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I have immersed myself in the culture to get some respect, like
I did in LA, working all those years in the studio. I think I’m
a good t for Broadway because I write good music still—I
think—I write good melodies and I know how to move an
audience with a melody.”
Even with his musical pedigree, Foster had to work to
get the stage gig. Producer Bill Haber and Mark Fleischer,
the grandson of the creator of Betty Boop (animator Max
Fleischer), put him through some audition paces. “I wrote a
couple of songs on spec. I was actually their third composer [to
audition]. And that was it. I was in.”
W
HAT FOSTER HAS NOT BEEN “ IN”
for quite some time is the recording studio. e
-time Grammy Award winner (he has nearly
nominations) has apparently closed the door
on that part of his life, though he’s currently producing Michael
Bublé’s next album. Broadway and touring in concert have
become his new passions. Both are exciting, brave new worlds
for him.
“I haven’t been in the studio for almost a year and a half,”
Foster says excitedly. “I stopped making records almost two
years ago. … I just got bored with myself. I needed to recharge.
But it’s more than that. I’ve been in the studio some years—
in a room with no windows—making some great music, a lot
of shitty music, some really good music. I needed to re-evalu-
ate. Broadway is my new mistress, my new temptress. It’s my
new muse. I feel like I can be good at it.
“I’m
tired
of making records,” Foster stresses. “I don’t want
to be somewhere where I’m not doing my best. I think I can do
my best on Broadway in musicals. And I love touring. I’m just
tired of producing artists. It’s not on them. It’s all on me.”
Foster’s command of the music business is un appable.
At , he’s completely tuned in to the most relevant con-
temporary music makers. He cites Justin
Bieber, Drake, Rihanna, Pink, and Ed
Sheeran as some of his favorites.
“I haven’t lost the
passion,” Foster
makes clear. “I’m
not the guy com-
plaining about
the new music. ere’s this tiny part of me that would love to
hook up with Drake and e Weeknd and Ariana [Grande],
and without being heavy-handed, just sprinkle what I know
[into their music] and see how that would work. Bieber’s last
album [ ’s
Purpose
] was amazing. Drake is incredible.”
What Foster will concede is how much the music business
has changed since he came up in the ranks, most of it for the
better (he champions paid music streaming) and some not so
(reality show competitions). He’s also the rst to admit that his
career might not be what it is had streaming been around some
years ago. “I don’t think I would have had as successful a
career because everything is so disposable now,” Foster says,
his tone becoming contemplative. “ at’s why there can’t ever
be another Beatles. ere was less access back then. ere are
channels now.”
Shows like
e Voice
and
American Idol
create a false sense
of success, he argues, though he has been spotted as a men-
tor on
American Idol
and guest judge on
Nashville Star
. More
to the point, Foster admits, they serve no real purpose other
than pure entertainment. “I love those shows as a spectator,”
he says. “As a person in the music business, they don’t do me
much good. I love to watch Blake [Shelton of
e Voice
] turn
his chair around, and that dynamic between him and [co-host]
Adam [Lambert]! And [
American Idol
judge] Katy Perry is
amazing. Simon Cowell is a freak; he’s so good! But here’s why
[reality shows] don’t discover stars. ese kids come from the
bedroom to the stage without putting in the work in between.
ey make records in their bedrooms on their laptops because
for
you can get enough equipment to do something that’s
good enough to get on the radio. And they don’t do all the
‘in-between work’: ey don’t sing in the bars, they don’t join a
band. ey don’t get thrown out of a band. ey don’t have to
lug their [keyboards] up stairs and play to an empty house. …
Being a good singer is not enough.”
Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood, and Jennifer Hudson
notwithstanding, Foster is adamant. “ ose are three out of
thousands of contestants,” he says. But that was what, years
ago? And also, singers are not the best people to nd stars.
at’s why they have producers, like me. … Not to rag on
them, but it’s just not their job.”
Finding stars and cultivating careers are among Foster’s key
music talents. A hit song becomes a hit because it’s beautifully
written and arranged, but it also demands the perfect voice to
give it life. “I haven’t done as much discovery as people think,”
Foster says with a chuckle. “Because I spend the time
making
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