Today we’d like to introduce you to Isaac Barkley.
Hi Isaac, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Hi, my name is Isaac and I go by uknowitsIKE. I’m a 26 year old musical artist, producer, engineer, and songwriter. I was born and raised in Kansas City, MO until I moved to Atlanta, GA in the Fall of 2020. 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 work out of a few different studios around Atlanta. Some include Quality Control, Nowhere Records, and my own home studio to name a few. 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?
It definitely hasn’t been a smooth road, but it’s been a very fun one. The music industry is a tough one to navigate and hasn’t been the most consistent in my experience so far. That’s one of the reasons I love it though. I don’t like when life gets repetitive and having to do the same thing day in and day out. Working freelance in this field means that no weeks look alike and you’re always having to stay ready for whatever experiences may come your way. It has definitely been a struggle managing finances and keeping a consistent schedule. Much of my work comes from being on call all the time for studio sessions. Some weeks can be extremely busy while others can be very slow. It keeps me on my toes for sure and I try to make sure to enjoy the highs and the lows from it all. The industry is very saturated too, which can make it difficult to stand out. I’m constantly trying to find ways to better myself and market my brand.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I’ve worked with a lot of artists in the city and I saw a need for engineering when I moved here. I have a passion more for production and writing, and I’m working on how to stand out more and get more work from that.
I’ve gotten to work with a lot of talented artists and be a part of many cool projects. Some stand out projects that I’ve had a hand in include “Her Loss” by Drake, “It’s Us Vol. 1” by Concrete Boys, and “Coming in Hot” by Lecrae and Andy Mineo. At this point I’ve worked on hundreds of songs since moving to Atlanta, and I’m proud of the work that has been done so far.
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.
Where do you see things going in the next 5-10 years?
I think streaming and more forms of it are going to be evolving. Streaming has been big already in the last decade, but other platforms like Tiktok have really blown up in the last couple years and many artists are being discovered through those. I think platforms that blend media like that are going to get even more popular in ways we don’t expect. To be honest, I think VR/AR are going to get really big and music experiences are going to grow through those. Also, AI is going to be a really useful tool in some ways, while hurting artists in other ways. I believe it’s going to be more difficult to prove original work as time goes on and there will be less of a need for producers and engineers to help artists create new music. It’s also going to further saturate this market… It will be really cool to utilize in other ways though. I know a lot of artists are introverted and like to stay secluded (myself included) but having AI to help give feedback and give outside opinions and influence can help artists develop their craft even more. I’m excited to see where it goes
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.uknowitsike.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/uknowitsike/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/uknowitsIKE/
- Twitter: https://x.com/uknowitsIKE
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@uknowitsIKE
- soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/uknowitsike
Image Credits
Matt Trenhaile, Grant Marshall, Isaac Barkley
