A few years ago, I found myself at Universal Orlando’s CityWalk entertainment district just as a late-afternoon thunderstorm came rolling through. We took refuge inside a packed Margaritaville. While I’m a parrot head to my core, I never imagined that would be the place I’d bump into one of my favorite guitar players from a pioneering Christian punk band. Paul “Q-Pek” Ciupek helped redefine Christian music in the 90’s, and here he was casually strumming an acoustic on Jimmy Buffet’s back porch. What an amazing day. 

In the late 80’s, when skateboarding became a huge part of American youth culture, I too had a skateboard. What I lacked however was the necessary center of gravity, and the best I could do was roll a few feet down the driveway before leaping off in abject terror. But I liked the punk and thrash metal that sprouted up within skater culture.

So when I was handed the cassette of One Bad Pig’s 1989 album Smash and saw the guitar player in a priest’s collar on a skateboard, it captured my imagination. I’d never heard a sound like theirs from a Christian band. It was frenetic – and kinetic. This wasn’t Stryper-style glam. It was raw, fast, and fun. It didn’t fit between Sandi Patty and the Maranatha Singers on Christian radio, but that just made it cooler.

Produced by Billy Smiley of White Heart, Smash and featured the unrelenting energy of lead screamer Carey “Kosher” Womack. But it was Paul Q-Pek’s punk-driven guitar work that gave the album its edge. Tracks like “Frat Rats” and “Kingdom Come” proved emphatically that Q-Pek could shred with the best of his secular contemporaries. It was that same Paul Ciupek I would break bread – err, nachos – with years later at Margaritaville.

But Paul’s path to punk wasn’t a straight line. “In the summer of 1979, my parents took me to a Continental Singers concert,” Paul told me. “I stayed after and did a quick audition.”

He ended up touring that summer with the Continentals, a polished, Broadway-style praise group. By 1981, he was performing with them across Europe, including in the Netherlands, Sweden, and West Germany. Every night, he sang a solo on “Trumpet of Jesus.”

Soon after, he formed a short-lived Christian metal band called Front Runner.  But it was when he worked as a DJ at a Christian radio station in Austin, hosting a Saturday night rock show that Ciupek, and others, including future frontman Womack and Heaven’s Metal magazine founder Doug Van Pelt, would hang out on Austin’s Sixth Street talking to kids outside the clubs about Jesus.

“We thought, ‘Somebody should start a punk band so we can have a platform inside the club,’” Paul said. So, they did. And as for the name?

“In 1985, Carey, Curtis, Freedom and I drove up to the Cornerstone Festival,” Paul recalled. “We stopped in St. Louis and saw a promo for a local rock station—a pig with a guitar and a mohawk. Carey said, ‘That’s one bad pig,’ and I said, ‘That sounds like a punk band!’ It became a running joke the whole trip.”

The joke became reality. Soon, One Bad Pig was touring and releasing records—loud, fast, and unapologetically Christian. Their follow-up to Smash, Swine Flew, demonstrated the band’s range, with tracks like a supercharged cover of Petra’s “Judas Kiss” and the haunting, early U2-esque “When Your Love Died.”

Still, while the Pig managed to earn acceptance within the secular rock and punk scene, they continued to take flak from some in the Christian music community.

“I wore a priest collar at early gigs,” Paul said. “A guy once confronted me about it, said he was offended. I told him the Bible says we’re all kings and priests. But when we leaned into humor and silliness, it disarmed people. Humor’s a stealthy way of sharing the Gospel.”

One guy who did get it was a country, gospel, and yes, punk icon who’d had his own issues with critics by the name of Johnny Cash.

In 1991, One Bad Pig recorded a cover of Cash’s “Man in Black,” and—on a long shot—their A&R guy asked if Cash might sing on it. To their surprise, he said yes.

“We were skeptical, but at the last minute, Johnny came to the studio. We gathered in a circle and prayed—his mother was dying at the time. Then we played him our version, and he loved it. A few months later, it hit No. 1 on Christian rock and metal charts.”

During their years together, One Bag Pig was nominated for 5 Dove awards. Paul later moved to Nashville to pursue a solo career, and after stints working with DeGarmo and Key and John Schlitt, he released a solo album, “Touch The Ground.”

Then his career took a different turn, but still using music as his ministry, as the staff worship leader at churches in California, Texas, and Florida. He even created a one-man musical show, The Story of Scrooge, based the Dickens classic A Christmas Carol, including an all the original soundtrack.

These days, Paul is semi-retired, living in Orlando and can be caught performing in and around the theme parks. “I’ve always been a huge Disney fan,” he said. “Now the parks are in my backyard. Mission accomplished.”

As for One Bad Pig, they still get together and play now and then. So, is there any chance we will ever hear new music?

“We’re coming up on our 40th anniversary,” Paul said. “We’re hoping to do an Austin concert—and maybe a Christmas album.”

Paul shared his favorite quote about the band from Mark Salomon of the band The Crucified: “That One Bad Pig’s not a band—they’re a circus.”

If so, I hope we see the big top go up one more time.

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You’ve got plenty of chances to catch Paul performing live all around the Orlando area. That’s right—a Christian music legend might be playing smooth yacht rock for vacationers right under your nose. Whether you’re a local or just visiting Central Florida, be sure to stop by, enjoy the show, and let Paul know CCM sent you.

Current Concert Dates:

  • 4/11 The Melia Hotel in Celebration 6-9p
  • 4/25 Eden Abbey Brewing in Mt Dora 7-10p
  • 4/26 Margaritaville CityWalk 12-4p
  • 4/29 Wine Imperium in Celebration 7-10p
  • 5/2 Aqua Sol Resort 6-9p
  • 5/9 Margaritaville CityWalk 5-9p
  • 5/12 Hard Rock Tampa 6-10p
  • 5/29 Margaritaville CityWalk 5-9p

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