Good Kid

Last updated
Good Kid
Good Kid NYC performance 21 May 2023 - 01.png
Background information
Origin Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Genres Indie rock
Years active2015–present
Members Nick Frosst
Jon Kereliuk
Michael Kozakov
David Wood
Jacob Tsafatinos
Website goodkidofficial.com

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 100 million Spotify listens since its release.

Contents

History

Good Kid was formed in 2015 as a hobby while all of its members were studying primarily computer science at the University of Toronto. [2] 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. [2]

In mid-2020, the band began releasing singles that would later be featured in their second EP, titled Good Kid 2. They released "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. [3]

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. [3] 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. [3] 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. [3] Two more of their songs were added into Fortnite. [4]

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. [3] [5] 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. [3]

In 2023, they announced The Return of The Kid, their concert tour for the year. [6] 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, 2023, Portugal. The Man announced Good Kid as a special guest for their Canadian tour running from November 6 to November 18. [7]

In 2024, Good Kid was nominated for Breakthrough Group of the Year at the 2024 Juno Awards. [2] [8] That same year, the band also played at Lollapalooza. [2]

In 2025, Good Kid had their Chaos Kid tour, collaborating with popular band Phoneboy spanning from February 13 to March 8 across the USA.[ citation needed ]

Influences

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. [9] In 2019, they cited their current influences as PUP, Peach Pit, and Last Dinosaurs. [9]

Members

Discography

EPs

List of extended plays, with release date shown
TitleDetails
Good Kid
  • Released: 2018
  • Formats: Digital download, streaming, CD, vinyl
Good Kid 2
  • Released: 2020
  • Formats: Digital download, streaming, CD, vinyl
Ghost King's Revenge (OST)
  • Released: 2020
  • Formats: Digital download
Good Kid 3
  • Released: 2023
  • Formats: Digital download, streaming, CD, vinyl
Good Kid 4
  • Released: 2024 [10]
  • Formats: Digital download, streaming, CD, vinyl
Acoustic Kid
  • Released: 2024 [a]
  • Formats: Digital download, streaming, vinyl

Singles

List of singles, showing year released
TitleYearAlbumRef.
"Nomu"2015Good Kid [12]
"Atlas"2016 [13]
"Witches"2017 [14]
"Tell Me You Know"2018 [15]
"Slingshot"2019Good Kid 2
"Everything Everything"2020
"Drifting"2020
"Down With the King"2020
"Orbit"2021Good Kid 3 [3]
"No Time To Explain"2022
"First Rate Town"2023 [16] [17]
"Mimi's Delivery Service"2023
"Ground"2023Good Kid 3 [b] [18] [19]
"Bubbly"2024Good Kid 4
"Break"2024 [10]
"Summer"2024

Covers

List of covers, showing year released
TitleYearOriginal FromRef.
"From the Start"2023 Laufey

Awards and nominations

YearAwardCategoryResultRef.
2024 Juno Awards Breakthrough Group of the Year Nominated [2] [8]

Notes

  1. Originally released exclusively as B side to the vinyl release of Good Kid 4 [11]
  2. Originally vinyl exclusive hidden track for Good Kid 3, later released as a stand alone single on online platforms

References

  1. "Good Kid". Spotify. Retrieved 2024-07-27.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Szkutak, Rebecca (15 September 2024). "Cohere co-founder Nick Frosst's indie band, Good Kid, is almost as successful as his AI company". TechCrunch. Retrieved 14 August 2025.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Taveras, Moises (October 29, 2021). "Meet Good Kid, the Programmers-Turned-Indie Rock Band Defining Twitch's Sound". Paste. Retrieved September 12, 2022.
  4. 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.
  5. 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.
  6. 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.
  7. Gregory, Allie (June 20, 2023). "Portugal. The Man Announce Canadian Tour with Good Kid". Exclaim! . Retrieved October 24, 2023.
  8. 1 2 "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.
  9. 1 2 3 Arkhangorodsky, Paula (25 November 2019). "Good Kid — The Riveting Sequel We've All Been Waiting For". Medium.
  10. 1 2 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. "Spotify". open.spotify.com. Retrieved 2025-08-15.
  13. "Spotify". open.spotify.com. Retrieved 2025-08-15.
  14. "Spotify". open.spotify.com. Retrieved 2025-08-15.
  15. "Spotify". open.spotify.com. Retrieved 2025-08-15.
  16. Wonderland Staff (September 9, 2022). "Good Kid Deliver Their Nostalgic New Single, "No Time to Explain"". Wonderland Magazine.
  17. "Good Kid Returns With New Song "No Time to Explain"". PM Studio. Retrieved September 12, 2022.
  18. 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.
  19. Good Kid (2023-10-31). Good Kid - Ground (Official Music Video) . Retrieved 2025-07-10 via YouTube.