It's a Friday night at the Safe House, and Jim Schweitzer, the 6-ft.-tall, 300-lb. drummer for the Milwaukee band Random Maxx, is explaining why their accomplishment of being named "Best New Band" in a local magazine's readers poll was a setback.

Then our waiter interrupts Schweitzer's story to say that the kitchen is too busy, and cannot make the spy burgers that guitarists Robert "Bo" Johnson and Mark Redlich ordered just five minutes ago. The bespectacled Johnson is frustrated. "That was the best food I never ate," he jokes. "I guess I'll have to drink my dinner."

It is this mixture of joy and frustration that follows Random Maxx everywhere they go, but if you listen to their new CD, "Rock Star Parking," it is the joy of playing together that is most apparent. Their brand of four-part harmonies and tight, fun pop is also gaining the attention of more than just their loyal fans. Last November, the band won first place in the Wisconsin Area Music Industry (WAMI) CD Roulette with their song "A Very Someone."

Matty Phillips, bass player and songwriter, considers the award one of Random Maxx's greatest accomplishments.

"It's awesome that something I created was critically acclaimed," Phillips says, "My feet didn't touch the ground for a month afterward."

Phillips, who sometimes moonlights as a wrestler, is not the lone writer in the band. In fact, all members in the band write, sing and play a variety of instruments. "All of us get a chance to get our creative voice," Schweitzer says, "That's one of the reasons our band is so unique."

The band formed in a unique way as well. Schweitzer and Phillips were members of the jazz ensemble in high school, and the friends reunited after college. Schweitzer was also working with Johnson, a member of the improv group the Dead Alewives, at Discovery World, and the three had started to jam together. When they felt something more was needed, Johnson suggested that Redlich, a guitarist with the Dead Alewives, join the band.

Redlich wasn't sure what to expect. "I thought it was going to be a hippie band," he says, "But I was surprised, and pleasantly so, because it was such a tight pop band, sort of like the mixture of chocolate and peanut butter."

Schweitzer likes the fact that the band's members have musical histories with each other; it is part of the glue that binds them. Just go to one of their shows and you will see what they are talking about.

"All of us have a degree in theatricality in our approach to what we bring on stage,"

Of course, when you list such great live bands as Queen, Barenaked Ladies, Rush and The Cars as your inspirations, it is easy to see why showmanship is important to Random Maxx. Johnson, who also works as an actor, teaches the younger members of the group what was hip 30 years ago.

In October 1999 Random Maxx issued its first album, "Senseless Beauty." While the album garnered praise from local critics, the band felt it seemed too mechanical. They were second-guessing themselves in the studio, but after two years of performing Random Maxx feels confident enough to launch "Rock Star Parking."

Random Maxx tied with another band for "Best New Band" of 1999 in the previously mentioned readers poll. According to Schweitzer, the weekly newspaper gushed all over the other band. "They slapped us in the face and called the other band better, even though the readers had spoken", he says.

"We've been through so much together," says Redlich, "I can't understand why other bands go though the hard times and then just to throw in the towel. The hard times make me want to stick together more. This is too much fun."

When the new album was released, the awards and accolades came rolling in, and the band feels that the disc is a big achievement.

"We got tighter as a band," says Redlich, "Every note sings and every note hums." To further the point, Phillips says, "The big difference between this album and 'Senseless Beauty' is that it contains songs that come from the inside. We were able to put some soul in it."

"We've got a CD that can right now hang with anything, even on a national level," Schweitzer elaborates, "We have just got to get the word out. We believe we have got something people will like if given the opportunity to hear it."

The first song on "Rock Star Parking," "Next Big Thing," sums up Random Maxx's journey so far. "It is about both accomplishment and disappointment," says Redlich, "You hear people at WAMI meetings talk about becoming huge and how you're always really close, but what you also need a lot of luck."

Their fans will agree that Random Maxx's luck is going to change for the better.