Start The Beat With Sikes

For the 49th episode episode I sat down with my friend Ana for a casual talk about being creative, navigating through adulthood and public bathrooms. Sit back, relax and lets START THE BEAT! 

For the 48th episode episode I sat down with my friend Hannah who you may or may not already know is responsible for all of the photography/art stuff I'm using for my new album. We talk about her evolution as a artist going from being a big fish in a small town pond to moving for school and becoming a small fish in a big city pond followed by her recent growth spurt into becoming a slightly bigger fish thanks to the magical powers of the internet. Sit back, relax and lets START THE BEAT! Links relevant to this conversation: www.hannahaltmanphoto.com www.facebook.com/hannahaltmanphoto 

For the 47th episode episode of #startthebeat I sat down with my friend Brette from Studio 344 and the band Belie My Burial for a cool talk about being a musician, producer, recording engineer and all of the positives/negatives that come with these things. Sit back, relax and lets START THE BEAT! Links relevant to this conversation: www.facebook.com/studio344recordings www.facebook.com/beliemyburialband 

For the 46th episode episode of #startthebeat I sat down with my friend Laura Lee for for a great talk about everything that comes with being a "D.I.Y." artist. We also get into the connections we have with each other as humans in today's disengaged society as well as the connections we have with ourselves. Sit back, relax and lets START THE BEAT! 

For the 45th episode episode of #startthebeat I sat down with my dude Barz Blackman for an awesome talk about hip hop, hip hop and more hip hop. This is a really cool talk for anyone into the dissection of the creative process and the struggles of trying to keep things fresh in a music culture where trends expire on almost a weekly basis. We also dissect the social issues and cultural backgrounds of hip hop throughout the years. Sit back, relax and lets START THE BEAT! Links relevant to this conversation: www.facebook.com/barzblkman soundcloud.com/barzblkman soundcloud.com/subterraneanaliens/sets/rawk-lawbster-ep-vol1-britpop-hip-hop 

For the 44th episode episode of #startthebeat I sat down with Donald Byron​ for an awesome conversation about the local music scene and his time spent being one of the most active and influential D.I.Y. promoters the Pittsburgh scene has ever seen. Play'r Productions​ was a huge deal for a lot of local bands in the time it was active and at the center of all of it was just a simple dude who only wanted to help his friends play some shows. Little did he know he would help shape an entire community. Sit back, relax and lets START THE BEAT! 

For the 43rd episode episode of #startthebeat I sat down with the homie Kory for a unexpected, but awesome talk about Roseanne, video games, Nu-Metal, nostalgia and growing up. Sit back, relax and lets START THE BEAT!  

For the 42nd episode episode of #startthebeat I sat down with the dudes in Reverse The Curse for a laid back talk about growing up, being creative and chasing the dream! Whatever that means... Sit back, relax and lets START THE BEAT!  Links relevant to this conversation: www.facebook.com/ReverseTheCurseMusic reversethecurse.bandcamp.com/album/existent 

For the 41st episode episode of #startthebeat I sat down with Lazy JP for a talk about all things that come with being a lover of music and a creator of music. We'll talk about his beginnings as an emcee, discuss/debate the creative process and talk about the steps he has taken since then to get where he is today. Sit back, relax and lets START THE BEAT!  Links relevant to this conversation: www.facebook.com/lazyjp soundcloud.com/subterraneanaliens/sets/rawk-lawbster-ep-vol1-britpop-hip-hop 

For the 40th episode episode of #startthebeat I sat down with my friend William James for a solid talk about what it takes to get your "voice" heard and dealing with the struggles of keeping that "voice" loud enough for anyone to notice it through all the other noise in the world. Great talk. Great dude. Sit back, relax and lets START THE BEAT!  Links relevant to this conversation: williamjames.whatis174.com williamjames174.bandcamp.com williamjames174.bandcamp.com/merch/everything-that-ever-was-how-it-came-to-be-chapbook 

For the 39th episode episode of #startthebeat I sat down with my new friend Ryan of the band Dead Batteries and local screen-printing powerhouse Ink Division for a solid talk about trying to navigate through "adulthood" while maintaining our punk roots and DIY ethics. Sit back, relax and lets START THE BEAT!  Links relevant to this conversation: www.facebook.com/deadbatteriespgh www.facebook.com/IDprinting 

For the 38th episode and first 2015 episode of #startthebeat I sat down with Basick Sickness for an awesome talk about being misfits in the Hip-Hop scene and everything that inspires us to continue pushing forward against the odds. Sit back, relax and lets START THE BEAT!  

