BOBAFLEX is known as one of the hardest working bands in the country. Renowned for their high energy, live shows and relentless touring the band was formed in 1998 by brothers Shaun and Marty McCoy. The brothers are known for their ancestral ties to the most infamous family feud in American history between the Hatfield and McCoy. The interest of the feud has spurred of late a mini-series, many documentaries and an upcoming modern day version series debuting this Fall.
BOBAFLEX released their 6th album CHARLATAN’S WEB on BFX RECORDS on September 10th. The long anticipated follow up to 2011’s HELL IN MY HEART that featured the singles BURY ME WITH MY GUNS ON, CHEMICAL VALLEY and THE SOUND OF SILENCE. The first single off the album BAD MAN recently entered the charts at #38, their highest ranking for a single in their history.
The band consisting of brothers, Shaun (vocals, guitars) and Marty McCoy (vocals, guitars), Jerod Mankin (vocals, bass), Tommy Johnson (drums) and newly added David Tipple (guitars) will be bringing their tour from coast-to-coast in support of the new album and single, BAD MAN hitting the airwaves in July.
Their catalog is rounded out by PRIMITIVE EPIC (2003) on Eclipse Records; APOLOGIZE FOR NOTHING (2005) and TALES FROM DIRT TOWN (2007) on TvT Records and CHEMICAL VALLEY (2010) which they self-released. The band is not dreading on the past anymore as they embattled a troubled label, legal battles and just looking ahead to the future.
Founding members Fred Gorhau and Mike Sakowski are the only two remaining original members in the current lineup. Gorhau has spent the last 7 years touring the USA and Canada as a lead guitarist for the holiday-themed progressive band The Wizards of Winter, playing alongside some of the original vocalists from Trans-Siberian Orchestra. Sakowski has been a drum teacher and career drummer for the past few decades, performing in the local scene with countless cover bands. Both have also toured the US and Europe with the metal band Exxplorer.
In late 2017, original vocalist, Hollywood How, and bassist Joe Stabile were replaced with Brian Allen and John Moyer, respectively. Allen has been the voice of various bands throughout the years, most notably as the front man for Vicious Rumors for almost a decade. Moyer is best known as the Grammy nominated bassist for the world-renowned metal group Disturbed, with whom he has recorded and toured since 2004.
Inspired by a lifetime love of metal, Dark Sky Choir brings years of live and recording experience to the stage with their own brand of hard rock and metal. Their debut album was released in 2017 and was soon followed up in March of 2018 with a brand-new, self-titled EP featuring the new lineup, as they embark on their first national tour, opening for Fozzy.
BRIAN ALLEN
Hailing from the Pacific Northwest, Brian Allen is currently the front man for the Bay Area thrash-metal band Vicious Rumors. He has long been a staple of the metal scene, singing with such bands as Last Empire (who signed with the Underground Symphony Label in 1999), and Two-Headed Beast, since 2015. He joined Dark Sky Choir in the fall of 2017 to record their self-titled EP.
FRED GORHAU
Fred Gorhau is a veteran guitarist of the local NY/NJ music scene. Fred spent 20-plus years performing live throughout the US & Europe with the metal band Exxplorer. Since 2011, he has also toured the US & Canada as lead guitarist of the holiday-themed Wizards of Winter, and is a founding member of Dark Sky Choir.
JOHN MOYER
John Moyer is best known as the Grammy-nominated bassist and back-up vocalist for the heavy metal band Disturbed. Taking over in 2004 after Steve "Fuzz" Kmak was fired, Moyer has played bass-guitar with the group since their third studio album, Ten Thousand Fists. Moyer was also the bassist for the Texas-based Union Underground, before joining Adrenaline Mob from 2012 through 2014. After his departure from A-Mob, he was a founding member of the metal supergroup The Foundry, alongside former Iron Maiden vocalist Blaze Bayley, guitarist Rick Plester, and legendary Twisted Sister drummer, the late AJ Pero. In 2015 he joined Operation: Mindcrime, featuring former Queensryche frontman Geoff Tate. Following stints with Art of Anarchy (with Scott Stapp), and Stereo Satellite, Moyer joined Dark Sky Choir in the fall of 2017, and can be heard on their brand-new self-titled EP.
MIKE SAKOWSKI
Drummer Mike Sakowski has been a member of the local NY/NJ music scene for almost four decades as a performer and instructor. In 1983, Mike co-founded the metal band Exxplorer, with whom he played and toured for more than 30 years. Since the early 1990’s he has played with various groups including, Tin Pan Alley, Yesterday’s Child, and numerous cover bands. He is a founding member of Dark Sky Choir.
"If The Melvins and Siouxsie and the Banshees got into a knife fight with Monster Magnet, and everybody lost."