“Im only 18, but I see and believe big things,” senior Matt Sumague said when asked about his clothing and music business. West might know Sumague as a ordinary student, but not everyone knows his extraordinary passion for music and his helpful talents for managing a clothing company.
Every since he was a kid, Sumague loved music. He’s been making beats since freshman year, teaching himself how to produce, and pretty much doing everything on his own. After listening and taking a closer look at Kanye West’s album College Dropout, he was inspired to start his creating his own music. With no equipment to produce music, Sumague had to buy all the technology such as keyboards, speakers, headphones, etc. Starting to save up his allowances and birthday money in eighth grade, Sumague’s room now consist of a grand worth of music technology. First wanting to be a DJ, he soon lost interest as it took a lot more energy and commitment than he expected.
“It was hard not knowing anything, and having to teach myself because I didn’t really learn from anyone else,” Sumague said.
His fellow friends are very happy with how far this project has come, and support him still.
“I think it’s really cool. He takes it seriously and it looks dope. When he’s famous, I can say I sat with him at lunch,” senior Vanessa Perez said.
Throughout his four years of making his own music, Sumague knows how much heart there needs to be to actually accomplish a dream. His beats were played on Depaul’s radio station and were the talk on Chicago blogs. It’s a lot of spreading the news around and he’s realized that it’s possible because of the world we live in today.
“Were living a day in the age where it’s easy to advertise using social media,” Sumague said.
With the new work load from producing music, Sumague also held a passion from drawing. He started to draw different sketches on any paper he can find, and was interested in designing shoes. When his brother, cousin, and their good friend began their clothing line, Elementary Clothing Company, Sumague was behind the scenes. He help spread the line through social media: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. It wasn’t until this year that he began to actually design the clothing pieces people were going to buy.
“He’s very creative. I think if he pursues doing this he will be famous for it,” said senior Lily Behof said.
Elementary Clothing Company is aspired to promote positivity for communities by “community involvement” and “delivering a quality product” as it says on their website. They participate in community events like with Girls on the Run Chicago and Ballin’ Against Cancer. So far their summer collection consists of tanks, tees, and baseball jersey, all which is an affordable price.
“ACRC stands for admired by competition, respected by the community which is our goal. Our tanks have this acronym,” Sumague said.
Moving forward into the future, Sumague wants to study in the business of marketing and advertising. With the clothing company growing and his music being heard from all different places, it’s exciting to see the beginning of something new.
