Battle Creek rockers have adapted to a changing local music scene
By Nick J. Buckley / For Black Squirrel News
According to members of the Battle Creek rock band SXX, the name doesn’t mean anything.
A former guitarist created a symbol that resembled the letters SXX. The members liked how it looked and adopted it as the band’s name.
More than two decades later, it appears on albums, shirts, hats and other merchandise. The band has discussed moving away from it, but vocalist and guitarist Richard “Rich” Nuyen said it has become too recognizable.
“Unfortunately, I’m going to end up taking it to my grave,” he said.
SXX traces its roots to the late 1990s, when Nuyen and drummer Shawn Rainer began playing together in a band called Bad Oscar. They remain the core of a lineup that also includes bassist Bunky Edwards and guitarist Martin Olguin-Barajas. All four are from Battle Creek.
The band has released several albums and EPs over the years, with Nuyen serving as its primary songwriter.
“First and foremost, we are an original band,” Nuyen said. “We added the covers out of necessity because of the environment we’re in.”
The members said fewer regional venues cater to original rock than they did two decades ago. Adding covers allowed them to book three-hour shows and helped the band reach new listeners.
The mix of covers and originals also appears on the band’s 2025 four-song Broadside EP, which includes two SXX originals and covers of Duran Duran’s “Hungry Like the Wolf” and Simple Minds’ “Don’t You (Forget About Me).”
Nuyen described himself as “always kind of anti-cover,” but said learning different songs pushed him musically.
“It has made me better,” he said. “I think it’s made all of us a little better as musicians to go outside of our bubble.”
SXX still considers Battle Creek home, but travels to reach more venues and listeners. The band spaces out its hometown appearances to avoid oversaturating the local market.
“It’s always a little more special here because it is home,” Nuyen said.
Edwards said some people find SXX’s catalog online after a show and return knowing the band’s songs well enough to sing along.
For Nuyen, original songs rarely begin with a deliberate decision to write. A melody, musical idea or line will come to him unexpectedly. If it develops quickly, he keeps working until it is finished.
One recent idea arrived after midnight.
“It was 1:20 a.m. and I’m out of bed and I come out here to the studio and fire everything up and start working on something before it escapes,” Nuyen said.
Away from the stage, the members balance music and family responsibilities with jobs in steel, trucking and information technology. At his steel-industry job, Edwards listens to music over the clanging of steel and industrial saws. At dinner, his wife catches him drumming on the table.
“You still have real life,” Edwards said. “It happens. You can’t shut it off. It’s just how do you fit this into that?”
Nuyen said he never expected to remain in the band this long.
“If we can just be rock stars here at home on the weekends,” he said. “I’m good with that, you know.”
How we reported this: This article is based on an interview with members of the band SXX along with information published on the band’s website and social media pages.
Meet more local bands: Allie Garland and Awesome Sauce
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