INTERVIEW: Matt Costa
- Posted on October 29, 2007 4:47 PM
- 1 comment
- Interview By Katie Spain
Matt Costa is a softly spoken fellow. Tall, dark haired and so relaxed I fear he'll slide off the blue sofa we're sitting on. To chat to, he's like the good-looking guy next door... an easy-going thrill seeker without a care in the world. Funny that.
Back in 'the day', Matt Costa wanted to be a professional skateboarder. He came close too... but a serious accident left him unable to jump back on his board. However, one unlucky break lead to a positive one and Matt hung up his wheels and skated towards a different goal. A few suitar strums later (okay, quite a few) and Costa's dive into music produced the goods. His debut album 'Songs We Sing' was produced by No Doubt's Tom Dumont who urged him to simply let the feelings roll out.
February 2008 is set to see his second album, Unfamiliar Faces on Jack Johnson’s Brushfire label through Island. I catch up with Costa before his London showcase with Jack Johnson. We discuss the whereabouts of his first guitar, his early CD collection and THAT accident.
So, have you just arrived in London or have you been in the UK for a while?
I just got here yesterday.
And I hear that you are playing with Jack Johnson in a show case tonight?
Yes. I just looked at the paper – me and Jack only talk through paper – and we are going to do two songs together.
Will you be back in the UK soon then? I know you have a lot of dates coming up in America from November onwards.
Probably yeah! I would assume after February, I will be back to do some dates.
I know that you have toured with Jack and ALO in the UK. How was it, you did quite a few dates. Do you like playing in the UK?
Yes, I like being over here. The past couple of days that I have been here have seemed like I have been looking out at a scene. It kind of has this tint that makes it look like it is always ten o’ clock in the morning, like it does back home. That’s kind of nice because I like waking up early in the morning and so it makes me feel like I wake up early even though I wake up late.
Do you go to bed early or are you a night owl?
I am a night hawk – I don’t know what that means!
So, you don’t sleep much?
I don’t sleep that much when I am at home, I go to bed around four am.
Let’s talk music. What is the live Matt Costa experience like?
Oh man…well, it is kind of like this right now except I have an instrument in my hand. I conjure up all sorts of spirits and things; I am trying to evoke something.
I noticed that you used to skate and then had an accident – what happened there?
Yeah, I shattered a part of my leg.
How did you manage that?
Well, I was skating down a ledge and then basically just landed wrong. My leg shattered into pieces and my ankle broke off. I had to get two surgeries on it and eight screws and another plate. They gave me all sorts of medication to make me feel better about it. But actually, I think it was a good part of my life because it really forced me to learn patience.
I imagine when you are immobile like that it brings out your creative side, musically. It must have been frustrating though?
It wasn’t really frustrating, it was kind of more like ‘well, what do I do now?’ When I was young, that’s all my goals were, I didn’t have any other plans to do anything but skate until I couldn’t skate any longer. I went to school, but eventually I fazed school out all together. Now, I just focus all that energy on to writing songs and playing music.
You were playing guitar before that happened though weren’t you – since you were about twelve... do you still have your first guitar?
Uh, no I traded it for a skate board! I could probably track it down because I know who I gave it to and who they then gave it to – hopefully they didn’t pawn it for something!
You are popular in Australia, my home land. One of your tunes got in to the hottest one hundred which is a really big deal because it’s the biggest non commercial top one hundred. I was going to ask you what number you came in at?
I don’t know actually… we could make it up; we could say it reached number one?
I think you would have heard about that!
Oh, yeah – definitely. If you are number sixty seven then they don’t ring you, you just find out about it later!
What was the first album that you ever bought?
It was Queen’s Greatest Hits.
That’s a cool answer.
Well, at the same time I also bought the sound track to White Men Can’t Jump.
I see why you said the first one then.
I don’t know what it was – I also bought the sound track to Wayne’s World. It was all around the same time, I got them from like Kmart or something when they came in those long boxes. I was excited because we had just got this new CD player. My cousin bought us one they first came out and they were huge, but I listened to my Queen and the White Men Can't Jump soundtrack on it!
Let’s speak about the new record, what was the recording process like – I read somewhere that it took about two years?
'Songs We Sing' took about two years, but my new record is called 'Unfamiliar Faces' and that one I just recorded recently. I started writing the songs for it about two years ago and then I finished writing them in this house in California.
Are you happy with the finished product?
Yeah, yeah, yeah!
Is there a lot of difference between the two?
Well, yeah, you know, there are twelve different songs…
Haha – you know what I mean!
Yeah. Well, your tastes are always evolving and changing. When I was nine or ten, I probable would have written a record that sounds that White Men Can’t Jump or Queen. But between the two records the time span is not as drastic as that so…when I was writing this record I was listening to Traffic and Syd Barrett so I tried to add some horns on it where it seemed necessary. I think it is a little more up beat than the last record; it kind of has some more rocking songs.
It has been well received by fans.
Yeah, well my friends and family have heard it and they all like it – that is what means the most to me, as long as they get a kick out of it you know. It was just…really good. That can be my quote; it was a million, brilliant, amazing, spectacular - and also good!
Lastly, what is the most memorable gig that you have been to as a punter?
I got to be right at the front of a Tom Petty concert a few years ago. When I was a kid, my parents were always playing it and so every song that he would go in to would be like ‘damn, there’s another one and another one!’ He just kept coming with them. Tom Petty – he is pretty rocking!
Unfamiliar Faces is out in February 2008.
For more info on Matt Costa, check out his MySpace at http://www.myspace.com/mattcostamusic
Read a review of the Jack Johnson Album showcase.
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Comments (1)
Miranda
OMG..Look what I found! A guitar signed by Matt Costa. How cool is this I never thought I would ever get my hands on a signed Matt Costa item. If you want to bid on some awesome items that I found visit this link. www.ebay.com/virginunite There is this item up for grabs and many others. I think the auction page said that new items go up every week too.
Posted on October 30, 2007 6:08 PM
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