[note: this interview was edited for time. It was also formatted to fit your screen.]



How are you?

A little sick, actually. I have had some kind of cold or flu thing for a while. But now it's like extreme gas in my stomach. I hope it explodes. It would feel better.

Ah! Great start to the interview. Do you even like doing these things?

Sometimes. It's cheaper than therapy. [laughs] I don't mind it.

You know, before I do interviews, I try to check out the other ones the artist has done so I can get a good idea of what not to ask. I gotta say, you probably have more bad interviews than anyone I've talked to in a while.

Yeah...that's not surprising.

Don't get me wrong, there was some decent stuff in there, but how many times can you say "I used to skateboard, now I play music" before you go absolutely postal?

Don't ask me about it. [laughs]

Trust me, I won't. I don't work for a skateboarding magazine. I should probably just stick to the music. Tell me about the new album.

It's called Unfamiliar Faces. Basically it's about anxiety and fear people have about opening themselves up to other people. Sometimes people close themselves off and...

Was this a bad question?

What?

This sounds rehearsed.

Oh! [laughs] Well, I have answered this question before, but really it's just something I have thought a lot about while making the record.

Ah..ok...feel free to continue then. Or we can just talk about ghosts.

Yes! Let's talk about that! I do believe in ghosts, actually. I'm scared of them. Sometimes when I wake up I am scared to go from one room to another. Sometimes I will just see weird shadows or my hair will be in my eyes, but I freak out cause I think it's a ghost. [laughs] My aunt's house was haunted. I never saw anything, but I believed what people told me. Eventually all of these other things seemed to go along with the stories, so I believed it. It was an old house in Modesto. I guess there used to be a farm there. I guess the old house had burned down in that field and in the new house the bed would move and the blinds would open and close and my Uncle saw a man sitting there in his family room. I couldn't stay there because I couldn't sleep. I would always stay somewhere else if we went there on holidays. I was so scared. It would freak me out to actually see one. It kind of forces you to think about things like death and the afterlife...

[laughs] I wasn't serious about the ghosts, but since you want to talk about it, I gotta tell you- I've had some experiences.

Oh yeah?

Yeah, I used to work at a radio station. I worked late at night and it was usually just me and this older guy who had been there for like 25 years. One night I was in the studio recording some stuff, but it sounded like someone was punching a filing cabinet right behind me. I went down to the news station where the guy was to see what the hell he was up to. He said he heard it too and it was probably just the ghost. All nonchalant like. I kind of just accepted it as reality. Things kept happening and it was annoying, but it never really freaked me out or even made me think. It was what it was.

Holy shit! I just realized that I did have a ghost experience before! Your story totally made me think of it. I had completely forgotten. So, I was staying at my friends house. He has this really nice place. I was house-sitting for like a week while he was gone. It's an old house in Long Beach from the 1920s. I was hanging around the house and wanted to take a bath. He has this big tub, why not treat myself to a bath? I get all naked and get in and I'm just reading a book...then all of a sudden the lights start flickering in the bathroom. I got kinda freaked out. The lights were also on a dimmer, so they were dimming up and down and then going on and off. I yelled 'STOP IT!' and ran out of the bathroom. I watched it from the hallway and it kept happening for another 20 minutes. Of course when it stopped, I didn't really feel like getting back into the bath.

[laughs] I can imagine! I think its hilarious that you take baths, by the way. So let's talk about the music...at least a little bit! Not that you really know the alternative, but what do you think the advantages are to being on a label run by an artist?

More creative freedom. The label is actually run by Jack Johnson and Emmett Malloy, a filmmaker. You get the freedom to do creatively what you like and have their support on it. You have the advantage of being around other people on the label. There are a lot of people on there and everyone gets along. There is a lot of mutual respect. So we do shows with each other and interact with each other, I would say more so than we would on other labels.

Who is Mr. Pitiful?

Originally, I think it was Otis Redding. But for me it was..I dunno, a little bit of everyone at times, including myself. It's kinda that dark side of someone you wouldn't be able to recognize if you didn't have some in yourself.

