Brian Howe AKA SIKES is an Alternative/Hip-Hop artist & producer from Pittsburgh, PA who is known locally for his work in various musical projects and other artistic endeavors. 

His backing band, THE NEW VIOLENCE is a diverse group of talent curated by SIKES himself to help bring his electronic compositions and ideas to life through live instrumentations. Together, SIKES AND THE NEW VIOLENCE have crafted a sound that is accessible yet difficult to define by blending unique elements from a wide variety of genres and cultures. With a well respected reputation for his creativity, relentless live performances and D.I.Y. work ethic, SIKES continues to play by his own rules, takes the road less traveled and never follows in the footsteps of anyone but himself. 

Since 2007 Sikes has recorded, self-produced and self-released 5 full length albums and 2 EP's as well as playing a respectable number of live shows in between commitments to his other music projects. 2012 saw a complete restructuring of Sikes with the addition of a 4 piece backing band for live performances and the band made their official studio debut with Sikes on his 2012 album "Self Portraits & Self Destruction".

In 2015 the backing band adapted the name of "The New Violence" and together, SIkes and The New Violence released an album titled "I've Seen Better" available both physically on Vinyl, Cassette & CD as well as digitally through iTunes, Spotify, Amazon, Bandcamp and most other major digital streaming services. 

In 2016 Sikes released 2 alternate versions of "I've Seen Better". "They Got Better" is a collection of demos and alternate takes from the I've Seen Better recording sessions and "They've Seen Better" which is a collection of remixes featuring work from 10 different Pittsburgh bases producers including C. Scott, Emerson Jay, KRACKILL$ & More. Both of these albums were released as Free Downloads on Sikes' Bandcamp page. 

In addition, 2016 saw the release of Sikes' collaborative "Split" release with Pittsburgh based Punk band Trash Bag. "Split" is currently available digitally via Bandcamp as well as phsyically on both CD and Cassette formats. 

Currently, Sikes' is working on new material for his next full length with The New Violence and probably drinking a lot of coffee.

I play in the band Pinegrove and also sometimes on my own.
www.pinegrove.bandcamp.com

Acoustic songs inspired by people I've met or things I've done. On rare occasions I am able to record a song or two. I hope you like them!

I play music and record bands.

Studio Gear:

2012 MacBook Pro Intel i5 2.5 GHz, 4 GB 1600MHz DDR3
OWC Mercury Elite Pro External Firewire 800 7200 RPM 1 TB HDD

DAW: 
Pro Tools 10

Interface: 
Focusrite Saffire Pro 40
Behringher ADA8000 8 input preamp

Plugins:
Amplitube 3, Massey Tape Head, Peavey Revalver MkIII, Steven Slate Platinum, Massey DRT, TRacks Soft Clipper

Microphones: 
Audix i5, Sure SM7B, Rode NT2 Cad 7 Piece Kit drum mics

Outboard: 
Presonus Tubepre

Live Gear:

Guitars:
ESP EC-1000, PRS SE Custom 24, American Fender Strat, MIM Fender Precision Bass

Amps: 
Peavy 5150 EVH Signature with a Mesa 4x12 Traditional Rectifier

Rack Gear: 
Furman Power Conditioner, BBE Sonic Maximizer, Korg Tuner, Boss NS2


William Forrest is following