As one of the three members of the hugely successful band fun., he’s won Grammys, played Saturday Night Live, co-wrote a song that went diamond and toured the world. Now he wants to move back home to Northern Michigan. This episode features musician Andrew Dost.
As one of the three members of the hugely successful band fun., he’s won Grammys, played Saturday Night Live, co-wrote a song that went diamond and toured the world. Now he wants to move back home to Northern Michigan. This episode features musician Andrew Dost.
(MUSIC START)
Do you remember what you were doing on January 21, 2013?
Andrew Dost does.
We were hanging out with Stevie Wonder, John Legend. And then Obama came in and was like Stevie. And they like high fived and stuff. And it was just like, what happened here?
Ah… Mondays.
I’m Tommy Andres…
And this is Creative Coast.
(MUSIC POST)
You’ve probably heard of a song or album going platinum.
Platinum means more than a million units have been sold.
But there’s an even more elite category…
A category for albums and songs that have gone platinum 10 times over…
A category called “Diamond.” (bling)
There are only 34 songs in history that have been certified diamond.
Songs like “Candle In The Wind” by Elton John…
Lady Gaga’s “Poker Face…”
And “Shake It Off” by Tayor Swift.
But the one we’re going to talk about today is this one…
(clip of “We Are Young.”)
If you were breathing in 2012 you’ve heard this song…
It’s by the band Fun.
But what you might NOT know is that…
If you live in Northern Michigan…
one of the band’s three members is from your own backyard.
Hi, I’m Andrew Dost, I’m 37 years old. I'm from Frankfort, Michigan. I currently live in Los Angeles and I make music.
This podcast is all about creative entrepreneurs who have brought their ideas, interests, inspiration and innovations to Traverse City…
So it makes sense that everyone we have spoken with so far has been in and around Traverse City.
But Andrew Dost lives in Los Angeles…
And is at the tail-end of a long and colorful journey back home.
I moved back to L.A. to be more engaged with this creative community here. And that has been amazing. But what I'm realizing now, especially with quarantine and with Zoom and all this stuff, is like, wow, I really want to live in Northern Michigan. I really love it there.
Andrew’s journey starts at Frankfort Junior High where he first fell in love with music.
Once I hit about 12 years old, it was kind of all I could think about. It was all I wanted to do was practice guitar and play music and practice trumpet. And it just became kind of like the overriding driving force in my life where I just knew I was gonna be doing it forever. And I kind of wanted to just start immediately, basically. And so it hasn't really ever stopped.
Tell me some of the bands that got you really excited.
I mean, the Beatles were the first ones to really blow my mind. My dad gave me a Beatles tape and I just obsessed over it. // I know it’s kind of an obvious answer because it’s like they’re the biggest, best band of all time. So who’s not influenced by the Beatles? But, um, they definitely it’s true of me, too. For sure. //
And then in middle school, I was really into Weezer and really into No FX. And Ben Folds Five, I know that’s not punk rock by any means, but that was kind of sufficiently mind-blowing too. I played piano and I realized that piano could still be kind of a cool thing to play.
What did your parents think about you and potentially pursuing music as a career?
They were supportive, but they were also like, you need to have you need to be ready for a real job when the time comes, which is why I ended up studying journalism at CMU.
Andrew might not have found much usefulness in the classes at Central Michigan University, but there was still plenty to learn.
The music scene was really vibrant and cool at CMU when I was there. It was... it was all like experimental and cool and omnivorous, and it was just really a neat time to be making music. // I formed a band with some some friends there. And then
there was another really, really amazing band in town that I was obsessed with, called on to follow. And so I just really admired them, tried to play shows with them whenever
possible. And then at a certain point they asked me to join.
(Anathallo Music Clip)
That was the first kind of like like we started going on tour and like during Christmas break and spring break, and anytime we had any spare minute off, we would be playing shows. All over the country. // We’re like a band. We’re a real band. And when we’re
touring and doing this and we had a van and a trailer and we started really actually touring and it was just awesome. It was magical. It was so much fun.
Anathallo got a manager…
His name was Tom Gates // Great guy.
And that manager came up with a plan for a new tour.
He was managing Brand New and The Format. And so he wanted to put us with The Format because we had horn players and stuff and we could do the arrangements of their new album, Dog Problems live. And so it was a little like you scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours. Like we got to go on tour with a great band and they got horn arrangements for free.
The lead singer of The Format was a guy named Nate Ruess (Roose).
And as Andrew and his Anathallo bandmates are traveling around the country with The Format, he and Nate start to click.
One of the one of the best parts of touring is, I would say, is meeting the other bands and making making friends. You play one show with somebody and you might be like, you guys are my new best friends. // Nate and I just really hit it off right away. And we just loved all the same music like we would talk about like Rufus Wainwright, Harry Nilsson. Just a lot of weird specific tastes that ran really deep for us.
