Matthew Good

Matthew Good is a Canadian singer/songwriter. Originally gained fame on the national level for his work in the Matthew Good Band, before the band broke up and he started a solo career.

The band was formed in 1995, after Good's initial foray into music in the folk scene. He switched to progressive and alternative rock with his band, and released their first album Last Of The Ghetto Astronauts independently. The album, released in 1995, still holds the record for the most successful independent album in Canada. Underdogs, their second album, was successful, but not really a big hit. The follow-up album, Beautiful Midnight, was the break-out hit for the band, with the singles Hello Time Bomb, Strange Days, Load Me Up and The Future Is X-Rated. It was also around this time that Good was diagnosed with sarcoidosis, and underwent throat surgery to repair the damage. Despite wild success, the band started to exhibit some difficulties, and their fourth album, The Audio Of Being, suffered from delays and in-fighting, and was ultimately their last; the band broke up in 2002, citing creative differences and personality conflicts.

In 2003, Matt released a new, solo album, Avalanche, which ended up winning three Juno awards, most notably for the video of the song Weapon. The follow-up album, White Light Rock and Roll Review, mostly slipped under the critical radar, and in 2005, Good released his Greatest Hits collection, In A Coma, the release of which he felt gave him the ability to move on to "weirder" music. He was then divorced by his wife, who had been cheating on him, suffered a terrible manic episode at the beginning of an overseas trip that was intended to last several months, hospitalized for a suicide attempt that was eventually linked to a previously undiagnosed bi-polar disorder, and voluntarily checked into the psychiatric ward.

He then continued creating music: his next album, Hospital Music features more than a few overtones of his mental health discoveries, among other things. As the last album in his contract with Universal Music, he expected little to no promotion for the album, and was contemplating a return to his independent music career. Right up until the album debuted a number 1 on iTunes. And not even Canadian iTunes, but all of iTunes. As he had never received much, if any, promotion in the United States (only Beautiful Midnight, was widely released in the US prior to Hospital Music), the success of the album surprised everyone, including Good, and he eventually signed a new contract with Universal.

His 2009 album Vancouver was released to wide acclaim, and won another Juno for rock album of the year. The album focused on his views of the Downtown Core of Vancouver, a region he sees as full of societal problems, including the invisibility of the homeless, the poor treatment of those with mental health issues, and the cultural and social divides exposed by the 2008 Winter Olympics.

His next album, Lights Of Endangered Species, was released on May 31, 2011, and reached 76 out of the top 100 on US iTunes without, as he claims, any promotion at all.

Good himself is very outspoken, frequently discussing his views on politics, the rise of commercialism and the throw-away society, and his belief in Canada as more than the puppet states of the United States on his blog and in interviews. He is a vocal supporter of Amnesty International and Ceasefire (an anti-war organization). This outspoken attitude has caused some problems for him: calls of "shut up and play" during his live performances, and derision from reviewers on occasion. He embraced the attitude early in his career, appearing on stage during tours for Beautiful Midnight wearing a shirt saying "I hear Matt Good is a real asshole", and continuing to voice his views.

He is currently remarried and has a son. He lives in British Columbia, in the Vancouver region.