Darryl Cherry: Music on the Move

Darryl Cherry, 32, originally from North Brunswick, N.J., says he grew up listening to thrash metal and punk – anything from Anthrax, Metallica, Megadeth and Slayer to Black Flag, NOFX and New Jersey’s own Misfits.

In time, listening wasn’t enough.

“I picked up a guitar and learned how to shred as quickly as I could, and from there it kind of took off,” he said. “It was just me and my friends, and we just wanted to learn how fast your fingers could move and how hard you could play.”

Cherry joined numerous bands in New Jersey, including hardcore outfits None Shall Be Spared and Torch The Throne.

Four years ago, Cherry moved to Myrtle Beach with wife Nicole Cherry and daughter Elizabeth in response to a tragedy. One of his wife’s sisters was killed in a car accident here.

“Nicole really needed to be around family, and it seemed like the right choice,” he said, adding that in retrospect it was a good choice. His in-laws moved here with his wife’s two younger sisters in 2010.

One of the first musicians Cherry met here was Tommy Tipton, known to many for his work at Legends In Concert and a number of other working bands. Tipton introduced him to other local musicians, including Brian McKenzie and Clifton Parker, founders of a band called October Chorus, in which Tipton was also involved. Cherry wound up playing bass for October Chorus for a time, including a battle of the bands at Hard Rock Café – Hard Rock Rising – where they won their division that year.

He also played in Sinister Blind with vocalist Eric Ness, who is currently with Power Born Rebellion.

It was at Hard Rock Café that Cherry met Chris Canada, who was recording video at the event.

“Four months later I bumped into him, and he mentioned that he had a recording space,” he said. “We got to talking and hit it off, and we made a bond over music.”

This bond became a partnership called Jam City – a recording studio and production facility in Myrtle Beach, which has now been in operation for two years.

“We try and help musicians and artists make the best music that they can possibly make,” he said. “A lot of studios are business-oriented. We are trying to be community-oriented.”

Jam City, according to Cherry, goes beyond the recording process into the promotion realm and putting on shows.

“We also involve different aspects and offer help that you might need for building your web site or image – anything we can do to help artists to grow and get better. Sometimes I will take somebody who has just ideas and never really tried anything before. A studio won’t really take the time to help you cultivate your own sound or cultivate you as an artist – or tell you what you need to hear. They will just go ahead and hit the record button. That’s not who we are and that’s not what we do.”

We noted the seemingly endless subcategories present in rock, hoping Cherry would help to sort that out.

“It goes a little crazy,” he said. “Part of musical maturity is that you start realizing that the best music comes organically, and you don’t sit there and put that label on yourself and say, ‘we’re going to be this death metal, progressive, hardcore rock-based, zoner/stoner metal.’ You are just going to say, ‘hey, I’m a guy and I’ve got these riffs. Come on, let’s play’ – like you did when you were a kid.”

Although Cherry considers bass guitar to be his main instrument, he can also be considered a utility man with many other instruments.

“I play guitar, drums, trumpet, trombone – a little bit of keys, saxophone – anything I could put my hands on. Give me 20 minutes and I can play it. That’s just the kind of musician I am. I may not be perfect at it, but if you need it on a record, dude – I will play it for you.”

Cherry comes from a finance background and studied accounting at DeVry University. He is currently an area manager at Ross Dress for Less at South Strand Commons in Myrtle Beach.

Family time includes trips to the Horry County Museum in Conway or the Franklin G. Burroughs-Simeon B. Chapin Art Museum in Myrtle Beach. And even if Wild Water & Wheels might be on the agenda, outings to the library are regular.

“I try to keep my daughter rooted in basic values,” he said.

And Cherry considers Myrtle Beach his new home.

“Just like I am trying to cultivate my artists, I am trying to cultivate some sort of movement,” he says. “I am always moving – and trying to make something happen.”

This story was originally published February 24, 2016 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Darryl Cherry: Music on the Move."