Rob Balder first gained notoriety as the creator of the comic strip PartiallyClips (then later as author of the webcomic Erfworld). But he is also a fabulously funny and talented filk singer. Although he had written and sung parody tunes from the age of seven, and been a lifelong fan of funny music, he had never given serious consideration to recording and performing his own material.

In 2004, as a webcomics guest at PenguiCon, he met future FuMPers Tom Smith, ShoEboX (Worm Quartet), and the great Luke Ski and had his eyes opened to the world of Dementia musicians. With help and guidance from his new friends in the field, he recorded his first CD "Rich Fantasy Lives," in 2005. In 2006, the CD's title track (with tune and arrangement by Tom Smith) was nominated for a Pegasus Award for Best Filk Song.

In 2005, Rob had his first experiment with releasing a song under Creative Commons licensing. His ode to Nethack, a computer game which has been in constant open-source development since the 1980s, was linked from the official Nethack website, and was downloaded many thousands of times. The song features background music sequenced by ShoEboX.

In 2006, after participating in a panel at Confluence with Devo Spice (Sudden Death) and CC-licensed music pioneer Jonathan Coulton, Rob started to form the idea which would become The Funny Music Project. The basic approach which worked for Coulton, combined with some tested ideas from the world of webcomics and the awesome talent of the community, had to lead to something good.

Rob now performs regularly at science fiction conventions, where he can be seen belting out such hits as "Always A Goth Chick" and "Sympathy for George Lucas." His second CD is called "For Amusement Only."

For more information on Rob Balder please visit the artist's web site at: http://www.robbalder.com