Young bands often burn hot and fast.
After several years together, Anathallo called it quits.
And so once I parted ways with Anathallo, I went on tour with The Format and started just doing kind of... kind of helming all their arrangements.
On The Format tour in 2007, Andrew and Nate started jamming together a bit.
Nate and I tried to even write a couple of songs together and we were like, there might be something here. This is kind of cool.
But in February 2008, The Format burned out too and disbanded.
And that’s when Andrew’s phone rang.
Nate called me and said, Jack, you know, Jack is a friend of mine at that point, too. We toured together a bit. Let’s go to New York. Book a one way ticket. Let’s start a band. And I was doing literally nothing. I was living with my parents, working like one day a week at a coffee shop, because in Frankfort there was only one and they didn’t have much need for help. So it’s like, all right, what else am I doing? All right, I’ll go to New York. Sure.
JOSH MUSIC
Nate and Andrew teamed up with Jack Antonoff, the guitarist and lead singer of a band called Steel Train.
We were just making demos and recording in like. Just kind of falling in love with each
other, essentially as like musicians and people.
Did you know when you started writing with Nate and Jack that this was gonna be such a big thing? I mean, I know personally it probably felt like sort of magically said you guys are kind of following each of falling in love with each other musically. But did you have any idea that you were writing something that was gonna be so commercially successful?
No. And when we started, actually, the first song we did was not very good. I didn’t think. And so we were kind of like, oh, let’s try something else. Let’s see what happens, happens here. And then we gradually kind of hit our stride with it.
On August 20, 2008...
Just seven months after the break-up of The Format…
Spin magazine announced the arrival of Andrew, Jack and Nate’s new band.
The article came with a free download of the group’s first song “Benson Hedges...”
And proclaimed the indie rock project’s name…
Fun… with a period.
(Benson Hedges)
Before Fun even recorded an album, the band began touring.
They played early demos and some covers at their shows.
Then they hit the studio…
And recorded their debut album “Aim and Ignite.”
Baroque pop and ornate, kind of like stuff.
The album was praised by critics…
And was greeted with commercial success too.
It peaked at 71 on the U.S. album charts.
We were thrilled with it. And I still am.
Fun landed an opening spot on the band Paramore’s European tour.
And licensed a song to Expedia for a commercial.
They landed a new record deal…
With a label called Fueled By Ramen.
But it wasn’t until the guys from Fun sat down to write their second album that stuff seemed to really click.
We were kind of like, let’s cut away a lot of the stuff that we don’t need. like, you know,six clarinets on this playing all counter melodies and it's gonna be crazy and then nobody really cares. So we're like, let's let's cut away all the clarinets and whatever that that people maybe don't even pay attention to. Let's write great songs, simple melodies, timeless lyrics. let's kind of go for it on this one.
The band started crafting songs that would make up its second release…
Called “Some Nights.”
The feeling was the same of like, this is fun and exciting and I love what we're doing and I love working with you guys. This is magic. And and it wasn't until maybe our manager or our record label heard the songs that we were like, oh, maybe this is commercial because they were like, you guys made a hit record like this is going to be a platinum record. Like, you need to get ready because this is gonna be crazy.
So what's it like to be told you guys are sitting on a platinum album before it comes out, before it like to have somebody, the music industry look you in the eyes and basically say all we got to do is get this thing out there and you guys are gonna be big. I mean, like just personally how it was it scary? Was that exciting? I mean, clearly it's exciting. But was it also a little scary and a little bit like what's gonna happen now? I mean, like your life was about to change in a big way and you sort of got a warning about it.
Yeah, it was scary to hear that a little bit, but mostly I think we thought it was funny. I think we were just like, yeah, right, a platinum record, like whatever. Like you. What do you guys know? We're just a couple of shitheads from wherever. So who cares? But they were right.
Oh boy were they right.
February 21, 2012 Fun dropped its album “Some Nights...”
And it exploded onto the charts.
By March, the single "We Are Young" reached the No. 1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
It was used in the TV shows Gossip Girl, 90210, Glee and Chuck…
In the trailer for the film “This is 40...”
And in commercials for Chevrolet and Apple.
here's something about that song, too. We are young. We are at this time, though, in American history where like we've just kind of quarter way out of the financial crisis. Right. And there's like sort of this rift between the old white guys running everything and everyone else that has, I think, sort of started to show itself in. But there's something about that song that just felt like such a perfect anthem for the time. And I'm wondering if that like is that it's Kismet like did that just is does that just happen or are you inspired by what's happening around you? And that's what causes it. Like, is it is it a causal relationship or is it an effect relationship? I guess is what I'm asking. Yeah.
