YouTube has become a leading source of news and entertainment in recent years, quite the transition from the prank-filled early days of the social platform. However, there are some that keep this humorous spirit alive, including YouTube personality Blake Bieker. While there are seemingly endless channels dedicated to reacting and critiquing music in our scene, Bieker is applying his punk rock spirit and blink-182-inspired comedy to his brand of vlog-style videos.

As a former touring musician, Bieker has taken the antics of tour life and brought them into his prank videos for all to enjoy. “Before I was doing YouTube, I was touring for 2 years straight in a punk rock band from my hometown,” says Bieker. Creating the style of content that Bieker is known for can definitely come with an additional level of embarrassment, which he is quite comfortable with. “I almost got kicked out of my band a countless amount of times for either pranking people in the new city we would be rolling up to or streaking through the hallways of our hotels just for the thrill of the chase from security.” Bieker continues, “I've never had a problem embarrassing myself and that can sometimes lead to trouble...but what else are you going to do when you're halfway across the country with your friends?” When watching some of Bieker’s content, you feel like you’re watching scenes straight out of Netflix’s ‘The Dirt’ - once again, the carefree punk rock spirit is alive and well.

After issues with a member of the band, Bieker decided to walk away to pursue other interests. It was a trip to LA that sparked Bieker’s interest in YouTube, ultimately leading him to forge his own channel. “I took a trip to LA by myself and in the process had met a ton of different creators and influencers there; that's really where I got my first look into the industry of YouTube,” says Bieker. “I taught myself how to edit and sat on the idea of YouTube for a year before I even made a move. I wanted to make sure I was going about it the right way and capture the real me in my content rather than a lot of the other kids just trying to get views...I wanted to embrace myself and my punk roots because that's who I really am.”

Even though the channel is still young, Bieker has already gained more than 13,000 views across his videos. Whether it’s performing obscene songs in public, pranking the unaware employees at guitar center, or drumming in hotel elevators, Bieker is gaining an audience and just getting started. “Within the next 5 years a huge goal for me would be to have 500K subscribers, although I'm not one to think highly of myself, so I often doubt the goals I set for what I'm creating.” Bieker continues, “I always tell people, "I don't know if I'll even get 100K subs. but if I do, that'll be more than I ever expected and I'd want to do something unique for that video." Everyone that reaches that level always has their "100K Plaque" from YouTube headquarters that they put above their bed or whatever and I made a promise to myself that If I ever obtained that one day, I would want to smash it into a million pieces because at the end of the day it doesn't matter. The reward at that point would be having people interested in your videos and actually care that much about you to watch them; who needs a plaque to tell you the same thing when you have real people who support you already?”

At the end of the day, Bieker is inspired by the music we all grew up on to continue to entertain the next generation of punk rock enthusiasts. “Coming from the punk scene and doing music before YouTube, all of my influences and people I look up to are bands. Blink-182 and Sum 41 are who I looked up to ever since I discovered what the scene even was. I want to take that same inspiration and use it in another industry such as Vlogging and YouTube. I think punk music is such an art and a unique voice that isn't heard most of the time among the youth in this generation and I don't want to lie and use music in my videos if it's not what I actually listen to or am inspired by… At the end of day I'm just a kid from a small suburban town and no matter whether I succeed in what I'm doing or not; I just want to do the best I can to not only entertain, but influence kids for the better.”

Be sure to check out Bieker’s ‘Drumming in Elevators Tour!’ video below and the rest of the hilarious content over on the official Blake Bieker YouTube channel.