Brave Saint Saturn’s vocalist, Reese Roper (from former band Five Iron Frenzy), answers some questions about the past, present and future of BSS and everything in between – side projects, anti-meridian, mercenary, Showbread, his personal life, faith and much more.

1. We’ve not heard much from you since the end of Five Iron Frenzy (2003), and that was also the last time we had news from Brave Saint Saturn, so… where have you been and what have you been up to this past 4 years?

- It’s kind of boring. I worked as a Cytogenetic Technician in a clinical genetics lab, at the University of Colorado for a few years, and then as a type of electrician for a dental x-ray company while I waited to get into nursing school. Right now I am about halfway through the nursing program. I also got married in December of 2004, and have been working on this Brave Saint Saturn album and a DVD for Five Iron Frenzy that we hope to put out by Christmas as a joint release of Asian Man Records and the Department of Biophysics.

2. Brave Saint Saturn started as a side project while Five Iron Frenzy was still going on, back then did you think BSS would get this far? Or was it just an outlet to expose your music?

- I never meant to record it, actually. Five Iron just had too many good songwriters in it to compete with, so I was writing the songs for Brave Saint on the side, just to be able to write something. Because Five Iron was mostly goofy, these songs tended to be kind of dark and introspective to balance that. It was really a mistake to record the first album as fast as we did, but Five20Minute Walk talked me into doing it, and needed us to crank it out in a few months, so we did. After we realized what an effect it had on people to hear songs made with such honesty, we decided to flesh it out into a trilogy, and the rest is low-grade, mediocre, rock history.

3. Along the last few years you formed two other bands (Guerilla Rodeo, and Roper) – what happened to those bands?

- Guerilla Rodeo was by far the best planned out band I have ever heard of. I think because Sonnie and I saw the end of Five Iron looming on the horizon in 2002, we decided to try and put together some sort of super-group that we thought would be able to make it to a major label. In doing so, we planned out where we should all move- to tour best out of; we tried building it from our own label, and even the sound of the band, etc. The problem to me, was that we were trying to undo all of the mistakes we had made in Five Iron: to spend more on advertising, to make videos, to have a manager- things that still haunt me to this day. But it was too well ordered- almost overplanned. When some of the guys began to deviate from what we had discussed, I freaked out and quit. At the same time, Five Minute Walk offered to try and put a new band together with me for the purpose of pursuing a major label record deal. So in the span of about two weeks, I made two of the dumbest mistakes I have ever made. Not that I hold anything against Five Minute Walk, itÂ’s just that I thought that if I gave them free reign over the decision making (up to and including the name of the band), they would work harder and make it happen. It didnÂ’t work, and because there was no written contract, there was no way to tell what was promised on either side.The first 6 months of that band were spent making a great album and gaining progress on it, and the last year and a half were spent trying to figure out how to get out of it. In the end, what I learned was to relax a little bit, and to always get a contract when working in the music business. It is kind of disheartening to look back at these two projects, because one had the greatest potential of any thing I have ever been a part of musically, and the other was one of the best albums I feel that I have ever made.

4. You made appearances on two Showbread albums, how did this opportunity come up? What was it like to work with them?

- They actually emailed me when I was recording the Roper album in the Summer of 2004. They loved The Light of Things Hoped For, and they had wanted me to do something similar to the ending of “Daylight” on “Matthias Replaces Judas”. So I drove up to where they were recording one afternoon and laid down some tracks. I had never met them previous to that, but we have become great friends since then. I toured with them during Roper, and lately recorded the track on Anorexia/Nervosa. They are re ally cool guys, who truly love the Lord, and make amazing music. They stay at our house every time they come through Denver and eat all of our food.

5. Now that Brave Saint Saturn is back, what can we expect from you guys? Are we going to see you on tour? Are there any plans to continue with the band?

- Well, we’ll see how this album does. Brave Saint has never sold a lot of albums, even though it always seems to garner a lot of acclaim. I think that if it gets a moderate amount of sales, we all are discussing putting out another trilogy of albums (maybe centered around a different story). We are also talking about playing about 10 festivals next summer too, if we can figure out how to practice with Dennis living in New Jersey. Keep your fingers crossed. I would like to see where we can go with Department of Biophysics as a label too, maybe helping other bands not to make the same dumb mistakes that we made as younger musicians.

6. Anti-meridian is a pretty impressive album, with a mixed range of genres spread out through 17 tracks – can you tell us a little about the writing and creative process?

