They just want to make you dance.

Rock Candy, a Chicago-based contemporary cover band, will play tonight at 10 p.m. at Starbusters, 930 Pappas Drive.

Fronted by lead singer Molly Pop, who appeared in “Dirty Dancing: The Musical,” Rock Candy is a quintet that will cover Justin Timberlake during one song and the Eurythmics the next.

The Northern Star recently spoke to drummer Mark Angres about the band and their third trip back to DeKalb.

Northern Star: How and when did Rock Candy form? Where did you get the name from?

Mark Angres: Rock Candy started performing in June of 2007. We had been rehearsing in a basement for about five months prior to our first show at the Cubby Bear in Wrigleyville, right after a Cubs game. It was a great first show. Some guy took off his shorts and gave them to Molly. They were about a size 52 waist! Her expression was priceless. We went through some line-up changes during those first months and even some stylistic changes, too. But we got lucky and the right players fell in our laps. As for the name, we made a list of names and Rock Candy was the only one that wasn’t offensive. Plus we felt we could tie in the whole candy theme well to our live performances. We give out candy necklaces and lollipops at every show. People love free candy!

NS: How do you select the songs you’re going to perform?

MA: Our song selection is based mostly on what’s popular right now. The Billboard Hot 100 chart is a good place to start. But really, what we look for are songs that make us want to dance. Pop, rap, hip hop, dance, rock and ‘80s. There are no slow ballads or downers in our set list. People come to see us to party and dance so we keep everything up-tempo.

NS: What’s it like to have a body of work so diverse? How is it performing everything from Soulja Boy to Madonna?

MA: Molly is like a chameleon some times. She can vocally hit Beyonce’s smoothness, switch to Pink’s rough rock tone and even bust out some Salt-n-Pepa raps. It’s amazing how she can jump around like that and sound great in every style. Steve is the male rapper of the band. He also has this great ability to sound like Jay-Z or Pitbull, then switch to Shaggy and sound rasta. Lots of talent there. The band loves being diverse and I think it’s one of the things that has led to our success. There is no way someone could not enjoy our show because there is a little bit of everything in there. As a musician, its really nice to be able to perform that wide variety. It keeps things interesting for us too.

NS: What’s a typical performance from Rock Candy like? What can people expect?

MA: From start to finish, Rock Candy is high energy dance music that will keep you moving all night. Black Eyed Peas, Pink, Beyonce, Lady GaGa, Katy Perry, Madonna, Usher, Rihanna, Ke$ha, Jason Derulo, Pitbull, Jay-Z, and No Doubt are just a few of the artists we perform. Molly puts on an incredible show. Dancing and interacting with the audience. Everyone falls in love with her by the end of the night. And the boys in the band do their part in bringing the concert experience to life. You’ll be blown away by the quality of our sound, song selection, and performance.

NS: Why should people come out on Friday to see Rock Candy at Starbusters?

MA: This will be our third performance at Starbusters. We’re coming back for more cause it was a blast playing for this young crowd, who really connect with the music that we perform. Plus, there was such high energy and genuine good vibes from our past audiences there. We loved it and are really looking forward to putting on another great show for DeKalb and NIU. We’ll all be there for one reason: to party and have a good time. Some come on by, grab a beer and a lollipop and hit the dance floor!