Ep. 181: RX Bandits w/ Rich Balling
Episode description
Rx Bandits are an American four-piece band from California. The band formed in 1995 in Orange County, California. They have appeared on the Vans Warped Tour, Bonnaroo, Coachella, Bamboozle, and plenty of club shows throughout the world I think.
In 2001, after touring on their third album "Progress", Rich left the band, citing frustrations he had with certain aspects of the music industry. He later went to form The Sound of Animals Fighting. They released a trilogy of records between 2004 and 2008, and performed only four live shows, following their second release in 2006. The band's live lineup consisted of 12 different musicians and they often employed the use of animal masks to conceal their identity.
Rich slid into my DMs on IG a while back after he found the Donuts N’ Glory interview (Episode 114) and we’ve been chatting about old scene stuff since then. I wanted to find out about his days in RX Bandits and The Sound of Animals Fighting, so I asked him onto the podcast, he said yes, and this is what we chat about:
- Donuts N Glory
- Flyers
- How The Sound of Animals Fighting got their sound
- Shame about the masks
- No Knife
- Nick from Link 80 writing him a letter
- The ska band shame
- Rejection letter from Mike Park
- How they got on Drive Thru
- Fenix TX
- The Gadjets
- Finch
- Being on the Bloodhound Gang’s CD
- And a ton more
Go buy his Revolution on Canvas books and check out all of the music he’s created by clicking on the links in the show notes.
Check out all of his other things below:
RxBandits
"Progress" Drive Thru Records
Revolution On Canvas: Poetry From the Indie Music Scene
The Sound of Animals Fighting
"Tiger & the Duke" Equal Vision Records
"Lover, the Lord Has Left Us" Equal Vision Records
"The Ocean and the Sun" Epitaph Records
Pyramids
"S/T" Hydra Head
"Pyramids with Nadja" Hydra Head
"Pyramids/Horseback: A Throne Without a King" Hydra Head
"Mamiffer/Pyramids" Hydra Head
"A Northern Meadow" Profound Lore
Sailors With Wax Wings
"S/T" Angel Oven Records
White Moth
"S/T" Angel Oven Records
Hospital Gown
Check out my new book The Couples' Checklist for my webcomic dailyBred. It's a great gift for Valentine's Day. I also have an Instagram for it.
If you market aggressively on Instagram Stories and want custom stickers then go here to get custom stickers or just email mike@drive80.com and I can send you samples. These are great for B2C companies and Realtors.
Feel free to support the podcast for as little as $1 a month through Patreon
Or go to thiswasthescene.com to possibly buy some merch.