It's the last #startthebeat of 2014!!! So this week I decided to do something a little special and make a few phone calls to some of my past guests. We're going to talk to my Uncle Timmy, Megan Fair, Christmas Eger, Moemaw Naedon, Cody Jones aka Stillborn Identity and Justin Nixon so we can check in and see what they've been up to since we last spoke. I also take some time to personally reflect on the past year of the podcast and tell you a little story about how I spent my Christmas. Sit back, relax and lets START THE BEAT!

For the 37th episode of #startthebeat I sat down with my friends Johnny and Carissa for an unplanned but welcomed conversation about growing up being the weird kid and trying to navigate through school, flaky friendships and how so much of what we embraced as children, movies, cartoons, comics, music somehow managed to stick with us to this day. We also get into our mutual obsessions with Japanese culture, anime, toys and eventually the conversation turns to focus on Johnny's history as a musician playing in various local bands and the struggles he is currently dealing with involving his control issues and the ability to comprise his ideals while working with other people in creative environments. To top things off we also threw in a few "Random Questions" at the end just for fun so sit back, relax and lets START THE BEAT! 

For the 36th episode of #startthebeat I sat down with Bob Freyer aka Durty Art and had a productive conversation about his artwork and everything that has inspired him to create the work he produces. We talk about a ton of stuff including graffiti, marketing your "brand", navigating through the business side of the art world and of course... the "haters". No stones left unturned this week! Sit back, relax and lets START THE BEAT!  LINKS RELEVANT TO THIS DISCUSSION: rawartists.org/durtyart instagram.com/durtyart facebook.com/durtyarts

For the first installment of 10 RANDOM QUESTIONS I sat down with the boys in Dethlehem during the listening party for their new album "Destroyers Of The Realm" and asked them questions submitted by various #startthebeat listeners. The catch is that the listeners didn't know who was going to be answering these questions that they submitted to me and the band didn't have any idea that they were about to be interviewed. Sit back, relax and lets START THE BEAT!  LINKS RELEVANT TO THIS DISCUSSION: facebook.com/dethlehem youtube.com/dethlehem

For the 35th episode of #startthebeat I sat down with my long time friend Shaun from the band Instead Of Sleeping and we had a lovely talk about the steps his band has taken over the years, what his experiences playing music have been like and how he has evolved as a writer, musician and overall decent human being. Sit back, relax and lets START THE BEAT!  LINKS RELEVANT TO THIS DISCUSSION: facebook.com/insteadofsleeping

For the 34th episode of #startthebeat I sat down with my new homie Dan from the band World's Scariest Police Chases, Lock and Key Collective & local screenprint shop Commonwealth Press. We had an awesome conversation discussing the history of his band and some of the things we've noticed/experienced involving the current generation gap going on within the "punk" community. We also talk about how we've both managed to worm our way into the paths we have paved for ourselves and try to figure out ultimately if Punk Rock has really ruined our lives or not. Sit back, relax and lets START THE BEAT!  LINKS RELEVANT TO THIS DISCUSSION: facebook.com/wspolicechases lockandkeyco.com cwpress.com

For the 33rd episode of #startthebeat I sat down with my long time friend Ryan aka Amuck for a talk about how we met, the music we've made together and how things have played out for us over the past 7+ years of our friendship. Ryan was also kind enough to give us all a world premier of his new single "Binge" from his upcoming EP "Detonate" which you'll get to hear at the end of this podcast! Sit back, relax and lets START THE BEAT! LINKS RELEVANT TO THIS DISCUSSION: AMUCK on Facebook: www.facebook.com/Amuck412 PLUTOCRAT NOOSE on Facebook: www.facebook.com/plutocratnoose Listen to the CASANOVA SPARKS album: www.youtube.com/watch?v=8lCy_OQE-CQ&list=PLKnSd4xs_yRdoouTHv4UuSPLL59eRaLb5

For the 32nd episode of #startthebeat I sat down with my buddy Rick for a nice talk about being a father, husband, everyday working man and still pursuing his desire for creative output amongst all of the chaos. This is some genuine real adult talk this week but it's an awesome conversation full of great energy and positivity. Sit back, relax and lets START THE BEAT! LINKS RELEVANT TO THIS DISCUSSION: facebook.com/blackmarketbodyparts facebook.com/events/807986062581786/