I love the video for the song...it's adorable. Was it hard to walk with that thing strapped to you?

Not really. Wasn't too bad. The kick drum was attached by a string to my foot and so was the snare. So depending on how I stepped, it would do different things. I had to master that, but it wasn't too bad.

And now you're a one man band.

I was born to be a one man band. Master of my own ceremonies.

Who did the video?

Emmett Malloy and Tim Wheeler

Do you want to keep talking about ghosts? Or should we move on to aliens?

[laughs] You know, I take trips sometimes to find inspiration for music. Just drive around. This one trip, I ended up in Roswell, New Mexico. There was this carnival thing going on that was all about aliens. There was this weird little gift shop and in the back was a man painting these pictures. Most were normal pictures, but then he pulled out these weird ones that were half alien and half human. I mean the others we like landscapes. He told me to go to these hot lithium baths in this place called Chaco Canyon. It's really hard to get to and no one really goes there. Anyway, there were lots of spirits there. The hot baths were 150 degrees. They bottle up the lithium and sell it at truck stops and stuff.

Did you get a song out of it?

It will be on the next album.

Nice! So you're in the Jack Johnson clan, and when I looked you up, all this tree hugger stuff came up. Are you into the environment?

Oh...yeah. Tree hugger stuff? Really? I mean, I like to help the environment. If I could live anywhere, it wouldn't be a city.

Skateboarding and now singing and writing music. Is there anything you suck at?

Using the computer...uh...trying to come to...uh..a...uh...definitive uh answer.

[laughs] You made the transition from skateboarding punk to full blown rockstar pretty quickly. Most bands spend YEARS in the trenches before some hot shot pays attention to them.

I got lucky, and I happened to write some songs to back it up. I have a lot of life ahead of me. I still have a lot of time, you know, I am just beginning my downfall.

So your release was pushed back a bit. Why?

Oh, we just wanted to shoot the video and make sure that was done before the record came out. I also went back and added some things to the record. Bells and whistles. I mean bells and woodwinds.

Are you having fun?

Yeah. You know...yeah! Yes. I feel very fortunate to be able to record music and play it and have people be there. You know, care enough to come out to the shows. I get to have an atmosphere where I can take the time to have an obsession and just lose myself in it. Plus, I get to travel all around and see all these cool places.

When did you first get into music?

I started playing music when I was 6 (piano). Then trumpet. Then guitar. I wrote songs when I was about 18 or 19. The fact that it has become the MAIN part of my life..I mean, it's always been a part of my life, but for it to be the main focus right now? It's a time where you're only gonna get as much out of it as you put into it. When I first started writing songs I wouldn't go out for weeks and weeks on end. From the time I woke up I would work on songs...until 4 or 5 in the morning. I did that for a long time and now I have even more time to do that. Just studying records and stuff. I get to sit around with all these great people I never thought I would be around who are just awesome. We get to talk about all these things and play music together. It's unbelievable.

Did you have much stage experience before you went on the road?

I spent about a year and a half playing club gigs and house parties or whatever.

So, when artists start playing music, sometimes they have an idea in their head as to what type of music they want to make. Others just make what their hearts want to make. So, did you WANT to be a sad bastard singer/songwriter, or are you just an 8 year old girl inside?

[laughs] No. I'm a 7 year old girl inside.

[laughs] You know I am going to make that the headline right? "Matt Costa: 'I'm a 7 year old girl inside.'

[laughs] Oh great! Then it starts with 'Yeah, so this one time when I was in the bathtub, the lights flickered and I was totally scared! I think it was a ghost!'

[laughs] Brilliant! So where should people hit you up?

I am on MySpace. My page got hacked recently and they sent out all this porn and stuff. But, I changed my password so those porn hackers can't get back in.

Well thanks for the chat, buddy! Good luck with everything!

Take care AJ, thanks for having something to talk about! Come out and see me some time!

Will do.

www.myspace.com/mattcostamusic