Shaun Roy’s (ShoPaRo’s) story starts in the basement of his childhood home with roaring amplifiers playing his favorite punk tunes, from the likes of The Casualties, Blink 182, Green Day etc. Soon he graduated to playing Metal music which led to many years of active performing, countless hours of guitar playing, recording etc. As time went on, his tastes morphed into that of Classical & Jazz Guitar. A taste that had actually formed from his love for Progressive music, especially Between The Buried & Me’s albums Colors & The Great Misdirect.
“I knew from the moment I finished listening to The Great Misdirect I was maturing in my life as a musician. I had a feeling this transitional phase was going to be the jump start of my true audible journey and that it would be quite the ride!”
Greater than the effect of the many musical genres that influenced him throughout life, would be his nomadic childhood. Constantly being on the move birthed a very active imagination, always taking in what can be seen from the passenger’s window.
“I just remember being a kid staring out the window and always wondering and analyzing all kinds of things about the world around me. Riding along with my headphones a recurring curiosity was the life of a touring musician. It was then that I knew what I wanted to do with the rest of my life . . . I wanted to Make Music.”
Between studying music in college states away from home (with his Bachelors in Music Theory & Composition), traveling to perform, and being committed to a long-distance relationship; ShoPaRo is never a fan of sitting still for too long. Constantly working and roaming to keep that sense of curiosity and creativity fueled.
“A friend, from what I would now consider a past life, told me that one of my defining creative aspects is that I am a Nomad and that really struck a literal chord in my sense of harmony with music”.
Fast forward to the present time, one can hear the nostalgic influences of the Boom Bap era of Hip Hop, modern Neo-Soul guitar playing, and even those roots of Pop-Punk & Metal as mentioned previously. Though his goal is to explore the many depths of chill, it is not in a conventional or modern approach. Shoparo uses a method that will appeal to that of true music lovers, those that can understand the meditative effect of distorted guitars as much as the head bobbin’ of Boom Bap style drums. Then pair that with the ambience of nature and everyday sounds that surround you. Altogether this creates an audible evolution of sound and melody that is constantly changing and adapting into a unique vision of music to simply be called . . . ShoPaRo
