Rx Bandits
Rx Bandits are a band based in Seal Beach, California, United States. The band formed in 1995 in Orange County, California. They have appeared on the Vans Warped Tour, at the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival, Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, and The Bamboozle. In the UK they have appeared at Reading/Leeds Festival & Slam Dunk Festival.
Rx Bandits
The Pharmaceutical Bandits
1995-present
Antedote, Drive Thru, Mash Down Babylon, Sargent House
- Matt Embree
- Steve Choi
- Christopher Tsagakis
- Joseph Troy
- Steve Borth
- Chris Sheets
- Johnny Tsagakis
- James Salomone
- Rich Zahniser
- Franz J. Worth
- Noah Gaffney
- Neil Burdick
- Rich Balling
History[edit]
Early years (1995-1999)[edit]
Originally known as The Pharmaceutical Bandits, the band began their career by participating in the third wave ska revival of the 1990s. In 1996, they released their first studio album, the self-produced Demo(nstration). In 1997, they released Those Damn Bandits, which featured guest appearances by Jimmy the Robot of the Aquabats and Chris Colonnier of Jeffries Fan Club and The Forces of Evil. Noting the Bandits' potential, a Los Angeles Times review of the album said "Now comes a young, talented ska band, the Pharmaceutical Bandits. It would be OK with me if the Grinch spared them but swiped their ska records and left a shelf of Who, Clash, Bob Marley, Elvis Costello and Neil Young."[1] Matt Embree attended Los Alamitos High School, which was an incubator for other third wave ska bands such as Reel Big Fish, Save Ferris, and The Scholars.
Drive-Thru years (1999-2006)[edit]
In 1998, the band released Halfway Between Here and There. On this album, the band began to branch out beyond the third wave ska sound.
The album's success allowed them to tour with well-known acts such as The Bloodhound Gang, Goldfinger, and Reel Big Fish, and later to headline shows with up-and-comers such as New Found Glory and Freakdaddy frequently opening for them.
In 1999, the album was re-released with a new track list, 2 remastered songs, and new artwork. The '99 release was released under the band's new name—Rx Bandits.
In the time between Halfway Between Here and There and their next release, Progress, bassist Franz Worth and saxophonist Noah Gaffney left the band. Worth was replaced by James Salomone, formerly of My Superhero. Gaffney's position was left open. In June 2000, the band toured the US with Edna's Goldfish and the Gadjits.[2]
With 2001's Progress, the band continued to expand their sound. The album contained the song "Analog Boy", which was made into one of their three music videos. At this point, the band consisted of Embree, Tsagakis, Balling, and Salomone. The album included a number of guest performers, including former member Noah Gaffney.
Shortly after the release of the album, Chris Sheets joined the band on trombone as well as Steve Choi on guitar and keyboards. Choi had played keyboards on the demos for Progress, but when it came time to record, they decided instead to have Rich Zahniser of The Hippos, who was touring with the band, play on the album. Chris Colonnier also played with the band at times, filling the same role as Zahniser. Soon after they gained the new members, James Salomone and Rich Balling left the band. They had many temporary replacements for Salomone, most notably Johnny Tsagakis, Chris' younger brother, but eventually Joe Troy, a longtime friend of Embree, who helped to write the song "What If?" on Halfway Between Here and There, joined the band as their bass player. Balling was replaced by saxophonist Steve Borth, who had played formerly in the popular East Bay ska punk band Link 80. Their line-up of Embree, Tsagakis, Sheets, Choi, Troy and Borth would go on to create the next two albums, The Resignation and ...And the Battle Begun.
2003 saw the release of The Resignation, a CD/DVD combination. Guitars, bass, drums, and some keyboards were all recorded live in studio, and vocals, horns, percussion and additional keyboard parts were then overdubbed. The band allowed themselves a limited number of takes for each part, and once a take was recorded it was left as it was - no punch-ins were allowed. Embree shared songwriting duties with Steve Choi, whereas Embree had previously been responsible for all of the band's material. The Resignation became the first album to debut the Billboard 200. It was charted No. 5 on the Top Heatseekers chart.
Musically, the album continued to branch out beyond Progress into new musical territory, including experimentation with unconventional time signatures. The Resignation featured overtly political lyrics as the band evolved even further from their ska-punk days as the Pharmaceutical Bandits, a subject that drummer Chris Tsagakis commented on in an interview conducted by former member Rich Balling for Skratch Magazine:
Side projects[edit]
Over the years, several members found time for side projects.
Embree and Chris Tsagakis can also be found in The Sound of Animals Fighting as “Walrus” and “Lynx,” respectively. The group was founded by former Rx Bandits trombonist Rich Balling. Joe Troy, Chris Sheets, and Steve Choi have performed live with the band, which also includes Anthony Green (Saosin, Circa Survive) and Craig Owens (Chiodos vocalist) as well as members of Finch and Days Away.
Steve Borth played with the Northern California skacore band, Link 80, signed to Asian Man Records. He later started the reggae/rocksteady band Satori which has also featured Embree on bass, members of The Exit, and Chris Murray.
Steve Choi collaborated with Asian Man Records founder Mike Park in both The Chinkees and The Bruce Lee Band. The Rx Bandits were featured as Park's Bruce Lee Band during the recording of the Beautiful World EP. Choi is also a member of the band Machines, in which he plays the drums.
September 9, 2008 saw the release of Matt Embree's acoustic side project, entitled Love You Moon. The album consists solely of Matt on the acoustic guitar with the exception of 3 tracks where Chris Tsagakis assists on drums. This album was presold at the Rx Bandits' concurrent tour. He also released an EP of covers entitled "Maracay" during the last Rx tour. The album was recorded during a trip to Venezuela and all proceeds went to Doctors Without Borders.
Embree and Tsagakis have also played guitar and drums, respectively, with Lauren Coleman in her project, Pebaluna. The three met when she was recording in the Elizabethan in late 2005.
Matt Embree can also be heard on other projects such as those of the hip-hop group Seekret Socyetee, 2 Drunk'n Poets, and V.I.T.A.L. Emcee's solo album, "The Secret of the Invisible Man", all of which have been released on Embree's MDB Records.
Tsagakis is recording and performing solo material under the name C-Gak. He also released an album under the moniker of Technology.
Embree also started a new group with Lisa Papineau named ME & LP. They released their first EP Chez Raymond on August 9, 2011, and toured the West Coast.
Choi is currently producing bands, recently working with Silver Snakes, Gardening Not Architecture and The Velvet Teen.
Embree and Tsagakis released an album as Biceratops in November 2012.