When Matthew Embree sings, “She lives without emotion/It makes me better, but only for the night,” on the song, “Only For The Night,” the RX Bandits lead singer couldn’t be speaking any more directly about the way he is. He couldn’t have been speaking more poignantly about the way his band of 16 years is. Each and every bit of music that these men play is charged with emotion, an energy that comes out of love and concern. It’s the sort of red, smoking hot passion that, if touched would scorch. You’d smell burning flesh, something like a disgusting hog cooking over a bed of charcoal. There are flares aplenty in the ways that Embree and his mates operate. There are all kinds of reasons to be agitated, to feel as if we’re being wronged and hurt. The Seal Beach, California, band began playing almost two decades ago, but turned a dramatic corner in 2001, with the release of “Progress,” an album in which they announced themselves as a significant band, with heady ideas and a sound that wasn’t merely a dabbling in ska and reggae sounds - the kind of trifle that any high school or college-aged pothead with an iconic Bob Marley poster up on their wall as an overseeing mentor - but was serious work of art. It was a record that was rock solid in its focus, its musical ambition and in its emboldened spirit. It felt a little bit like a minor revolution, and maybe it was just a personal revolution - some kind of awakening - but either way, we suddenly started hearing this band for something more than it used to be. Even today, the songs on it’s latest albums, “Mandala” and “…And The Battle Begun,” are steeped in such magnificent power struggles that they get us fired up to the point of no return. The songs are vaguely political, obviously carrying with them a more pointed viewpoint, but one that comes off as being all-inclusive. Embree, with his very unique singing style, makes us feel repressed. He makes us feel like his causes - whatever they may be - are our causes and we need to take to the streets, or at least live more lovingly in our own personal bubbles and hope to hell that it spreads and spreads and spreads. It seems as if the suggestion is just to be kinder and more pleasant toward everyone else. It’s about not belittling others and just letting them live their own lives, like you’d like to live yours. So much of the RX Bandits message comes down to forgetting or ignoring those petty grievances that are always going to be out there, if for no other reason than because we all know that shit’s hard enough as it is. Embree sings, “Look the other way and say it was love/That she was just someone to waste my life with,” and it hits us that those times that some people might say we wasted, were really the ones that we’d hang our hats on. It could be worse than to have a gravestone that said, “Here lies someone that many preferred to waste their time with.” It’s something to aspire to. Let everyone waste their lives in whatever way they choose, so long as it doesn’t hurt anyone else.

Words by Sean Moeller, Illustration by Johnnie Cluney, Recording engineered and mastered by Matt Olive

Matthew Embree’s project with Lisa Papineau called  ME & LP will be joining friends and label mates Good Old War on all their headlining West Coast shows in support of their debut EP called Chez Raymond.  Make sure to get tickets in advance and always check with the venues for exact start times. 

GOOD OLD WAR / ME&LP 16 Nov – San Diego, CA @ Anthology 17 Nov – San Luis Obispo, CA @ Downtown Brew 18 Nov – San Francisco, CA @ Bottom of the Hill 19 Nov – Los Angeles, CA @ Troubadour 

Zechs Marquise are touring with Thursday, Maylene & The Sons of Disaster, and Native as well as headlining some dates in November / December. Unfortunately their own Matt Wilkson will have to miss the December shows. So our own  Steve Choi will be taking his place playing guitar on all the December dates below 12/1 - 12/10.

ZECHS MARQUISE LIVE11/15  Houston, TX @ Fitzgerald’s - Upstairs11/16  New Orleans, LA @ Howlin’ Wolf Den11/18  Chapel Hill, NC @ Local 50611/19  Greenville, NC @ Tipsy Teapot11/20  Washington, DC @ DC911/21  Philadelphia, PA @ Kung Fu Necktie11/22  Allston, MA @ O’Brien’s Pub11/23  New York, NY @ Irving Plaza $11/25  Toronto, ON @ The Opera House $11/26  Pittsburgh, PA @ Altar Bar $11/27  Milwaukee, WI @ The Pabst Theater $11/28  Cleveland Heights, OH @ Grog Shop $11/30  Atlanta, GA @ The Loft $12/01  Cincinnati, OH @ 20th Century Theater $ 12/02  Chicago, IL @ Bottom Lounge $ 12/03  Pontiac, MI @ iLounge (at Clutch Cargos) $ 12/04  Rochester, NY @ Montage Music Hall $ 12/06  St Louis, MO @ The Firebird 12/07  Lawrence, KS @ Jackpot Music Hall12/08  Dallas, TX @ Bryan Street Tavern12/09  Austin, TX @ Antone’s Night Club12/10  San Antonio, TX @ Studio 13$ w/ Thursday, Maylene & The Sons of Disaster, NativeBold dates w/ Steve Choi on Guitar for Matt Wilkson

Orange County genre transcending band RX Bandits delivered an ear assaulting, heart tugging and cardio heavy last ever performance in San Francisco. This show was truly special, and everyone in attendance knew it as they belted out lyrics memorized long ago and collided with one another in the pit. This band has grown from a third wave ska band into a group with eclectic progressive rock, punk and world music influences, and they’ve amassed a giant following of loyal fans over 15 years of excessive touring. The intense energy of their live show has a magnetic pull that keeps bringing people back to experience their music again and again, and this was the last chance to be a part of a RX Bandits show.

El Paso prog rock outfit Zechs Marquise opened up the night with a set of heavy jams. Marcel Rodriguez-Lopez, keyboardist for the Mars Volta, plays drums in this band alongside his bass playing younger brother, Marfred. Experimental rock juice must run through this family’s blood, as they grinded out song after song of complex drum parts, distorted muddy bass lines, metric guitar riffs, and melodic keyboard accents. All of these sounds intertwined with each other seamlessly, even while conforming to ever-changing time signatures. Zechs Marquise was a good choice to open the show, and the audience seemed to be in a trance while they nodded their heads to the multi-faceted sounds that came from the stage.

This trance was shattered by the time RX Bandits were about to take the stage. Chants of “RXB” melted away into cheers as frontman Matt Embree and the rest of the band took the stage and swung right into an adrenaline boosting set of songs pulled from their last three albums in mostly chronological order. “VCG III” and “Consequential Apathy” were played off of their 2001 release Progress, and they continued with a sampling of tracks off of the subsequent 2003 album, The Resignation.

The energy on the dance floor had been very high all night, but it got kicked up another notch during crowd favorites “Dinna-dawg” and “Decrescendo”. Fans yelled out lyrics in unison with Embree, and the dance floor grew more physical with the addition of many colorful mosh pit residents, including big shirtless sweaty guys, a couple who somehow could continuously make out while violently swinging each other around, and more surprisingly, a group of people that would daringly ballroom dance with each other through this precarious area when the floor opened up. I’ve always noticed that crowds at RXB shows are full of really friendly and happy people, and they create a very welcoming form of chaos.

The band played brief down-tempo jams in between various songs, and these small moments highlighted other musical talents that are not the focus in many of the full-length compositions. It’s neat to hear an organ solo from multi-instrumentalistSteve Choi, or a quiet detailed drum beat from percussionist Chris Tsagakis. Another mellow song in the set was the reggae based “Apparition” that turned into a swaying sing along. Embree also engaged the audience in his politically charged song “Overcome” in a call and response singing session, and the venue was filled with a vibe of togetherness.

If the first set was energetic, then the encore was explosive. I’ve seen RX Bandits many times in the past ten or so years, and I can say that I’m always surprised at how beautifully crafted and amazing their encores are. They started off by playing a selection of songs off their most recent album …And the Battle Begun. The last of these tracks was “Only for the Night”. This song started out as a normal performance, but then Embree and Choi joined Tsagakis on auxiliary drum sets and pounded out heavy, overlapping jungle beats. After minutes of this, all the other instruments gradually came back in, starting with horn solos and working their way up to a full band version of the chorus once more.

After that massive sound breakdown, Embree switched gears into a gentle rendition of Manu Chao’s “Clandestino,” which I thought was a really cool choice of songs to cover. Embree mentioned at this point that he was just trying to hold it together until the show was over, and it was the first time he had even acknowledged that it was their last performance. The last chords of “Clandestino” drifted away and all the sudden the band snapped back into the chorus of “Only for the Night,” bringing the encore full circle. After that last hurrah, all the band members came together for a huge group hug, took a final bow, and left the stage to the lasting cheers of an elated audience.

The RX Bandits had a great run, and the crowd at this show definitely gave them an awesome send off. The energy was through the roof, and people were still singing as they walked out the doors. Their entire fan base will be sad to see them go, but it’s a good bet that their talents will continue to be channeled into a variety of new projects that we can all look forward to.RX Bandits, Zechs Marquise :: 08.07.11 :: Regency Ballroom :: San Francisco, CA - by Annelise Poda

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.A little over a year ago today, I was sitting in the back of the Rx Bandits’ tour bus on the second night of their summer tour. What was about to take place was an interview between Matt Embree and I. This was not the first interview I had conducted with Embree, but it would be my last to this day. The interview was a tough one to swallow, but it was at times inspirational. But in the moment, it was downright devastating. After forty minutes of quite an interview, I was left a bit hollow. Why? I was essentially told that the future of the RX Bandits was undetermined and on shaky ground.

