KEY POINTS:
Any more laidback and Matt Costa would be asleep. It's fortunate then the American singer-songwriter is opening for that other well-known American cruiser, singer-songwriter Jack Johnson, when he tours in New Zealand this month.
"When we're on tour we're both so relaxed and mellow, we'll miss gigs," Costa says from Washington DC where he is on tour.
But what about the fans, don't they mind?
Apparently not.
"All the fans are really mellow too."
Costa, 25, from California, has never been to New Zealand and is not sure what to expect when he performs here this month but says fans can expect a good time from his concerts.
Not surprisingly for a singer who opens for Johnson, Costa's style is a mixture of rock and folk.
"Music for the people," Costa calls it.
Costa, who released his debut album Songs We Sing in 2005, says a musical career was never his original goal.
"I was trying to not have a career."
Costa's early focus was on skateboarding.
After being given a guitar when he was 12, Costa turned to the fast-paced sport.
After several years, Costa was competing at such a high level he almost turned professional but in 2003 an accident which shattered his leg put an end to that.
Costa spent 18 months recovering and during his rehabilitation turned back towards the guitar and began writing music.
A demo tape Costa made, initially played among family and friends, began doing the rounds of his California hometown in Huntington Beach.
The tape came to the attention of record producers, giving Costa the opportunity of a lifetime.
Costa has spent much of this year touring and promoting his latest album Unfamiliar Faces.
While not in need of a career plan, Costa does, however, need a muse for inspiration.
What does his muse do?
"Conversations and hanging out. It's all for creative layering."
As for his long-term plans, well, they tend not to be that long-term.
"I want to write another song this week. I want to repeat that again [next week]."
Costa clearly does not believe in planning too far ahead.
"I think if you look too far in the future you forget where you are in the moment because you'll always be living for the future and when you get there, you won't even appreciate it."
Apart from touring and recording, Costa does have some fixtures which he is looking forward to.
In his spare time, he has been known to officiate at friends' weddings.
"I went to Sacramento and had some time off and got my marriage [celebrant's] licence.
"A couple of friends wanted to get married, but not in a church, so I decided to do it for them."
Costa has another wedding in July, which he had to cancel one of his shows for.
Despite the temptation to make wedding singer jokes, Costa says he doesn't do marriages and entertainment.
"I only do one job at a time."
Costa hopes, without pushing any political messages onto anyone, that his fans become more socially aware through his music.
"I feel passionately about certain authors and musicians.
"The way I try to make it come through to fans is by hoping they'll get turned on to the people who I love, I'm just the medium just between the two. I'm the link."
PERFORMANCE
Who: Matt Costa
What: Former skateboarder turned singer-songwriter
Where & when: Kings Arms, Auckland, March 19. Also opening for Jack Johnson in Christchurch, March 20; Napier, March 22; and New Plymouth, March 23
- NZPA
