Hard rockers: Bobaflex's latest album, "Hell in My Heart," came out in late summer.BATTLE CREEK — Metal band Bobaflex's name was inspired by the "Star Wars" bounty hunter character Boba Fett, but don't go looking for any deeper meaning than that.
“It’s one of those things,” said Bobaflex guitarist and vocalist Martin McCoy. “I wish there was a good story behind it, but we were dumb kids and thought it was cool.”
That was in 1998, when the band was just forming. That was before the band’s members had multiple albums under their belts and before they had toured with names such as Megadeth and Sevendust.
“They’re some of the bands I grew up listening to,” McCoy said. “They were untouchable to me.”
Bobaflex will headline their own show at Battle Creek’s Planet Rock on Friday, where fans will get to see a mix of their old and new material.
The band’s high musicality — they switch off instruments throughout the night — and enthusiasm sets them apart from other bands, McCoy said.
If you go
Where:
Planet Rock, 191 Angell St., Battle Creek
When:
7 p.m. Friday
Price:
$12 in advance, $15 day of show. Tickets available at Planet Rock or online at
(18 and older)
Contact:
269-962-2121
“It’s just gonna be the baddest live show you’ve seen in a long time,” McCoy said. “No one’s doing what we’re doing, and nobody’s doing it as well as we’re doing.”
Bobaflex’s popularity isn’t the only thing that’s changed in the past decade. The band’s sound also has grown, McCoy said.
“When we started out, we were kind of schizophrenic rock ’n’ roll,” McCoy said. “Now it’s more focused.”
“It’s gotten more evolved,” McCoy said. “It’s definitely changed. To me, it’s seemed like a natural evolution.”
Their newest album, “Hell in My Heart,” was released in August. So far, the album’s main single, “Bury Me with My Guns,” has done well on the radio, McCoy said, but it’s a cover of Simon & Garfunkel’s “Sound of Silence” that he said will have staying power.
“I think that’s going to be the one that really changes things for us,” McCoy said. “We really nailed that song to the wall.”
But they won’t be waiting patiently to find out. The band has already started writing material for a new album, and they plan to be our tour with Royal Bliss in January, McCoy said.
Until then, Bobaflex will be playing shows throughout the Midwest, hitting bars and venues in Ohio, Illinois and Wisconsin.
“It’s something that people haven’t seen in a long time,” McCoy said. “It’s an actual band. It’s a high-energy show. It’s not just four fat guys banging their heads and one guy singing.”