Roper was a

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

pop-punk Pop punk (or punk pop) is a rock music genre that combines elements of punk rock with power pop or pop. It is defined for its emphasis on classic pop songcraft, as well as adolescent and anti-suburbia themes, and is distinguished from other pu ...

band formed in

Denver, Colorado Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

. The band consisted of

Reese 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. Pers ...

(lead singer of

Five Iron Frenzy Five Iron Frenzy is an American band formed in Denver, Colorado, in 1995. Best known for playing ska punk music characterized by an offbeat sense of humor and prominent Christian themes, Five Iron was one of the pioneering figures of the Christi ...

) on lead vocals, Jonathan Byrnside on lead guitar, Jonathan Till on bass, Matt Emmett on rhythm guitar, and Nick White on drums.

Background

Guerilla Rodeo was a short-lived project founded by

, meant to follow his prior band Five Iron Frenzy. In addition to vocalist Reese Roper, the band was formed by fellow Five Iron member Sonnie Johnston (guitar),

Ethan Luck Ethan John Luck is an American musician, producer, multi-instrumentalist and photographer who has played in several bands, most prominently, the ska band The O.C. Supertones, Demon Hunter, Kings of Leon, Morgan Wade, and pop punk band Relient K ...

(guitar),

John Warne John Warne is an American musician who has been active since 1996. He is best known for being the bassist for the Christian rock band Relient K as well as being a founding member of the Christian punk band Ace Troubleshooter. His hometown is Min ...

(bass, background vocals), and Josh Abbott (drums). The project yielded only a three-track EP, ''Ride, Rope and Destroy'', released in 2004. It has been confirmed by both Ethan Luck and Reese Roper that there never was a fourth, unreleased song recorded for the EP. Reese Roper often compared the sound of the band to

Letters to Cleo Letters to Cleo is an American alternative rock band originating from Boston, Massachusetts, best known for the 1994 single, "Here & Now", from their full-length debut album, '' Aurora Gory Alice''. The band's members are Kay Hanley, Greg McKe ...

. Their name was a play on the Rage Against the Machine single "

Guerrilla Radio "Guerrilla Radio" is a song by American rock band Rage Against the Machine and the lead single from their 1999 album ''The Battle of Los Angeles''. It became the band's only Billboard Hot 100 song, charting at #69. The band won the Grammy Award f ...

". When the Guerilla Rodeo project came to an end, Reese reformed the band under his own name, Roper. Roper's full-length album, ''

Brace Yourself for the Mediocre ''Brace Yourself for the Mediocre'' is the first and only album of the band Roper, released October 19, 2004. It was put together by lead singer Reese Roper before he had put the rest of the band together. The album has a pop punk sound, although ...

'', was produced before the band was officially together and released on

Five Minute Walk Records 5 Minute Walk was an independent record label founded by Frank Tate in April 1995. Operations were based in Concord, California in the back offices of The Screem, a music club operated by Tate. They only carried Christian bands and considered th ...

. All songs on the album with the exception of "Day of Pigs" and "You're Still The One" were written by Reese Roper,

Masaki Liu Masaki may refer to: Name * Masaki (given name), a unisex Japanese given name * Masaki (surname), a Japanese surname Places * Masaki, Ehime, a town located in Iyo District, Japan * Masaki Art Museum, a museum in Tadaoka, Osaka Prefecture, Japan th ...

, and

. Because of the incomplete state of the band at the time of the album's release, the only official member appearing on the CD is Reese Roper. As a result, the album features many additional musicians such as

Frank Lenz Frank Lenz (born 18 June 1967 in San Leandro, California) is a drummer from Southern California who has done work for many bands and artists, including Richard Swift, The Weepies, Everest, Pedro The Lion, Starflyer 59, Lassie Foundation, Duralu ...

(drums), Elijah Thomson (bass), Phil Bennett (organ), Bob Schiveley (guitar), Masaki Liu (guitar), Jason White (additional drums), Ethan Luck (guitar), and many additional vocalists. Some of the songs on the album were originally written for Guerilla Rodeo. One of the online forums spawned by this group is the Roper Board in which many fans of both Roper and Reese's previous band Five Iron Frenzy congregate. Roper issued a statement regarding the status of the band in 2006: In 2009 Reese Roper told '' HM'' that the probability of making another album was "somewhere around 3%." The Roper project sold close to 30,000 albums in total, about the same as Brave Saint Saturn and other Five Iron related side projects. He also stated that, in retrospect, the project was "doomed from the beginning," but that musically it was the highlight of his career.

Members

– vocals and synthesizer *Jonathan Byrnside – guitar *Matt "Emo" Emmett – guitar *Johnathan Till – bass guitar *Nick White – drums *Stephen Till – guitar

Discography

References

External links

Roper
on Myspace

from 2004 {{DEFAULTSORT:Roper Christian punk groups American Christian rock groups Musical groups from Denver Musical groups established in 2004 American pop punk groups Punk rock groups from Colorado 2004 establishments in Colorado