{"id":1445,"date":"2011-04-22T10:07:19","date_gmt":"2011-04-22T17:07:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thefirst3songs.com\/?p=1445"},"modified":"2014-08-01T20:39:06","modified_gmt":"2014-08-02T03:39:06","slug":"backstage-with-bobaflex-in-columbus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/thefirst3songs.com\/?p=1445","title":{"rendered":"Backstage with Bobaflex in Columbus"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>On Wednesday night in Columbus, radio station 99.7 The Blitz had a one year anniversary party and invited hundreds of fans to an appreciation party at the LC Pavillion to give feedback on the station and meet the members of the Blitz on-air team. Die hard Blitz fans were surprised with a live performance from one of the most popular bands on the station, Bobaflex. Bobaflex did an hour high energy set for the intimate crowd performing their hits like \u201cBury Me with My\u00a0Guns On.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Bobaflex is an independent metal band from West Virginia that has been grinding through the music business since 1998. Over that time, they have released four albums and been on tour with National acts like Disturbed, Filter, Sevendust, among many others. In their thirteen years, they have gained a cult following centered in Ohio and West Virginia.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Amy caught up with Shaun McCoy, a vocalist, guitar player, and charter member of the band before the show to discuss the single that is gaining steam across Ohio in radio play and their unconventional view of the music business. Shaun\u2019s anti-establishment view pairs with his innovative ideas to show where he envisions the music business is heading. This is seen in the upcoming release of their fourth album, Hell in My Heart.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Amy: I know you guys have the new album, \u201cHell in My Heart,\u201d The 15 track album that came out in February.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Shaun: Well, it\u2019s technically not out. There was some confusion about it. And now we\u2019re re-releasing it this summer with some extra tracks. But we still have a few copies on us. We pulled it offline and stopped ordering it until this summer. We are looking at distribution deals with some investors. So we\u2019re almost going to do our own label which is the safest thing to do these days. And using other people\u2019s money because we don\u2019t have that much. So we are almost doing the label thing but having more control in the band. And working with an investor or partner but not with an evil corporate label that\u2019s going down the tube anyway.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Amy: You guys have been pretty vocal about being independent and doing this on your own because you have been in the business a while. You\u2019ve also talked about your management team and how they\u2019ve helped out. What\u2019s the process to go through to get the album out on your own?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Shaun: Well people are still holding onto the old, it has to be in the stores which is going to be over in the next five years. You still have to play that game and have an official release. So, we had a couple label deals on the table. They were a no-win situation for the band. So we kind of balked at them. And now, we\u2019re doing a distribution deal. Which you\u2019re not locked in legally with them. They just put it out in the stores and you just kind of pay for shelf space. You do all the marketing and promotions yourself. It\u2019s up to you to promote the album. They just put it in the store. You get a way higher split on the album. You get a majority of the money and you keep the bailments. So basically they\u2019re just a service. We took a long time picking a good distribution company because many are in trouble right now. I think we\u2019re in talks right now with Mega Force and they may distribute us. The band ran into marketing and promotions trouble when we paid for it ourselves and it nearly killed us. So we are looking at the option of using an investor to make it easier on the band and split things down in different percentages and have someone else\u2019s money and do like a label does and have someone else do all the promotions and marketing.\u00a0 And they get a piece for putting that much in and investing in the band. But still it will be a band-friendly contract. It\u2019s not going to be a big corporate Atlantic Records thing where they get 12% of your record and you don\u2019t see royalties for three years.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Amy: Is that what the April 20th<\/sup> show is partly about? Are you looking for investors at the showcase?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Shaun: Yeah. I think CDs are like 8-Tracks in a few years. I mean kids don\u2019t want to buy them unless they want something physical to be signed. That\u2019s really it. Adults buy CDs. \u00a0And it kind of kills me we still have to put it in stores because times are changing and we like to be ahead of the curve. But we\u2019ll play that game for this album and put it in stores. It also opens up radio and touring options. People are still using that as a form of legitimacy. So we have to put it in stores. That\u2019s the way it\u2019s going to be. I\u2019d prefer to have it online and at shows and you\u2019d have to come to the shows to actually purchase it. And that would make the shows better. We\u2019ll have it at shows but right now we have to play the CD game so we\u2019re going to distribute it. There\u2019s nothing finalized, now we\u2019re in talks but nothings done but you can say we\u2019re in talks with Mega Force for distribution.