Before the seventh grade, junior Matthew Cloud never considered music as something he would ever pursue. He was involved in every sport imaginable, and music was just a foreign concept. In fact, the Champaign native disliked it so much that his mother had to sign him up for the school choir.
“Before, I had always hated it, and I never wanted to go to choir,” said Cloud. “It was always something I dreaded, I thought it was corny.”
But after realizing that he had a natural talent for music, Cloud never discounted it again.
“I don’t know what happened, but I decided to give it a chance, and something turned around in seventh grade; it was something I really got into and really started to love,” said Cloud.
Cloud received his first gig soon after and knew that he had found his passion. As Cloud continued to dive deeper into his talents, an opportunity arose that he just could not pass on: an audition for the hit NBC show, The Voice.
Cloud says at first he was hesitant to try for something that had started as a far-fetched dream. With the support of his family, however, Cloud decided to take life by the horns and make the jump.
With a call time of two o’clock, Cloud recalls, with a laugh, that he arrived almost four hours early to guarantee he would be the first to sing. After his audition, the judges were not sure if Cloud could make the cut, so he was sent away while they deliberated.
Following what seemed like years and an anxious wait, Cloud received the call that would change his outlook on life forever: he was to move on in the audition process.
Though Cloud may not have won the competition, he says that the lessons learned from the experience were the real prize.
Now, as a junior and music business major at Elmhurst College, also serving as the High Tau of Lambda Chi Alpha, Cloud holds himself in a more confident way. Thanks to what he calls one of the craziest things he has ever done, Cloud now realizes that there will always be people that are better than him in different aspects of life, but the key is to always strive to be better and never give up.
The lessons Cloud learned from his audition have transferred to his time in Lambda Chi Alpha where he says he holds himself confidently, but remembers those people, such as his big brother in the chapter, who set a great example for him and continue to help him strive for more.
“In the music industry, I think that people give up on themselves pretty easily and never thing that they are good enough, or can hold that Alpha position, taking it back to Lambda Chi Alpha,” said Cloud. “It’s not true; if you put your time and effort into it, you will eventually get there.
“I was very lucky to get The Voice on my first try, but my freshman year, I ran for Tau and didn’t get it. I was very discouraged, and I started to lose trust, but I told myself if they don’t think I’m ready, to quit will not show them that I am ready.”
Through all of his musical and fraternal experiences, Cloud has learned much about himself. Though he is unsure of what he may want to do once college is over, he knows that he will always have a support system in both his family and Lambda Chi to chase even the craziest of his dreams.
To connect with Cloud:
Instagram: @matt.cloud
Facebook: Matthew Cloud
Snapchat: @mattchew7
Booking email: graycloud7@yahoo.com
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