Jacksonville, FL: Good Place to Start a Rock Band?

The musician I am interviewing has been in the local Jacksonville, Florida music scene for about 9 years now playing guitar with bands such as the Screamo band Hollow Line, Rock band Blaque Betty, and now a European Black Metal band called Pandaemonium - meet guitar player virtuoso Stephen Dykes.

P: How long have you been playing guitar?

SD: For about 13 years, or, no for about 12 to 13 years.

P: Why did you decide to start playing?

SD: MTV (laugh) I'm just joking. My friends I guess. And I liked music.

P: What do you like about having a band?

SD: Playing gigs, being on stage and hanging out with my friends.

P: What other bands have you been in before you started Pandaemonium?

SD: OK, let's see: Catheter Of Thorns, Hollow Line, Born Like This, Daisy's Pillbox right near the end before they broke up, Blaque Betty and that's it.

P: And what was your role (what did you play) in each of those bands?

SD: Lead and rhythm guitar.

P: Would you rather be playing lead or rhythm guitar or both?

SD: Both.

P: What are some of your favorite bands?

SD: Um, Children of Bodom, Nightwish, Deicide, Cannibal Corpse, Obituary, Muse, King Diamond, A Perfect Circle, Black Sabbath (laughs) and Blind Melon, Wintersun, Finntroll, and Dream Theater of course.

P: Who are your musical influences?

SD: Children Of Bodom, Zakk Wylde and the Black Label Society, Iron Maiden, Morbid Angel, White Zombie, Nefarion, Metallica and that's about it.

P: What equipment do you use?

SD: Marshall JCM 900 for my amp head, and I use an ESP guitar, and I run through Digitech pedals, Boss pedals, MXR pedals, and Dunlop Crybaby.

P: So, you use a lot of effects?

SD: Only for certain things like melodic stuff.

P: Why did you start the band you have now, Pandaemonium?

SD: Because it's my vision and music that I like to play.

P: Would you say that Jacksonville (FL) is a good place to start a rock band?

SD: Yeah, I would say so but that all depends on what kind of music you like too. It's hard to find musicians for certain styles. There's a big Death Metal, Nu-Metal, and Punk scene and Ska, Emo and Screamo. But there's also a lot of people that say they'll do music with you and flake out in the long run.

P: What are the more difficult types of music to

SD: Black Metal and stuff that's original - also Industrial music.

P: Is there a lot of competition in the music scene locally?

SD: I wouldn't say so. Everybody pretty much gets along - supports each other by showing up to shows and helping each other out. There's only a couple of bands I won't name that won't help or support the local scene.

P: What would you say is the one major drawback about having a band in Jacksonville?

SD: Finding musician that will stick with you to the end, and musicians that have the same interests or opinions as you.

P: What is it about your music that makes your band stand out from all the others around town?

SD: There's probably other bands in the world that sound like Pandemonium but we are probably one of the only bands that sound like we do in our hometown. We're not really Death metal or Nu-metal, not even really Black metal, so... that could be one of the reasons we are different.

P: Is it scary being one of the only bands in Jacksonville that do what you do?

SD: No because it gives the Jacksonville scene more of a variety of local metal to listen to so when local music fans are at a show they are not bored of hearing the same stuff.

P: In conclusion, is there anything that you would like to mention or say to the readers?

SD: Yeah. Come check us out on Easter Sunday at The French Quarter in Jacksonville with Deicide! Or check us out on Myspace at www.myspace.com/pandaemoniumband.