During his time at UNT he met Darrin Anthony Stull and joined his unsigned Dallas band Mindstorm.

During the next three years Mindstorm played the Dallas club scene and eventually caught the attention of Danish singer King Diamond (Kim Bendix Peterson), who had recently moved to the DFW area and was looking for new members for his solo act.

In early 1994 three members of Mindstorm (Estes, Darrin (Anthony) Stull, and Herb Simonsen) were officially asked to join King Diamond.

Returning to college in 1997 and attending classes between studio sessions and tour, Estes eventually earned a degree in Computer Science.

In the summer of 1999, Estes received word that the studio session for House of God had been postponed.