Matthew Albert Costa (born June 16, 1982) is an American singer-songwriter from
Huntington Beach, California
Huntington Beach is a seaside city in Orange County, California, United States. The city was originally called Pacific City, but it was changed in 1903 to be named after American businessman Henry E. Huntington. The population was 198,711 as of ...
, United States. He has 13
independent
Independent or Independents may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups
* Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States
* Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...
releases: 7 self-recorded EPs, 6 complete LPs, 4 of which are released via
Brushfire Records. His first album in five years, ''Santa Rosa Fangs'', was released on May 18, 2018, on
Dangerbird Records
Dangerbird Records is an independent record label in Los Angeles, California. The label is home to artists from around the world and part of the burgeoning Silver Lake music scene. The label has had international success from its small roster of ...
.
Life
Matt Costa, who is of
Portuguese descent, states that his father works in the airline business. In early 2003, Matt's homemade demo reached
No Doubt
No Doubt is an American rock band formed in Anaheim, California in 1986. For most of its career, the band has consisted of vocalist and founding member Gwen Stefani, guitarist Tom Dumont, bassist Tony Kanal and drummer Adrian Young. Keyboar ...
guitarist
Tom Dumont, who offered to record more demos for Costa in his home studio. Those first recordings led to two EPs (Matt Costa EP, Elasmosaurus EP) that Costa and Dumont distributed themselves. These were later combined and mixed by
Phil Ek
Phil Ek is an American record producer, engineer and mixer. Ek began his career in Seattle, Washington in the early 1990s recording live sound in clubs. He then moved into studio recording, recording small projects and demos for local bands. Aro ...
to form Costa's first full-length CD entitled ''
Songs We Sing''.
Costa spent the summer of 2005 opening on
Jack Johnson's summer tour. He has since toured with
Modest Mouse
Modest Mouse is an American rock music, rock band formed in 1993 in Issaquah, Washington, and currently based in Portland, Oregon. The founding members were lead singer/guitarist Isaac Brock (musician), Isaac Brock, drummer Jeremiah Green and ba ...
,
Oasis
In ecology, an oasis (; : oases ) is a fertile area of a desert or semi-desert environment[Ryan Adams & The Cardinals
The Cardinals are an American rock band that were formed in 2004 by alternative country singer-songwriter Ryan Adams and fronted by him (until 2009 and again from 2023 onwards). The band was featured on Ryan Adams and the Cardinals albums, ''C ...]
,
G. Love & Special Sauce, and
Death Cab for Cutie
Death Cab for Cutie (commonly abbreviated to DCFC or Death Cab) is an American rock music, rock band formed in Bellingham, Washington, in 1997. Death Cab for Cutie's music has been classified as indie rock, indie pop, and alternative rock. The ...
. Costa joined
Jack Johnson for his 2006 European tour. He has also contributed to the Jack Johnson and Friends
Curious George
Curious George is a fictional monkey who is the title character of a series of popular children's picture books written and illustrated by Margret and H. A. Rey. Various media, including films and TV shows, have been based upon the original ...
soundtrack; his track is entitled "Lullaby". This song was taken from his ''The Elasmosaurus EP.'' Costa has also toured extensively in Australia, New Zealand, Europe, Asia and South America.
The video for Costa's first single "Cold December" was released February 2, 2006. On July 31, 2007, he released a song titled "If You Took To Me" as part of the environmentally minded polar bear documentary ''
Arctic Tale
''Arctic Tale'' is a 2007 American documentary film from the National Geographic Society about the life cycle of a walrus and her calf, and a polar bear and her cubs, in a similar vein to the 2005 hit production ''March of the Penguins'', which ...
'' and its soundtrack.
On October 7, 2007, Matt released the first single, "Mr. Pitiful," from his record ''
Unfamiliar Faces.'' The song "Mr. Pitiful" was used during a scene with
Paul Rudd in the movie ''
I Love You, Man
''I Love You, Man'' is a 2009 American bromantic comedy film written and directed by John Hamburg, based on a script by Larry Levin. The film stars Paul Rudd as a friendless man looking for a best man for his upcoming wedding. However, his ...
'', the redband trailer for the film ''
Youth in Revolt'' starring
Michael Cera
Michael Austin Cera ( ; ; born June 7, 1988) is a Canadian actor. Over his career he has received nominations for a British Academy Film Award, three Critics' Choice Movie Awards, four Screen Actors Guild Awards, and a Tony Award.
Cera beca ...
, and the movie ''
Marmaduke
''Marmaduke'' is a newspaper comic strip revolving around the Winslow family and their Great Dane, Marmaduke, drawn by Brad Anderson (cartoonist), Brad Anderson from November 15, 1954 to 2015.
