At first glance, Odd Pike appears to be a reserved red-head with glasses until he hits the stage, grabs the mic and comes alive.

Born and raised in Flint, Michigan, the young up-and-coming rap artist has been making moves on his city’s local music scene, dropping dope experimental music and wowing unsuspecting crowds with his high-powered performance that demands everyone’s attention.

We even had him touch the stage at one of our Dope Show (LIVE!) events that left everyone floored.

Aside from making music, he’s also the creator and member of the collective Floral Boys that consists of other Flint-based artists whose styles differ from the traditional Midwest sound.

Gearing up for the release of his forthcoming collaborative EP with Gabe Sinclair titled Dissociative Sessions, Pike found some time to talk with us about his early background, personal style, why he decided to start rapping, and much more.

Read on to get to know Odd Pike.

The Dope Show: What is the music scene like in your hometown?

Odd Pike: “The music scene in Flint is very small as of right now, but in the last 2 years, I have seen a lot of growth and a lot of new original sounds coming out of the city. The issue is there isn’t enough support from the community and I also feel like artists aren’t helping each other grow together.

This is what’s stopping the underground scene from growing in my opinion. But in all the bad, I see people making the best of things and trying to help the entire music scene instead of just working for self benefit.”

TDS: Would you say that your music fits the sound of your city or is it a totally different sound?

Odd Pike: “I feel like I don’t sound like most “rap” artists in Flint, but I think the sound that I created was heavily influenced by my environment and life experiences. In all reality, I don’t think anyone in Flint was making music like I was 2-3 years ago besides the friends that I grew up making music with (DownBySix & Floral Boys).”

TDS: You have a unique look for a rap artist, how would you describe your style?

Odd Pike: “It’s hard to put into words what my style is because I’m not really ever trying to dress a certain way. I basically just wear what I like without worrying what other people will think. I really enjoy mixing dark neutral dark colors with accents of pastels and white though.”

TDS: When did you start making music and what made you start?

Odd Pike: “I started making music 6 years ago when I was in the 8th grade. I started getting into recording music when I would record my friend Austin ($wank Galato of DownBySix) freestyling into my laptop webcam microphone.

After recording a couple songs for him, I decided to write and record my own songs. The music was really terrible for the first couple years but I eventually taught myself a lot about writing lyrics and mixing my own vocals.”

TDS: Who were some of your musical influences that inspired you to make music?

Odd Pike: “Some early musical influences of mine were metal bands I grew up listening to like Slipknot, Marilyn Manson, System of a Down, and even bands like Chiodos.

When I started making music I was listening to a lot of Pro Era and Tech N9ne and then I found out about artists like Rozz Dyliams, and Bones and it totally changed my outlook on rap and music in general.”

TDS: Who would your dream collaboration be with?

Odd Pike: “That’s a really hard decision but if I could name a few artists, it would be either Maynard Keenan, Robert Smith from The Cure, or Matthew Lee Cothran.”

TDS: What is the creative process like while making music?

Odd Pike: “A lot of my music takes time to be created because I stem a lot of my lyrics and subject matter off of my real life events. It takes time for me nowadays to get inspired to create so I let life and the things I learn about every day influence my music.

When it comes to actually making the music, I receive instrumentals from many friends of mine who produce music. I then write lyrics and record the vocals on my computer and mix and master the vocals.”

TDS: You’re a part of a collective known as The Floral Boys, tell us a little about the meaning behind the name and the members.

Odd Pike: “Floral Boys is a multi-media collective based out of Flint, MI. We specialize in music, fashion, film, and visual arts. The name was created in my freshman year of high school. I was really into nature and flowers at the time because they just gave me this positive feeling so I called it Floral Boys, not because I’m fascinated with flowers; it’s because I enjoy what they represent to people.

The members that are in the collective right now are the musicians Odd Pike, unluvd, Zell Williams, Old Engli$h, mayonaise, and XJ. We also have a visual artist in the roster Papi Schunzel, and promotional director Danny Osbourne.”

TDS: What do you have coming up in the near future?

Odd Pike: “I plan to release my collaborative EP, Dissociative Sessions, with Gabe Sinclair September 29th and after that, I’m taking a break from rapping to focus on developing Floral Boys as an official multimedia company.

I plan to add a few more visual artists to the team to help with designing new lines of merchandise, create a couple of short films and music videos, and I have special plans of even adding a few bands to the lineup so stay tuned.”

TDS: Any shout outs?

Odd Pike: “I wanna give a big shout out to The Dope Show for showing love to my music the last couple years. Shoutout to DownBySix, those are the people I grew into this local scene with, they are my brothers and I don’t think I’d be anywhere near the person I am now without them.

One final shoutout to my Floral Boys family and my real family, the both of you show me so much support everyday and continue to motivate me to better myself.”

To stay up to date with Odd Pike, follow him on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook and check his music out on Soundcloud here.