Start The Beat With Sikes

For the 63rd episode I sat down with Andy Marrapode for a nostalgic talk about how we got into creating music, how we met each other and the give an overview of the projects we have worked on both together and separately over the years. Sit back, relax and lets START THE BEAT!  LINKS RELATED TO THIS CONVERSATION: www.facebook.com/plutocratnoose Casanova Sparks - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8lCy_OQE-CQ Start The Beat is part of the Epicast family. http://epicast.tv/

For the 62nd episode I sat down with Scott Massie of the Innervenus Music Collective and Black Yoga for a talk about pursuing your creative passions against all odds. Sit back, relax and lets START THE BEAT!  LINKS RELATED TO THIS CONVERSATION: https://www.facebook.com/theinnervenusmusiccollective https://www.facebook.com/BlackYoga1 https://www.facebook.com/events/1613061185612192/ Start The Beat is part of the Epicast family. http://epicast.tv/

For the 61st episode I sat down with Pete Finnigan of Kid Durango for a conversation about his experiences living in Pittsburgh, living in New Orleans, living with the paranormal, learning to understand/ embrace different cultures and balancing his "professional" career alongside his music career. Sit back, relax and lets START THE BEAT!  LINKS RELATED TO THIS CONVERSATION: https://kiddurango.bandcamp.com/ https://www.facebook.com/KidDurangoPA https://www.facebook.com/events/1620951954860486/ Start The Beat is part of the Epicast family. http://epicast.tv/

For the 60th episode I sat down with Chris Stowe of A-F Records, White Wives & Worlds Scariest Police Chases for a conversation about his experiences as an underground musician and working for an independent record label. Sit back, relax and lets START THE BEAT!  LINKS RELATED TO THIS CONVERSATION: https://chrisstowe.bandcamp.com/ www.a-frecords.com Start The Beat is part of the Epicast family. http://epicast.tv/

For the 59th episode I sat down with Jackson, John Paul, Ben and Trevor of THE SICKHOUSE (A DIY concert venue and recording studio ran out of a house in Homestead, PA) for a talk about the "scene", DIY show spaces, recording music and pursuing your passions at any cost! This is a great conversation for anyone involved in the underground music scene or DIY community. Sit back, relax and lets START THE BEAT!  LINKS RELATED TO THIS CONVERSATION: https://www.facebook.com/thesickhousehomestead https://www.facebook.com/HradioSignal https://www.facebook.com/hdmath https://www.facebook.com/pages/Luminaire/846742645365574 https://www.facebook.com/LamanteMusic https://www.facebook.com/blackgiravves https://www.facebook.com/staticdeathpgh Start The Beat is part of the Epicast family. http://epicast.tv/

For the 58th episode I sat down with the dude Neal Dudash for a pretty long talk about music, playing in bands, food, fashion, coffee, things we love, things we hate and everything in between! The conversation goes all over the place but it's rad and Neal is a rad dude. Good times. Good talk. Sit back, relax and lets START THE BEAT! 

For the 57th episode of #startthebeat I sat down with Harrison of BADBOXES for a talk about discovering music, creating music, producing music and overall just being completely consumed by everything that is "music". Really cool dude. The conversation gets a little technical and nerdy at some points but I personally like that and it's my show so deal with it. Sit back, relax and lets START THE BEAT!  Links relevant to this conversation:  badboxes.com  facebook.com/badboxes  badboxes.bandcamp.com 

For the 56th episode of #startthebeat I sat down with my friend Paul about the discovery of electronic music and the sometimes overlooked and misunderstood craft of producing it. Sit back, relax and lets START THE BEAT!  Links relevant to this conversation:  facebook.com/paulthomaszito  paulthomaszito.bandcamp.com 

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!