From St. Augustine to the Statewide Scene, Pocket Knife Dance Party Grows Beyond Home

Photo by Leo Lobo | Concert Photographer, @lsquaredpics.

Photo by Audrey Cress

On Cafe Eleven’s small stage, where the neon lights hit a tired and exhilarated drummer, two singer/guitarists and one bass player, the band began to thank the full standing-room crowd for listening to and participating in their original set of songs. But before they were able to pull guitar straps over their heads or even let the ringing from the speakers leave their ears, the crowd began to ask for more.

Photo by Audrey Cress

“By the end of the night, it was the most packed it had been,” said Eric Hasselman, a guitarist and singer for the local band POCKET.KNIFE.DANCE.PARTY. “We played our set in its entirety, and then people still wanted more. It was an authentic encore that we felt, and people were screaming so loud at us to keep going.”

Pocket Knife Dance Party (PKDP) was ending the annual Indie Night Live show, following bands Field Trip and Rona. This year, they sold out the show the day before, filling the local venue with an ecstatic crowd.

Photo by Audrey Cress

For years, St. Augustine has been establishing itself as a hub for local artists and performers like Pocket Knife Dance Party. The members of PKDP, Eric Hasselman (guitar/vocals), Jordan Henley (guitar/vocals), Jackson Taylor (bass), and rotating drummers, including Jared Williams, have all grown up in St. Augustine, with some having known each other since first grade.

Photo by Audrey Cress

Within their first few years, the group began playing at local venues like Colonial Oak on St. George Street on the weekends while working day jobs that span the food industry and education system.

While they have only been performing together under this name for two years, Eric and Jordan started their first band six years ago, before Hasselman had left middle school. Since then, they have cultivated the “chewy sounding, noisy energy” that their indie garage rock band is known for.

Photo by Audrey Cress
While their covers, like a rendition of Childish Gambino’s Sober, were always crowd-pleasers, PKDP discovered their talent for songwriting and producing originals in the last two years. The group now has two albums, Pretty Killer and Drop Dead Gorgeous, along with seven singles available on Apple Music, Spotify, and SoundCloud, as well as music videos on YouTube.

“We're definitely looking forward to the new music we're working on,” Eric said. “This will be the first time we don't do everything ourselves.”

This time around, PKDP is going to be working with Teal Water Sounds, a Jacksonville-based recording studio specializing in producing, engineering, mixing, mastering, and session work.

While they haven’t found a way to do music full-time in St. Augustine, their sound is reaching as far as venues in Orlando, Tampa, Gainesville, and Tallahassee. According to Eric, they are close to scoring their first out-of-state gig.