Interview from March 2010Writer’s Note: I chose not to run the entire interview, but Matt did say some things that were more than worth pulling as quotes that I wished to share with youWhen asked about the legacy of the band: “Music is the oldest form of communication. It pre-dates language. That’s what it’s about for me. It’s not about being a millionaire or being famous. To me, it’s about gaining the respect from people whose respect I deem important, and in doing so not hurting anyone, not stepping on anyone along the way, not treating anyone badly whether it’s opening bands or fans or anyone I meet. What’s important to me is communicating through the music. To try to say something, but ultimately get people to think for themselves - not to agree with me, but to think for themselves. Try and just raise the level of awareness that it’s not us versus them. It’s just us…I want to bring people together and make them feel like they’re part of our community, because they are. To create that kind of community vibe in their environment and in their own homes.”When asked about the band’s progression: I don’t know if it was necessary. We didn’t choose that. It just happened. We really choose to challenge ourselves. [Laughs] With every record we lose fans and gain fans. We lose fans because they want the older sound, and we gain fans because they hear the newer stuff and like it. It’s something new to them. Some people might think it’s detrimental to your career. Career-wise, maybe it is, but we don’t get exponentially bigger. We slowly gain fans over time. I never set out for commercial success. I’m more interested in pushing the boundaries of music and making our own sound and making own form of creative expression. Music is just sound. Music is unique. I’m not interested in making a sound we’ve heard before… We want to push ourselves as musicians too, because music is a language that can never be mastered. You can never master music entirely. It’s something you can learn until you die. I don’t want to stop learning. You stop learning when you stop pushing yourself. If you don’t have the hunger and desire to learn more, then you just stagnate. Then what’s the point? It’s about communication. It’s about creation. You’re creating something unique. I’m not interested in dissolving in the ranks. I’m interested in pushing music in a direction its never been pushed before.On experiencing other culture’s and their influence: I love to travel just because I love my frame of reference changed and feel really humbled. Going to another culture, especially a place where you don’t speak another language…That’s one of the things I love about music the most is that ability…In a way you can play for people you can’t even speak to, but you’re communicating to them on a much deeper level without using words.Earlier this year, we were told of the band’s decision to go on indefinite hiatus.After seeing the guys plow through one of the most phenomenal sets I’ve ever seen from them, I was told that the general expectancies of albums and tours are definitely “on hiatus,” but to say there’s no “future for the band” is putting an unsolicited nail in the coffin. That night, the band chronologically brought the audience and I through album by album cuts (the set of the night consisting of the first two songs and the last of each record with others thrown in here and there), and one by one I realized not only why I stuck with the band for as long as I have been a fan, but it was an audible sense of the truest form of “progress” that hasn’t been cheaply bastardized by the general mainstream of shitty journalist like myself trying to define a band moving forward with their “art.”For me, seeing the RX Bandits (and anticipation in the weeks and month leading up to the show) is about my headway into what I can subjectively call amazing music. Not only that, the RX Bandits was the first show I was ever snuck into (though Joe Troy’s appendix was to explode that night in Baton Rouge, so Embree played a solo set) and the first big band I interviewed for my high school newspaper. I vaguely remember the four or five shitty questions I had for them, but it still dwells on my mind to this day. Even after that, I’ve had my share of interviews with the band, and each time the words and views out of their mouths express how the band built art upon exploration of not only other art, but first hand experiences - and as seen in the final tour’s openers - their closest friends.Bringing on Maps and Atlases and Zechs Marquise (and opening for a few nights, and the one I caught in particular, Happy Body Slow Brain) really shows that talent will follow and feed off of talent. Zechs’ upcoming record shows them harnessing their skills and getting to the point better, stronger and tighter just like each time I’ve see them in the last few years. What’s not to love about Maps and Atlases’ precise playing, and the awe of how careless, yet flawless they make it look to the naked eye. Even after the show, Embree and Dave Davison sat out front of the venue jamming soul and blues classics between each other in front of a small audience that stayed. There is the common thread of grand influence that flows both inwardly between the bands and their outside influences.Then there’s the guy who packed his car and was following the entire tour, looking for a place to crash each night among fans. There’s a showmanship of community among not only the bands, but the fans who appreciate the music themselves.Here’s just what some of our users had to say about the band’s impact:Community MemoriesRX Bandits were a damn good band and good people. Myself, like so many others, expanded our musical tastes and libraries thanks to rxb. Before the Welcome to the Family comp. came out, i was a snotty DTR pop-punk kid, but luckily they were featured on that mix. The ball rolled from there. - thatwasamomentThe first time I saw them was nearly 5 years ago at a bar in NYC for two dollars during the CMJ festival. Hands down, one of my favorite shows ever, so much energy and fun, and it was the first time I’d been to a show where every single person in the crowd was respectful, while still having a blast. Rx Bandits are one of the rare bands that will go down as being uplifting dudes and having equally uplifting fans. I wish I could make it to one of the farewell shows. - allthruwinterFor me, my location prevented me from ever witnessing one of my most adored bands in a live setting, & now to know I’ll never get to is pretty grim. This band more or less became the musical definition of evolution for many people, & to witness this first hand, grow up with them, was a beautiful journey. I’ll always cherish their music, their creativity, their passion, soul, drive, desire. The music had such a connection with fans everywhere, a complete magnetism to their ideals, beliefs, musical visions, artistry, & their straight up… pure awesomeness haha. I’ll always be grateful for what the Rx Bandits have shared with me, & their fans whom I consider my friends, worldwide. Cheers guys, it’s been one hell of a ride. - el_jeffe (AP.net mod)I got an RX Bandits sticker when I bought Finch’s What it is to Burn in high school, and bought Progress on a whim a few months later. The Bandits have been a band that I felt like I evolved with. Their progression always felt natural. Also, C-Gaks drumming is out of this world. - shermanologyThis band challenged me. Not only because their songs often have complex time, thoughtful lyrics, and otherwordly jams…. but because they made me see the world differently. Songs like “Sell You Beautiful”, “It’s Only Another Parasec…”, and “Overcome” have untimely themes that should appeal to every generation who has ever wanted to look at the world for what it truly is and not just face value. It’s about making a change for the better, unity,equality, and love. - bobcatbob18I understand that some of you reading this will probably just see it as a fanboy editorial and that’s completely fine, because after writing, rewriting and coming back to this for a month now, it really was meant to be an honest farewell. Maybe it’s not the RX Bandits in particular for you, but imagine if that ONE BAND that you held so personal in your collection just called it a day, how would that make you feel? This was THAT band for me. I’ve been talking a lot this past year about nostalgia and looking back at personal influence, maybe you’re too young to get it now or have yet to experience this feeling, that’s okay. Maybe that band broke up the other day, or will be destined to break up five years from now as you reflect back on 15 to 20 years down the line. Very few artists these days will hold a candle forever, and with the saturation of the market only swelling due to the Web when faced with a parallel constant touring schedule competition as well, you can’t expect your heroes to last forever. Having these guys lay down their instruments for a while (but not completely when considering their equally talented current other projects) is really my first taste of bitter acceptance of the aforementioned point.There have been so many reunions in the past two years alone, I’ve lost count - and for some of them - kind of lost interest. If in five, ten, thirty years the guys decide to get back together to create music as a unit of architects working on another well structured piece, I will be waiting as anxiously as I did when I learned of their departure. If this is the end, then I’d say they left a pretty solid catalog behind. If this is just a break, then I’ll be one of the first in anticipating the return of easily one of the best, sometimes underrated and all around progressive bands to have existed. - By Adam Pfleider for AP.NET

I must have seen her face before I fell in love when I was bornNow they hide her with a whisper It’s over

If I were to list out all the bands that I’ve ever seen live and list them in accordance to how many times I’ve dragged my ass down to some dive of a venue to see them, RX Bandits would proudly sit atop that list. Since my introduction to them back when they were just a politicized 3rd wave ska act through their growth into one of the most forward thinking acts in modern music I’ve had the honor to see them one shy of a dozen times – but it was the last two shows, two of their last three shows ever (and last in the vicinity of their southern California home) that proudly affirm how special they really are/were. Their sets at the Mayan Theater in the heart of downtown Los Angeles and two days later at the Glasshouse a half hour inland in Pomona made the previous 9 RX Bandits shows that I have attended seem reserved in comparison, which is no easy feat.

Part 1: August 4th, 2011 @ the Mayan Theater

Shows at the Mayan are always a mixed bag. On one hand the size of the venue and its stunning décor that looks ripped straight out of the intro scene of Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark add a remarkable ambiance and flair to any concert, but this is all an afterthought once the show starts and the usual shoddy and half assed mixed starts running through the house PA. That night was no different, but where the venue’s sound guy lacked the crowd was more than happy to step up to the challenge. Every song that the RX Bandits played was sung back to them at top of one thousand lungs. Their set was culled pretty much evenly from their last four albums and was played in chronological order with the exception of the band opening with “In Her Drawer” from 2006’s …And the Battle Begun. At every turn singer Matt Embree reminded the audience just how special this run of shows was for them, as if he was just as sad about the finality of it all creeping closer and closer with each passing night and each passing song. The crowd obliged his sentiments, although when he took a jab at crowd surfers early on in the night and reminded the audience again that there was “no reason to be an asshole in a reggae song” during “Apparition” it seemed to fall on deaf ears because a song later the same five or six bodies resumed passing over heads to the front every 30 seconds until the end of the set. That didn’t stop the floor of the Mayan from turning into a dance off during many of the slower songs from The Resignation and …And the Battle Begun like “Dinna Dawg” and the aforementioned “Apparition”.After an hour and half of dubby prog-punk jams it seemed as if the energy level had reached its apex but during the near 15 minute encore performance of “Only For the Night” it only seemed to build as Matt Embree and Steve Choi traded off solos that eventually broke into a percussive jam of a drum circle before building back into the song’s resounding climax. After the house lights came back on it took a while for everything to set in while equal sized hordes flew to the exits and the merch table respectively, but once outside the look on most peoples faces was bittersweet, knowing that this was the last chance they would have to see the RX Bandits.

