Matt Costa

Even for the fully initiated, Matt Costa is an enigma – a 25 year old, former skateboarder whose words and music recall some of the great troubadours of our time. Costa credits his diverse musical palette to the freedom and improvisation he experienced skating. “Any instrument that allows you the freedom to be creative, whether it be a skateboard or a canvas, it’s all a tangible way of discovering yourself,” says Costa.

After a life-changing accident left him in an 18-month recovery period, Costa dove head first into music, finding solace in the creative process. His music made its way through the vibrant SoCal arts scene and into the hands of No Doubt’s Tom Dumont, who mentored Costa and produced Songs We Sing.  "One of the first things he told me was 'stop practicing so hard and let the feeling come out,'" Costa says. "It stuck with me because that's the key to music. The light went on in my head."

He may thrive on imagination, but Costa's real life has never been dull. He grew up next door to a pet cemetery, played trumpet and piano, gave his first impromptu performance on a houseboat, and focused more on skateboarding than school in his hometown of Huntington Beach, California.

A few years later, just before he was ready to turn pro, a life-changing leg break led him to turn his attention to songwriting while he healed from painful surgeries. He wrote some songs on guitar, befriended No Doubt guitarist Tom Dumont via the vibrant SoCal arts scene, and recorded Songs We Sing with Dumont as his guide.

On his 2006 debut Songs We Sing, Matt Costa established his reputation as a performer, wrapping introspective lyrics in textured melodies and creating a sound that was at once a throwback to another musical time while remaining thoroughly modern. With the January 2008 release of Unfamiliar Faces, his second on Jack Johnson’s Brushfire Records, Costa mines his imagination once again, crafting an ambitious collection of songs that explore themes of love, loss and fear. From the piano-driven opener “Mr. Pitiful” to the title-track, Unfamiliar Faces traverses musical styles drawing on elements of pop, country, folk and rock resulting in an effortlessly intoxicating musical experience.