nyone who says that rock n roll is dead ain't listening to the right bands. In a time when everyone is watching what they say in fear of retaliation from folks who spend way too much time on social media, you've got rock bands out there that are letting it all hang out in a way that's gonna get them some backlash from this group of people or that group of people, and a band like BOBAFLEX is leading the pack. Truth be told, these guys have been in the game since the turn of the century, so we're talking over seventeen years-plus of sex, drugs and the very music everyone claims is dead. There is is no posing here. The rabble-rousing is genetic. The band's founders - the brothers McCOY (lead singer MARTY and guitarist SHAUN) are direct descendants of the McCOY family famed for their epic feud with the HATFIELDS back in the 19th century. Family history aside, the band BOBAFLEX have proven time and time again that they are survivors in a music business that's been pumping everything it's got into pop tarts and pretty boys instead of anything with balls attached to it. A testimonial to the band's fighting spirit is their latest album ELOQUENT DEMONS.

The idea that a good thing can't be rushed is a common sentiment, but in the case of ELOQUENT DEMONS, one must throw up their hands and say whatever works. And all of it works. This album has the makings of what could be the band's finest hour. They've shown us that they have respect for the rock n roll that has come before with their cover of PINK FLOYD's HEY YOU and now they are showing everyone what a potent rock n roll force they are on their own with their latest single - the prophetic LONG TIME COMING. These men have sold their souls to rock n roll and now it's time to pay up, and the thunderous single doesn't disappoint with it's bombastic, ZEPPELIN-esque riff, monsterous back beat and  curious five-part vocal harmony breakdown. So far, the  roll out for the album has garnered some positive reviews from all of the press that truly matters in rock and  a #2 placing on AMAZON.COM's hard rock/heavy metal charts. No matter how many ways GENE SIMMONS wants to say it, this rock n roll business doesn't sound quite dead to us.

ROCKWIRED had a chance to speak with BOBAFLEX's front man MARTY McCOY regarding the the new release. Here is how the interview went. 

You guys have just started this tour of yours. Have there been any dates that have stood out for you goes so far?
Last night, we did a show at the legendary MACHINE SHOP in Flint, Michigan. I've always loved playing there. The night before that, we had our CD release party in Columbus, Ohio and it was phenomenal. So far so good. The touring has been amazing so far.

And the release of ELOQUENT DEMONS has been getting some positive notices. How do you feel about the reaction that the album has been receiving so far?
I'm pretty happy. We've had our share of bad reviews in the past and right now I'm just waiting on the bad one. I haven't seen it yet. The record was a lot of fun to make. I think we nailed it. I really feel like we've got something good this time.

It's been a couple of years since the release of your last album ANYTHING THAT MOVES. I imagine you had plenty of time write the songs for this album.
The truth is we hardly had anytime to to work on this album. Our manager DOUG called us up after we had done 175 shows and told us that we needed a record by August 25th. We were like "Uh, okay!" So we got to work, but it was an easy record to make. It happened very fast. 

CHECK OUT THE MUSiC ViDEO FOR HEY YOU!!!

And I love the title of the album. What suggested it?
SHAUN came up with the name of the album. We always come up with the name first then we get a sense of direction for the album . ELOQUENT DEMONS is about all of us. We're all nice guys but we have our own demons. We can get a little crazy with alcohol or sex. That was what started the whole thing . Once we had title and the concept figured out, the album came forth really fast. It was bizarre. Some of the songs wrote themselves. Like the song REAL SADNESS. It was all of us in a room looking at each other and singing lyrics that we hadn't written down yet. But we were singing together, at the same time, all at once. It was bizarre. 

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And the artwork for the cover is right out of MARVEL comics. Who did the artwork?
It was a guy named KYLE HOTZ . He's from Columbus, Ohio but he's really big in the comic book world. My brother reached out to him to do the cover and what you see is his first draft. He asked me what I thought of it and I said "Put it on the album, it's done!"

And in the music video for the single LONG TIME COMING, I notice a slight nod to QUEEN's BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY. At least in one frame of it. Is this true or am I just seeing things?
You are totally correct. When we did that cover of HEY YOU by PINK FLOYD, we decided to go for the POMPEII look in the video, which we thought would be clever and all of the PINK FLOYD fans got it . For this album, we want each video for this record to give  a subtle nod back to our heroes rather than beat you over the head with it. It's like an Easter egg in a MARVEL movie. We just want to give a nod to the people who inspired us to do what we do. The decision to give a nod to BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY was inspired by the five part harmony in LONG TIME COMING, which everyone in the band sang on.  It made us think of QUEEN. 

CHECK OUT THE MUSiC ViDEO FOR LONG TiME COMiNG!!!

