Wearing a light brown shirt and black sunglasses, as a professional as well as passionate guitarist, Matthew Cruz, undeclared major, carries his guitar around campus.

Having his guitar with him as his best friend, Cruz, 19, didn’t discover his passion for music until he saw his dad play and sing at a party at the age of 12.

Cruz also learned about music from a Led Zeppelin music video his father had showed him. There was a lot of energy  in the video that he admired, Cruz said.

“My dad is definitely my number one influence in music. He is a great guitarist and a great singer.”

The work and dedication of many famous bands like The Beatles, Aerosmith, Guns N’ Roses, and Pearl Jam helped him  search for a band to join and he found it in an ad on Craigslist.

Cruz plays several instruments but his favorite is the electric guitar. He has been a member of a band, Real Fiction, for the last six months, where he plays the guitar and is a baritone singer. In their live performances that they did last year from August until the end of November, one of their performances was at the Whisky a Go-Go in West Hollywood, Cruz said.

“We are an original rock band, writing completely original rock ‘n’ roll songs, very blues-based, very classic rock base,” Cruz said. “Currently we are working with Danny B, the producer of 3 Doors Down.”

Occasionally, Cruz writes songs for his band. He doesn’t record them because he is very busy with his band, but when he does, he writes more acoustic and blues songs then decides with his band what music they want for their songs, Cruz said.