Wikipedia

Good Kid

This article is about the Toronto indie rock band. For the Kendrick Lamar song, see Good Kid (song). For the 2016 American film, see Good Kids.

Good Kid is a five-member indie rock band from Toronto, Ontario. It consists of five members: lead vocalist Nick Frosst, drummer Jon Kereliuk, bassist Michael Kozakov, and guitarists David Wood and Jacob Tsafatinos. The band's mascot, known as Nomu Kid, is primarily featured in their marketing and social media. They released their first self titled EP, in 2018. It was followed by Good Kid 2 two years later. In late 2020, the band gained popularity through the use of their music on Fortnite streams. The band released their EP Good Kid 3 on April 14, 2023, which contains two of their most streamed songs on Spotify, Mimi's Delivery Service and No Time to Explain.[1] The band has chosen not to issue DMCA strikes so that their music could be used in streams. Most recently, they released their fourth EP, Good Kid 4, on March 27, 2024. This EP has their most popular track, a cover of Laufey's From the Start, which gained over 90 million Spotify listens since its release.

Good Kid
Background information
OriginToronto, Ontario, Canada
GenresIndie rock
Years active2015–present
MembersNick Frosst
Jon Kereliuk
Michael Kozakov
David Wood
Jacob Tsafatinos

History

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Good Kid's first song, "Nomu", was released on October 13, 2015. It introduced the band's mascot, Nomu Kid, who was named after the song. In the following years, the band released more singles: "Atlas" on May 13, 2016, "Witches" on June 6, 2017, and "Tell Me You Know" on June 4, 2018. Their first EP, titled Good Kid, released on June 15, 2018.

In mid-2020, the band began releasing singles that would later be featured in their second EP: "Everything Everything" on July 20, "Drifting" on August 28, and "Down With the King" on October 2. Good Kid 2 was released on November 6, 2020. Its lead track, "Down With the King", was based on Donkey Kong Country; the lyrics describe the singer being stuck on the game and calling their friend for help.[2]

Following the release of Good Kid 2, Good Kid launched an alternate reality game on social media to promote a tie-in browser game called Ghost King's Revenge. The premise was that their mascot, Nomu Kid, had gone missing, and was captured by the antagonist of the game.[2] Ghost King's Revenge featured a soundtrack consisting of both original music and chiptune arrangements of every Good Kid song featured on Good Kid and Good Kid 2.

In late 2020, Good Kid experienced a surge of popularity with the Fortnite community. Fortnite streamers on sites like Twitch and YouTube would often play Good Kid music in their streams, introducing it to their viewers. This extended to high-profile players such as FaZe Clan and Bugha. The band members began participating in these streams, retweeting Fortnite montages that included their music. Fortnite players campaigned for Good Kid music to be added to the in-game radio.[2] In response, Epic Games asked Good Kid to send in two of their songs for inclusion; the band settled on "Witches", which was added that June, to positive reception by the band.[2] Two more of their songs were added into Fortnite.[3]

In response to the controversy over DMCA claims, and the number of people including their music in streams, Good Kid said it would not issue takedowns against streamers.[2][4] According to Tsafatinos, this reaction came from the band's observation that most streamers were young people who "just wanna play the music that they like on stream", and likely did not know about the DMCA system.[2]

In 2023, they announced The Return of The Kid, their concert tour for the year.[5] The tour was for all ages and happened from May 6 to June 2. The locations were mostly in the United States of America, aside from one show occurring in Toronto.

On June 20, Portugal. The Man announced Good Kid as a special guest for their Canadian tour running from November 6 to November 18.[6]

In 2024, Good Kid was nominated for Breakthrough Group of the Year at the 2024 Juno Awards.[7]

Influences

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Good Kid's initial work was inspired by 2000s indie rock and J-rock bands, such as The Strokes, Two Door Cinema Club, Bloc Party, and Kana-Boon.[8] In 2019, they cited their current influences as PUP, Peach Pit, and Last Dinosaurs.[8]

Members

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Nick Frosst - Lead Singer, Born on January 5, 1993

  • Founder of Cohere, a large language model company
  • Undergraduate degree from the University of Toronto in 2015, Bachelor of Science with a double major in Computer Science and Cognitive Science
  • Previously worked at RSWE - Google Brain from Feb 2016 - Jan 2020

Jonathon Kereliuk - Drummer, Born on March 2

  • Undergraduate degree from the University of Toronto in 2017, Bachelor of Science, Computer Science and Mathematics
  • Software Engineer at Google from Jun 2017 - Aug 2019, working on Chrome June 2017 - September 2018 and Cloud Healthcare/Life Sciences September 2018 - August 2019

Michael Kozakov – Bassist, Born on September 2, 1989

  • Soldier in the IT department of the Israeli army from 2008 to 2011
  • Undergraduate degree from the University of Toronto in 2015, Bachelor of Science in Computer Science with a minor in German Studies
  • Son of Mikhail Kozakov
  • Has a Scottish fold cat named Mel[9]
  • Currently fulltime Software Engineering Manager at Cohere from Oct 2022 - Present
  • Previously Software Engineer at Amazon, Snapchat

David Wood – Guitarist, Born on October 13

  • Currently Full Stack Engineer at Universe Feb 2020 - Present
  • Previously Software Engineer at Gobble, SWTCH, Alan Dhingra

Jacob Tsafatinos – guitarist,[8] Born on December 2

  • Currently Senior Software Engineer at Uber Dec 2022 - Present
  • Previously Software Developer at Amazon, Shopify, Uber, Elemy

