I impatiently waited at the bar at The Troubadour, one of my favorite Hollywood venues. I twirled myself round and round on the wobbly wooden stool when finally I was introduced to Steve Choi, guitarist of the prog-rock five some, RX Bandits. We assembled face to face while chatting about tour, upcoming material, side projects and a sneak peak at his online journal.

Kimberly: Hey Steve it's a pleasure to meet you!

Steve: Likewise, thanks for chatting with me.

Kimberly: How's the tour been so far? It must be really great touring with Portugal. The Man and Kay Kay!

Steve: It's been super awesome. Yesterday was our first Troubadour show and playing shows at home after being on tour for a few weeks is always really awesome. It's gone by really fast though 'cause hanging out with Portugal has been super cool. We've has a lot of fun with them and the best you could hope for is to get along well with the band you're on tour with for a month and we got the best.

Kimberly: How do you guys chose the bands to tour with?

Steve: I mean, basically you try to base it on the bands you like. Ones you're gonna be ok listening to every night, those you think are good you know? And, also when you're playing places, you want bands, especially in their position as main support, to have a name for them as well. This way they can help with the draw. I mean we're not a huge band ourselves you know, but we like to put on a good show. I guess in the end all that really matters is a cool mix of bands, a cool show, a great vibe, and the people.

Kimberly: It's been about two years since your last album, And the Battle Begun. Are you currently working on any new material?

Steve: We certainly are. We got about like five or six songs and we've been playing a few of those songs at sound check and the newer ones actually at shows, so a lot of people who have been to a lot of our shows have heard them a few times already.

Kimberly: What direction is the new album going to take? What can we expect?

Steve: It will definitely take a new turn. We like to live in spite of any sort of reputation that we have built for ourselves. Like we have a lot of jam band prog claims on the last album and we kinda like to indulge ourselves songwriting-wise as well. It's not necessarily gonna be the ten minute songs again you know. We're gonna strip it back down a little bit. A big theme for us with the new songs has been complicated things with simple packaging.

Kimberly: Can you explain a bit about the band's songwriting and recording process?

Steve: I think there are two ways you can look at the recording process, either as a sculpture which you can mold and form to be perfect or as a photograph. And for us right now it's more like a photograph of what we are doing musically and creatively at the time. Blemishes and all, whatever exists, you try and keep an organic approach and retain an original vibe to the song you know, to keep it real. But we've done both really.

Kimberly: I read on your online blog a few days ago that Fugazi is a huge influence for you as an individual. What are some of the band's influences as a whole?

Steve: I have to say a lot of American blues, soul and jazz. I mean I know it's kind of cliché but we exist because of all of our influences that range all over the spectrum but obviously we have a modern take on it. There are modern bands like Refused, Radiohead, Fugazi, this rock realm that really influenced us. And then there's tons of Hendrix and King Crimson. I mean basically everything. It's an amalgam for a true term.

Kimberly: What is the band currently listening to and what are some of your favorite album releases of the past year or so?

Steve: This new group called Human Highway. They are really awesome. I've been listening to their record a lot. In the past couple of years, the last Deerhoof record, Friends Opportunity is a big favorite of mine. And Kay Kay and His Weathered Underground, their record has been one of my favorites of the year actually.

Kimberly: I understand that Matt has been working on a newer side project called Pebaluna. Any upcoming surprises on the recent development? Perhaps an awaiting EP or album you can let me in on?

Steve: I think they have been just piling up material over the past couple of years. He's been doing it while on tour and when he has free time and stuff like that. As far as how far along they are, I'm honestly not quite sure on that but sometimes there's a lot of side projects we've got going on.

Kimberly: Speaking of side projects, how does each of your projects affect the band's general approach to writing music? Some other bands I've met with who have worked with different musicians and pursued different creative avenues have had a difficult time bringing things back together. Do you feel this way or do those other opportunities help the band come up with new ideas?

Steve: I guess it can go either way, I mean sometimes bands change in a way that's kind of forced because they feel things creatively inside themselves that start to change and when you have something like a side project to kind of release that, it can really help soothe creative tensions as far as people pulling you in a certain direction because they feel so extreme about something. Having a side project definitely helps as far as like getting out different things you want to do and testing out those ideas.

Kimberly: How do you feel about bands using new marketing techniques to get their albums out? For example, Nine Inch Nails and Radiohead allowing fans to obtain the album at any preferred price? Do you think the band would use similar tactics in the near future?

Steve: Yeah I mean it would be an awesome thing to be in a position like those bands where you can afford to do that. That's really cool. We ourselves can't complain because we are a lot further along than other bands but by no means are we even close to being large enough to do that. I would love to and I know that our band would be super down because the whole idea is so cool! I guess like yeah, we would totally do that, I just hope that day comes.

Kimberly: Well, I wish you the best in reaching that point.

Steve: Hey thank you very much, that means a lot to us.

Kimberly: In a previous interview you said "The essence of music requires no human effort." Can you elaborate on this idea?

Steve: Of course. I feel like ok, you take music lessons and you are learning the technique of, A. Learning a language of mapping out what you are doing and B. Training your body as far as the physicality goes right. For people in a creative pursuit, the whole idea in the end is to be able to execute your ideas the best. I hope that makes sense. Like in culinary school you learn how to chop certain things and prepare certain foods and the chemistry of certain things just like the technical sides of painting. You're doing this all to further the means of your expression so in the end it concludes that the better your learn those things and the less you have to think about them, the further and more directly you can get to your path of a creative mind. It's exactly that. The people who don't have to think about what they are doing make the best stuff, which is why there are also so many artists who have no technical know-how and they are able to live in spite of everything, all the criticisms about how they suck at their instruments or have no technique in their painting but they are able to tap into something that's just like pure expression and it's still speech to people you know what I mean? There are so many examples of that, musicians, solo artists, early Neil Young, even though I'm not personally a fan. Technically that guy could barely sing and play guitar but he was still massive, you know? The same with Bob Dylan, I mean most people probably wouldn't say this but he's not exactly the best vocalist and it doesn't matter. That's the whole point.

Kimberly: Wow (laughs), thank you for explaining all of that.

Steve: (Laughs), you're welcome.

Kimberly: I am learning the drums and recently began the piano. Saying this, is there any advice you can share with aspiring musicians?

Steve: Man, I guess the best piece of advice doesn't really have to do with getting ahead or being successful but like the only thing I could say is to do what you love and what you want. Be true to yourself. If you are good enough, chances are you'll succeed. You gotta have a good work ethic as well. If you suck, you will find out eventually (laughs), but you gotta do what you want to do. Be honest about it.

Kimberly: And of course, I've got to ask for some last words for the readers and fans.

Steve: Umm, (laughs), that's always a tough one. I'm so bad at this because I'm the type of person that as soon as they're asked, and it's not a structured question, I think of fifty things at once. I can't decide what to say! But basically for anybody out there that is reading this and listens to us and knows what we are about, a shout out to all of you guys and thank you for keeping us alive and making what we do worth something. Thank you for the support. It's awesome that our band has got to the point where someone wants to come ask questions about us and to be able to play these great venues and stuff.

Kimberly: Well thank you for your time and good luck this evening, I'm looking forward to the performance. It was very nice to meet someone so down to earth.

Steve: It was very nice to meet you too, thank you and take care tonight.