Born in Huntington Beach, CA, in 1982, Matt 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 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. These caught the ear of Brush Fire Records owner Jack Johnson, who was impressed by the young musician's work and signed Costa to his label and invited him to open his 2005 summer tour.
In 2006, Costa's official major-label debut, Songs We Sing (slightly different from the 2005 indie version) was released. Unfamiliar Faces followed in 2008.