Matthew Santos

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 the 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. His live album Matters of the Bittersweet was released in November 2007 under Candy-Rat Records.

Santos is the vocalist on the chart climbing single “Superstar” and 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, 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 Writer’s 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 performing 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) and Graham Burris (bass). They were recently highlighted in The Chicago Sun-Times as one of the top 10 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 renonwed 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