Setlist:1. In Her Drawer2. VCG III3. Consequential Apathy4. Infection5. Sell You Beautiful6. Dinna Dawg7. Decrescendo8. …And the Battle Begun9. Apparition10. My Lonesome Only Friend11. It’s Only Another Parsec12. Bring Our Children Home or Everything Is NothingEncore13. Overcome14. Only For the Night

Part 2: August 6th, 2011 @ the Glasshouse

As RXB took the stage at the Glasshouse for what was their last southern California show, it was instantly obvious that tonight was the night that they were pulling out all the stops, as joining them on stage was something that has been absent at RX Bandits shows for the last couple of years: a brass section. They were instantly put to good use as the show opened in the same manner as it had two days before at the Mayan with “In Her Drawer” before going into some fan favorites from 2001’sProgress, but it wasn’t until the outro of “Infection” when it hit how bare these songs have sounded live since the departure of Chris Sheets a few years ago. This was the way RX Bandits was meant to be heard. The setlist was similar to that at the Mayan but the mood was completely different. Where the Mayan crowd was like a quick blast of energy, at the Glasshouse it felt as though the crowd was taking in every moment, cherishing every second as one. The band fed off of this communal vibe, with Matt forgoing the traditional Oi speech with praises of how much they love and appreciate their fans. They made good on their words as they treated those in attendance to one hell of a show. They pulled no stops as they put freeform jams and interludes into every place they would fit, making the display of virtuosity from two nights prior seem like a warm up session. The most impressive of which was the seamless transition of “Bring Our Children Home” into the brooding dub-punk of “Overcome” at the close of their set. Drummer Chris Tsagakis and bassist Joe Troy played off of each other as they slowed things down enough for Troy to usher in the instantly recognizable rolling bassline that ushers in “Overcome”. Moments later as Matt began to sing so did every voice in earshot, drowning out even the house mix coming through the PA. And just like that the band retreated. The crowd knew they would return and when they did and went in to “…And the Battle Begun” every voice in the house joined along knowing that this was their last chance and they would be damned not to be a part of it.

Setlist:1. In Her Drawer2. VCG III3. Consequential Apathy4. Infection5. Mastering the List6. Taking Chase as the Serpent Slithers7. Decrescendo8, Apparition9. My Lonesome Only Friend10. It’s Only Another Parsec11. Bring Our Children Home or Everything Is Nothing12. OvercomeEncore13. …And the Battle Begun14. Only for the Night

If anything sums up RX Bandits and their fans it’s this: at their shows when they leave the stage before the encore it’s not the usual chants of “ONE MORE SONG!” that come out of the audience. In its stead the crowd sings along a refrain of “I must have seen her face before. I fell in love when I was born. Now they hide her with a whisper. It’s over” until they take the stage once again. Sadly, the only thing that made these last couple of nights any different is that it really was over. - Adam Thomson / SputnikMusic 

RX Bandits Play July 25th at The Complex, Salt Lake City w/ Maps & Atlases and Zechs Marquise.

“Steve Choi gives interviews like he’s a politician. The RX Bandits’ guitarist/keyboardist doesn’t speak like a hypocritical scumbag of a politician, but rather a doggedly idealistic one—a guy with unwavering views and PR-friendly answers to any questions that come his way. Choi is so determined to convey a handful of certain ideas that, during a recent interview, it seemed like he was actively conducting a two-part campaign based around the image of his Long Beach, Calif.-based band.

The first part of his platform insists that RX Bandits have never made a conscious decision in altering their style. Instead, he insists, everything’s been a product of gradual evolution. “We always keep the mentality that it could go in any direction,” Choi says. “We didn’t have any views on the trajectory or where it was headed or how fast it would be heading there. It was kind of like, ‘Let it happen and keep doing it as long as it feels good and right.’?”

Later, he makes another statement that runs along the same lines: “I feel like we were where we were supposed to be at each stage in our progression.” Try to ask him a question about how the band might hypothetically sound in the future, and he won’t rattle off anything from his imagination, instead vigilantly sticking to his POV that everything is up in the air until the whole group converges in the same room.

Bands talking about the importance of naturally evolving is old hat—everyone does it. But what makes RX Bandits’ growth an especially noteworthy case is that they sound incrediblydifferent from when they started some 15 years ago, to the point that if you weren’t told that the same act made both 1997’s Those Damn Bandits and 2009’s Mandala, you probably wouldn’t catch the connection.

Originally known as The Pharmaceutical Bandits, the group’s forte was peppy ska-punk—stuff that was never outright bad, but never particularly notable, either. Then, as their discography expanded, their sound began to morph, eventually playing up an intellectual jam/prog rock vibe, tossing limited hints of reggae in there. Songs began to feature guitar solos and tangled structures instead of ska rhythms. Vocalist Matt Embree, too, started off with a pretty bare-bones voice and sounded like Sublime’s Bradley Nowell for a while, until he began developing this twisty-turny style of chanting as the years went on. After toning down their use of brass over time, the last remnants of ska in their sound were eventually wholly discarded as the group became a slim four-piece.

Now, to get to Choi’s second point: Even as RX Bandits plan to disband after fatigue from years of solid touring, their coming hiatus won’t actually mark the end for the group. In his newfound free time, Choi will take care of some composing and production-based projects rather than moving to another touring band. “We’ve talked about this among this band, and we share this sentiment where we can’t think of a better group of musicians to play with,” Choi says. “When you take who we know and compound all these experiences you had together, investing your time in the band and everything we shared together, there are more reasons [to stay with the band you have] and less replaceable experiences.”

In fact, Choi is so committed to this band that he refuses to consider the idea of closing the book on RX Bandits for good, still sounding like that optimistic politician.

“We have to keep going. Our fans are so good to us. We’ve been able to make a career for ourselves with the band doing completely and only what we want to do. I feel so lucky for that,” he says. “It would be a shame if all that ended.”

Photos from the Washington, DC show at the 9:30 Club on July 9, 2011 - thanks to Brightest Young Things for the pictures. To See all Photos of all bands and a review 

Sound Colour Vibration Interview

w/ Matt Embree and Chris Tsagakis of RX Bandits

On the edge of an indefinite hiatus, Rx Bandits are wrapping up a consistent schedule of touring with a string of summer shows. They are completing their summer tour in the place that birthed the band, Southern California. Having crafted a sound with foundations in rock, reggae, punk, and ska, Rx has evolved with every album and influenced many others in the process. With a slew of side projects (i.e. Matt Embree’s Love You Moon, Chris Tsagakis’ Technology, Embree and Tsagakis both in The Sound of Animals Fighting, Steve Choi in Machines, etc.), the group is looking to stretch new musical limbs while giving others time to rest. I sat down with longtime friends and musical partners Matt Embree (Vocals/Guitar) and Chris Tsagakis (Drums) to talk about collaborations, labels, life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. -Zack Lazar

This tour has been blown a bit out of proportion. You guys said you were going on a break, and people started saying, “they’re over, this is the farewell tour!”. But really, isn’t it more like an indefinate hiatus.

Matt Embree: That’s what it is, a hiatus. We’re not breaking up.

Chris Tsagakis: We’ve been pretty consistent with touring for a long time.

ME: We’re definitely not going to tour for a while, if ever. It’s not our last shows forever, if we were going to do that we’d like make it something really beautiful and elegant, not that we’re not. We’d do a last waltz type of thing you know, with film, and have all of our friends there.CT: It’s hard to say that we would ever have a last show ever because none of us are going to go home and be like, “well, I’m going to break my drumsticks and sell my drums and never play.”  This is our love and what we’re going to do for the rest of our lives anyways.

In any case, you guys are going to be taking a break. How does it feel right now, and how do you think that will change as you near the California shows?