Great question. I think it's both. I think it's it's. Weirdly speaking of like the patriarchy, the lyric actually started as as a kind of a winking. We can do it like the Patrick comment coming from the perspective of the patriarchy. Let's set the world on fire because we can do whatever we want, like we can, you know, clear cut the rainforest. We can mine stuff into oblivion. We can pollute. We can whatever. We're young, so let's set the world on fire. Fuck it. And oh, sorry, I don't fucking swear on here. Um, okay. You sure can. Okay, great. Um, so it kind of started from that sort of a place and then with time and, you know, you play something 30 times and you're like, oh, that's that's what it is. And so eventually we realized like, no, actually this is like a party anthem
And is it frustrating or is it rewarding when people take whatever they want from your song, right. I'm thinking like frat guys loving this song, right? Like them just like standing on top of like the keg and saying, like, we are young, you know, like. That's probably there's probably aren't your people. But like, is it is it.
No, they
Ah cool.
Oh, they are. But it's a it's a great question. It's a great question though. [00:57:09] But those are everybody's my people. And and like that's awesome. Like if somebody wants to party and get trashed and listen to fun like hell. I I want the songs to be for everybody. And I think as a as a songwriter and an artist, whether it's a visual artist or a filmmaker or whatever anybody does, once you release it into the world, it's not yours anyway. So like we are young is not. My song. You know, it's it's everybody. It is that it's that frat song essentially as much as it is mine. It just isn't yours anymore. You let it out. It's like a dove that you release in. Like the best case scenario is that people love it.
(MUSIC)
Two songs on “Some Nights” became hit singles as well…
“Carry On” and the title track.
The band played Saturday Night Live…
The 55th Annual Grammy’s…
Where they won for Best New Artist, Song of the Year and were nominated for Album of the Year.
We were playing music as our quote unquote, day jobs. And that is all I really ever wanted out of music was to be able to do it as a career. I didn't necessarily care about winning Grammys or anything. I just kind of forgot that that could even happen at a certain point. And then so then when that conversation came to where they were like the Grammys want you guys to play the nomination thing because they think you're gonna get nominated for a bunch of stuff. Then it was then it was like, whoa, like this is even a different kind of tier of success them than we've been experiencing. It was just all like… It was just all like almost like cartoonish in a way where it was like like, OK, whatever. Like, I guess. So let’s go. Like, Obama wants us to play his inauguration. Okay. Like, hilarious. Let’s do it. almost like cartoonish in a way where it was like like, OK, whatever. Like, I guess. So let’s go. Like, Obama wants us to play his inauguration. Okay. Like, hilarious. Let’s do it.
Oh yeah… Did I mention Fun played the Commander-In-Chief’s Ball as part of President Obama’s second-term Inauguration in 2013?
So what is it like sort of being in those moments? And do. Are you able to sort of take them all in or is it just so overwhelming that you're just like,it's just blowing your brain?
Yeah, more more column B? It's hard to take in. It blows your brain a little bit and. Like with with the Obama thing, we were hanging out with Stevie Wonder, John Legend. And then Obama came in and was like Stevie. And they like high fived and stuff. And it was just like, what happened here? Confession. What is it? Things like that. That that you just have to take them in because it gets too surreal like it. Or if you think about like the stakes of playing Saturday Night Live and it's it is live. And if you mess up your piano part, that's gonna be really embarrassing forever. Like you're gonna think about that and and you can't think about that because then you're gonna mess up. You just have to be there. And it's like very Zen they become these moments become very Zen. And you have to just like be present and enjoy it as best you can and do your thing. But it's the task at hand is to perform. And that becomes the focus, not the, um, maybe historical context or financial context or any other thing. Like you just kind of enjoy it. And and all you can really do is re connect and like, you know, look your friends in the eye and say, like, let's do this.
Was there anything about sort of seeing the others, that side of fame? Was there anything that sort of turns you off or that you didn't like about it? I read this interview with Tom Brady and he'd won the Super Bowl and he said he was in the bus after the Super Bowl. And he was kind of like, is this it was this was it like it was just sort of like when you reach that level. Were you surprised at how it felt or was it just good or did it? Was there some mixed emotion to sort of like, you know, playing on stage at the Grammys, playing at SNL, having a, you know, platinum album, like all these amazing milestones? What did it feel like?
