Greg Costa

You hear the crescendo and then crash of cymbals, the spotlight fades, and passion succumbs to silence. The audience standing in hushed appreciation can no longer see the tattooed form, anointed in sweat, with a heart on fire and exposed to the world. What do you do when the performance is over?

Driven by this question, Greg Costa has pursued a successful journey through the insanity of the music industry, all the way to the edge. Growing up Catholic and Portuguese lent itself to a close family. In a Portuguese dance group, with his sister as his partner and learning the steps behind his father and mother, he quickly caught the performance bug. These moments with his family placed him on a path that would one day turn into him, into a passionate and skilled drummer. After honing his skills playing in the church praise band and his high school theatre department, he branched into rock ’n’ roll where, as a high school student, he began touring the southeastern United States. He moved to Nashville at age 21 and began showcasing, recording, and touring with various artists include bands such as Hand to Hand, 3 Doors Down, Harsh Krieger, Cake, Chris Cagle, Jypsy, Amy Grant, Sheryl Crow, Warren Barfield, Florez, Seven Mary Three, Dredg, Hat Trick Heroes, Silvertide, Liz Sharpe, Amy Gearheartz, Alabaster Box, weather it was sharing the stage or in a studio recording or teaching for the Artist Costa was all about drums and Faith 24/7. because he knew early on that there is somebody that is always faster, better looking, and will do the job at half the rate or free.

That’s where he learned from one of the best drummers he ever learn from and became best friends with Corey Siegal. Costa said he did everything that he would teach. He became Costa’s mentor. Corey was amazing. We had a space with the drums facing each other and I would turn around and try and visualize how he was playing a groove that would sound like two drummers and I would have to turn around and then try and play it. So simple but deceivingly hard. Still to this day he says is one of the best drummers of all time.

Costa’s tenacity and love for the craft of his drums quickly became the drummer, and the writer he is today. A drummer that is called in when the front man gets in a fight with the drummer disagreeing on a tempo when its the same tempo every night. He always laughs saying, :if you just show up do the job after awile its the love and life music gives not what someone dictates” He is known to come in and if he said “ somtimes you dont know as a “Hired Gun” if your going to have the job at the end of the show..If I am doing my job thats when they often say it felt and sounded great..but it really you know becauses you will feel it…..or say “we wish you would have recorded on the album and are you availble to tour with us or join the band?” Costa could get a call God knows where and what becasue he cannot just sit still. There is not a boring day in the life of Costa so he will get a call learn set list and the songs on the plane to where ever the band was. He can play every ghost not,drag,crash, kick and bring the energy so much that you could not tell if playing the album simultaneously synced up with the recording and you would not tell their was another drum track playing and not notice the difference but still feel it natual and not just copy or a computer “which is way way harder then it seems” , he was known to be the best he could be so he was always writing, working out and practicing and honing his craft that soon would be know not only his sound but seeing him play you can tell he is in another world, he would say” Im just dancing with the Holly Spirit” .He said being a hired gun what is definitely the hardest and most stressful part of being a drummer playing with small or big bands. Small bands want to make their mark and fight over every part,section or lyric. Biger bands dosnt always me seasoned or layed back either. You just show up. Costa said it’s weird because the management or label will send you a live performance and want you to learn that exact thing that is completely different from the album, then the band will want somthing complety different.

I would have to learn the songs record the shows on a tour and playback and get it better until its perfect. In the air and just come in And do my job there. After I would always look at the footage from my video camera to make perfect as possible playing the exact album but often times they would want me to just do my thing and take the parts and make them your own. If I was playing for a metal band or a pop rock ‘n’ roll band my most important job was not how many sticks I could twirl and throw up in the air and catch again but laying the Costa groove down in the pocket so even in playing metal I would bring a swag to what was almost always a drum machine with the double base machine gun perfectly played cut and paste drum tracks for an album meaning even the drummer couldn’t play is on double base parts in “kpntime time” so I would take those parts make them my own as I am not a computer and it always has to be in the pocke. “If Beat It”by Michle Jackson comes on and your in a bar or having dinner, somone is going to tap there finger or foot or somthing when that song plays no matter the age”. So everything is about the song and not all spinning sticks and lighting things on fire…which I did at sometime haha”

Playing for other artists left him searching for his own voice as a performer, a writer, and as a disciple after the heart of God. Costas's Faith defines how he lives his life no matter where or what he is doing, His Faith bleeds with every breath and alwyas in the most Uncoventional places.

Music had taken priority over what he had treasured growing up: surfing, soccer, family, and faith. The climax came in the summer of 2008 when he chose to turn down 2 tour’s for the first time and instead embarked on a mission trip to Honduras with his Father. Once again, he discovered his gifts and passions through the moments with his family. As he and his father served, they kept a diary together, documenting their journey into the surrounding barrios, into a closer relationship, and a more profound spirituality. As they recorded the experience, Greg’s gift of the Holy Spirit is so moving when you see him get lost in where ever he is, walking to a rock or tree stub to sit and just listen. Poetry moved from a closed conversation with God to a centerpiece and focal point of their everyday “blog”. Before facebook and the world of texting and sociall media. After returning, Greg gave his father, as a memento, the manuscript that would eventually become his first book, City of God-Honduras. So, the drummer’s heartbeat slows, and the sticks drop to his side, Letting Inspiration do it’s thing he says ”I never sit down and journal as in rosses are red…. or dear diary, it just pick up a pen and it just comes

Greg Costa resides in the in-between of chaos and order, sin and salvation, joy and pain. He is a literary explorer of life. The depth of his faith is evident in every idiom. He writes with conviction and compassion, exhibiting the anguish and triumphs common to all humanity. You can hear it in his musing. In his desire and ability to question the tradition and the status quo, he remains reverent of his faith and respectful of not only his personal traditions but also the traditions of others. Greg Costa is a poet much like David, honest, transparent, and flawed. He is seeking after the truth and face of God and composing what is akin to modern-day Psalms.

As a speaker, he moves the room of any event he attends with his testimony of faith, his story of trial and tribulation, and being a true underdog hero. As a minister, it is hard not to feel the Holy Spirit when Greg speaks about life and the word of Christ. He strives to carry out his mission through work and outreach, benefiting the lives of those less fortunate and those with physical and developmental disabilities. He is genuinely staring adversity in the face through his ministry, The Mark® and Handle with LoVe® TBI

What inspires him? What moves him? Without hesitation, he’d answer, "God, my mother and father, family and friends, and the experiences we share. Without God and the love of these people, my life would be be a convoluted Shitt fest and not the life I know.

A good friend once said “there is a difference between being busy and productive, between living and just existing." Some people wait to be inspired, I choose to Inspire and that always starts with My FAith” - Costa