Andrew Paul Dost (born April 10, 1983) is an American musician and singer; he is a member of the indie bossa nova/jazz band Metal Bubble Trio, in which he is the lead singer. He was formerly a member of the indie rock band Anathallo from 2003 to 2007, as well as the indie rock band fun. from 2008-2015.

Early and personal life

Andrew Dost was born to father Mark Dost, a retired teacher at Frankfort High School, and mother Cheryl, also a retired teacher at Frankfort High School. Dost grew up in Cass City, Michigan and

Frankfort, Michigan Frankfort is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. Located within Benzie County, Michigan, Benzie County, the city sits upon the shore of Lake Michigan at the mouth of the Betsie River. The city had a population of 1,252 at the 2020 United States ...

. He graduated from Frankfort High School in Michigan as valedictorian in 2001, and graduated from

Central Michigan University Central Michigan University (CMU) is a Public university, public research university in Mount Pleasant, Michigan, United States. It was established in 1892 as a private normal school and became a state institution in 1895. CMU is one of the eigh ...

with a degree in journalism in 2005. Regarding Dost's musical ambitions, his father, Mark, has said, "We always encouraged it because he plays flugelhorn, keyboard, guitar, melodica and drums. And he can sing. I am so pleased and proud that he's able to do what he loves to do and make a living at it. You wonder how is this going to work out as far as making a car payment. Yet as a parent you want your child to be fulfilled." Dost is also a fairly active

LGBTQ+ LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, asexual, aromantic, agender, and other individuals. The group i ...

ally, and a founding member of The Ally Coalition, an organization "that works with entertainers and their fans to raise awareness, action, and funds in support of LGBTQ equality . . ."

Career

Anathallo

Dost began his musical career as a member of the band Anathallo, which was formed in 2000 at

Mount Pleasant, Michigan Mount Pleasant is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. The city is the county seat of Isabella County, which is part of Central Michigan. The population of Mount Pleasant was 21,688 as of the 2020 census. The city is surrounded by Union Char ...

, with Dost joining in 2003. He left the band halfway through writing album ''Canopy Glow'' in 2006; he has said that he left because the band had relocated to

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

and he was not able to move with.

''Columbus''

After leaving Anathallo, Dost began work on a solo album, ''Columbus.'' It was based on a

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the Character (arts), charac ...

he had written in 2005 about the life of

Christopher Columbus Christopher Columbus (; between 25 August and 31 October 1451 – 20 May 1506) was an Italians, Italian explorer and navigator from the Republic of Genoa who completed Voyages of Christopher Columbus, four Spanish-based voyages across the At ...

. According to an editorial review, "The story is a comedy of sorts, taking preposterous liberties with the legendary tale of Christopher Columbus . . . ''Columbus'' takes a quirky story and creates a heartfelt world for it." The album was written, produced, and recorded almost entirely by Dost, along with help from Michael Nau (of Page France and The Cotton Jones Basket Ride),

Nate Ruess Nathaniel Joseph Ruess (pronounced ; born February 26, 1982) is an American singer and songwriter. He formed the indie rock band The Format in 2002, and later went on to form the band fun. in 2008. He emerged as a solo act with his guest per ...

(of

The Format The Format was an American indie rock band, formed by vocalist Nate Ruess and multi-instrumentalist Sam Means (musician), Sam Means. Their style can be considered a mixture of indie, alternative, punk and folk music, with elements of 1960s and 1 ...

), Joel Thiele (of Anathallo), Chris Fafalios, and Steve Soboslai. The album was released in 2009 on

vinyl Vinyl may refer to: Chemistry * Polyvinyl chloride (PVC), a particular vinyl polymer * Vinyl cation, a type of carbocation * Vinyl group, a broad class of organic molecules in chemistry * Vinyl polymer, a group of polymers derived from vinyl ...

and

digital Digital usually refers to something using discrete digits, often binary digits. Businesses *Digital bank, a form of financial institution *Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) or Digital, a computer company *Digital Research (DR or DRI), a software ...

