Talent bursts from Utica’s doors once again. A young drummer by the name of Matthew Hardin is a sophomore who wants to start his own band. Matthew has played at multiple spots around town already, places like restaurants, a tavern, and even a park.

“I’ve done shows at Mr B’s, Tap and Barrel, Danny J’s (when it was still around), The Red Ox Tavern, The Detroit Grill House, River bends Park, The Packard Proving Grounds, and Ciccarellie’s,” Hardin said. “I’m sure there are more, but I can’t recall all of them.”

For Matthew, music isn’t just about the melody, to him, it’s a form of communication without words.
“I think it’s so incredible how much you can tell about someone’s personality just by watching and listening to them play an instrument,” Hardin said. “It’s almost as if every musician’s music has its own voice.”

Life can take you down any number of paths, every new decision you make creates hundreds of new future possibilities. For this student, he thought he would grow up learning guitar to take after his dad, but his gut had something else to say about it.

“Originally, I wanted to play guitar because that’s what my dad plays and I looked up to him a lot as a musician,” Hardin said. “I’m not really sure what happened, honestly, something was just pulling me towards drums and I felt like I had to try them.”

The drums called out to Matthew, and even though he wanted to go for the guitar, he trusted his gut. Trusting your gut can be difficult sometimes, it’s like taking a leap of faith, which scares most people away from it. However, a gut feeling can take you farther in life than anyone could imagine.

Music can come in many shapes and sizes. Having a wide variety of knowledge can’t be a bad thing, in fact, it can only help you go farther.

“I dabble in really any kind of music, but I think if I had to label myself as a genre, I’d say funk/rock fusion,” Hardin said. “One of my favorite bands is the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and I draw a lot of inspiration from that style of music.”

Would you still go on playing if your equipment started to melt on stage? Well, neither would this student, but at least he has a story.

“We were losing guitars and singing in the middle of songs because the amps and microphones were literally melting.” sHardin said. “We had to stop in the middle of the second set because we just couldn’t go on.”

Determination isn’t as easy as you think, Matthew however played his heart out until his instruments started to melt. Even in sweltering heat, they played until unable to do so. Matthew is a prime example of the students of Utica. He is driven and gives his all in the things he is passionate about.