The Hip-Hop Ichor of Alex Sheridan

    

Positioned at a stop light you may look over and see Alex Sheridan placing a piece of paper on his steering wheel to jot some notes down, notes that later gyrate into his next hip-hop single.  “I get ideas for beats and lyrics in my car and I’ll free-style to see how it sounds while driving,” laughed Marion, Ohio’s Sheridan. 

     At the age of five Alex began twisting words and beats with a CASIO keyboard given to him by his Grandparents.  Advancing through high school, Sheridan began recording various local artists under his label Ichor Music. During basketball season his interest evolved.  Due to his blatant lack of talent on the court, they left him on the team just to make freestyle warm-up mixes! 

     “I never really got into it until Cory Brown (Cie Breeze) and I recorded tracks together and we fed off each other’s vibe,” said Sheridan. Now using his computer to mix beats with a B-1 studio mic and a euro track mixer with four to six channels, the sounds reverberating out of his computer speakers these days have reached a professional high.  In his solo work, Sheridan strays away from allusions of stereotypical rap rhymes about drugs and violence; instead he unleashes positive vibes with intentions to “make people happy and just enjoy them.” 

     At a gig Sheridan brings his box of props to coordinate with the original beats such as bicycles, helmets, jersey hoods, and some water!  Alex has produced a number of original area artists, collaborating with Cie Breeze, Jeremy Huff, Nite Tha Grrness, Caleb Cornelius, King Servant, T-Eazy, and Aaron Nemo. 

     Most recently Sheridan arranged an 80s beat with “Sunglasses” for national recording artist Young N.O.V. A dance team that Young N.O.V. knows is planning to dance to this version of “Sunglasses” at halftime of the NBA Allstar game!  A wide variety of influences can be found in the nineteen-year-old’s catalogue: “I like Billy Joel, Queen and Kanye West musically.  I just take a little of everything.” 

     Not only does Sheridan have the support of his friends, but also his parents.  “Ride My Bicycle” is about biking trip ventures with his dad.  “My father played ‘Ride My Bicycle’ for his co-workers and they loved it!  Then, they went to check out some other tracks… and the “F” word was dropped a few times!  But they think it’s pretty cool. It keeps me out of trouble.” 

     Alex is managed by Suburban Music Management and Publishing out of Atlanta, Georgia.  Television networks have approached his management team to possibly play some tracks on commercials.  “FOX is considering the Bicycle Song,” mentioned Sheridan, “I’m confident that something will happen with my music.”  Besides producing and rapping, Sheridan is also a student at OSUM, coaches basketball for Jr. High at Marion Catholic, participates in T.I. (Teen Institute), and runs Ichor Studios specializing in professional album art design, press kits, flyers, and logo designs. 

     A-Sher brings an uninhibited synthetic blend of original beats with a humorous twist of flows that transfix the mind.  He creates sounds that align in unison with his no holds barred lyrics to create a full score masterpiece of perfected imagery.  Move out the way, there’s plenty of room for this original Beastie Boy—fresh off “riding his bicycle,” he’s ready to “Bounce!” Keep an ear open, Sheridan is finalizing tracks for his album The Feelgood Movement hoping to have it available for purchase within the next couple of months.   Alex is more than ready to spread an undying phonetic virus into the ears of an expansive listening audience. Big things in ’07.

Written and Photography By Neil Shumate, Copyright OOTB Publications, 2007