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Matters of the Bittersweet
Currently based out of Chicago, 25-year old Matthew Santos has established himself as one of the rare and striking voices quickly emerging from the Windy City's music scene. With a growing fan base hailing him for his ethereal voice, Santos has secured his place in current music with his distinguished style and unique musical gift.
Native to Minneapolis, Santos discovered his passion for music at age six when he started playing piano, but it was not until the age of fifteen that his inspiration for playing guitar began. At first Santos pursued the visual arts, but decided to dedicate his life solely to music and relocated to Chicago in 2001 to study music composition at Columbia College Chicago. He released his first independently produced album Change is Better in 2004 and his EP As a Crow Flies in 2006. "The six-track EP is as impressive for Santos' out-of-this-world voice as it is for the unwavering consistency of the songs and its abundance of soul." - Cornell Daily Sun In November of 2007 Matthew released his first live acoustic album Matters of the Bittersweet under Candy-Rat Records that also feature intimate video recordings featured on YouTube.
Santos is the vocalist on the chart climbing single "Superstar," currently in the Billboard's Top 10 hot singles, and he sings on multiple other tracks by the Grammy Award winning hip-hop artist Lupe Fiasco. Santos joined Fiasco this year on his world tour, including appearances on MTV's TRL and Spring Break, Jimmy Kimmel Live, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, The Late Show with Craig Ferguson and a debut talk show performance on David Letterman's first live show after the 2007 Writer's Guild of America strike. They opened the 2007 mtvU Woodie Awards and performed in the largest music festivals in the United States including Coachella, Lollapalooza and the South by Southwest music conference. He signed to Fiasco's 1st and 15th label under Atlantic Records in fall of 2007. Santos and Fiasco are opening acts on Kanye West's Glow in the Dark Tour this spring.
In addition to performing with Fiasco, Santos is playing solo shows and headlining concerts with his full band featuring Aviva Jaye (vocals, keyboard), Robert Tucker (drums), Graham Burris (bass) and Matthew Nelson (keyboard). They were recently highlighted in The Chicago Sun-Times as one of the top ten bands in Chicago. Beyond touring, Santos is developing material for his forthcoming album including a number of diverse collaborations with the legendary singer-songwriter John Martyn, Grammy and Academy Award winning artist Phil Collins, the renowned soul singer Sam Butler Jr. from Blind Boys of Alabama and India's iconic violinist Dr. L. Subramaniam. Most recently, Santos recorded with Taboo of the Black Eyed Peas and the collaboration will be available on Taboo's upcoming solo album.
It's a belief in something bigger than himself and his musical vision that motivates Santos as a singer-songwriter. "I hope to inspire people through music to take responsibility for their own talents and use them to serve the greater good," he says. "I want to show the world that you can do what you love and live in this society, finding a balance between coexisting in a social construct and following your heart."
-Matthew Santos
Click Here For EP: As The Crow Flies
Letterman Performance
Live @ Graffitti Radio "Shadows in a Shoebox"
"Superstar" Unplugged