Throughout high school, many students begin to form an inkling of an idea about what they want to do with the rest of their lives. During senior year, most outgoing students try to sit down and plan where they want to go to college, what they plan on majoring in, and how they want to get there. Often, students save this planning until their last year of high school; however, senior Matai Trampe has known what he wants to do for as long as he can remember. Trampe plans on going into the music industry with both writing and producing music.

  Trampe has had a love for music since a very young age. “I’ve been interested in music my whole life,” Trampe said. “My dad always played the guitar in the living room, and it always seemed like something I wanted to do.”

  Since then, Trampe has embarked on a journey to become a professional musician. “When I was probably seven or eight, I started taking guitar lessons.” Trampe plays many instruments. Other than acoustic and electric guitar, Trampe plays the piano, the bass, and does a lot of digital mixing. To top it off, Trampe dabbles in the true art form of playing the harmonica.

  Trampe did not stop with only taking guitar lessons, but has instead gone to workshops and camps across the country to perfect his music. “The high school doesn’t really offer classes that cater to exactly what I want,” Trampe said. “However, I have taken classes in Nashville. They offer production classes and workshops for the guitar and vocal workshops and other things.”

  These camps have only strengthened Trampe’s desire to push himself into a career in the music world. “I was pretty sure when I started attending the camps that I wanted to go into music,” Trampe said. While attending these camps in Nashville, Trampe was able to meet and sit down with figures in the music industry. “It was cool to just talk with them and to sit down and to have a conversation with them about what they did to become successful.”

  Trampe is primarily interested in more relaxed music. “I’ve always been into singer-songwriter stuff like Jim Croce and Bob Dylan,” Trampe said. “I like classic rock, but I’d like to go for that singer-songwriter type vibe.” Trampe does write his own music and lyrics to put with the music that he creates. He finds inspiration from his life and whatever else is around him. “I usually try to write about something that’s personal or something close to home.”

  Specifically, Trampe wants to pursue his goal of not only making music but also of starting his own music production company. He said, “I’d like to eventually start my own production company, but first, I’ll probably be working under some production company and just kind of learning the trade.” In the meantime, he has been working hard on writing his music and getting his songs posted on his Instagram page. Furthermore, he said, “I’ve been working with programs like Logic Pro to better my understanding of production. Logic Pro is a program on MacBook that allows you to mix and master music.”

  To further his progress towards this goal of making music and starting a production company, Trampe plans on going to college for both a music degree and a business degree. “For the first couple years, I’ll just be staying at Sheridan College for a business degree and I’ll probably be taking a couple other classes,” Trampe said. Regarding his business degree, Trampe has taken a few business classes at the high school level. He took Intro to Business with Larry Ligocki at Sheridan High, which he says got him interested in business. Trampe also took Financial Management with Ligocki, which he believes will help him with his personal and business finances in the future. After he has gotten his business degree from Sheridan College, Trampe said that he will head to Trevecca Nazarene University in Nashville, Tenn.

  Other than his passion for music, Trampe enjoys spending time on the golf course. He also likes working on his 1960 Imperial Custom and loves to ski. “I’m a huge ski bum and I try to go skiing as much as possible,” Trampe said. “It’s one of my favorite things to do in the winter. In the summer, when I can’t go skiing, I go tubing as much as possible.” Trampe enjoys the fast-paced thrill that skiing brings.

  Trampe is also involved in the Sheridan High School chapter of the National Honor Society where he gets to volunteer and help the community. Trampe enjoys being involved and thinks that Sheridan is an overall great place to live.

  Trampe is the son of Mike and Natalie Trampe.