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How do you like being the leader of this new band?

Roper I sometimes feel like I'm this mean tyrannical dictator in this band because sometimes I'll have to get on someone's case because they're not sound-checking right. And the only reason I know how to sound-check the most efficiently is because I had nine years of practice, and this is how it's done: You go around in a circle and you take turns. I'll be like, "Hey, you're out of turn!" Some of the guys, especially one of our guitar players, are pretty green at this, so it's pretty rough for us.

Do you feel like the dad of the band?

Roper Sometimes, yeah.

What have you been reading lately?

Roper: I'm not doing very good on the reading. I'm about halfway through The Sacred Romance by John Eldredge, and I'm reading a book called Winter in the Blood by James Welch.

What's your favorite book?

Roper The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway. All of Hemingway's books follow this horrific tragedy pattern, but I think that one is such a great metaphor for life. This old man, Santiago, is bested by all the other fisherman in his village. So one day he catches this marlin that pulls his raft for thousands of miles. It takes all he has left to bring back this marlin. He fights off sharks to get back, but he dies bringing this fish into the village. Still, everyone can see how big it was, even though it's just bones left, and they realize what a great man he was. I think real life is more like that than any other book I've read.

You've often alluded to literature in your songs. Are you a big literature buff?

Roper Both my parents thought it was good for me to read classics growing up, and my mom was an English teacher. When other kids were reading Go Dog Go I had to read A Tale of Two Cities. I read Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn. I'd try to read classics that were more exciting for young people, like Robinson Crusoe, Gulliver's Travels. I'm glad for it now.

What's the future for Roper?

Roper I want it to go pretty much from where Five Iron left off and go far in the general market, but I wouldn't want to do that if it wasn't what God wanted, so I want to let him steer.

You can learn more about the band at Roper's official site, and wax nostalgic over Five Iron Frenzy at our artist page for the ska-rock band. Click here to read our review of Roper's debut album. Visit Christianbook.com to listen to sound clips and buy the CD

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