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Amy: How long have you been doing this? I know you and your brother started this together.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Shaun: Legitimately, we started in \u201998 but full force and making it a profession and barely working a job or not working a job and putting a 100% into from about 2003 until now.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Amy: So now it\u2019s full time for all of you.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Shaun: Yeah. Absolutely. It\u2019s been full time for about six or seven years since we signed with TBT, our old label who went bankrupt. Once we got with them it was a full time job.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Amy: If you weren\u2019t in a rock band, what would you be doing?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Shaun: Wow, if I weren\u2019t in a rock band, I\u2019d probably turn to a life of crime to make a living. I\u2019m 40 hours short of an advertising degree. I owe the government out the ying-yang. Either I\u2019d be a criminal or I\u2019d just work at Lowe\u2019s.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Amy: So you guys have this interesting thing where you let everybody sing. Do you get pushed to try to pick a lead singer or do people give you pressure around that or do people accept that this is how you are going to do it?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Shaun: Early on, when we had a record deal on the table, they actually liked that idea. Years ago, people asked, \u201cWell who\u2019s the lead singer?\u201d Well nobody, we switch off and on. Even our bass player is singing lead on some songs. Well now, if they\u2019re talking to me they say \u201cWell you\u2019re the lead singer.\u201d Or if they\u2019re talking to my brother \u201cOh you\u2019re the lead singer.\u201d It\u2019s one of those deals. We kind of squash it. It\u2019s whoever song it is. I\u2019m a big KISS fan and I always like Ace songs best and he only sang a handful of them. That\u2019s where we got\u00a0the idea\u00a0from. I\u2019m a big Eagles fan and I like any band that has versatile lead singers. It makes the album more eclectic and it makes for better ideas. You don\u2019t get bored or get stuck in a rut when you have three different guys and all three have a little different vibe. That helps for sure.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Amy: Have you met KISS?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Shaun: I would like to meet KISS. I have not met KISS. Well, who have I met? We met Dave Mustaine of Megadeath. And that was a big deal. I met all of Anthrax, all of original Anthrax. That was cool.\u00a0We have toured with Mudvayne and Sevendust but I would love to meet KISS. Absolutely one of my favorite bands.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Amy: Have you ever been star struck when you met somebody?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Shaun: Yes, Jonathan Davis and Korn walked into our dressing when we were opening for Mudvayne and Sevendust and we were the openers in the Nokia Center in Dallas. Jonathan Davis had his dressing room across from us and we decided to leave him alone since he was a huge star. I was getting my tattoo worked on drinking and he walked into our room out of nowhere. I was like \u201cWhat!\u201d He said \u201cHey this where the party\u2019s at. I smelled weed, I hear drinking and partying. I see you\u2019re getting a tattoo. Does that hurt?\u201d I was like \u201cNoo!\u201d I said \u201cThanks for having us on the show.\u201d And I shook his hand.\u00a0 He said \u201cGreat having you on the show. I\u2019ll see y\u2019all around.\u201d Then he walked out. Then everybody couldn\u2019t even talk and were like \u201cOh my God! Jonathan Davis just walked into our room.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Amy: Yeah, I\u2019ve interviewed Fieldy and Ray from Korn. They\u2019re great guys.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Shaun: Absolutely. He was really cool to us. That\u2019s the thing with the bigger tours, I\u2019ve never really met an asshole rock star that wouldn\u2019t talk to me or made a rule to \u201cDon\u2019t look at me, especially when I\u2019m eating.\u201d I\u2019ve never seen that yet. That hasn\u2019t happened on the bigger shows like Papa Roach or Megadeath.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Amy: One of the things I always say when I\u2019m doing interviews is the bigger the rockstar I talk to the more down to Earth they seem. It\u2019s kind of been the exact opposite of how I envisioned it. Everyone is usually very nice and very down to Earth. One of the theories is that everybody has been at the bottom of this industry and worked their way up and people appreciate it a lot when you do make it and do well.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Amy: Have you ever had any boyfriend or husband issues on the road?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Shaun: Well yeah, it\u2019s happened. We\u2019re really cool guys, we\u2019re cool with the fans. But there have been weird situations where somebody\u2019s girlfriend has liked someone in the band and then they come up and we don\u2019t know them personally and the guy never comes to a gig again and sends us an e-mail, \u201cI can\u2019t believe you did this to me.