- Oh, man. So much of this album took so long. I have never been a great songwriter, and I have always regretted how much you have to sacrifice musically to get an album to make a deadline. I started writing the songs for this album in February of 2004, and some of those songs literally took all of those 4 and a half years to finish. I20think that I just became obsessive with controlling every last aspect of what went into each song, because I didn’t want to have the same regrets that I have had with other albums in the past. The problem with this, is that you can never make a perfect song. At least I can’t. (Freddy Mercury- maybe). Last Spring, my wife told me I needed to get a second job to help pay for school, and I was able to talk her into letting me finish the album instead. So I forced myself to make a deadline. and then we just pushed through and did it. I was a little scared that Dennis wasn’t going to be able to finish his tracks, just because he is so busy with his job and family, but he really buckled down and got 5 songs done for the album. We even ended up cutting songs, one from Dennis, four of mine, and one of Andy’s. Overall, it was one of the hardest things I have ever done, because I was too much of a control freak, and wouldn’t let other people help until the end. If you listen to the song “Fortress of Solitude”, it somewhat chronicles this- my obsession with perfection. I used a lot of Superman imagery to paint a picture of how it was making me feel crazy, made a clean and pretty song, and then just destroy it at the end.

7. “Mercenary” is a classic Reese Roper song – it’s creative and clever – can you share with us about the meaning of the song?

- Yeah, I’ll share part of it with you. I hate it when musicians tell you exactly how to interpret a song, because good art should be about how the audience sees it, not just how the artist intended it (not that I am saying I’m good!). Mercenary is really about the things I hate about myself. We all have a price, where we will compromise our values, and Mercenary is about me giving into that. Specifically it is about choices I have made as a musician, and how I think the Christian Recording Industry is ruled by others who have made entire lifestyles out of those bad decisions.

8. Anti-meridian follows some sort of a war theme mixed with your personal faith, what was the idea behind the album?

- I tend to, as a rule, write the most honest things I can at the time I am feeling them. I think that I am really upset with the American Church’s response to our country being at war, and even our saber-rattling to join that war, so a lot of that crept into the album. I can’t see how anyone, interpreting scripture through the character and example of Jesus Christ, can think that a Christian perspective on war can be anything but to see it as the very last measure available. We should support our troops with all the love and mercy of Christ, but at the end of the day, we should be the voice for peace and mercy, because people are judging us by that. And one day we will be judged by what we, in turn, did with the love of Christ.

Also, we wanted to make the three Brave Saint Saturn album s a metaphorical picture of one’s spiritual life. To me, this album is about the end of life, or even death. The songs that touch on issues of war, or issues of life and death were pushed toward the middle of the album to create that picture, and then hopefully resolved again in songs like “These Frail Hands”, and “Invictus”.

9. BSS line up is still the same, was there anyone else involved in Anti-meridian?

Yes. Sam Hernandez, ex-Dime Store Prophets, played some bass, as well as Jonathan Byrnside from Roper. And Justin McRoberts did some background vocals. Oh, and Masaki Liu, in addition to mixing and mastering it, did a lot of the strings, programming, and guitar playing.

10. You’ve an extensive resume… is there anything you still wish to accomplish as a musician?

- Really? I would say I have a lot of near hits, but many more misses, in this business. I guess if I had to say it, there are two things I would like to do. The first would be to just get one song into the rotation in general market radio play. Not for the fame, or the money, but to somehow be able to look back and know that I at least wrote one song that was good enough for that. I guess for the assurance as a songwriter that I was doing an okay job. The second, and this is going to sound extremely corny, is that I have always had a pipe-dream of writing a musical. But, my musical goals are far superseded by my spiritual goals, which are just to be remembered as someone who knew the Love of God, and always shared it with others.

I think that a lot of people get confused when I tell them I am going to nursing school right now, because they don’t know what to do with the Reese Roper they’ve seen as a musician or songwriter for so long. Part of the reason I am doing it is so I can have a good paying job that gives me four days a week to work on music, and I don’t have to depend on touring as a source of income. But a larger part of me has realized that this is where God wants me to be, and that this is something I was made for. When People ask me what the best part of Five Iron was, I always remember this one day when we were on tour in South Africa. We went with some missionaries that were hosting us to a township called Phutadejaba, near Lesotho to do a concert before someone was to show the “Jesus” film. We spent all day playing with kids as they led us through the streets of this town, then played an average show, and later, just hung out with the people who came. The “Jesus” film never showed up, but it hardly mattered- to us or them, because Jesus Christ was still preached, through our words, but mostly our actions.

When I look back, that was my favorite day of my entire musical career. Not because we totally rocked that show, or because we were somewhere where few bands will ever go, but because all of the superficial trappings that go along with being in a band were stripped away. It was just us, and some kids- who could care less that we were in Five Iron Frenzy, and just needed someone to play with them. That is what I feel like when I am a nurse. That it is just me, with all the crap stripped away, and if I am to help people, I have to depend on God to work through me, and in me. Amazingly, He does, and somehow, I am always changed in the process. You can’t go into a nursing home knowing that you have to change the diapers on 30 or so elderly patients- who may or may not know who you are, or why you are there, who may or may not make it through the week, who may love you or hate you for doling out insulin injections and omaprazole- and not be afraid. Every day I have to ask God for the strength to do it, and to somehow be filled with His love, and that maybe that same love might come across to my patients. He has yet to fail me. It is far better than any sermon I have ever heard, and even though it doesn’t quite gel with my other life, it is a huge part of me. I still hope to continue making music, but I would like to balance it with this.

Thanks Reese!

Posted on October 10th, 2008