Start The Beat With Sikes

For the 55th episode of #startthebeat I sat down with my friend Tim for a good, lengthy talk about growing up, loving hip hop, pop culture, being a school teacher and pursuing your passions. Check it out!. Sit back, relax and lets START THE BEAT! 

For the 54th episode of #startthebeat I sat down with my homie Jon from edhochuli & Caylx for a talk about punk rock, power rangers, staying positive and everything else that comes with being in a DIY musician. Sit back, relax and lets START THE BEAT!  LINKS RELEVANT TO THIS CONVERSATION:  edhochuli.tumblr.com  edhochuli.bandcamp.com  www.facebook.com/calyxpgh 

For the 53rd episode of #startthebeat I sat down with Jake, Bill and Evan from Northern Gold for a talk about the evolution of Jake's experience as a singer/songwriter and everything that led up to him forming his new band, Northern Gold. It's a really cool talk dealing with how time can shape the creative process and how team work makes the dream work. Sit back, relax and lets START THE BEAT! LINKS RELEVANT TO THIS CONVERSATION: notherngold.bandcamp.com facebook.com/northerngoldpa youtu.be/89VVBj1RWzw 

For the 52nd episode of #startthebeat I sat down with my friend Krista from Runaway Studios and the Matress Factory for a really cool talk discussing the parallels between the D.I.Y. music world and the D.I.Y. art world in Pittsburgh as well as art and life in general. Sit back, relax and lets START THE BEAT! LINKS RELEVANT TO THIS CONVERSATION: www.facebook.com/runawaystudiospgh www.facebook.com/MattressFactory 

For the 51st episode of #startthebeat I sat down with Derek Zanetti aka The Homeless Gospel Choir for a conversation about his evolution both as a listener and a creator of music, the Pittsburgh scene and the D.I.Y. community as a whole. Awesome dude. Solid talk! Sit back, relax and lets START THE BEAT! LINKS RELEVANT TO THIS CONVERSATION: facebook.com/TheHomelessGospelChoir thehomelessgospelchoir.bandcamp.com 

For the 50th (holy cow) episode of #startthebeat I had a much anticipated conversation with the one of the most ridiculous dudes I have ever met. The and only Joey Solak. Sit back, relax and lets START THE BEAT! 

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!