In an industry where “Alternative” means mainstream and “Indie” means pop, Rob Roper’s songs are independent of Indie and alternative to Alternative.
Jon Solomon of The Westword calls him “…a guy with some sharp songwriting skills and a knack for penning witty lyrics.”
The Belgium website Rootstime.be described his full-length CD “Misfit” as “…drenched with emotion, with truly beautiful songs…A modest masterpiece.”
His friend and former bandmate, Kurt Loken, calls him “…the troubadour of the misfit.”
Born in Jackson, Mississippi, Roper spent his teenage years in Dallas, Texas. After college he left for Arizona and lived there for many years, playing music with various people and bands. He moved to Denver in 2000, where he is now based. A guitar player since the age of 12, he took up songwriting and singing in 2004.
In 2007 Roper released a DIY demo EP, Some Songs I Wrote. 2009 saw the release of the acoustic EP, Me. In 2011 Roper released his first full-length album, Misfit, produced by John McVey. In 2012 he released an 8-song acoustic EP, The Other Side of Nowhere, featuring Paul Ermisch on violin. In 2016, Roper released a 3-song EP for download, Word, which features spoken word or rap over a hybrid of rock and hip hop music. Also in 2016, Roper released the hard rock/psychedelic rock EP Roses under the band name Total Flower Chaos.
Rob Roper has played over 150 gigs since 2005 (see list of past shows here), mostly in Colorado, but also in Oregon, Texas, Iowa, Massachusetts and The Netherlands. In 2008 he played his songs with violinist Julie Oxenford-O’Brian, and then from 2018-2019 with violinist Paul Ermisch. Beginning in 2013, Roper adopted the name Scupanon for his acoustic group, at the suggestion of percussionist and bandmate Sam Caston. From 2013-2014, Roper was the guitarist and one of the songwriters for the Denver rock band, Dorian. In 2017, Roper formed the rock band, Electric Poetry. Electric Poetry played in the Denver area from 2017 to 2019.
From 2015-2017 Roper studied music theory, piano and composition at Metro St. University in Denver.
In late 2019, Electric Poetry broke up, and Roper began forming a new rock band called Total Flower Chaos, but Coronavirus has made the auditioning process difficult. And he would be continuing to play live acoustic solo shows and with his acoustic band, Scupanon, but Coronavirus has interrupted that, too. So Rob has played some live internet shows, and is planning his next studio album.