ME: Already, it’s very flattering, the energy has been really great and positive, but already at shows multiple people are crying. I understand, it means a lot to me that our band… (shoulder shrug) we’re an underground band. We have amazing fans, if not the best fans I’ve ever seen. I’ve never seen a band, maybe Alkaline Trio, with more fans with tatoos. I’m not trying to sound conceited or bragging, I’m just very flattered and very honored. I write lyrics that I’m looking to connect with people, it’s just part of how I am, part of who I am. Chris and I both are introverts and I think that’s why we love music so much, because that’s part of how we connect socially. We have a small close group of friends, we’re not all social butterflies. To get back to your question, heavy. We’ve got people flying out from Japan, we have kids flying out from South America, we have kids flying down from Canada, we have kids flying from the west coast. We have kids that are following every show in California. There’s this kid outside from Guatamala, he just got his citizenship and saw us last night, and he’s going to like 10 shows. It’s like -I feel like we kind of are, even though we don’t sound like those hippy jam bands- we can fit with that in the way we play and jam. That’s why I think our fans are so amazing, they get it and they know every show is going to be different. They know it’s not supposed to just sound like the record. We feed off of them, fans are part of the show. They sing, they give us that energy and we feed off it. If the crowd is dead and weird, we’re going to be weird. They’re part of the band. It’s tough, but change is good and I embrace it. I love playing with these guys, they’re my bros. Chris and I started this when we barely had any pubes.

You’ve been a fixture in the California music and culture scene for quite some time. You guys have been together for almost two decades, what are the biggest changes that you’ve seen in the art and music scene?

ME: Wow. The way I look at it is that now, to be honest, it’s been about 11 years. Because before, Chris and I started the Pharmaceutical Bandits, and that’s something people don’t realize. Essentially we changed our sound, we knew we wanted to change our sound. What we didn’t want to do was just throw our fans away, so we decided “we’re going to start calling it RX bandits from now on.”

CT: It was about being more serious. At the beginning we were just kids who wanted to have fun and play music, it was our dream to do that. And at some point, it became like, WOW, we might be able to make a living off of this. It was like, let’s make a logo, pick a solid name, and start playing a little more serious music. The kind of music we had inside of ourselves. Not that we didn’t have ska inside of us

ME: We loved playing ska and reggae because it was really huge in our scene back home. We both were interested in dancing, and that’s something that kept in the band. Unfortunately people always seem to want to say ska, when they talk about us. Which is super bizarre because, there are these friends of ours and they have two or three ska songs but nobody ever says ska about them. Even Sublime, people didn’t so much call them ska as much as hip hop or whatever. It’s just because we came from that scene, but we’ve always kept that dance element. It was a great scene, that really helped us to mold the kind of show that’s safe and positive, and not gender specific. We have hard stuff, but we want women and men to be together and not for women to be afraid when they’re in the audience. If people want to dance rough, that’s fine. If I see women dancing rough and rocking out with them, then cool. As long as it’s not a situation where a bunch of dudes are running around and all the girls have to hang back because they’re afraid of getting hit. That’s not fair.

CT: The thing that bums all of us, is that there used to be so many more independent venues. There used to be tons all over Califoria. Now it’s like if you want to play in any big city, there are few options. There’s the clear channel options, which for a lot of people are necessary evils.

ME: It’s like sometimes, you can’t play somewhere cool if you don’t play Livenation. There are certain cities that Livenation has a stranglehold over and there’s nothing you can do, but we try as hard as we can to never support that company.

CT: It used to be that we would literally have friends our age, or younger, who’d open up venues. We’d do it in a house or an old strip mall somewhere. It doesn’t seem like that really happens much anywhere. It’ll probably come back, it goes in waves.

ME: It was also legislation. There were all of those skinheads going around starting fights.

How did the Sound of Animals Fighting come together? How did it go from a random experiment to what it is now?

CT: Rich Balling has been behind turning it into the phenomenon you might say, maybe that’s too big of a word. I refered to it as an art project. We were just like, let’s throw some stuff down, let’s experiment with shifts, let’s just do something. Rich took it, ran with it, and before we knew it…

ME: Rich was essentially the label and the manager, and his contacts, like I had never seen Anthony [Green] but he was in a So Cal band, Saosin. Rich had an inkling that Anthony didn’t want to do hardcore stuff anymore, and he loved his voice. So literally I wasn’t even supposed to be in the project. It was just supposed to be kind of this superband sort of thing.

CT: in the beginning Rich had me come down and I played drums for like 5 hours, and he recorded it. At that point I don’t think he had any kind of plan in mind to tell me, it was just “play drums”, and later we’ll figure out the rest. I don’t think anyone had any kind of big plan in mind at all.

ME: We just thought it’d be cool. What happened was that Chris did these jump parts that were just insane. The other thing was the other guitar players we had in mind from some hardcore and screamo bands, none of them could play to it. None of them knew what to do, so they sent me the ProTools file, and I recorded all of the guitar parts in four days.

CT: We’ve always had this connection.

ME: This telepathic, bizarre…when you’ve played forever that’s how it is. From the first day I played with Chris, I felt a connection, I don’t know if he did. It was like this guy likes all of the same music as me.

CT: We just started playing and it was like, “it goes like this,” and I knew when you were going to change. The music kind of wrote itself.

ME: Rich told me, “Hey man you got four days.” So I just got in there. There are some parts that are just crazy, and it was like, ok if Chris wants to take it there I’ll take it there too. It was kind of rag tag, and it all just came together. On the last record, Ocean and the Sun, Chris and I just recorded it all live in a studio in my garage, and we over-dubbed all these other parts. Chris played keyboard and stuff.

CT: The actual first song, was a loop that I made from a jam that we did.

ME: Like in a real dirty room backstage somewhere.

CT: I threw some extra keyboards on, Anthony sang on it, and it turned out to be a cool song. There were a few other ones on there that were experimental stuff I did with drums and gave to [Matt], similar to first album. Like “Uzbekistan”, and that one that [Matt] sang on.

ME: Yeah, Rich was like, “Anthony didn’t sing on that one for some reason, can you sing on it?”.

You guys were really secretive about the project, and that was at least in part due to record company obligations. How was that a part of the creative process?

ME: It was to avoid preconceived notions. Because as lame as it is, rock music snobs are like, “Oh, it’s someone from Rx Bandits”, or some of these scenester-heads are like, “I’m not going to listen to that because it’s going to be lame”.

CT: We had more ska connotation attached to our name at that point.

ME:We had just barely done The Resignation.

This country has seen a lot of changes, both sociocultural and musically, as you’ve grown together. Given your music’s outspokenness regarding political issues, I’d assume your personal political dialogue has also evolved over time. Has it?

ME: Funny thing is, we don’t really talk about politics much. We all kind of agree with each other, so at practice sometimes we’ll say something like, “Did you hear about this shit”. But we’re all preaching to the choir. We all feel things that are liberal, we all think things that are conservative.

CT: Liberal is a word that has its own connotation, but it’s almost more like…futurism. At some point someone was like, ”Black people shouldn’t be slaves”, that person was thinking ahead of everybody else. I dont’ think that we necessarily feel that this is our opinion and it’s a political decision about this and that, it’s more like there are certain issues that are just going to go away eventually. Like, injustices and general wrongs in the world. It seems just like a “doy” idea.

ME: If we want to continue existing on this planet, there are specific things that we need to do. I think anyone can see that. We need to stop destroying our planet, because it gives us life. We need to stop treating other human beings like they’re not other human beings, because we’re all one collective culture.

CT: Everyone is so misinformed. Someone is saying that something is going to be good for you, or to people that are living in poverty, “If we take away health care and cut teachers in classes and cut funding for social programs, that that’s actually good for you and it’s going to make your life better.” People actually believe that. That not having an education doesn’t matter.

ME: That to me seems, like Chris said, very “doy.” Let’s be honest, if we were all created equal we need to all have the same opportunities. America is obviously an economic superpower, but if we don’t make some serious changes we won’t be. Part of it is that we don’t seem to have any respect for jobs, we throw the American dollar around… I don’t want to get into the whole thing about it. It’s like Socialism, like that movie Bulworth, “Socialism, say that dirty word”. If you look at the rest of the first world, like Japan and Europe, they’re a socialist democracy, but they’re capitalist. The only other thing I’ll say is life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness is in our constitution. I believe that means no one should have to pay for healthcare. That’s the most nickel and dimming business in the world, like, you pay if you get sick. Un-fucking-believeable, deplorable, that should be illegal. We have the knowledge and the ability and the power to heal people but, we don’t if they don’t have money? It’s insane. Access to education, all people should have access to education. I’m not saying colleges shouldn’t make money, but there should be a way that every person is able to get whatever information for free, period.

CT: It’s funny because it’s one of the oldest of tricks in the book for anyone that wants keep power. For thousands of years, keep people stupid and you can do whatever you want. How are we still making that mistake?

ME: Fundamentalist Islam is the perfect example, the lack of education keeps these people angry and focused on violence.

CT: Fighting each other, and not those that they’re oppressed by.

ME: Exactly, fighting the other oppressed. And the pursuit of happiness along with life and liberty is, to me, no one should starve. If you live in a first world country, your government makes tons of money from taxes, and no one needs to starve. I think America does a pretty good job of that. I think it’s all social.

CT: I think the thing is that we obviously are politically minded, but we’re not doing it to try to engage in an argument. The more you say this stuff, the more people come back and try to argue with you. We’re not trying to force people to think our way.

ME: If anything, we just want people to think for themselves. Shit, don’t agree with me. Go out and live your life, go and have adventures, go and meet people, go and see what you think is right.

With such consistent touring and so many other projects on you guys’ plates, you have to be recording on the road. What recording equipment do you guys bring along on tour?

CT: We can’t bring a lot.

ME: I bring my ProTools rig, both of us bring keyboards, midi controllers.

CT: Microphones.

