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.
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 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]
On June 22, Good Kid's guitarist Jacob participated in the official showmatch at VCT Masters Toronto 2025, unveiling VALORANT's new map "Corrode" alongside major gaming personalities like TenZ, Kyedae, and Disguised Toast. This milestone represents the band's authentic crossover into competitive esports, validating their creator-friendly approach and genuine engagement with gaming communities.[citation needed]
In 2025, Good Kid continued their tour across festivals in Europe including Reading and Leed, Pukkelpop, and Germany Highfield, from August 19 to August 24th.[citation needed]
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