| Reese Roper | |
| Background: | group_or_band |
| Alias: | M. Reese Roper |
| Birth Name: | Michael Reese Roper |
| Birth Place: | Steamboat Springs, Colorado, US |
| Genre: | Christian ska, ska punk, alternative rock |
| Birth Date: | 30 June 1973 |
| Label: | Five Minute Walk, Asian Man, Tooth & Nail, Department of Biophysics |
| Associated Acts: | Five Iron Frenzy, Brave Saint Saturn, Guerilla Rodeo, Roper |
Michael Reese Roper (born June 30, 1973) is an American singer-songwriter, best known as lead singer for the Denver, Colorado-based Christian ska punk band Five Iron Frenzy, as well as fronting the rock bands Brave Saint Saturn and Roper.
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.[1] He attended the University of Colorado at Denver throughout his time in FIF and graduated with a degree in Biology/ Pre-Medicine. 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.[2]
In 2021, he was a Registered Nurse, living in Staunton, VA.[3] As of 2011, he was a married father.[4]
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" and, the ability to write lyrics with both a "tradition of ridiculousness" and a reverence for serious issues.[5] The band was together until November 22, 2003, which is when they played their final show at the sold out Fillmore Auditorium in Denver, Colorado. Roper was both the lead vocalist and primary lyricist.
The concept of Brave Saint Saturn (or BS2) 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 September 15, 2008. During an interview on October 15, Roper indicated that this may not be the last album from BS2.[6]
After Five Iron Frenzy broke up, he was initially slated to lend his vocals and synthesizer skills to 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, at the behest of his former label, formed another band of his own. He eventually settled on naming the band "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. After putting together a band consisting of Nick White (Divot) on drums, Jonathan Byrnside- lead guitar, Stephen Till(Nathan and Stephen, Black Black Ocean, Hearts of Palm)- Rhythm guitar, and his brother Johnathan Till- on bass; the band toured for two years before going into an indefinite hiatus.
Reese Roper has also published various poetry volumes in small circulation and participated in two poetry tours- one initiated by Skeleton Key Publishing, and an earlier one initiated by Mike Lewis of the band Puller. 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 been featured in three tracks by Showbread; their 2004 release No Sir, Nihilism Is Not Practical on the songs "Matthias Replaces Judas" and "Stabbing Art to Death", and their 2008 release Nervosa on the song "The Beginning". He has also worked with the band Trash Oven, mastering their EP.
Roper is known not only for his faith-based lyrics, but for a social justice approach to Christianity based on his Biblical perspective on Jesus Christ and his apostles. Although his personal blog promotes such notable Evangelical left figures as Jimmy Carter and Tony Campolo as "people I love and support", Roper has never publicly affirmed a political viewpoint, but has said in a HM Magazine editorial that Christians need to abandon blind nationalism and pursue Christ instead.[7] [8] In a 2014 blog post explaining the lyrics behind the Five Iron Frenzy song "Zen and the Art of Xenophobia" from their 2013 album Engine of a Million Plots, Roper elaborated on the subject:
Additionally, the historical abuses of the United States of America (particularly against Native Americans) 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.[9] [10] 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.[6]
Regarding Roper's stance on LGBTQ+ rights: when Trey Pearson, another Christian musician, came out as gay, his band, Everyday Sunday, was kicked from the lineup of the Christian Music Festival Joshua Fest in 2016, due to nearly three-quarters of the stage crew threatening to drop out should his band be allowed to perform; Pearson did, however, decide to attend the festival as a solo audience member in spite of this. Roper was not happy about the decision made by the organizers of Joshua Fest, nor were the rest of Five Iron Frenzy, and they talked about potentially dropping out in protest. Instead, when they heard that Pearson would be attending as an audience member, they reached out, and asked if he'd like to join them to sing their final number, "Every New Day."[11] Pearson eagerly accepted, and despite some uncomfortable stares from a handful of people backstage, he performed the track with Five Iron Frenzy. Regarding the decision by the Joshua Fest stage crew to drop Everyday Sunday, Roper said:
FilmsThe Rise and Fall of Five Iron Frenzy (2010)
Short Films
Videos