesting shift.”
That’s a really interesting backstory, thank you for sharing. How will you be celebrating New Years, will there be more charades?
“I hope so! I think we will be in Byron Bay for New Years. Summer, beach – which is a new thing because usually I have a pretty cold new year so I’m excited for the heat!”
Foster The People’s Sacred Hearts Club is out now.
For sideshow tickets and details in Melbourne and Sydney, go here.
Thursday January 5, Forum Theatre, Melbourne
Friday January 5, Enmore Theatre, Sydney
For last-minute Falls Tickets, go here.
