Born in Huntington Beach, California in 1982, Costa received his first guitar at age 12. While he was always interested in music, even playing in a band in high school, Costa's first love was skateboarding. His dreams of going pro came crashing to an end, however, when he seriously injured his leg in a skateboarding accident at age 18. During his year-and-a-half-long rehabilitation period, Costa decided to refocus his energy on songwriting and guitar playing, and began using a four-track to make demos. One of these demos found its way to No Doubt guitarist Tom Dumont, who liked what he heard so much that he offered to produce Costa's music, and soon they had recorded two independently released EPs, Matt Costa and The Elasmosaurus, as well as a full-length early version of Songs We Sing.

Costa's EPs caught the ear of Brushfire Records owner Jack Johnson, who signed him to the label and invited him to open his 2005 summer tour. In 2006, Costa released his official Brushfire debut, Songs We Sing (a slightly altered version of his 2005 indie debut). The Dumont-helmed production Unfamiliar Faces arrived in 2008, followed by the Costa-produced Mobile Chateau in 2010. In 2013, Costa returned with his fourth full-length album, the '70s AM pop and orchestral-influenced Matt Costa. Beginning in February 2016, he released a series of five self-produced, acoustic-leaning EPs over 12 months: Eucalyptus, Cat Mosta, Neon Brain, Live in London, and Anchor & the Albatross. Also in 2016, Costa supplied the soundtrack to Orange Sunshine, an award-winning documentary about infamous '60s and '70s LSD suppliers the Brotherhood of Love. ~ Marisa Brown