The answer is that, like, it's all great, man. It's great. You know, it's wonderful. And the bigger kind of sadder answer is that, like, if you're if you're sad and lonely, feeling that doesn't have a trophy doesn't make that feeling go away. And, um, you know, getting a I think I think we are young just when diamond, which means 10 million sales or something. And and it just like is like I don't it's special and magical and amazing, but I don't I don't really care. I think, like, it doesn't fill my soul in in a way that my soul needs nourishment, like. That's why I'm kind of excited about the prospect of moving back to Traverse City, because the things that fill my soul would maybe beat me. Teaching, sharing what I've learnt, you know, I've learned so much about the industry and about how to craft songs and how to make those songs successful and how to navigate the world of music and film and TV and. Imparting that information to the next generation of artists that that I think is much more nourishing to my soul than awards or sales figures or whatever, so like. // That's one component of my life and one thing that I like enabled me to do. Some wonderful things with my time on this planet, but like there is a depth and, you know, family and friendship and. There's there's so much that's so much more deeply important to me. And it does help you realize what really matters. Like having you think you think you won a Grammy or you think you want a platinum album. And what you really want is love and acceptance and artistic fulfillment and community and having dinner with good friends and sharing a drink and a laugh. And, you know, those are those are the things that really fill your soul in a way that like someone's idea of success can never really do.
(MUSIC)
Despite its incredible success…
"Some Nights" would be Fun’s last album.
On February 4, 2015 the band announced on its Facebook page that they weren’t splitting up…
Just taking time to pursue other projects.
Nate Ruess went solo…
Jack Antonoff started the band Bleachers…
And Andrew started composing for films.
He did the soundtrack for the 2015 film “D-Train” starring Jack Black.
I've read several interviews with Nate and you guys, and you've said that it's never really ended like it. The band could come back at any time, although that seems less and less likely with how far away we're getting. I'm just curious about your thoughts on sort of it ending and whether you were surprised and what you thought you would do next.
Yeah, I mean, I was it was it was a bit of a surprise when fun ended. But also it kind of wasn't. It was it was kind of looking back. I've had some time to, you know, think about it from more of a. Detached perspective or something, it's not quite so fresh. But I don't know what we would have done if we had kept it going. And at the time, it didn't really make sense. It was like, why would why would we stop this while it's rolling along so well? But then. Um, I don't I don't really know what the next album would have sounded like, it was I mean, we kind of talked about about it and what it would sound like and we started making a couple of songs and it just it didn't feel very good. I think for a number of different reasons, it it would have it would have been difficult on all of us to to continue for a number of different reasons. But, um, yeah, it was a pretty quick end. I don't I don't think we will make music together anytime soon.
I'm guessing this brought you enough financial success to not have to worry about jumping right back into work. But, you know, when you've sort of hit this peak as an artist and you've had this success, I mean, you really couldn't lay out a more successful band in a short amount of time. I mean, like, the metrics are insane. So what do you sort of do as an artist to kind of step back from that and reassess and sort of shape who you're going to be going forward?
Yeah, that's that's I mean, that's that's the human experience is like, what what defines you? What defines who you are? And fun defined me for a period and it’s taken some adjustment for sure. I'm never going to stop writing songs. I'm never gonna stop playing music, certainly never gonna stop listening to it. But I’m realizing there's a more holistic approach to life where I don't have to be. A former person who was in a successful band that's a part of who I am, but also like I can be a I can build furniture and I can make bread and I can move to Traverse city and start a flower farm or an auto mechanic shop, you know, whatever, like, I just read this morning that Colonel Sanders started KFC when he was 65 years old. So.
No wonder he’s so old in the ads.
Yeah. Yeah. Because he was old from the get-go.
So you might still have a KFC in you after all.
I hope so. God that’d be great if I could start a fast food franchise.
(MUSIC)
So after touring around the globe…
After winning Grammys…
After playing Saturday Night Live…
After playing Obama’s inauguration ball…
And even after being in one of only 34 bands to have a diamond album…
Andrew Dost is coming back home.
He could choose to live anywhere on earth, and he’s choosing Traverse City.
Because…
When you’ve checked all those boxes…
When you’ve done all that stuff…
What you realize is…
Those are just boxes of stuff.
it does help you realize what really matters. Like having you think you think you won a Grammy or you think you want a platinum album. And what you really want is love and acceptance and artistic fulfillment and community and having dinner with good friends and sharing a drink and a laugh. And, you know, those are those are the things that really fill your soul in a way that like someone's idea of success can never really do.
So in his new life in Traverse City…
Maybe Andrew will teach music…
Maybe he’ll bake bread…
Maybe he’ll start his own flower farm or even a fast food franchise.
And maybe he’ll be driving up M-22 when a certain song will come on the radio…
And he’ll say something like this.
Wow, they’re still dusting off that old chestnut.
(MUSIC)
Creative Coast is a podcast series brought to you by Traverse Connect…
the Grand Traverse Region’s Economic Development Organization…
and is produced by me, Tommy Andres and Maria Byrne for our company Airloom Media.
That’s spelled A-I-R.
The music is composed by Josh Hoisington.
This podcast series is made possible thanks to generous support and funding from the Michigan Film and Digital Media Office at Michigan’s Economic Development Corporation.
You can visit Traverse Connect’s website at traverseconnect.com.