Publication history
The strip was created by wri ...
''.
[Funnyordie.co]
"Youth in Revolt Redband Trailer"
December 7, 2009. The song is featured during the opening credits of ''
The Answer Man''.
Apple
An apple is a round, edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus'' spp.). Fruit trees of the orchard or domestic apple (''Malus domestica''), the most widely grown in the genus, are agriculture, cultivated worldwide. The tree originated ...
also used an instrumental cut of this song for the worldwide
iPhone
The iPhone is a line of smartphones developed and marketed by Apple that run iOS, the company's own mobile operating system. The first-generation iPhone was announced by then–Apple CEO and co-founder Steve Jobs on January 9, 2007, at ...
3GS ads.
On December 23, 2008, Costa married.
''Mobile Chateau'', Matt's third album, was released on September 21, 2010, via Brushfire Records. The record was recorded at Pheasant Studios in
Santa Ana, California
Santa Ana (Spanish language, Spanish for ) is a city in and the county seat of Orange County, California, United States. Located in the Greater Los Angeles region of Southern California, the city's population was 310,227 at the 2020 census. As ...
as Costa's first solo production.
In 2012, he released an EP titled ''Sacred Hills EP''.
His fourth album, which he decided to self title, was released in 2013. It contained some songs from his previously released EP such as "Loving You" and "Good Times".
Shortly after the release of the self-titled album, along came a deluxe and commentary version of the album.
His song "Good Times" was featured at the end of an episode of the third season of HBO's ''
Girls'' in 2014.
In 2015, Costa released a string of self recorded EPs. First of the storm came ''Eucalyptus EP'', with its acoustic style. Mid-year brought ''Cat Mosta EP'', and the end of the year carried the EP titled ''Neon Brain EP''. Before the year ended, he released a Christmas song titled "Many Memories Ago".
Costa began 2016 with another EP called ''Anchor and the Albatross''. Later, he released an album for a documentary titled ''Orange Sunshine''. The documentary revolved around
The Brotherhood of Eternal Love. The album held a psychedelic rock style. Ending 2016, Matt released a small bunch of songs recorded live when he had gone on a trip to London.
In 2017, the single "Where Have All My Heroes Gone" was released.
Costa's first album in five years, ''Santa Rosa Fangs'', was released on May 18, 2018, on his new record label
Dangerbird Records
Dangerbird Records is an independent record label in Los Angeles, California. The label is home to artists from around the world and part of the burgeoning Silver Lake music scene. The label has had international success from its small roster of ...
. Later, Matt released ''Santa Rosa Fangs (Novella Edition)'' in which he storytells the meaning behind the album and connects his real life with the fictional one he had created in the album. Two additional songs, "Lovely Saturday" and "Evening Star", were included on this edition.
Discography
Albums
* ''
Songs We Sing'' (2005) – re-released on
Brushfire in 2006
* ''
Unfamiliar Faces'' (2008)
* ''
Mobile Chateau'' (2010)
* ''Matt Costa'' (2013)
* ''Santa Rosa Fangs'' (2018)
* ''Yellow Coat'' (2020)
EPs
* ''
Matt Costa EP'' (2003)
* ''
The Elasmosaurus EP'' (2005)
* ''Sacred Hills EP'' (2012)
* ''Eucalyptus EP'' (2015)
* ''Cat Mosta EP'' (2015)
* ''Neon Brain EP'' (2015)
* ''Anchor & the Albatross EP'' (2016)
Singles
* "Cold December" (2006)
* "Sweet Thursday" (2006)
* "Sunshine" (2006)
* "Mr. Pitiful" (2008)
* "Witchcraft" (2010)
* "Good Times" (2013)
* "Sharon" (2018)
Samplers and soundtracks
* ''
A Brokedown Melody Soundtrack'' (2006)
* ''
Sing-A-Longs and Lullabies for the Film Curious George'' by Jack Johnson (2006)
* ''Brushfire Records Winter 2006 Music Sampler'' with
Jack Johnson,
G. Love & Special Sauce, & Money Mark (2006)
* ''Arctic Tale'' (2007)
* "Vienna" plays continually on in-room cable at the Marriott Vienna in Austria (2012)
References
External links
The Official Matt Costa Website*
Matt Costa collectionat the
Internet Archive
The Internet Archive is an American 501(c)(3) organization, non-profit organization founded in 1996 by Brewster Kahle that runs a digital library website, archive.org. It provides free access to collections of digitized media including web ...
's live music archive
{{DEFAULTSORT:Costa, Matt
1982 births
American male singer-songwriters
Brushfire Records artists
Living people
American people of Portuguese descent
21st-century American singer-songwriters
21st-century American male singers
Dangerbird Records artists