| Matt Saincome | |
| Alma Mater: | San Francisco State University |
| Birth Place: | Danville, California, U.S. |
| Occupation: | Businessperson, Journalist, and Satirist |
| Notable Works: | The Hard Times: The First 40 Years |
Matt Saincome (born 1991) is an American businessperson, journalist, and satirist.
Matt Saincome was born in Danville, California, in 1991. Following high school he graduated from San Francisco State University with a degree in journalism.
In 2009 he and his brother Ed cofounded the straight edge hardcore band Zero Progress, for which Saincome was the frontman using the stage name of “The Champ” – a satirical character based on typical hardcore frontmen’s macho attitudes. The band folded in 2014, following which Saincome founded the straight edge band PURE. He has also served as a booker for hardcore and punk shows in the San Francisco area.
Saincome published a zine called Punks! Punks! Punks! between 2009 and 2012, releasing a total of six issues. Ian Mackaye, Henry Rollins, Lars Frederiksen, and several other punk scene figures were interviewed in the zine, which had a print run of about 50 copies an issue. Following his degree in journalism, he worked as a freelancer for Vice and served as the music editor at SF Weekly until 2016.[1] As a freelancer he produced several articles that went viral, including his Weekly piece “Meet the Man Who Had Sex with a Dolphin (and Wrote a Book About It)”. During this time he came up with the idea of creating a career out of what he called “punk comedy journalism”.[2]
See main article: page and The Hard Times. In November 2014[3] Saincome, his brother Ed Saincome, and Bill Conway used an $800 budget to cofound the satirical website The Hard Times.[4] Since its founding, the site has added live events and a podcast network to its repertoire. The podcast is entitled The Hard Times Podcast, and features Saincome and Conway in discussion and doing interviews.[5] Its work has been described as a “combination of satirical stories that get into the nitty-gritty of punk politics, and spoofs of news stories”. By 2019 the site was receiving about five million views per month. In 2019 the company cofounded a sister site about videogaming called The Hard Drive.[6]
In 2019 Saincome co-authored the book, The Hard Times: The First 40 Years, following which he proceeded with a national book tour. He also cofounded OutVoice, an automated freelancer payment tool. In 2020 The Hard Times was acquired by Project M in a deal that valued the company over $2 million and allowed Saincome to retain ownership of Hard Drive. He also stayed on board at Hard Times in a position focusing on brand vision.[7]
Matt Saincome adheres to a straight edge lifestyle.[8]