On the business side of things, I see that you guys are now working with KYLE FAVORS of THERMAL ENTERTAINMENT. I've known those guys for years. Describe what it's liking working with them.
I've known KYLE FAVORS for  many years. He is a great guy and his wife RONDA is an amazing person. She's like a family member. She reminds me of people I grew up with my whole life. They are wonderful people. We've worked with DOUG for a long time. For years we were doing the independent thing which is great. This time we were trying to do something a little different. We wanted to see what THERMAL ENTERTAINMENT could do with it and so far, so good. They are really hitting it out of the park. KYLE gets this band and when we have meetings with him, he'll bring up points that I never thought of.  He is very smart, genuine and trustworthy and you don't find that a lot on this business. He's got it all, baby doll!

What single do you guys see as being the follow up to LONG TIME COMING?
My favorite song on the record is SAY WHAT YOU WILL but it's looking like OFF WITH YOUR HEAD is the crowd favorite. This record came out Friday and ever since then, we've been hearing from the fans in text messages and postings  that OFF WITH YOUR HEAD  is the song most people keep going back to. So I think that song is going to be something special.

You are a band of true road dogs but there are people who could never imagine putting up with all of the minuses that go along with living a life on the road. How do you deal with this whole experience?
I love everything about it from breaking down at the side of the highway to playing in front of 10,000 people. I love everything damn thing about it. It's hard on people. Especially when they are missing people at home. For me, it's all I've ever done. What terrifies me is being normal. What if I have to go to a job I hate every single day. What if I have a wife who hates my guts and I hate her guts. That is what terrifies me. Everyday on the road I feel blessed to travel from city to city and see the world and meet people. It's pretty amazing. The total opposite of that is what terrifies me.

How is the rest of the band holding up these days?
They're doing great. It helps when you're not doing heroin or coke and stuff. For the most part, it's been really sane. If you're going to be forty feet from someone for six months at a time, you've gotta be a pretty cool person . You can't complain because someone got a bigger piece of pizza than you did. We're all pretty laid back. We've also got an awesone crew. If it wasn't for them, we couldn't do any of this. The band is holding up great. Our drummer TOMMY was built to do this. He loves every second of it. He's excited to simply go into GUITAR CENTER and buy new cables or go to the gas station and get batteries for the wireless. Every in and out of it.

Your "roll with the punches" approach to being a band on the road constantly must have come from having it rough before forming BOBAFLEX.
Yes. I've worked real jobs and it sucks. I went to college and was in the military for a little while. Basic training taught me that this band thing is easy. Sure, you gotta drive ten hours. Sure, you gotta be up late but no one is shooting at you or screaming in your face. It's a pretty sweet deal. 

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From ELOQUENT DEMONS, what songs stand out for you the most and why?
SAY WHAT YOU WILL of course. And I also like I AM A NIGHTMARE. I really love the intro. My brother SHAUN was the one who did the whole demon political rally thing. It turned out so cool. He wrote that whole speech and we worked it out in the studio with the sound of this massive crowd screaming. NIGHTMARE is a great song. Every song on this album, I feel, could hold it's own on radio, but a band always feels that way, I think. LONG TIME COMING is great. So is LIGHTS OUT and SAY WHAT YOU WILL. Everybody in the band is picking a different favorite.

In the past few years, there has been a lot of talk about rock n roll being dead and a lot of that talk has been coming from rockers like GENE SIMMONS. You are in a rock band that is doing very well and playing almost ever night. What do you have to say about this?
I stood and saw METALLICA play for 75,000 people at ROCK THE RANGE. I don't think it's dead by any means. We're getting ready to play Madison, Wisconsin. Last year 15,000 people showed up. Shows like ROCK THE RANGE and ROCKLAHOMA are proof that rock n roll is not dead. I'll admit that it's not like it once was, but you've got bands like NOTHING TO WORRY , RED TIDE RISING and ROYAL BLOOD . You've also got a lot of bands coming out of Ohio. Ohio is like what  Los Angeles used to be for rock except without the awesome weather in the winter time. fourteen-hundred people in Columbus came to see us play and bought our record. It reached #2 on the AMAZON ROCK CHARTS and #15 in the OVERALL ACTION CHARTS the day it came out. Rock n roll doesn't look dead to me. TAYLOR SWIFT put out a record the same day and we got #15 on that chart. If it's dead,  it's ghost is haunting the hell out of everybody.

With ELOQUENT DEMONS behind you guys, what is next for you musically?
We are just off the whirlwind of getting this album together. Right now we're in the middle of soundchecks and working out the songs live. In the middle of all of this, we've decided that we are going to start writing immediately for the new record for the next album. We want to take our time. We want to write a lot and pick through which songs we want and not be so stressed out. We're gonna start writing immediately. We already have some cool ideas. This last album happened so fast that there was no worry or concern about what people were going to think or if radio was going to play it. Nobody gave a shit. We thought "Let's write music and whatever happens, happens! Let's have a good time and make ourselves happy and write what we want to write!" It's turned out so good for us. People are liking it. That "I don't give a shit attitude" is something we need in rock n roll right now, and I'm ready to fly the flag for it.

RELATED LiNKS:

https://www.theofficialbobaflex.com