\u201d I don\u2019t even know who they are or don\u2019t even know their name. Our ex-guitar player used to have issues with that. He always had people showing up to gigs looking for him. Many times it was due to Facebook and Myspacing and meeting girls. But I personally try to be cool to the fans and I, personally have not or very minimally had that. It\u2019s always been light and nobody\u2019s said anything bad. I\u2019ve had a couple guys try to steer me away from girls via Facebook or Myspace, mainly Facebook. And say, \u201cThat chick is trouble man.\u201d And I say, \u201cI don\u2019t even know you man. Why are you contacting me.\u201d I had a guy recently tell me a girl was dangerous. And I was like, \u201cDangerous? What is she, Al Qaeda? She\u2019s\u00a0 120 pounds. What are you talking about? Does she have a gun on her? Does she carry a knife and stab people?\u201d\u00a0 I just ignored it. It\u2019s really not too bad. Just our ex-guitar player. And all the guys at this point in the game have girlfriends. I\u2019m the only one who doesn\u2019t. So, on that front, I can\u2019t say it happens too often.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Amy: Well I think dating is scary these days anyway. Just meeting on Facebook or Myspace. You talk about music changing. Dating is definitely changing.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Shaun: Oh my God! In the band, you always have some nutball or weirdo a little bit. Or I\u2019ll get stalked multiple times where I can\u2019t get on Facebook without a thing popping up \u201cWhat are you doing? Why haven\u2019t you called me?\u201d I\u2019ve had that happen several times.\u00a0I had\u00a0an older lady, like forty years old, who showed up to gigs crying. She was a nice lady at first and really cool and ran merch for us. I thought she was a forty year old redneck mom who\u2019s not gonna rob us. So we let her sell merch for us. Her and her daughter followed \u00a0us all over the country spending so much money to follow us to gigs. I\u2019m like \u201cI guess they really like the band.\u201d And they bought us beer. She was married and she started sending me weird lovey messages like \u201cOh Shaun I love you as deep as the ocean is blue.\u201d So I sent her a message saying she was making us uncomfortable and chill out a little bit. A year later she started it again.\u00a0She sent me these weird messages, \u201cOh you don\u2019t know how much I think about you.\u201d I finally told her that \u201cYou\u2019re creeping me out.\u201d Then I got this huge message of evil after I told her she was creeping me out. \u201cWho are you to judge?\u201d Then her son called me. And her family was\u00a0 \u201cWhy are you being mean to my family?\u201d And I\u2019m like \u201cYou\u2019re mom is creeping me out.\u201d It went on forever. Finally I had to quit speaking to her or looking at her. She still showed up to gigs in the front row and call out \u201cYou don\u2019t know what you meant to me?\u201d I\u2019m afraid the people would think something is going on and she\u2019s crying at the gig. She would text me for a while and I would never text her back. She got my phone number somehow. Her texts were like I was answering her calling me baby and honey and I wouldn\u2019t answer her and she would send me, \u201cBaby are you sleeping?\u201d and I haven\u2019t answered her but she would answer back like I was talking to her but never was. That was scary. That was weird. Then I found out she pulled a gun on her ex-husband. So that\u2019s when I told the band she had a weird past and was creeping me out. There were a couple gigs that I said they had to keep that lady out of the building. That\u2019s one of several stories.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Amy: Wow. \u00a0So, did somebody inspire the song, \u201cVampire\u201d?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Shaun: The song, \u201cVampire,\u201d my brother wrote about a needy girlfriend who wouldn\u2019t \u00a0leave him alone and needed so much attention and was draining his life and sucking his life force out of him. He\u2019s had a few that were very needy. Read my mind all the time draining like a vampire sucking his soul away. That\u2019s what that song is about.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Amy:\u00a0 I\u2019m sure she was really pleased that\u2019s what inspired the song. Does she know?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Shaun: The girlfriend? No she doesn\u2019t. There\u2019s several songs about her. \u201cPlaying Dead\u201d is about her too. He doesn\u2019t really tell anyone about her. He\u2019s writing about the same stuff I think in that song.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Amy: Some of the best songs come out of bad relationships. Some people I talk to that say they should never get married or never get in a good relationship because they think the band will fall apart.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Shaun: Yeah, we\u2019ve all been divorced. I\u2019m currently separated and getting a divorce. We\u2019ve been separated for two years. She\u2019s had like two boyfriends. We\u2019re good friends and everything but it was definitely hard to keep the marriage together being on the road so much. We had a child together and it was tough. There\u2019s a song called, \u201cOn That Night\u201d, and that\u2019s about being betrayed by someone you loved which we\u2019ve never really delved into too much in the past. And this album, it\u2019s like all the things that went on during TBT\u2019s bankruptcy and then we were owned by a bank for a year. It was hell getting a record together. We didn\u2019t have the rights to do it. We thought of everything that happened the last few years. Jared\u2019s song was about his and his ex-wife divorcing. There\u2019s definitely some reality in this record.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Amy: Sometimes those are the best songs.