Koopa

Koopa originated in Essex, England, during 2000 under the initial moniker Elastic Flange. While attending a Brighton "rock school" in autumn 2002, vocalist and guitarist Ollie Cooper circulated several demos that drew modest interest from an assortment of record labels. Months afterward those same labels reached out to request further recordings, which the group supplied. Although the results pleased the companies involved, Koopa turned down additional studio sessions in favor of developing their material on their own. Once external work and academic obligations eased enough to permit more extensive touring, the lineup—completed by vocalist and bassist Joe Murphy together with Ollie’s brother, drummer Stuart Cooper—adopted the name Koopa in 2004 and began playing live dates across a wide circuit. During this period the band issued the singles “No Trend” and the World Cup-centric “Stand Up 4 England,” followed by the late-2006 EP Three in a Bed with Bobby George. In January 2007 their download-only single “Blag, Steal & Borrow” reached number 31 on the U.K. chart, marking the first time an unsigned act had achieved a Top 40 placement without a conventional physical release. That spring the group put out its debut album, Blag, Steal & Borrow, simultaneously as a digital deluxe edition available only by download and as a limited-edition CD. In June the single “The One Off Song for the Summer” entered the U.K. singles chart and climbed higher than the band’s previous hit, yet Koopa remained without a record deal.