Miranda Mallard, Darla Murphy, and Gemma Cohen formed the band Rock Paper Scissors when they realized that they each collectively believed that harmonizing was their dharma. You might of heard of Punk Band, or the Right Side-up Song Girls, or VatPitKaph, or the Uh Girls, or the Da Llama Sisters, or Trio Contemporario, or the Sophisticated Ladies and their Male Accompanists, or [fill in the blank]. They are all of these things and more — including their sit-in pianist Eric Hurlin. “We should have a raucous band argument and put the transcript on the website,” says the world-renowned Hurlin, who still remembers the group’s debate over their mild-mannered moniker. “In the band, Darla is Scissors, Miranda is Paper, and I Rock,” says Cohen, putting an end to speculation once and for all. To this day many who’ve experienced a Rock Paper Scissors performance agree the band members are quite eccentric.
Rock Paper Scissors reveal their love of music through shared smiles and a collective urge to give the gift of music to as many people as possible. “Music is how we give back to the world and to all of its inhabitants,” says Mallard. From Andrews Sisters to traditional folk to medieval mass, these three lovely ladies weave their voices into something far beyond ordinary. “I really like singing songs from such a diverse array of sound,” says Murphy. The band also writes their own music to bring a personalized angle to their unique sound.
Miranda Mallard loves music as much as she likes bunnies. She grew up in Fairfield, Iowa where she deeply involved herself in all things musical. Miranda has always been singing and her study of piano began at the age of five. She has studied flute, French horn, violin, and cello and currently plays piano, guitar and a little mandolin. Her greatest instrumental aspiration is to learn the harp. She has also been a part of many theatrical productions including The Mikado, Seven Deadly Sins, Pirates of Penzance, The Tenderland, and The Gondoliers. She is currently pursuing undergraduate degrees in vocal performance and dance at the University of Iowa. When she graduates, she would like to sing, dance, play the harp, or perhaps join the Batsheva Dance Company.
Gemma Rose Cohen had her musical debut singing “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” to the construction workers across the street from her Fairfield home at the age of three. Since then her career has gone downhill—she merely seeks the fame she acquired during that first performance. In the meantime, she has studied piano, flute, guitar, sitar, and kazoo. She considers the kazoo her primary instrument and she also sort of likes to sing. Her biggest musical inspiration was GOVAP (Greater Ottumwa Vocal Arts Project), which she was a part of in middle school. She has also been a part of Fairfield bands Laser Focus, RG and the Gerbs and also a Beatles cover band called Yellow Submarine. She is currently pursuing degrees in music, pre-med, and global health at the University of Iowa. Later she plans to attend medical school specializing in obstetrics and gynecology.
Darla Marie Murphy is an undergraduate at Maharishi University of Management in Fairfield, Iowa where she is currently pursuing a double major in Fine Art and Sustainable Living. She has not had formal vocal training, aside from a few lessons here and there. She plays the double bass, but not very well, so don't ask her about it. She played piano from the ages of four to twelve, and hasn't got much to show for it. When she grows up she wants to live on a self-sufficient farmstead that is in harmony with the sunflowers, sunshine, and bees. She does not approve of holes in the ozone—she does, however, approve of the sun. And she does approve of singing and music and love for everyone.
Eric Davis Hurlin, the male accompanist to Rock Paper Scissors, began playing piano around the age of seven. The first song he wrote was called "When the Dreadlocks Come." The first song he was taught was "Three Blind Mice." From there he went to Berklee College Of Music to study music and now resides in Fairfield, Iowa.
