Redmond teens participate in soundcheck event with indie pop group Foster the People

Published 9:58 am Monday, October 17, 2011

Earlier this month, 15 teens from the City of Redmond‘s Old Fire House Teen Center (OFH) in addition to teens from Seattle participated in a soundcheck question-and-answer session with Foster the People, an indie pop group from Los Angeles, and were treated to a private show at the Showbox Sodo in Seattle.

The event was sponsored by the Grammy Pacific Northwest Chapter and provided an educational opportunity for young people to get a firsthand look at what it means to be a professional musician.

Additionally the band shared with some of the new young musicians that were present that it takes a great deal of hard work to be successful and even contributed a few choice marketing tips to help them get started.

The band performed on Saturday Night Live (SNL) the evening before they flew to Seattle to meet with the teens group and then played to a sold-out crowd.

The band explained at the soundcheck event that their hit “Pumped Up Kicks,” which they performed on SNL, is about the experience they had and other young people have in high school and the level of pressures and violence they are dealing with on a daily basis and despite those pressures they hope young people will find positive things like music to help stay focused and pursue their goals whatever they might be.