ME: My iPhone has a bunch of recording programs on it for samples, I love field recordings.

Matt, you’ve done colab work with both Zach Hill and Lisa Papineau. Can you talk a little about the process of working with these musicians?

ME: With Zach we just decided to jam for a few days. With Lisa, I flew out to France, and I recorded part of one song at her flat in Paris which is in the Bastille district which is beautiful. She lived above this sports bar when France was in the World Cup and they were playing Mexico. It was the most beautiful apartment. Then her friend’s Uncle Raymond passed, we house sat the house, and were basically living in this 500-year old farm house in the middle of an old Roman village. It was in the middle of wheat fields, rapeseed, peas as far as the eye can see, like an ocean. Her friend, Matthieu, his grandfather was also named Raymond. In fact the living room where we listened to the dailies everyday, Raymond, who was a famous jazz musician played with Coltrane, Miles, all these cats, Dexter Gordon. They all jammed in that room. We recorded on Raymond’s piano, so that’s how the album came to be known as Chez Raymond. It’s to commemorate his death, but also where we were at. It’s amazing in a lot of the songs the ideas came from these dreams that I had. It was an old house, and in these dreams I felt like there was a ghost around, and they were just, it was strange. These sounds would just show up on tracks unexplained. I don’t know how to explain it, but we used them, we used them in loops. I don’t know if it was the spirit of Ray, but it was pretty cool. Then we finished out in East LA at her house. Even stranger, it’s owned by a guy named Ray who she’s good friends with. There were tons of dogs. There were like 5 dogs in her house in East LA. It was great.

Do you think you’ll work with her again?

ME: Yes

You guys have been with a couple labels. In this time of record labels collapsing and the industry having to completely reconfigure itself, how does Sargent House stack up?

CT: It’s working out with them. Sargent House is pretty DIY and Cathy, she does everything herself.

ME: She’s really hands on. There are employees, Chase, Mark, and Brittany, they all do a really great job. Half of them toured with us, half of them cut their teeth by being on tour with us. Cathy is very passionate about music, and Sargent House has done a lot to help us in our career.

CT: It is very personal. We were on another label at one point, and they were owned by MCA. So, there have been points where we were connected to labels and you meet random people. You don’t really know anyone. There’s no actual hands on…

ME: They don’t know anything about it, they don’t know about music, and they don’t care about it. There were so many people at Universal Music Group that didn’t know anything about music. I don’t think I met a single person who even knew how to play an instrument. It was like, why would I even want to associate with someone who didn’t know even a little about rock music?

CT: It’s definitely nice in that regard. It’s small and personal. Whatever we’re doing we can always talk to Cathy or somebody else there. And they’re all like friends.

Tim Stedman (former vice-president and creative director of MCA records) did the art direction for Progress. He took the “forget this” path, and stepped out of the record industry. How was he to work with as a large-label rep?

ME: He was actually one of the guys that I liked a lot. He was one of my favorite people there.

CT: Those are the kind of people that end up changing the corporate labels.

ME: Or just end up going somewhere else.

CT: If the record labels survive, it will be because people like that change it.

Emo’s was a sad site on Wednesday. By all appearances the place was hopping just like any other show on any other night but under the surface everyone was thinking the same sad thought: I wish RX Bandits would stick together and stay on the road. When the band announced in April that the 36 dates they are playing this summer would be their last, fans mourned what they thought to be the end of one of the most forward-thinking bands of the last 10 years. It turns out this is a bit premature. The band is not breaking up entirely, they’re just pulling a Beatles-circa-1966 move. As RX Bandits, the members energy will be channelled to writing new music without the intention of ever performing it live. Marfred Rodriguez-Lopez, bass player for psychedelic jammers Zech’s Marquise, reminisced about the first time his band toured with the Bandits in 2009, saying it was only after playing with them that he realized how much his band needed to step up its live game. The El Paso native felt that the Bandits had sent out a challenge and he felt compelled to respond. Rodriguez-Lopez and Co., have evidently taken that challenge to heart. After openers Happy Body Slow Brain finished their set of ethereal indie rock, Zech’s took the stage for a 40-minute for an extended spastic, tripped out jam session. Any review of Zech’s Marquise must make note of each member’s virtuosity. The band left no note unturned and no beat unplayed as they alternated between unrestrained brutality and understated beauty. The set was composed entirely of songs from the band’s forthcoming album Getting Paid, which is set for a September 27 release through Rodriguez Lopez Productions /  Sargent House. 

Next up were the consistent partners in crime to the Bandits, Maps & Atlases. The band’s latest effort and, unbelievably, their debut full length was released last year through indie giant Barsuk Records, the label that launched a thousand cardigan sweaters and thick rimmed glasses when they brought the world Death Cab For Cutie’s Transatlanticism in 2003. The band’s switch from Sargent House, with its roster populated by the likes of Fang Island, Tera Melos and Boris, to Barsuk, with a roster whose heaviest artist would probably still be knocked to the floor by one strum of a power chord from Fang Island’s tower of half-stacks, suits the band quite well. Maps and Atlases have always had a strange folksy vibe to their songs and on Perch Patchwerk, frontman Dave Davison’s folksy ramblings and his band’s off kilter approach to indie rock are really allowed to breathe. The band opened their set with one of Perch’s standout tracks, “Pigeon.” For the next 40 minutes the band tore through a set of unbelievably complex folk pop songs, nailing each time change and hammer on, while Davison’s warble led the whole weird procession forward. The band gets better each time I see them and all I can say is that they need to be seen to be believed. Davison and Erin Elders fingers need to be studied closely to understand how ridiculous this music is. Shiraz Dada and Chris Hainey deal in some special brand of rhythmic ESP, with their groove locked together with unbelievable tightness. If you get the chance, watch this band. The Bandits were up next and if there was any doubt about how serious these guys are about cashing in their frequent flyer miles and settling down for life off the road, their performance should have put those doubts to rest. I had seen the band twice before this show and the band gave solid, energetic performances each time but everything seemed to be turned up by about 50 percent on Wednesday night. Matt Embree threw his body around the stage with a little more reckless abandon than anything I had previously seen from him. He leaned out over the crowd and yelled lyrics into their faces as if it were microphones and not people who were pressed to the edge of the stage. The band opened with one of their signature jam sessions with multi-instrumentalist Steve Choi joining Chris Tsagakis on drums and Embree operating a sampler. Once the noise subsided, the band launched into “VCG3” from Progress and the crowd went nuts. The audience at Emo’s returned all the love and energy the band put into their set, as if thanking the Bandits for the previous 15 years of live memories.The Rx Bandits have dropped jaws all over the world and those lucky enough to have caught them share a special bond. If the band is as serious as they appear to be about focusing on their other projects and turning RX into a studio band, the world has lost one of its great live performers. But if the bands who opened the show are any indication, live music is certainly not doomed. Performances like the one Maps & Atlases offered up prove that there are still those bands who can “send out the challenge.

Review by Brett Thorne. Photos by Kristie Bocanegra. 

To hear Steve Choi of RX Bandits tell it, there was never a proper sit-down about changing the sound of the SoCal third-wave ska group formed in 1995. There was no mission statement, no formal realization, no heady, late-night conversation over a bowl and brews.

“It was just this unspoken thing where it wasn’t about ska anymore,” the RX guitarist said in a phone interview just a few days before heading out on tour. “It was about deliberately pledging dis-allegiance to any genre and playing whatever the hell we wanted to.”

The change wasn’t so apparent on 2001’s Progress, but just the title of 2003’s The Resignation signified that the band was aiming for a paradigm shift, as if surrendering themselves to their latest inclinations, even if doing so might shake up their foundations. They were listening to Joan of Arc, Refused, At the Drive-In, and “always-and-forever for us, Fugazi,” Choi said.

The Resignation’s cover art doesn’t even bear the cartoony, nostalgic early 1960s imagery often seen on late ’90s ska and swing records. It looks like a Tool album. Lyrically, the record opens considering the insanity induced by a beauty-obsessed media culture (“Sell You Beautiful”) and closes with raging punk heartache chronicled in a harmonic minor scale (“Decrescendo”).

“That’s a song I wrote modeled after a flamenco concerto by Federico Mompou,” Choi said.

Since that time, RX have delivered two more albums derivative of heavy punk rock that incorporate a wealth of other styles, including dancehall, Latin, jam, psychedelia, glam, and jazz. One YouTube comment under the video for “Hope is a butterfly, No Net Its Captor” from Mandala reads, “It’s like Mars Volta had sex with Muse.”

When Choi joined RX a decade ago, he was itching to incorporate the musical experiences of his childhood. He began playing classical piano at four, cello at nine, joined youth symphony at 10, played bass in a jazz band at 12, and fell in love with both the electric guitar and Nirvana in his teens. Being in a hip local ska band with an established base was great, but he and his bandmates were interested in trying something more eclectic by ’01. Breaking out of that did not go easy.

“There’s a lot of years in that transition before we were able to break out where we were alone,” Choi said. “No new people would listen to us because they thought we were a ska band. No people who liked us before wanted to listen to us because we weren’t what we once were. Brick by brick, show by show, broke-ass day after broke-ass day, [we] just kept at it because we loved it.”

