Born as David Peter Meads in Stanford-le-Hope (UK) on 3 August 1981, He was inspired by punk music to buy a guitar and form various bands with his friends. His musical tastes quickly grew to encompass genres including hip hop and jazz and he became interested in spoken word artists Gil Scott-Heron, Sage Francis and Saul Williams. This encouraged him to go solo.
He adopted his stage name from Edward Lear’s poem The Scroobious Pip. When he had written a full spoken word set and saved enough money to live for a year without income, he quit his job at HMV and toured the country in a 1987 Toyota Space Cruiser. Seeking out gig listings for each new town he visited, he turned up and performed his set to the fans queuing outside the venues, with mixed results. After a few months crossing the country, Scroobius Pip moved back home and decided to focus on London and Essex, attending four or five spoken word shows, open mic nights or poetry slams each week – anywhere that would let him perform. This eventually led to him teaming up with former HMV colleague Dan le Sac that captured his attention and led to the formation of Dan le Sac Vs Scroobius Pip.
Their debut album Angles (2008) entered and peaked at number 31 in the UK albums chart. Two more albums followed: The Logic of Chance (2010) and Repent Replenish Repeat (2013).
Scroobius Pip’s debut solo album No Commercial Breaks was self-released in 2006, marking the start of his label Speech Development Records. Originally limited to a run of 1,000 copies, the album quickly sold out. The album was re-released in 2012, a two CD special with a bonus disc featuring his 60-minute sold out spoken word show from the Royal Albert Hall on 21 November 2012.
Distraction Pieces (2011) was his second solo album. Featuring a cover version of Feel It, the album entered and peaked at number 35 on the UK albums chart.
In 2014, Scroobius Pip released his first live DVD Words, a two-disc special released on his own Speech Development Records. The DVD features his spoken word show Words live at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2013.
In 2019, Scroobius Pip stated that he has no plans to release new music. He currently hosts the Distraction Pieces podcast.
