Q&A: Matt Costa

An injury is indeed unpleasant. Such a pitfall could certainly kill your passion or dream, but for former aspiring pro-skater Matt Costa, getting hurt was the silver lining that led him to another path--as a singer-songwriter. For a year and a half during his "injury break," Costa picked up the guitar and started writing songs. His homemade demo found its way to No Doubt guitarist Tom Dumont, who helped to produce Costa's first album, Songs We Sing. The album was later re-released by Jack Johnson’s Brushfire Records in 2006 and Costa was signed to the label. Two years later in 2008, Costa released his sophomore album, Unfamiliar Faces, which included the breakout hit, “Mr. Pitiful.” And this year, almost seven years since his injury, Costa is releasing his third album, Mobile Chateau ─a more mature collection of songs highly inspired by the music from the '60s psychedelic era. This Huntington Beach-based indie-folk rocker talks here about his newfound producer role, artistic inspirations for the song “Painted Face” and writing a possible follow-up to “Mr. Pitiful.”

Congratulations on the upcoming release of Mobile Chateau. It has been almost two years since the release of Unfamiliar Faces in 2008. Besides touring, writing songs and recording for the new album, what else have you been up to?

Matt Costa: Thanks. Before recording my record I started playing with a new group of musicians called "The Mothers Sons." Since I completed Mobile Chateau I have recorded and produced an EP for The Mothers Sons… and this evening I'm going to drive out to the desert.

There seems to be a huge influence of the '60s psychedelic sound on the new album. What records did you listen to during the making of Mobile Chateau? What fascinates you about music from that era?

I have always been a big fan of that era. The biggest influences on this record would be Fairport Convention, Syd Barrett, The Zombies and The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band. The British artists are very romantic and even though WCPAEB is from the U.S. I think they embody that romanticism as well.

For Mobile Chateau, you’re taking control of the production of the album for the first time. Why the decision and what were some of the rewarding moments and challenges of producing your own album?

Well, it was more documentarian than anything else. I had spent the last two records learning how to produce from Tom Dumont. The time I spent recording and producing this was a huge growing period and I am proud of it because this album is 100 percent my vision. I think what was unknown to me at the time when I was recording this record is what gives these recordings character, makes it sound like it does in your head, a little fuzzy but it leaves an impression. It also allowed me time to change the entire feel of a song, a galloping Buddy Holly or Everly Brothers type song turned into a buzzy half-time lament.

Are there any tracks from the album that you’re particularly fond of ─ perhaps the one that means most to you? Why?

“Painted Face” really comes to mind. I am obsessed with faces and identifying with them. I based the song on Georges Seurat's [painting] "The Circus." I started with one line in the morning and spent three hours staring off and on at the painting and ended with pages of lyrics. My wife was in the background making noises with crochet needles and wine glasses asI was recording the song later in the evening at the hotel. In the final recording I took all her sounds and left them a bit random throughout the recording and it created this ambient sound. After the record was recorded I visited the Henry Miller Library in Big Sur and my wife picked up the book The Smile at the Foot of the Ladder. The whole time reading it I kept thinking about how similar it is to "Painted Face." I later came to learn that Henry Miller was visualizing Georges Seurat's The Circus while writing.

The album’s press release mentioned how when it comes to your music, you’re always changing. Besides the slight changes in your musical direction, what other things about you are always changing?

Everyone else is always changing - I am just reacting to that.

If you could describe Mobile Chateau in three words what would they be?

Your mother's hymn.

You’ll be on yet another hectic tour again in October. Are you excited? What are the things that you look forward to on tour?

It's been a while since I've missed home. I'm looking forward to hula-hooping in Alabama.

Your song “Mr. Pitiful” was a success. It became featured on the soundtrack of a motion picture, the background song for a worldwide iPhone3GS ad, etc. Are you hoping for a similar kind of success with any of your new songs, or did that experience leave you with a different feeling?

I never had planned anything like that. Maybe on the next record I’ll write “Mr. MORE Pitiful.” I make music to be heard... it was heard.

You once inspired to be a professional skateboarder. What made you pick up the guitar and start writing songs after your injury? Do you ever miss skateboarding?

Yeah, I love skating, I think it breeds creativity. A lot of kids get into skateboarding for the athletic side and get turned on to the creative perspectives. My friend Raymond Molinar [a pro-skater] shot all the photos for the album package. He is a perfect example of that.  F