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Shaun: Absolutely<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Amy: Do you guys write everything yourself?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Shaun: Yes. we worked with songwriters on a couple that weren\u2019t singles. On this album, we definitely collaborated on everything with each other. On a couple songs, I might write the scale or my brother or Jared might but then everybody comes in and puts their ten cents into it.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Amy: Where do you guys usually write together?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Shaun: Well we usually get a rehearsal spot or sometimes we\u2019ll put it together at home. We have a nice rehearsal spot with a studio in it. We\u2019ll just sit down from noon to five and go over the set list and some rifts. Everybody will critique everybody\u2019s other songs. And go over them and hammer them out. We\u2019re at the point that we\u2019re mature enough no one will have their feelings hurt when someone doesn\u2019t like someone else\u2019s idea. You either like it or you don\u2019t. We write songs a lot faster now. We know each other so well. There are still some bastards that you have to hammer out that just aren\u2019t right but a lot of the songs come together pretty quick.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Amy: Do you guys still live in West Virginia?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Shaun: Yes. I lived in Ohio for a while. Then now I live in West Virginia. Jared, I think lives in Ohio with his girlfriend. The others live half the time with their girlfriend in Ohio and the other half in West Virginia.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Amy: I heard about you guys in Columbus. There\u2019s a huge buzz about Bobaflex in Columbus. I thought you were from Columbus.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Shaun: That\u2019s our biggest spot. That\u2019s one of our favorite spots to play. We owe everything to Columbus and West Virginia.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Amy: I was hoping you\u2019d be at \u201cRock on the Range.\u201d That\u2019s one of my favorite festivals to shoot and go to.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Shaun: We were supposed to. We still have the number one requested song in the city. I don\u2019t know what his prejudice was, the guy running it. He said \u201cOh you won\u2019t draw 2000.\u201d And neither does Egypt Central. We\u2019ll draw about a 1000. Anywhere from 700 to 1000. I know all the promoters in Columbus and we outdraw all the bands when they\u2019re out by themselves. To say all the lower bands outdraw us on \u201cRock on the Range\u201d is a lie. That\u2019s not true. I don\u2019t know why they won\u2019t have us on.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Amy: Well sometimes they try to mix it up and want some new people.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Shaun: Yeah. And it also goes back to that release date. We don\u2019t have a new CD in stores, not gonna be on there. We\u2019re on the old model forever until there are no CDs left.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Amy: I love the song \u201cBury Me With\u00a0My Guns On.\u201d I thought it was amazing that the song is all over the radio. Then I heard that you had no label and doing everything yourselves. I found the story to be so interesting from the music industry perspective. I hear the song in Cincinnati, I hear it in Columbus, I hear it in Cleveland. So you guys are doing a good job getting it out there on the radio.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Shaun: We\u2019re number 50 on the rock charts right now and we\u2019re paying a radio promoter like a label would. We are paying them to keep pushing it. That\u2019s where we\u2019re at right now. We\u2019re on a teeter-totter at this point. We\u2019re getting a game plan together quickly this week and next week to get this record out.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On Wednesday night in Columbus, radio station 99.7 The Blitz had a one year anniversary party and invited hundreds of fans to an appreciation party at the LC Pavillion to give feedback on the station and meet the members of the Blitz on-air team. Die hard Blitz fans were surprised with a live performance from […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[815],"tags":[818,1776,817,816],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/thefirst3songs.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1445"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/thefirst3songs.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/thefirst3songs.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thefirst3songs.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thefirst3songs.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1445"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"http:\/\/thefirst3songs.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1445\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1446,"href":"http:\/\/thefirst3songs.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1445\/revisions\/1446"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/thefirst3songs.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1445"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thefirst3songs.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1445"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thefirst3songs.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1445"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}