Today we’d like to introduce you to Isaac Barkley.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I go by uknowitsIKE. I’m a musical artist, producer, engineer, and songwriter. I was born and raised in Kansas City, MO until I moved to Atlanta, GA when I was almost 23. I was always involved with music in some way growing up. Whether it was private piano or violin lessons, or playing in the school jazz band and orchestra, or making beats on the family laptop, music was always there. I took serious interest in becoming a producer and songwriter during my Junior year of high school when I took a digital media class and continued my education by getting a Bachelors in Music Technology at the University of Central Missouri. Midway through my college education, I had a recording studio internship at Reach Records in ATL and solidified my desire of making a career in the music industry. I graduated from UCM in December 2019 and had a desire to move back to ATL right away, but the Covid pandemic delayed it for a bit. By the end of September 2020, I moved to ATL with a vision to make music creation a full-time career. Since I moved to ATL, I’ve been networking and building a freelance business to help artists create their own music. I help record, edit, mix, master, produce, etc; basically, I help artists at any point of the creation process. I also release my own music every once in a while, which is a great way for me to express myself. I’m working on building a business where creatives can be themselves and one that expands to more than just the music industry. I want to create awesome art with awesome people. I want to keep working hard and give God all the glory for it.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
The road has been smooth overall, but there are struggles that pop up every once in a while. Here’s some that have happened in the past few years:
Going back to college after doing my internship in ATL in 2018 was hard because I wanted to focus everything on building a music career. I didn’t care for school that much and after working with Grammy award-winning people, I wanted to keep that going. I didn’t have a job or much money at the time, so I went back to finish my degree.
Another struggle I had was some disputes with a record label who didn’t give credit for projects I had helped them complete. I’m on ok terms with them now, but there was a time of bad relations between us. I’ll always have love for those people who did me wrong during those times though.
The Covid pandemic was a big hurdle for me because it shut down plans of moving to ATL right out of college. I waited for things to somewhat get back to “normal” so that I could find a good place to live and find work in the city. I’m glad I moved at the time I did. A lot of things fell in my lap at that time, and I could see God’s hand in it.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I work as a freelance business to help artists create their own music. I help record, edit, mix, master, produce, etc.; basically, I help artists at any point of the creation process. I’ve worked with a lot of artists including Grammy award-winning ones, and I have a level of professionalism with cheaper rates than most who do this (which is appealing to a lot of upcoming artists who have low budgets). I’m working on building a business where creatives can be themselves and one that expands to more than just the music industry.
I also release my own music every once in a while, which is a great way for me to express myself. My music doesn’t fit into a single genre but is inspired by several. The two most common would probably be pop and hip hop. I try to make songs that have unique themes to them but also sonically sound like nothing anyone has heard before. It’s hard to get noticed in this over-saturated industry, but making good and creative music is the goal.
Is there something surprising that you feel even people who know you might not know about?
Most people who know me know that it’s hard for me to open up and be vulnerable to others. However, they probably don’t know that my deepest emotions and secrets have been publicly shared through my music. Sometimes, it’s hidden and other times it’s openly stated in my lyrics, but I rarely talk about it with people. (As an example, my closest friend didn’t understand the meaning of an old song of mine that he was very familiar with until I told what the lyrics actually meant the other day. It blew his mind.)
Contact Info:
- Email: uknowitsike@gmail.com
- Website: uknowitsike.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/uknowitsike/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/uknowitsIKE/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/uknowitsike
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFNRW-t6Dt4oc8yvK0JsW_w
- SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/uknowitsike
