After nearly 9 years of performing in everything from school plays to battle of the bands to cover bands, Matthew Regan, a sophomore VMA major with a minor in Creative Writing, has finally found his place as a solo artist and winner of this year’s Emerson Idol.
The competition for Emerson Idol started long before this past Tuesday’s live performances. Auditions were held in October; 20 people tried out and 8 were chosen as finalists. Regan tried out on whim after seeing a Facebook event for the auditions with a Fall Out Boy song he has been performing for a while, but once chosen for the competition, he got serious.
Matt says, “picking the song was the hardest part for me. I wanted to pick a song that showcased the type of music I love to sing and I ended up going with Girl Named Tennessee by Needtobreath.” His song choice definitely proved to be the right decision because his performance got the entire room involved.
Matt credits his winning to the fact that he was able to entertain the crowd he says, “I don’t feel that I have a better voice than anybody that performed…when you perform well, that’s what really sets it apart.” Regan was able to make the song his own, which he believes, allows him “to turn the stage from a platform into an experience.”
Despite the confidence he had in his performance and the feedback from the audience, nobody was more surprised than Matt when his name was announced as the winner. Just before the decision was made, Matt says, “I was looking at the rest of the contestants and I had thought Rachel would win and I had accepted that.” The win was truly a shock, but not an unwelcomed one.
This win has only reinforced his plans to go into the music industry further. Although a film major at Emerson, Matt says “the plan has always been to make it in the music industry first…music is really everything for me.” Since the age of 13, Matt has been writing his own songs and learned to play the guitar, bass, and drums, skills that are helping him create his first full-length album.
Experimenting with everything from metal to pop to acoustic, Matt has finally found his voice on the 13-track CD in a genre called “happy hardcore.” He explains it as music with “the subject matter of pop songs in major keys, but the same attitude and beats in metal.” He likes this combination because metal “is about getting the message out” and “is real and visceral”, but still has the melodies of pop music.
So far, the instrumental tracks are about half done, but during Thanksgiving break Matt plans on completing them during winter break, recording the vocals. By the time the new year comes, Matt will have his completed album and will be sending them out to any and every label he can find. No matter what, Matt says, “I plan on performing for the rest of my life.”
If you want to learn more about the CD, or find out about any upcoming performances by Matt, or listen to some of his music, check out and like his Facebook page.