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"I just decided it was crap and never went back," says Matthew Good of his brief foray into art school.
It was the late-80s in British Columbia and soon the young Good found himself in "the usual places that anyone who just has a high school diploma can get jobs at." Working as a petroleum transfer engineer, among a variety of archetypal slacker jobs, he managed to subsidize his career as an aspiring writer and eventually, a burgeoning songwriter. Though he�d never before tried his hand at rock n� roll, Good then began putting his words to music at the behest of friends in a Vancouver folk-rock combo. The group soon booted out their lead singer and invited Matthew to step up to the mic.
"I had no aspirations towards music as a youth," says the Coquitlam, B.C.-based Good. "I was a writer. So I listened to some Simon and Garfunkel records and then went and sang. After a while, I realized that the band sucked and, basically, I could do it better myself.
Today, with no less than six top 5 rock/alternative hits in Canada over the last three years, Matthew Good Band are without question the country�s most exhilarating and popular new band. Now Atlantic Records is set to unveil "BEAUTIFUL MIDNIGHT,"the Vancouver-based quartet�s hotly-tipped U.S. debut. Produced by Warne Livesey (Julian Cope, Midnight Oil, The The), the album sees MGB serving up a distinctive and powerful modern rock sound, marked by massive guitars and oceanic string arrangements � all crowned by Good�s sly vocals and always acerbic lyricism. Thrillingly urgent tracks such as the majestic "Strange Days" and the volatile first single, "Hello Time Bomb" evince a brash, confident sound which virtually guarantees that Matthew Good Band will achieve equivalent sensation here in the Lower 48 and beyond. "I fell into this, really," notes Good. "To be quite honest, I wanted to be a history professor."
Back in the early 1990s, as the folk-rock group he�d been working with started to implode, the increasingly confident Good sat down and penned the songs that would make up "LAST OF THE GHETTO ASTRONAUTS," the debut album from his as yet unformed new band. "I wrote it in a week," he says of the album. "From there, it was a matter of getting all the right people together to make it happen. We went off, recorded it, and put it out. We�d never played a live show together! We thought, maybe 1,000 people will buy this, but who cares? Next thing we knew, we had a song on the radio and we were on tour trying to think of a better name than the Matthew Good Band!" Released in November 1995, "LAST OF THE GHETTO ASTRONAUTS" went on to become the most successful independent Canadian rock record� ever. The album � recorded for $7,000 (Canadian!) � featured three national rock radio hits, a remarkable accomplishment for an independent release that led to the group becoming one of 1996�s "Most Played New Artists." Soon after the record�s release, Good and drummer Ian Browne welcomed ex-DSK guitarist Dave Genn into the MGB core roster (bassist Rich Priske joined later, just as the "BEAUTIFUL MIDNIGHT" sessions were about to begin). "It�s hard to say when anyone joined the band," Good grins. "Everyone was kind of aloof about it, and then went, �Oh, okay��
"Originally we weren�t really a band, don�t forget. It was just me, and the guys came in and played because they were friends of mine. We put MGB on the CD, but on the radio, they said �Matthew Good Band.� So people would go to the record store and it�d be confusing, so we just rectified it by putting Matthew Good Band on the record. We just thought we�d write some better songs and then change the name of the band. But it did so well, we were stuck with it. I�ve hated it ever since. But it�s cool, because most people just call us MGB anyway. Not only that, it�s completely ambiguous. A lot of bands, when you hear their name, it pigeonholes their music. At least with us, it could be anything. We can be an art rock band or we can be a metal band or we can be anything we want to be."
Buoyed by that very sense of artistic liberation, MGB proceeded to record both the five-track "RAYGUN" EP, as well as the full-length "UNDERDOGS." The puckishly titled (and double platinum certified) 1997 album featured three top 5 Canadian hits, including "Everything Is Automatic" and "Apparitions" � both of which are included on Atlantic�s "BEAUTIFUL MIDNIGHT." Riding the album�s critical and popular heat, MGB received a pair of Juno nominations in 1998 � "Best New Group" and "Best Video" (for "Everything Is Automatic") � plus a quartet of additional nods the following year � "Best Group," "Best Album," "Best Single," and "Best Video" (for "Apparitions"). The "Apparitions" clip also scored three nominations at the 1999 MuchMusic Video Awards, ultimately winning the "Best Direction" trophy. On their home coast, the MGB won a pair of Pacific Music Awards, for "Best Male Vocalist" and "Best Live Performance." Other honors garnered that year include topping the "Artist of the Year" tally in Chart magazine�s annual reader�s poll.