Discography

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EPs

  • Good Kid (2018)
  • Good Kid 2 (2020)
  • Ghost King's Revenge (OST) (2020 chiptune/remix album)
  • Good Kid 3 (2023)
  • Good Kid 4 (2024)[10]
  • Acoustic Kid (2024) [Originally released as the B-Side to Good Kid 4 (Vinyl), now being released as standalone EP][11]

Singles

  • "Nomu" (2015)
  • "Atlas" (2016)
  • "Witches" (2017)[8]
  • "Tell Me You Know" (2018)
  • "Slingshot" (2019)[8]
  • "Nomu x Animal Crossing" (2020)
  • "Everything Everything" (2020)
  • "Drifting" (2020)
  • "Down With the King" (2020)
  • "Orbit" (2021)[2]
  • "No Time to Explain"[12][13] (2022)
  • "First Rate Town" (2023)
  • "Mimi's Delivery Service" (2023)
  • "Ground" (2023)[14]
  • "From the Start" [Laufey Cover] (2023)
  • "Bubbly" (2024)
  • "Break" (2024)[10]
  • "Summer" (2024)
  • "Second Rate Town - Acoustic" (2024)

Songs

  • "Nomu" (2015)
  • "Atlas" (2016)
  • "Witches" (2017)[8]
  • "Tell Me You Know" (2018)
  • "Slingshot" (2019)[8]
  • "Nomu x Animal Crossing" (2020)
  • "Faster" (2020)
  • "Alchemist" (2020)
  • "Everything Everything" (2020)
  • "Drifting" (2020)
  • "Down With the King" (2020)
  • "Aloe Lite" (2020)
  • "Pox" (2020)
  • "Orbit" (2021)[2]
  • "No Time to Explain"[15][16] (2022)
  • "First Rate Town" (2023)
  • "Mimi's Delivery Service" (2023)
  • "Madeleine" (2023) (Created before the band existed)
  • "Osmosis" (2023)
  • "Ground" (2023)[14]
  • "From the Start" [Laufey Cover] (2023)
  • "Bubbly" (2024)
  • "Break" (2024)[10]
  • "Summer" (2024)
  • "Dance Class" (2024)
  • "Premier Inn" (2024)
  • "DWTK - Acoustic" (2024)
  • "Some Time to Explain - Acoustic" (2024)
  • "Madeleine (ft. Loupe) - Acoustic" (2024)
  • "Second Rate Town - Acoustic" (2024)
  • "Epilogue - Slingshot" (2024)

References

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  1. ^ "Good Kid". Spotify. Retrieved 2024-07-27.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Taveras, Moises (October 29, 2021). "Meet Good Kid, the Programmers-Turned-Indie Rock Band Defining Twitch's Sound". Paste. Retrieved September 12, 2022.
  3. ^ Good Kid [@goodkidband] (October 27, 2022). "NO TIME TO EXPLAIN MADE IT INTO FORTNITE RADIO!!!!! Thanks @EpicGames and @FortniteGame for making this happen! https://t.co/T2akQ6WJ5k" (Tweet). Retrieved May 12, 2023 – via Twitter.
  4. ^ Heidt, Dustin (6 April 2023). "Good Kid's new EP marks the end of an era and the start of an exciting new one". Variance. Retrieved 21 May 2023.
  5. ^ Good Kid [@goodkidband] (February 3, 2023). "📣⚡️TOUR ANNOUNCEMENT⚡️📣 This spring we're heading to the USA and Toronto for our 3rd headlining tour: RETURN OF THE KID ⚔️ General admission and VIP tickets are available NOW at the link in our bio! All shows are for all ages! https://t.co/xmlzmNjBXL" (Tweet). Archived from the original on March 15, 2023. Retrieved May 12, 2023 – via Twitter.
  6. ^ Gregory, Allie (June 20, 2023). "Portugal. The Man Announce Canadian Tour with Good Kid". Exclaim!. Retrieved October 24, 2023.
  7. ^ "Junos 2024: full list of winners". CBC Music. March 24, 2024 [Originally posted March 23, 2024]. Archived from the original on March 25, 2024. Retrieved March 25, 2024.
  8. ^ a b c d e f g Arkhangorodsky, Paula (25 November 2019). "Good Kid — The Riveting Sequel We've All Been Waiting For". Medium.
  9. ^ "Mel the Scottish Fold". Instagram. Retrieved 2024-01-06.
  10. ^ a b c Hudson, Alex (February 9, 2024). "Good Kid Announce Fourth EP, Share New Single "Break"". Exclaim!. Retrieved March 8, 2024.
  11. ^ "Good Kid 4 Vinyl". Good Kid. Retrieved 2024-09-17.
  12. ^ Staff, Wonderland (September 9, 2022). "Good Kid Deliver Their Nostalgic New Single, "No Time to Explain"". Wonderland Magazine.
  13. ^ "Good Kid Returns With New Song "No Time to Explain"". PM Studio. Retrieved September 12, 2022.
  14. ^ a b Good Kid [@goodkidband] (13 October 2023). "YEEEEEHAWWW 🤠🐎🌵 GROUND IS OUT NOW on all streaming platforms! We never thought this song would see the light of day, after all, there was a reason why we were forbidden from recording it… link in bio" (Tweet). Retrieved 2023-10-13 – via Twitter.
  15. ^ Staff, Wonderland (September 9, 2022). "Good Kid Deliver Their Nostalgic New Single, "No Time to Explain"". Wonderland Magazine.
  16. ^ "Good Kid Returns With New Song "No Time to Explain"". PM Studio. Retrieved September 12, 2022.
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