Fun.

In 2008, Nate Ruess (former frontman of The Format) asked Dost to join him and

Jack Antonoff Jack Michael Antonoff (born March 31, 1984) is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. He is the lead vocalist of the rock band Bleachers, and previously the guitarist and drummer for the pop band Fun and the lead vocalist of t ...

(of

Steel Train Steel Train was an indie rock band from New Jersey. They performed at Bonnaroo, Lollapalooza, Coachella, ''Late Night with Conan O'Brien'', and ''Late Show with David Letterman'', and toured with several acts, including Tegan and Sara, Fun, Ben ...

) in a new band, which became Fun. Dost already knew the two, because their former bands had toured together. While making Fun.'s first album, '' Aim and Ignite'', Dost remained based out of Michigan, while Ruess lived in

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona. With over 1.6 million residents at the 2020 census, it is the ...

, and Antonoff in New Jersey. Fun.'s second album, '' Some Nights'', saw the band's first #1 hit single, "

We Are Young "We Are Young" is a song recorded by American pop rock band Fun, featuring American singer Janelle Monáe. It is the third track on the group's second studio album, '' Some Nights'' (2012). The song was released on September 20, 2011, as th ...

", which Dost co-wrote with Ruess, Antonoff, and Jeff Bhasker, the band's producer. Dost also created an original score for the beginning of the "Carry On" music video in 2012.

Scores

He composed the soundtrack to the movie ''

The D Train ''The D Train'' (also known as ''Bad Bromance'') is a 2015 black comedy film written and directed by Jarrad Paul and Andrew Mogel in their directorial debuts, and stars Jack Black and James Marsden. The film premiered at the 11th Sundance Film ...

'', released in 2015. The soundtrack contains a collaboration with his Fun. bandmate Jack Antonoff.

Solo career

In late 2015, Dost has mentioned that he hopes to release new music soon. On April 20, 2016, Dost said in an interview with the

Metro Times The ''Detroit Metro Times'' is a progressive alternative weekly newspaper located in Detroit, Michigan. It is the largest circulating weekly newspaper in the metro Detroit area. The ''Metro Times'' was an official sponsor of the now-defunct De ...

that he's, "finishing an album, and scoring some films and TV shows in the meantime. It's been fun to have some time to experiment with music in a lot of different ways." In this same interview, Dost also said, regarding his music, "I'm pretty heavily influenced by '60s pop, but also love experimenting with modern sounds. I like the Beatles, I like musical theater, and I like Drake." On April 29, 2016, Dost performed a new song titled "Where Did They Go" along with an unreleased song titled "Young Republicans" at the

Detroit Music Awards The Detroit Music Awards Foundation is a Michigan 501(c)(3) organization, whose mission is to recognize Detroit area musicians working on national, regional, and local levels. The Foundation supports and nurtures the musical community in Detroit ...

. These songs have not been released officially as singles. Dost also composed music for dogs in 2014. Since Fun. went on hiatus, Dost has been involved in films, podcasts, TV shows, and NFTs. In 2021, Dost returned to Michigan with the intent to work on his music and other art locally. He began teaching in the singer-songwriter program at

Interlochen Center for the Arts Interlochen Center for the Arts ( '; also known as I.C.A. or Inty) is a Nonprofit organization, non-profit corporation which operates Visual arts education, arts education institutions and Music venue, performance venues. Established in 1928 b ...

around this time.

Songwriting credits

Discography

Albums

*'' Floating World'' (2006) with Anathallo *''Columbus'' (2009) (based on a play he wrote in 2005)

Soundtracks

*''

'' (2015)

Singles

as featured artist

*"Mean What I Say" (2015) by That Dog

References

External links

Dost's website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dost, Andrew Living people Central Michigan University alumni American indie rock musicians American male songwriters 1983 births American LGBTQ rights activists Fun (band) members People from Cass City, Michigan Grammy Award winners