Robin Rapsys

Location: Minneapolis, MN

Challenge: Cerebral Palsy

Website: robinrapsys.com

Robin's first drum set, which led to his lifelong love for the drums, was originally chosen by accident. When Robin was about 9 or 10 years old, his mother gave him and his brother a Christmas catalog to look at. Every year they would go through the entire catalog and circle all the toys they wanted. When the musical instruments page came up, Robin's brother, Ryan, said something to the likes of, "Hey! You should get a guitar and I'll get the drums and we can rock out!" Robin immediately thought in his head that playing the guitar would be too difficult. This was because Robin was born with Cerebral Palsy affecting his left side. So he thought playing the guitar would require too much intricate movement of his fingers in his left hand. Robin immediately suggested, "How about I get the drums and you get the guitar?" His brother agreed. They both got the instruments for Christmas that year. Ironically, the drums were hardly touched by Robin until years later.

Robin joined the school concert band when he was 12 years old with the hope to learn how to play the dust-collecting drum set in his room. He was allowed into the percussion section despite his inability to read any type of music (a usual requirement for the percussion section is a couple years of piano lessons).

The band director made an exception for Robin because his parents argued that it would help with his Cerebral Palsy. Robin was only in band for one school year, but in that time he learned how to read music. This foundation proved to be invaluable later.

As a young teenager, Robin took a liking to groups like Metallica and Megadeth which quickly evolved into heavier groups like Soilwork, Death, Sepultura and In Flames. From there, Robin began to get serious about being a rock and metal drummer. He began jamming with friends and formulated different bands throughout high school while rejoining the high school concert band and jazz band as a junior. This is when Robin decided to study music in college, so he started to take his first drum set lessons in preparation. In 2001, Robin attended the University of Minnesota Duluth with a major in jazz studies and also played regularly in a few jazz groups in Duluth outside of his ensembles in school. Studying music in college really broadened his interests in genres such as jazz, electronica, and orchestral music. He obtained his bachelor's degree in 2005.

After college, Robin relocated to Minneapolis, MN to further pursue his career in music. Robin had a long stint as a founding member of the hard rock band Tepetricy. Tepetricy released 3 albums in 10 years and accumulating 300 or more shows. Robin further shaped his style by filling in for random bands and sessions at this time while teaching lessons at Virtuosos Music Academy. In 2013, Tepetricy went on hiatus so the members to pursue other musical interests. At this time, Robin organized his home studio for remote sessions, a relatively new concept since the birth of the internet. New opportunities came along for Robin in 2014 when he recorded drums for the EP, "When Everything Is Still", for the indie rock act, Pine Marten and filling in on drums for country-rock act, Jillian Rae, for her midwest tour in August. In 2016, Robin recorded drums and percussion for the films "Little Pink House" and "Hard Surfaces". In his home studio, he also wrote and recorded his first album for his solo project, Copper Core.

Copper Core - "Distant Travels"