The Florida music scene has introduced some amazing bands, including A Day to Remember, Magnolia Park, You Blew It!, Meet Me At The Altar, and even Not Enough Space, who is performing at this year's Orlando Warped Tour. We continue to birth incredibly diverse and talented bands, and I'm so excited to be the first to interview the newest Orlando group, Paracosm. On Valentine's Day, the band released their first single, “Dream Girl,” and have been playing shows and various festivals around Florida! This band consists of lead singer Callista Arifi, bassist Darren Reynolds, guitarists Alex Snyder and Jacob Young, and drummer Kevin Schoeppler. I have been privileged to witness their star quality firsthand, and I am very happy to say I knew Paracosm before they inevitably blow up!!
MSM: What is your earliest music memory?
Callista: That is actually a little hard. I think my earliest memory surrounding music is being in chorus class in elementary school. I always did chorus from elementary to high school. I stopped doing music after I graduated, and then I wanted to do it again, so it got me into this. But yeah, being in choir class and being with my friends.
MSM: What led to the creation of Paracosm?
Callista: I met Jacob through my sister.
Jacob: Yeah, I fell in love with your sister.
Callista: Then I heard he was in a band and was a classically trained guitarist, and I thought, well, that's kinda cool, you know what I miss doing? Music! So, how do I make this work in my favor? So I asked my sister Aiyana to ask Jacob, and he said yes, and we met up and we did a really bad cover of "Watermelon Sugar" by Harry Styles, and that was the starting point.
MSM: Are there any underrated or obscure bands y'all are listening to right now?
Jacob: Not underrated, but we've been listening to a lot of Scowl.
Kevin: I only know overrated or properly rated bands. Some local bands I've been really into are Preying Mantease and Default Friends.
Jacob: Yeah!! Default Friends
Alex: Girl Drama from Melbourne
Jacob: I like Heatback, I think they're from Daytona!
MSM: What is your go-to karaoke song?
Alex: I don’t have one, I’ve never done karaoke..oh wait! "Your Graduation" by Modern Baseball
MSM: Can you describe your experience with the Orlando music scene?
Darren: It's filled with nothing but love and support for those who give to the scene, and the scene will also give back. I just love being part of such a great music outfit with people who just love and support and want to send each other as far as possible towards success.
Callista: I seriously never thought it would be this nice, I thought this would be the hardest shit of my life, no ones going to like us like whatever and everyone has been so kind
MSM: I know you all only have one song out, and I’ve been lucky to hear some demos. But do you have a favorite lyric?
Callista: “Oops.”
Jacob: I like “It’s only a bit of fun.”
Callista: I like the lyrics from “Dog Teeth,” because they’re aggressive. “Rough patch in the beginning, sharp teeth bare to his face”
Jacob: Oh!! “Who has the sharpest teeth?”
Darren: I really enjoy “Family” where she's singing, “I look for your support from others, I look for your encouragement from others,” because it really hits home that sometimes the people who you think deserve your love and support are not the ones you get that from.
Callista: “Family's” a hard one, yeah.
MSM: What is the inspiration behind the name Paracosm?
Callista: I found it, I came up with it, I found it online because I was trying to find a one-word name that I liked.
Jacob: Should we tell them what we thought the name would be at first?
Callista: We were thinking it would be "King Casper", and then everyone hated it .
Darren: Not everyone-
Callista: Well, most people who joined the band were like that sucks, change it. So we found Paracosm, and I liked the meaning of the word, so I stuck with it.
MSM: Who are some artists that inspire your sound?
Jacob: My Chemical Romance, a lot of the early 2000s pop emo stuff like Panic! at the Disco that we covered tonight, and Paramore, obviously.
Callista: I'd say we're taking some inspiration from newer stuff, too.
Jacob: Yeah, we’ve been listening to a lot of Scowl
Kevin: Newer pop like Chappell Roan and Olivia Rodrigo
Callista: a little Twenty One Pilots every once and a while
MSM: What is the songwriting process like?
Callista: It’s me sitting in my room, sad writing words on a piece of paper and its just word vomit, thats all it is. And then I go through it with Jacob and we piece together certain things, or sometimes we’ll take certain phrases that I have, and hes like, Oh, I like this, lets put something underneath it.
MSM: Last question: What is something coming up that you are excited for?
Callista: I am just excited to play more shows and get out there a little more. We are going to be making some T-shirts, and some new merch is coming out. We've got some songs in the works.
Jacob: Do 3 songs count as an EP?
Callista: Yeah, a little mini EP!
