RX BANDITS

When Fugazi came onto the scene around the tail end of the ‘80’s, they redefined punk rock onto a pedestal many will never be able to sit above, it turned a lot of heads for kids seeking progressive music from what they thought it was or could be. It was a band that for many, and still many of my friends years later, that defined how talented and forward thinking genres can be, but how reaching outside the box and being honest as a musician will make you sit atop the rest for a long time. “Legacy” is a word that over 80% of bands today will never reach. Possibly 90%.

That’s a fact.

I’m not going to sit here and tell you that Fugazi had that much influence on me as a listener when I was young. It was a band I didn’t discover until college and even begin to understand, analyze and realize the true worth until the last few years of my life. I’m not going to sit here and tell you that the band I’m about to look back on will ever reach that level of broad influence, because time is yet to show us that. But picking up Progress by the RX Bandits for me was like others discovering Repeater. With each release and live show, I watched the RX Bandits band just stride when getting better and better and give birth to some of the best music that will forever stick with me and be passed down. It goes without saying that missing the band’s Hoodwinked set of Fugazi covers at this year’s Bamboozle will be regrettable for years to come. A tiny itch in the back of my mind.

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Like it or not, death eventually gets a chance to wrap its bony little fingers around every living thing. Bands, however, are fortunate enough to have some wiggle room with their time of expiration. The current status of Rx Bandits exemplifies this idea. In April, the Seal Beach, California-based four-piece announced that it’d embark on its last tour this summer—but by all indicators, the group won’t actually be gone for good as much as it’ll exist in the blurry state of “indefinite hiatus.” 

Still, this move does close the chapter on some 15 years of heavy touring and intriguing twists. Starting out as a rather innocuous ska/punk band, the Bandits gradually morphed into an inventive batch of prog-rock/reggae players, reveling in increasingly abstract imagery and eventually shelving the horns entirely. The band’s last album, 2009’sMandala, took its name from a Sanskrit term representing the cycle of life—a choice emphasizing the band’s natural sonic progression. With the act on its way out (however temporarily), now’s the time to see Rx Bandits, as it stops at Emo’s tonight, June 29, with Maps & Atlases, Zechs Marquise, and Happy Body Slow Brain. Before the band heads into the murky unknown, The A.V. Club caught up with guitarist-keyboardist Steve Choi to discuss spontaneity, boulders, and the question he’s never been asked.

The A.V. Club: In the past, you’ve spoken repeatedly about how the band hasn’t made any conscious decisions about its direction, instead letting things happen gradually. Why does the idea of evolution appeal to you so much, as opposed to carrying out an idea that’s already been decided?

Steve Choi: I feel like we try to base a lot of our creative philosophy on the natural laws of the world. In this case, we all trust in each other’s abilities and what we bring to the table. As songwriters, Matt [Embree] and I have the capabilities to make complete songs and dictate what everyone plays and that sort of thing, but I really feel like that wouldn’t be maximizing our potential. While there are cases here and there [of things] Matt and I have done completely on our own, it would be not maximizing the sound to not have that sort of spontaneous collaboration—because once you get into that territory, you’re dealing with the subconscious. When you deal with jamming and improvisation, you’re dealing with a different part of your brain. The ideas that come out of that, more often than not, work out to be really great for us. Our approach is to write a framework and create sounds, but within the boundaries of the song, utilize all the free space we have, metaphorically speaking, [by] exercising these spontaneous ideas and even turning mistakes into parts that in that realm aren’t really mistakes.

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For over a decade, the iconic and metamorphic rock group RX Bandits have been blessing the music scene with their innovative and visionary sound. Fusing multiple styles such as reggae, rock, soul, jazz and ska has allowed RX Bandits to create a new form of music and inventive writing that is comparable to other infamous acts such as The Police and The Band in the sense of having an uncanny musical ability to create melodic melting pots. Ever since their second major release, Progress, RX Bandits have continuously pushed the envelope of modern rock music and turned the scene on its ear so as to hear them better. With such songs as “Sell You Beautiful”, “Overcome (The Recapitulation)” and “To Our Unborn Daughters”, RX Bandits have chosen their music to be a vessel of not just social commentary but of intimate rehabilitation. Songs like “Never Slept So Soundly”, “Only For The Night” and “In Her Drawer” write as if they were of eluded adorations and past loves that have been succumbed to dissolution but if one pays more attention to the personal struggle within the artistically-crafted songwriting, it is difficult to ignore that there is a much more personal conflict trying to be conveyed.
 

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This is a long time coming, for sure. it’s hard for me to talk about those damn bandits without gushing like i’m 16 again, but i’ll try to manage. i got the chance to interview a band who i’ve been listening to since the year 2001. it’s always nice to be able to connect with some of the artists you’ve looked up to for so long.

anyway, i won’t waste too much time. hit the interview for chris tsagakis and joe troy’s thoughts on mandala , touring, dvd releases, chris sheets and a lot more.

Roshan Bhatt, weworemasks.com: First off, just wanted to say thanks for talking to us. I’ve been a huge fan for a long time and I know my co-bloggers are as well.

Chris [Tsagakis], RX Bandits: Hey, thanks a lot man.

Joe [Troy], RX Bandits: Of course. It’s a pleasure.

WWM: Alright, well let’s get started. How’s tour going? You’re only about a couple weeks in, right?

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