Matt Costa - Cats, bikes and album covers
"Ritualistic drinking of alcohol in order to transcend your thoughts onto another plane" July 5, 2008, 04:00 PM   You shattered your leg and spent 18 months in recovery, at which point you turned to your guitar and began writing. What is your most vivid memory of that time in your life? Was it simply boredom that inspired you to write?
That’s when I started writing. That’s when I just, I don’t know, I just decided to start writing songs. I think it was just one of those things – I’d always played music and I borrowed a 4 track recorder from my friend. I’d always used a tape before, just one track. I’d never really played guitar with anyone so when I could record myself and actually play to that, that’s when I started discovering things and putting words and melodies on top of it. Then every night I would start escaping into this zone, you know, and when I came out of it, it would be like 4am, and I just got addicted to it and it became an itch that I couldn’t stop scratching.
What do you think are the main similarities (if any) between skateboarding and music?
I guess the thing is that they’re both tools for who you are to come out. You can take a skateboard and go ride it anywhere you want, do anything you want, and it’s the same with a guitar, or any kind of instrument. You can take any instrument you want, play anything you want with it, you know? It’s just a means to get something inside of you out there.
Where did the name “Unfamiliar Faces” for your 2008 album originate?
Well I guess it comes from an anxiety of what people who are close to you really think but don’t really say. So you’ve got all these unfamiliar faces and a lot of the time you can’t help it, you cant help but act a certain way around different people, it’s natural. So it was an attempt at overcoming that.
Is the song “Mr Pitiful” based on someone you know?
Its one of those things – I guess it’s that feeling you get with everyone, like when some people get in some sort of mood and it’s their projection of that mood onto you, or you projecting your mood onto someone else. It’s a frustrating thing when someone projects that feeling and you get overwhelmed with negativity. The song was made to try and deliver yourself from that feeling by being an upbeat song. You know, taking that idea of the subject, the pitiful person, using all that and turning it into a song of deliverance.
Where did the concept for the Mr Pitiful video come from?
The song, to me, kind of had this theme - like a parade or something down the street to that song, like a marching band (mimics guitar strums and marches in his seat) so the song was a one-man parade in the video.
You have a huge number of tour dates. What tour venue are you most looking forward to?
Actually, lemme think about it (looks perplexed for a second)… I gotta say that I kinda enjoy every place. I really like being down here in the dungeon (gestures to the basement room we are in).
What do you do to prepare for a gig? Do you have any special rituals?
Well, ritualistic drinking of alcohol in order to transcend your thoughts onto another plane, you know – whatever that means (laughs). I do have to bring one article from my home onto stage with me, that’s not a music item. Like, something in my pocket, or a book or something. (starts rummaging through his bag, “I don’t know what it’s going to be today”, and produces a book. “I keep all my thoughts in here” (the book is empty of lyrics but does include many drawings of “the Cat” – but seriously, I could write an entirely separate article on “the Cat” alone).
You have an online merchandise store now, selling t-shirts and other goodies. Do you design the merchandise yourself, and is this something you see yourself doing more of in the future? (Will we one day be able to purchase “Matt Costa pour homme”??!!)
Oh yeah, sure! I like the perfumes, glasses, soaps, bath salts, Matt Costa lotion…
Are there any producers or other artists, dead or alive, that you would really love to work with?
John Steinbeck. I’ve based several songs on his books and writing so, if I could actually work with him, put music to his short stories…which I do anyway at the moment.
What does the future hold for Matt Costa?
A song about cats – I’m actually writing one. (I suggest that “the Cat” on his next album cover would really rock. Matt agrees that it would totally be a good look). Cats, bikes and album covers…. hmmm
If you were a biscuit, what sort of biscuit would you be and why?
I would say maybe a Fig Newton. They’ve got like a cake outside and the inside is figs. They’re not crunchy on the outside like Fig Rolls.
(Following a short discussion about the make up of Graham Crackers, Matt picks up his guitar and freestyles a verse or two about biscuits and tea at his house – genius).
Matt glances at the clock and, after verifying that he’s on in about half an hour, my plus one (Kim) and I, feel that it’s only right to leave him to prepare for the gig. I think I’m in love…..*grin*
Last edited by altsounds : November 6, 2008 at 08:41 PM.
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Hoobastank - Q&A With Dan Estrin
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