For every fan baffled by how many notes they were playing, RX Bandits eventually gained someone else appreciative of their new creative venture. “Thank you, to those people,” Choi said.

After five increasingly eclectic albums and 16 years on tour, RX Bandits announced on April 12 that their 2011 summer tour would be their last. Choi clarified the band’s status as going into “indefinite hiatus.” Strangely, he’s quite casual about it, as if he’s not closing out a legacy.

“I’m having the same anxiety I normally have for any tour, really,” he said. “For leaving your bed. Leaving your home. And your friends and family. It’s not set in stone that it’s our last tour forever. We have some plans to do some last shows overseas, as well. None of that is totally solidified, but there’s a good likelihood that they’ll be happening after this U.S. tour. I’m feeling excited about it, too, because it’s fun to go out there and play some shows.”

Choi extolled the growing experiences of being on the road, of broadening his worldview and building relationships with fans. But the few cons — particularly creating big gaps in his relationships with friends, family, and his “very loving girlfriend”— are enough to make both he and the band look forward to new musical projects at home. He wouldn’t go into specifics, but he told fans to “keep their ear to the ground” because the RX Bandits aren’t quitting music and fading into obscurity.

With all that said, the Current asked him what message he’d like to immortalize in print to his bandmates, looking back on 16 years together.

“[Our career] is a real testament to the connection that we have to each other,” he said. “To have accomplished so much and still have the level of respect that we do for each other. I really appreciate how different everyone is. Everyone else in the band has always helped me grow. We’ve all helped each other grow.”  - By Adam Villela Coronado  

RX Bandits live from Howlin’ Wolf in New Orleans. July 3, 2011 photos by Tyler Russell. 

RX Bandits recorded a Daytrotter Session while in Austin. Stay tuned for when it will go live. 

Matthew Embree, RX Bandits

The RX Bandits sound fuses elements of rock, reggae, ska, and jazz.  Their multi-dimensional approach should come as no surprise, though, once you understand the creative process of songwriter Matt Embree. He writes all the time, and not just songs: Embree is an avid poet. And like any good poet, he finds inspiration everywhere.  He doesn’t necessarily seek out inspiration, but he puts himself in situations where it comes easily: he’s gone on a 2,000 mile motorcycle ride, and he’s hitchhiked all throughout Central America. When you engage with your environment as much as Embree does - whether it’s the physical environment of the wilderness or the people in a small village in Costa Rica - inspiration is easy to come by. And the songs that are the product of that creative process are rich in their influences.

RX Bandits are now on their farewell summer tour, though according to band member Steve Choi, they aren’t breaking up.  Rather, they are just doing their last tour.  So have no fear, RX Bandits fans, they will not disappear. Read my interview with Matt Embree after the video.

   What other creative outlets do you have besides songwriting?I do a lot of writing. I write poetry and short stories and just a lot of stream of consciousness stuff.  I’ve written a bunch of books of poetry that I mainly read to friends or women I’m in love with who will appreciate it.  But most of it is just for me.  I’ve been approached to have one of the books published, and a few of my poems have been published in compilations.  Do you have aspirations to reach a higher level as a poetAbsolutely. Always.How does being a poet affect your songwriting?As a lyricist, something I notice often is the lyrical quality and wordplay of all writers, not just poets.  Like Tom Robbins.  He’s one of the best writers when it comes to powerful opening paragraphs.  His openers are amazing. In Jitterbug Perfume and Still Life with Woodpecker, it’s like a song in the way the words dance, especially if you read them aloud.  He uses so many literary devices. I feel like I’ve read his opening paragraphs so many times, much more than the rest of the books.  The same goes for Kurt Vonnegut. His use of language is amazing.That kind of stuff influences me musically because I don’t like to be constrained by rhyming. Writing lyrics can be difficult.  Music comes out of me easily, and I often feel like I’m a vessel to whatever creative energy is out there. On my solo album, a couple of the songs literally began as poems.  I just took the poetry and wrote the music around it with some really interesting chord progressions that were not your normal songwriting style. Most people write songs with repeating parts, but there are a lot of RX songs, and in my other projects, where there are no repeating parts or rhymes.  Those are the songs that started as poems. Are there times when you start writing something, and you’re not sure if it’s going to be a poem or a song?No, 99% of the time when I’m writing poetry, it’s not intended to be music.  But sometimes I’ll go back to something and it will strike me.  I’ll start messing with it to see if it can become a song.When you sit down to write anything, why do you choose one mode of expression over the other?A lot of the time there’s an experience I want to remember.   And other times I don’t have any idea what I’m going to write about. With any creative inspiration, if words start coming to my head, that’s when I decide if they’d fit better either into a song or into a poem.Being a poet takes tremendous discipline.  Does that discipline also follow you in your songwriting?Yes.  Being diligent with your craft is important as a writer.Do you have a routine, or do you not sit down to write until the muse hits you?Sometimes I go through stretches like that, where I don’t write for a while.  But I play music every day.  And I also try to write a song every day.  Not always in its entirety, and not with complete lyrics. A lot of times the melody comes into my head, then words and sounds form themselves around that melody.  I feel like my brain is trying to say something.    I want to make a record called Thirty Days,Thirty Songs, where I record one song every day for thirty days, but I’m usually too busy to put that much time into it.  Sometimes artists have amazing bursts of creativity, but I find that when that happens, not all of what comes out is good.  Heck, I even feel that way about the White Album.  I mean, that’s a great record, but it didn’t need to be a double record.  I feel like that’s blaspheme to say that about the Beatles, though.  I want to self-regulate so that I don’t feel the need to finish something that just isn’t going anywhere. But as a writer, you can’t be afraid to write badly.  That fear can make you blocked and it also won’t make you a better writer.I would go so far as to say you have to write shitty stuff if you want to be good. If I go through a period where I haven’t written poetry in a while, when I sit down, with the first couple of poems I’m really struggling to find my style, my voice.  Then it comes easier as I write more.  It’s no different than playing an instrument.  Frank Zappa, after doing a tour, would not play the guitar for six months, so that when he picked it up again, he would have a completely different view of it.  He’d almost be relearning it.  I like that idea of approaching your craft, whatever it is, from a new and fresh perspective.How hard do you work to be inspired?I work hard at it, but I don’t go and do things because I think they will inspire me to make good music. I’m fortunate to have the time to do things I love to do, and one of those is travel.  That’s given me a lot of inspiration musically.  Not just in listening to music from other cultures, but because the way I travel is unique.  I just got back from a 2,000 mile motorcycle trip with one of my best friends. We put all of our camping gear on the backs of our bikes.  We had no plan. We’d look at a map each morning, point at a place we thought might be beautiful, and go.  We really opened ourselves up to anything.  Most of the time we pulled off onto a dirt road, went into the wilderness somewhere, and camped.In other countries, I love to hitchhike.  I love to meet different characters, and hitchhiking is a beautiful way to interact with people.  I always bring my guitar with me, and one of the times I was in in Costa Rica in a small town with one dirt road. Someone on a bus I was on saw my guitar and asked me if I would play guitar in their restaurant in return for a place to stay. Here I am in the middle of the jungle, but that’s one of the beautiful ways that the universe conspires to take you places, both physically and creatively. I slept in a corrugated tin shack next to the restaurant with a big hole sawed out of the side for a window, and it was one of the best experiences of my life.  That kind of thing is inspirational. So I seek adventure and the feeling of freedom and a feeling that I’m living.All that travel gives you obvious song ideas, but do you write about your experiences or do you write about the thoughts that go through your head as you are alone?Writing about my thoughts is a huge part of it. Especially riding a motorcycle, when it’s just you and your thoughts.  I have been trying to hone my skills as a storyteller in song.  The people who can do that are amazing, who write about characters and events.  That’s so hard to do. It’s writing about the way something makes you feel.  That’s what art is. What makes a good melody?I have certain tendencies with melodies.  I love the Dorian mode, and I love the sharp sixth and the minor scale, but it’s not something I think about when I write a melody. I happened to notice that I like those melodies when I went back and noticed similarities among them.And those irresistible melodies just pop into your head?All the time, brother! Laughs.You mention that a lot of lyrics start with the melody, but how often do you write a song because you want to address a certain topic?A lot. Back in 2004 when we had just invaded Iraq and that 26 year-old contractor was beheaded, I wept when I read about it and saw the images.  I was bawling, not only for his life but for how terrible humans can be to each other because I know how beautiful we can be as well. I wrote the song “The Last Words of Nicholas Berg” that was inspired by that event.  It’s not about the event, but about my emotions.  And the times I’ve had my heart broken, it’s cathartic to write about that, too. If I’m going to be putting music out to people, I want to say something, and I want to inspire people to think.  Not necessarily to agree with me or to think like me.  I just want them to think.  Because when I hear all these terrible pop songs on the radio now, they might as well just say, “Sex sex fuck fuck.” It’s all the same feeling.  There’s no complex emotion or thought, and that’s what I aim for.Neil Finn from Crowded House told me recently that the ideal emotional state from which to write is empathy. Do you agree with that? I’d agree that it’s empathy, but sadness and hurt works too.  I swear, looking back on my relationships, it’s almost like a sabotaged a few of them because I felt like I needed to feel that pain in order to write something meaningful.When you write about that pain, is it possible that you’re too hurt to write clearly about it?It depends.  Sometimes when I’m feeling an incredible amount of sadness, I need to write to that person, even though she will never hear it.  There’s a lot of songs I wrote just for me.  If I feel like I’m too close to the pain and it comes out like I’m the victim, then I give myself some time.  But the advantage of writing about it immediately after is that it allows me to trap the pain in a song in a way that I control it.What do you do when you have writer’s block?I don’t really get it with music, but I do with poetry and lyrics.  Like any other musician, I think the idea of a muse is 100% correct, and my muse is usually a woman. I usually take a step back and write a bunch of instrumentals or I’ll pick up a new instrument, especially one that humbles me, like a mandolin or a cello.A lot of novelists tell me that they read someone else when they get writer’s block, and that act of putting someone else’s voice in their head really helps.  That’s what you are doing when you pick up another instrument.I’ve never thought of it that way, but you are absolutely right.Who are your favorite authors?I can’t even start this conversation without mentioning Kurt Vonnegut. His writing is so lyrical, and I love the way he writes about humanity. Even in the sad parts, he celebrates the experience of living. Even at my lowest points, I realize that’s the beauty of being able to exist. The second woman I was in love with got me into Vonnegut and Welcome to the Monkey House.  “Harrison Bergeron,” the second story in the book, was the first thing I read as an adult that made me cry, as did “Long Walk to Forever.”  I read it to my friend aloud the other night; reading aloud is something I like to do because it reminds me of my childhood. I started crying when I was reading it to her. But besides Vonnegut, I also really like the Beat poets, ee cummings, and Michael Connelly.

