MUSIC MAN

MOORPARK — Jeremy Shoop, a wide receiver on the Moorpark High football team, is with his comrades in front of a hushed crowd.

His heart speeds up and his palms sweat. He’s ready for action.

It’s time to play . . . the drums.

Shoop pounds the percussion for Slpy, an alternative rock band that lacks vowels but not noise.

Belting out the sounds of ‘90s rock, Slpy, pronounced “slippy,” can be seen at clubs, coffeehouses and various birthday parties in the region.

When Shoop, a junior, takes the stage, he doesn’t hold back.

“I get filled with energy,” he said. “It gives me a chance to show people my abilities. I go and give out so much [energy] that I get tired.”

Shoop, who also sings backup, isn’t the only Musketeer in Slpy, which writes its own songs, including “Handful of Hope, “Charm for Seek,” and “Twenty-two.” Reserve tailback Art Lopez is a guitarist.

About the only thing the band doesn’t like to do is reveal the meaning of its name.

Slpy is not in the dictionary, where one of the band members allegedly found it, and Internet searches for the word prove to be as pointless as a broken drum stick.

With hints that Slpy might be a human mouth enzyme, it took a science teacher to straighten things out . . . sort of.

“I’ve never heard of it,” said Ron Wilford, who is a teacher and Shoop’s football coach at Moorpark. “It’s got to be a [nonscience] term.”

Wilford is equally unfamiliar with the type of music Slpy plays.

“I’m not sure what it is, but they probably scream like hell into the microphone,” he said. After realizing music can mean money, he added, “I hope I get a percentage of their next gate.”

Shoop hails from a musical family.

His father, Doug, played drums for A La Carte, a country western band, and his cousin, Carlo Marino, plays drums for country sensation Tracy Lawrence.

Shoop’s mom, Angela, might be the only person in the family who isn’t a musician.

“The only place I sing is in church,” she said. “Jeremy will be standing next to me and he’ll say, ‘Mom you have to sing in key.’ ”

Shoop began his musical career at age 3 when he won a contest singing “Puff the Magic Dragon.”

But he isn’t just a musician.

He has been the leading man in two school plays--”Li’l Abner” and “Guys and Dolls.”

Shoop began taking theater lessons at 10. He also studied ballet.

He wasn’t ecstatic, wondering what his friends would think.

“They used to always rag on me,” Shoop said. “Then, in high school, I was doing plays and they were like, ‘You’re pretty good.’ ”

His old anxieties popped up again last football season when he sang the national anthem before a game, football pads and all.

“I was nervous,” Shoop said. “But after I sang, I got down and all the football players were giving me fives.”

Others noticed his talents.

“He was involved in everything and didn’t care if anybody saw it,” said Kristen Gross, who is Shoop’s girlfriend and plays French horn in the school band. “He acts like himself all the time.”

As one of only six sophomores on varsity last season, Shoop caught six passes for 74 yards. That number should increase this season.

“That’s not an indication of him [last year],” Moorpark offensive coordinator Jeff Dewey said.

“That was more of an indication of our offense, when we put more emphasis on our running game.”

Shoop has hands--”he’s our most consistent receiver,” Dewey said--and wheels. During track he was a member of the 400-meter relay team that won the Frontier League title.

The Musketeers plan to use three-receiver sets this season, increasing the opportunities for Shoop to get the ball.

“I’d like to see him with 20 to 30 catches,” Dewey said. “If we don’t get it to him that much, we’re not utilizing him enough.”

Shoop wants more action.

“I’m ready for anything,” he said, “if I can entertain.”