by Matt Kelchner
“But, I know for a fact that I can say without an ego that there’s been nothing like it,” guitarist Steve Choi modestly tells me as he’s talking about the legacy of Rx Bandits’ album The Resignation. It’s hard to say that about an album when the world of musical genres is so intertwined and diverse. But when you think about it, trying to name another album that just simply sounds reminiscent of The Resignation is difficult, let alone done as well as the California “prog-punk” group did.
On a hot and humid weekday afternoon, I was able to chat with Choi about his time spent during the group’s hiatus, the mindset that goes into a tour for an album that is ten years old, and his love for hardcore and 90s hip hop.
“It’s unique still. Whether it’s good or bad that’s for people to decide,” Choi says. In a world where almost every band from the early 2000s’ punk scene is touring behind an album’s 10th anniversary, some are more deserving than others. The Resignation is one those albums.
“It’s a pretty good feeling to know that slowly and very surely we inched our way to a level to which we can feel really good about what we’ve done to our fans,” Choi explains to me. “The fact that we can play these sized venues and have such an overwhelming audience and our fan response is everything. It far exceeds our expectations.” Rx Bandits arrive in Philly on July 19th at The Electric Factory.
The 10th anniversary tour of the 2003 Drive- Thru Records release is one that Rx Bandits are taking differently from their previous tours. Choi mentions, “We’re trying to really recreate a lot of the important magic from the record because our fans know us to really change songs a lot live.” To anyone who has seen them before, they know that Choi’s remarks on changing the songs around is a bit of an understatement.
If I could pick one thing that stood out in my mind about Rx Bandits, it’s their incredible live sets. During any given song, intense and rhythmic jam sessions broke out. Jams where the whole crowd is moving and jumping as one giant, sweaty collective. “When you guys are really into it, it’s fucking awesome,” I tell Choi as we’re discussing the mindset behind the group’s concerts. “More specifically when we’re into it and the audience is into it is when it’s fucking awesome,” says Choi.
“For this particular tour we’re really trying to pick out the things that would be important to us if we were fans of that CD or record,” Choi tells me. He, along with the rest of the members, have taken careful planning to make sure they perfectly capture that magic. As for the rising fad of touring behind the anniversaries of albums and celebrating that by playing them in their entirety, he loves it. “We understand as listeners. What we’re doing now with this tour is what I wish my favorite bands did,” he adds.
He continues, “If I could have ever seen Jawbreaker or Archers of Loaf play a tour where they’re just playing an album through back then in the 90s, I definitely know I would have been like, I was such a music nerd, I would’ve been like ‘that part of the song, that’s not the same. That’s not the same, he missed that part.'”
Despite all of this, Choi doesn’t see The Resignation as a timeless album…yet. “Maybe in 50 years if a decent amount of people still know what it is. Maybe then we might be able to wonder if it’s timeless. But ten years is nothing. Ten years is not that long.”
“Every song, behind it’s separate parts, there’s different emotions and memories. When you’re really in tune with your art, you can find a reason to hate it and love it all at the same time for every single part,” Choi says of the different songs from the album. It’s also his explanation for not having a favorite song from The Resignation. He adds that it’s too subjective of a question for him. “It helped us release a lot of aggression and resentment that we had towards music and towards our own personal lives at the time. We were young and zealous and full of energy.”
(photo credit Ashley Goris)
The 10th anniversary tour was almost a tour that never happened. Choi and the rest of the band set no timetable to return from their hiatus. “We didn’t really have any perception of time. We’ve always been kind of impulsive as people and artists. So, it’s just we wanted to and it just happened to be the 10th year anniversary of the record,” he adds.
Transitioning away from being in an active, heavily touring band was easy for Choi. “We all had our own experiences,” he says. “It was really nice to get back to that reality.” It’s a task, however, that many do not find as simple.
“You have to figure out how to support yourself. You have to figure out how to stay relative as an artist and a musician. You have to find a way to still feel like what you’re doing is meaningful because you’re not going to all these people every day defending your name and telling you you’re great. You have to prove your work to yourself from here. You can’t hide behind that entity that has fans.”
And for Choi, that decision was simple; either continue to keep working in the music world or become depressed. He spent his time working with other bands, lending his hand this time as a producer. He worked with artists such as Anthony Raneri from Bayside, Weatherbox, Silver Snakes and The Velvet Teen.
When I ask what he was doing with his time when he wasn’t producing records, he responds with an answer many fans do not think about or take into account, “Being a good person.” He adds, “Being a good friend and a family member. Being a good son, a good brother, a good uncle. Because that shit, you can’t really do when you’re constantly on the road.” It’s a statement that many do not even think about when they see their favorite act playing their favorite songs in front of them. “You’re physically removed. There’s so much about being a good person in multiple relationships that requires you to be present,” he later says.
As our conversation tails towards the end, we start talking less about Rx Bandits and more about him as a music fan. He tells me that he’s a huge hip-hop head, and has been one ever since the 90s, a fact he also adds that many might not know. Favorite albums of his include the likes of Souls of Mischief’s debut album ‘93 to Infinity and Guru’s Jazzmatazz. He explains to me that it’s tough to find a favorite album in hip-hop though, with there being so much filler on almost every album.
We shift gears and dig into his hardcore fandom. Names like Bad Brains, Minor Threat and Gorilla Biscuits are exchanged. He then tells me of band from Seoul that’s making their way to Philadelphia for a hardcore festival. “It’s really cool to see my fellow countrymen do something like hardcore and come to the States and have American hardcore kids tuning into Korean culture,” he adds. For the guitarist of a band whose sound is a huge combination of so many different sounds, the range in his own likes doesn’t surprise me.
For a guy that has done so much in his short time off, so much rebuilding and rekindling, there’s an obvious sound of excitement to get back out on the road. “It’s an album, it’s something we’re really proud of,” he tells me. Another understatement from him. To help build the excitement with their fans, Rx Bandits has been releasing a new cover every week since the beginning of June. It’s the product of the group’s first studio time in four years. No new songs were written, though. When I ask him if there were any plans to write and record new music, all he gives me is “maybe”, and just like the timelessness of The Resignation, at least in Choi’s eyes, it’s going to take time. For now the focus is one thing and one thing only, recreating that magic that was made the first time a bunch of 22-year-old California ska punks swung their musical sound in a completely different direction.
