Side projects are often easy to market to audiences because usually at least one member of the band already has an established fan base. Super groups, composed of bits and pieces of popular groups, are the same way — except they bring many fans of the artists’ pervious work together.

Fans of A Perfect Circle have been able to witness the evolution of a band from a side project into a veritable super group. After three years of relative silence, A Perfect Circle has resurfaced with a new album and a new all-star lineup.

The band was first formed in 1997 by former Tool guitar tech Billy Howerdel and Tool frontman Maynard James Keenan during a period of Tool’s inactivity. To fill gaps at the bass and guitar positions, the band enlisted ex-Marilyn Manson bassist Jerodie White, better known as Twiggy Ramirez, and James Iha, former Smashing Pumpkins guitarist.

Though audiences have high expectations for such high-caliber collaborations, Iha says the band wasn’t concerned with the added pressure.

“There’s a pressure just in playing shows and touring,” Iha says. “I don’t think there’s any more pressure because we were in bands before, I think the pressure’s already there.”

During the band’s formation, the songwriting duo of Keenan and Howerdel was able to recruit a full band and write an album’s worth of material over the next few years. In 2000, they released their first full length album, “A Mer de Noms.” The album was an instant hit with Tool fans and newcomers alike, debuting at number four on Billboard charts.

When the time came for a new guitarist, the band, which met Iha while touring with the Smashing Pumpkins on a Canadian tour, e-mailed him and he signed on just in time to begin touring.

“I joined three weeks before they went on tour,” Iha says. “[Touring] was fun and loud — we did two and a half weeks of a club tour, we did Lollapalooza stuff, then we did Canada, played in Europe and Japan; now we’re back.”

For Iha, the transition into the immensely popular side project was fairly simple. After being with the group for only six months, he says he already feels comfortable with the present lineup. Although Iha was recruited after A Perfect Circle’s new album was completed, he says he hopes he will be with the band long enough to write the next album together.

“They’re great guys, they’re great musicians, they write great songs, make great records — can’t say enough good things about them,” Iha says.

A Perfect Circle is the first band Iha has played with since the demise of the Smashing Pumpkins. He says joining the darker and heavier group gave him the chance to show audiences a different side of himself.

“It’s hard to compare them,” Iha says. “Both bands I’ve been in, I guess they’re not typical alternative rock bands. [A Perfect Circle] can play heavy stuff, they can play light stuff. It can have some elements of that kind of pop structure but also be kind of progressive.”

Even after his experiences while in Smashing Pumpkins, Iha says he was nervous about joining the band since he had only played guitar in one other band. However, he says he wasn’t worried about winning over fans.

The band’s new album, “The Thirteenth Step,” bears resemblance to “A Mer de Noms.” The band continues to write slower, heavier songs mixed in with progressive interludes and Keenan’s own unique vocal style.

“It’s well-written, well-arranged — it’s not clich‚d,” Iha says. “They’re a great band, so it’s easy to play with them.”