RX Bandits will be heading all Summer on tour bringing along some great friends and great bands. Maps & Atlases, Zechs Marquise and on a few dates Fang Island , Happy Body Slow Brain and The Hot Toddies. Make sure to get tickets in advance if you can. SHOW DETAILS

RX BANDITS SUMMER 2011 Jun 26 - Tempe, AZ @ Marquee * @Jun 28 - Dallas, TX @ Granada Theater * ^ @Jun 29 - Austin, TX @ Emo’s * ^ @Jun 30 - San Antonio, TX @ White Rabbit * ^ @ July 01 - Houston, TX @ Fitzgerald’s * ^ @July 03 - New Orleans, LA @ Howlin’ Wolf * ^July 05 - Orlando, FL @ The Social * ^July 06 - Orland, FL @ The Social * ^ July 07 - Ft. Lauderdale, FL @ Culture Room * ^July 08 - Atlanta, GA @ The Masquerade * ^July 09 - Washington DC @ 9:30 Club * ^ July 10-  Philadelphia, PA @ Theater of Living Arts TLA * ^ July 12 - New York, NY @ Irving Plaza * ^ SOLD OUT July 13 - New York, NY @ Irving Plaza * ^ July 14 - Cambridge, MA @ The Middle East * ^July 15- Cambridge, MA @ The Middle East  !! ^July 16 - Portland, ME @ Port City Music Hall  !! ^July 17 - Montreal, Quebec, Canada @ Cafe Campus * ^July 18 - Toronto, Ontario, Canada @ Mod Club * ^ July 20 - Detroit, MI @ Magic Stick * ^July 21- Chicago, IL @ Bottom Lounge ^  w/ Cast SpellsJuly 22 - Milwaukee, WI @ Turner Hall * ^July 23 - Lawrence, KS @ The Bottleneck * ^ July 24 - Denver, CO @ The Summit * ^ July 25 - Salt Lake City, UT @ Complex * ^July 27 - Seattle, WA @ El Corazon * ^July 28 - Portland, OR @ The Hawthorne * ^July 30 - Santa Cruz, CA @ Catalyst * ^July 31 - Sacramento, CA @ Ace Of Spades * ^ Aug 03 - Long Beach, CA @ Long Beach Arts Theater ^#Aug 04 - Los Angeles, CA @ The Mayan ^ #Aug 06 - Pomona, CA @ Glasshouse  ^ #Aug 07 - San Francisco, CA @ Regency Ballroom ^ #

* w/ Maps & Atlases^ w/ Zechs Marquise @ w/ Happy Body Slow Brain !! w/ Fang Island# w/ The Hot Toddies 

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. After Matt Embree, singer, and Steve Choi, guitar/keyboard/vocals, joined forces following the success of Progress, the musical and lyrical content have become much more personal. “Whether people thought it was experimental, progressive or thought it was crappy and digressive it has everything to do with me becoming part of the equation back then. I would like to think it was my creative aspect that brought change to the music,” says Steve Choi. “It definitely was not anything quantifiable like music theory or a special knowledge of any one instrument, you know what I mean? It was our ideas coming together that did that. The instruments, all that stuff, that’s just a vessel. It doesn’t have as much bearing on the final product because where we write from is all about concepts or ideas.” Whether he is approaching the process of writing and playing music metaphysically or literally, “…the guitar and keyboards are just what I play in this band,” Steve Choi has become an integral variable in the formula of RX Bandits’ musical style. “There’s a fundamental seperation between that era and this era. It’s fair if alot of our fans like the old era. It’s totally free for them to choose which is their favorite but one thing they can’t deny is that there is a fundamental disconnect. So there is no relation for something like Halfway to something like Resignation.”

Since their inception, RX Bandits have always enjoyed the presence of a horn section consisting of a saxophone and trombone with notable musicians such as Chris Sheets and Steve Borth who has since become the singer and leader of reggae group Satori alongside Chris Murray. So when confronted with the challenge of writing an entire album devoid of horns, Steve Choi and Matt Embree rose triumphantly. “I would say more than limited it (the freedom to write more experimental music), it definitely changed the style of writing. It was the horns’ absence that had more of an effect than their presence. I don’t think it gave us more freedom to experiment with our music. Not having that musical variety, if anything, limited our freedom. I think what it allowed us to do was think outside of the music we’ve made before which is important. It really gave us a chance when recording and writing Mandala to step away from everything we had done before.” With their latest release, Mandala, Choi and Embree successfully integrated their musical capabilities along with their fellow comrades Joseph Taylor, bass and Chris Tsagakis, drums, to create an even more cleverly constructed musical tour de force while constantly challenging each other. “I gotta say, a big driving force creatively is Matt and I pushing each other,” says Choi. “We are always trying to have this friendly, healthy competition with each other. I gotta stay on my toes. I’m sure we both could say we owe a lot to each other as far as our progression musically goes.”

According to Choi, musically, if you’re not getting better, you’re getting worse. “I firmly believe that,” Choi continues. “Getting to our age, I’m seeing everybody kind of dropping off, plateauing or just not really pushing themselves to next level and I’m really paranoid about having my skills regress so I am very adamant about constantly practicing my multiple instruments so that when I do have musical ideas I don’t have to spend time wasting my creative thoughts on my physical inadequacies. So I’m always practicing, making sure I get better. Not to say I’m better than any other person. Just to better convey my musical ideas more easily.” Every musician has dealt with the ordeal of mentally composing a song or melody while not necessarily possessing the skills to perform such a composition, but Choi manages the stress differently. “For me that’s not an option,” explains Choi. “For myself, personally, it’s an unacceptable road block for my creativity. To me, it’s one of the definitions of possessing a true artistic medium. It’s the perfect balance between a discipline and a skill and it’s relation to creative ideas and the level those ideas could achieve which is why music, painting, these sorts of things are considered fine arts. There are guys like Charlie Parker, Steve Vai, Charles Mingus… Those people who have devoted themselves to that instrument and it payed off because they’ve become ultimate legends and greats to their respective disciplines but I’ve chosen a different way. I’ve accepted that I’ll never really be great at any one instrument and I can live with that.” Although some might disagree, including myself. “Oh, well that’s very flattering but I know my scope in the world and I know that I’m pretty good and I get by in our songs but I, by no means, consider myself to be an amazing or great guitar player,” explains Choi.

For over ten years, RX Bandits have kept the music world constantly guessing as to what they’re next step will be creatively which has been one of the most enjoyable aspects of the group, but all good things must come to an end. Or at least, a pause. On April 12, 2011, RX Bandits announced that their upcoming 36 date US summer tour would be their last. To say the least, there was a cry heard around the world and it started here in Texas. An entire generation of socially conscious fans and musical connoisseurs will be losing their spokespersons soon, but there may be a proverbial light at the end of this tunnel. “To clarify, we’re not breaking up. We’re just doing our last tour. What we’re gonna do in the future, we’re not quite sure. That’s a big question because it involves what we’re going to do collectively and what we’re going to do individually. Despite popular belief, we don’t live together, sleep together or eat together. Those days have passed. We all have our own lives to tend to. When we’re not full time touring or playing shows, we gotta handle business…” Choi continues, “ But it’s not really bittersweet. It is what it is. We have to see it through and do the best that we can. Make sure everything is good on our end, give a great performance and we’ll deal with everything else including the bevy of emotions that come along with it, as they come. We look forward to this tour just like any other tour. It’s gonna be fun.”

But where will fans go to mercilessly gorge on creatively saturated musical sustenance? We’re hungry. Screw that, we’re starving! And we are hoping that this is not the last we’ll see or hear of RX Bandits or of Steve Choi. The days of constantly being thrilled and provoked by dynamically commanding music is not over. RX Bandits, as a group and as individual musicians have much more to offer the world of music and we all will patiently wait to hear the next quantum leap. Constantly metamorphic, never sedentary.

