Reese Roper
Reese Roper |
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Michael Reese Roper is the former lead singer and chief song writer of the third-wave ska band Five Iron Frenzy. After Five Iron Frenzy disbanded in 2003, Reese released a single album using the moniker Roper. He is also part of the band Brave Saint Saturn, who released their third album, Anti-Meridian, on 15 September 2008.
Personal information
Reese Roper is known for his quirky and satirical sense of humor, but his work is also marked with a deep interest in history, politics, and self-awareness. He has been the primary lyricist and vocalist, as well as a key musical contributor, in several bands. He is a graduate of East High School. He attended the University of Colorado at Denver throughout his time in FIF and graduated with a degree in Biology. He is a licensed pastor from the Alliance for Renewal Churches, Mansfield, Ohio. and is also a co-founder of the Scum of the Earth Church in Denver, Colorado. After the breakup of Five Iron in 2003 he considered becoming a high school biology teacher, but instead got a job in a genetics lab counting chromosomes, which Reese described as "horrendously boring."[2] As of 16 October 2008 he is studying to become a nurse.[2]
Musical career
Before his ska and rock projects, Reese Roper was in the short-lived, Colorado-based, industrial metal group Exhumator. Members of that band joined with a larger cast of musicians to form the ska ensemble Five Iron Frenzy, who in 1996 signed with 5 Minute Walk recording studio. During this time Roper became known for his "vocal finesse"[3] and, following the departure of Scott Kerr, the ability to write lyrics with both a "tradition of ridiculousness"[4] and a reverence for serious issues.[4] The band was together until 22 November 2003, which is when they played their final show at the Fillmore Auditorium in Denver, Colorado. Roper was both the lead vocalist and primary lyricist.
The concept of Brave Saint Saturn began in 1995, but it was only during the final years of Five Iron Frenzy that Reese formalized the band with FIF bandmates Dennis Culp and Keith Hoerig. BS2 is primarily a studio project and has been described by Roper as an outlet for songs that didn't fit Five Iron Frenzy's musical style. The band and some fans put forth a new term, "astro-rock", to describe the music of Brave Saint Saturn, which is fundamentally rooted in synthesizer-bathed post-punk and haunting ballads. The band also describes themselves as being the "supersonic-philharmonic", in reference to their blending of rock music, classical instruments, synthesizers, and beat loops. The third album of the "BS2 trilogy," Anti-Meridian, was released on 15 September 2008. During an interview on 15 October, Roper indicated that this may not be the last album from BS2.[2]
After Five Iron Frenzy broke up, he was initially slated to lend his vocals and synthesizer skills to a band named Guerilla Rodeo, which had been engineered by Roper, along with another FIF alum, Sonnie Johnston; Ethan Luck from the OC Supertones; and John Warne and Josh Abbott, both from the band Ace Troubleshooter. However, after recording three songs and releasing a self-titled EP with the band, he decided not to join for organizational reasons. Roper instead formed another band of his own. He searched for a "good name" for his band, but eventually settled on "Roper" in an attempt to gain favor with the band's record label, who encouraged the moniker in an attempt to lessen advertising costs. The band Roper released their first album, Brace Yourself for the Mediocre, in late 2004, with a team of studio musicians working with Roper to create a high energy blend of post-pop-punk closer in sound to Five Iron Frenzy than brave Saint Saturn.
Reese Roper has also published various poetry volumes in small circulation and participated in a poetry tour initiated by Skeleton Key Publishing. Copies of his volume More Than Paper Thin sold during the tour included a home-burned CD of spoken poetry and cover songs, entitled Where Dreams May Spark and Flicker.
Additionally, Roper has lent his vocals to two tracks of Showbread's 2004 release No Sir, Nihilism Is Not Practical, and one of their most recent albums "Nervosa" on the song The "Beginning", and he has also worked with the band Trash Oven, mastering their EP.
I write most of the lyrics and can't be afraid to talk about what I believe, but I'm not going up there with my Bible and beating people over the head either.
— Reese Roper on writing for Five Iron Frenzy in Billboard Magazine[5]
Roper is known not only for a bold, Biblically-rooted, faith communicated in his lyrics, but for a generally social-justice approach to Christianity that remains true to key facets of reformed, conservative Christianity - in essence, conservative theology with non-partisan politics. He has never publicly affirmed a political viewpoint, but has said in a HM Magazine[6] editorial that Christians need to abandon blind nationalism and pursue Christ instead. Additionally, the historical abuses of the United States of America (particularly against native Americans[7]) and the Christian Church appear frequently in Roper's lyrical work, as well as self-searching for topics of personal depravity. He has also composed many songs that present scathing critiques of unbridled capitalism.[3][7] The BS2 album Anti-Meridian uses a sound clip of Pat Robertson from The 700 Club, in which Robertson says that the United States should assassinate Hugo Chavez, to show a counterpoint to what he believes most Christians actually believe, but isn't seen in the media, about war and violence.[2]
Discography
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References
- ^ "Five Iron Frenzy - Putter Mayhem!". Freak Music. 2 November 2001. Retrieved 2007-02-16.
- ^ a b c d "Reese Roper Interview". The Further Adventures Of... on KMNU Radio. 16 October 2008. Retrieved 2008-10-16.
- ^ a b McCreary, David (2001). "Reviews / Five Iron Frenzy 2: Electric Boogaloo". CCM Magazine. 24 (6): 62–63. ISSN 1524-7848.
{{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter|month=ignored (help) - ^ a b "Getting Beyond the Hype". CCM New Music Guide. 22: 6–8. 2000. ISSN 1524-7848.
{{cite journal}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|name=(help); Unknown parameter|month=ignored (help) - ^ Bessman, Jim (18 October 1997). "5 Minute's Five Iron Frenzy Takes a Mainstream Swing". Billboard Magazine. 109 (42): 14–15.
- ^ Roper, Reese (2001). "Megaphone to The World". HM Magazine (89): 89. ISSN 1066-6923.
{{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter|month=ignored (help) - ^ a b Metteer, Chris (2002-03-08). "Third Day needs to turn it up.(Reviews)". The Register-Guard. pp. T15.