For RX Bandits, this is not the end. It is just the beginning.

By Lucas Indrikovs

RX BANDITS SUMMER TOUR DATES 

To download or view in full size go to Cliq Magazine - Pages 8, 9 & 10

RX Bandits, Maps & Atlases, Zechs Marquise, Happy Body Slow Brain

RX Bandits, Maps & Atlases, Zechs Marquise, Happy Body Slow Brain

RX Bandits, Maps & Atlases

RX Bandits, Maps & Atlases & TBA

RX Bandits, Maps & Atlases

RX Bandits, Maps & Atlases

RX Bandits , Maps & Atlases

RX Bandits, Maps & Atlases

RX Bandits, Maps & Atlases

RX Bandits, Maps & Atlases

RX Bandits, Maps & Atlases

RX Bandits, Maps & Atlases

RX Bandits, Maps & Atlases

RX Bandits, Maps & Atlases

RX Bandits, Maps & Atlases

RX Bandits, Maps & Atlases

RX Bandits, Maps & Atlases

RX Bandits & Special Guests TBA

RX Bandits & Special Guests TBA

RX Bandits, Maps & Atlases

RX Bandits, Maps & Atlases

RX Bandits, Maps & Atlases

RX Bandits with Special Guests TBA

RX Bandits, Maps & Atlases

RX Bandits, Maps & Atlases

RX Bandits, Maps & Atlases

RX Bandits, Maps & Atlases

RX Bandits, Maps & Atlases

RX Bandits, Maps & Atlases

RX Bandits, Maps & Atlases

RX Bandits, Maps & Atlases

RX Bandits with Special Guests TBA

RX Bandits with special guests TBA

RX Bandits with Special Guests TBA

RX Bandits with Special Guests TBA

RX Bandits will be playing their last Tour this Summer. We are very happy to announce that Maps & Atlases will be joining them on the majority of the dates. Stay tuned for announcements on who else will be opening all the shows and who will be added to the dates that do not have M&A listed. Ticket links will be up at all the venues sites and will all go on sale by the end of this week if not sooner. We look forward to seeing you all this one last time.  

RX BANDITS FAREWELL SUMMER TOUR 2011 May 14 - San Diego, CA @ Mariners Point / OMBAC Coming out Party Jun 26 - Tempe, AZ @ Marquee * Jun 28 - Dallas, TX @ Granada Theater * Jun 29 - Austin, TX @ Emo’s * Jun 30 - San Antonio, TX @ White Rabbit * July 01 - Houston, TX @ Fitzgerald’s * July 03 - New Orleans, LA @ Howlin’ Wolf * July 05 - Orlando, FL @ The Social * July 06 - Orland, FL @ The Social * July 07 - Ft. Lauderdale, FL @ Culture Room * July 08 - Atlanta, GA @ The Masquerade * July 09 - Washington DC @ 9:30 Club * July 10-  Philadelphia, PA @ Theater of Living Arts TLA * July 12 - New York, NY @ Irving Plaza * July 14 - Cambridge, MA @ The Middle East * July 15- Cambridge, MA @ The Middle East July 16 - Portland, ME @ Port City Music Hall July 17 - Montreal, Quebec, Canada @ Cafe Campus * July 18 - Toronto, Ontario, Canada @ Mod Club * July 20 - Detroit, MI @ Magic Stick * July 21- Chicago, IL @ Bottom Lounge July 22 - Milwaukee, WI @ Turner Hall * July 23 - Lawrence, KS @ The Bottleneck * July 24 - Denver, CO @ The Summit * July 25 - Salt Lake City, UT @ Complex * July 27 - Seattle, WA @ El Corazon * July 28 - Portland, OR @ The Hawthorne * July 30 - Santa Cruz, CA @ Catalyst * July 31 - Sacramento, CA @ Ace Of Spades * Aug 03 - Long Beach, CA @ Long Beach Performing Arts Center Aug 04 - Los Angeles, CA @ The Mayan Aug 06 - Pomona, CA @ Glasshouse Aug 07 - San Francisco, CA @ Regency Ballroom * w/ Maps & Atlases 

Thank you to all that came out to hear the RX Bandits cover set this past Friday at Bamboozle, it was an honor to play songs by one of our favorite bands of all time Fugazi. 

“The outpouring of love and support after we announced our decision to have this summer be our last has been overwhelming. To say it is touching would be a serious understatement.

Any artist’s creative path is greater than any one entity or any body of work, which also includes a musical entity such as a band. We in RX have always strived to do something extraordinary, and have worked and fought very hard over the years to clear a path for us to do so. Together with our really amazing and loyal fans we have carved out our own space in the music world where we all participated in something really special, void of trends, hype, and motives outside of making good and honest music; It was so cool being uncool together. We always managed to avoid the mainstream, but you all made us feel like the biggest band in the world, and for that I thank you. 

Thank you thank you thank you thank you”

S. Choi RXB. 

Hello, I would like to address some of the comments posted by all of you, most of which are positive and supportive, but some which are strange, sad and even scary.

RX Bandits are not DEAD, we are all ALIVE and we all will continue making music and art in many different forms. Those of you who know our music and know what were about, know that we live, breathe, eat, sleep, and dream MUSIC. This is not the end of our musical endeavors by a long shot.Of course I wont say that anything we do will replace RXB, but we are artists at heart, artists are constantly changing and are free to change when ever they feel like exploring new worlds. And we would love for all of you to explore these worlds with us.

To those of you who have posted positive comments: THANK YOU!To those who have posted negative, bleak, and otherwise morbid comments: THANK YOU TOO….but please! Lets look to the future, lets grow together, lets continue to build a positive world through music!And to EVERYONE: Lets celebrate this summer everything RXB stands for- Peace, creativity, love and music.-Chris Tsagakis

RX Bandits

RX Bandits Hoodwink set

CLICK HERE FOR RX BANDITS NEWS

Scottsdale Ultimate Block Party

$20.00 Admission for the 1st 1,100 people when doors open

$35.00 General Admission

$100 VIP wristband includes VIP admission area with hosted food buffet and 2 drinks and VIP stage views

RX Bandits w/ Fake Problems and Native

RX Bandits w/ Fake Problems and Native

RX Bandits w/ Fake Problems and Native

RX Bandits w/ Fake Problems and Native

RX Bandits w/ Fake Problems and Native

RX Bandits, Fake Problems, Native

RX Bandits Acoustic Set w/ Vinnie Caruana and TBA

Leeds Festival go to site for details: http://www.leedsfestival.com/

Reading Festival check site for full line up: http://www.readingfestival.com/lineup/index.aspx

They were such good times in NYC it's only right we have the party again on the West Coast. So on September 24, 25 & 26th at The Troubador in Los Angeles, CA RXB will be performing The Resignation, 'And The Battle Begun & Mandala in their entirity. Horns and all friends. We hope you will join us.

The episode of JBTV featuring the RX Bandits with New Found Glory, The XX, They Might Be Giants, The Smashing Pumpkins and The Mars Volta will be airing this Wednesday, April 28th at 11pm CST on WJYS in Chicago. The episode will be posted online at www.jbtvonline.com after the show airs so check it out. Here is the Promo

It's been a while, so it's time to head across the ocean to see our friends in Europe. Looks like we will have Moneen along with us playing direct support on all the shows.

RX BANDITS EUROPEAN 2010

May 24 ' Oxford Academy 2 ' Oxford, UK
May 25 ' The Fleece & Firkin ' Bristol, UK
May 26 ' The Joiners ' Southampton, UK
May 28 ' Academy 3 ' Manchester, UK
May 29 ' SLAM DUNK FESTIVAL ' Hatfield, UK 
May 30 ' SLAM DUNK FESTIVAL ' Leeds, UK  (Sold Out)
May 31 ' Academy 3 ' Birmingham, UK
Jun 01 ' King Tuts ' Glasgow, Scotland
Jun 02 ' The Underworld ' London, UK
Jun 03 ' Nouveau Casino ' Paris, FR
Jun 05 ' Moby Dick ' Madrid, Spain
Jun 06 ' Le De Apolo ' Barcelona, Spain
Jun 08 ' Sabotage Bar ' Vicenza, Italy
Jun 09 ' Flex ' Vienna, Austria
Jun 10 ' 59 to 1 ' Munich, Germany
Jun 11 ' Magnet ' Berlin, Germany
Jun 12 ' Underground ' Cologne, Germany
Jun 14 ' Hafenklang ' Hamburg, Germany
Jun 15  ' Melkweg ' Amsterdam, Netherlands

Recorded on July 20th, 2009 at independent record store Park Ave CDs in Orlando Florida, Rx Bandits 'Live At Park Ave' will be released exclusively to indie stores only as part of Record Store Day on April 17th, 2010.

Rx Bandits 'Live At Park Ave' Tracklisting

1. Prophetic
2. 1980
3. Hearts That Hanker For Mistake
4. Only For The Night 5. The Youth (Cover)

Rx Bandits are performing at Coachella on Record Store Day and will be doing a signing at the Zia Records tent on April 17th as well. The CD will be available there as well.