POP BEAT : HE LEADS A DOUBLE LIFE FOR ONE GOAL: SUCCESS

At times, John Anello Jr. probably wishes he had a twin to help him carry on the dual existence he leads.

By day, he’s the president of tiny Costa Mesa-based Cexton Records label. At night, Anello retires his business suit and tie and heads out to local nightclubs to become Cexton Records’ premiere recording artist: jazz guitarist John Anello Jr.

Anello will give his first local performance since the release last week of his second album, “Jackson Street Beat,” when he plays the Sunset Pub in Sunset Beach on Aug. 14.

What, you may ask, sets Anello apart from the hundreds of struggling musicians who release self-produced records each year, only to watch the results of their work fade into oblivion? Primarily it’s hard work, said Anello, whose recording engineer jokingly nicknamed him “Relentless.”

Leaning his chair back against a wall in the upstairs office of his Costa Mesa condominium during a recent interview, Anello, 31, said: “Everybody wants to make a record and be a star, but nobody wants to get up at 6:30 in the morning to call New York and make sure the radio stations are playing their record.

“I am up at 6:30 every day and put in a full day of business on the phone and at the typewriter and then play at night. Sometimes it’s weird--living two lives--but I like doing both,” he said.

Although Anello proudly claims to be Cexton’s top act, it’s not a show of egotism--he happens to be Cexton’s only act. He is also the label’s president, head promotion man, publicist, distributor and delivery boy.

Ironically, Anello said that even though Cexton Records has been “more successful than I ever imagined,” he never intended to launch a record company when he recorded his first LP, 1983’s “For a Dancer.”

“When I made the (‘For a Dancer’) master tape,” he said, “I shopped it to the major labels and they all turned it down. I was frustrated, so I decided to do it myself.”

Over the next two years, he spent countless hours on the phone talking to record distributors and radio programmers around the country, promoting and monitoring the progress of “For a Dancer.” That record, a mellow and melodious blend of jazz, pop and R&B; styles, received air play in cities across the country and sold surprisingly well for an independently produced jazz album.

It not only made the national Top 30 jazz air play charts of Radio & Records (R&R;), a widely read music industry publication, but “For a Dancer” has also been a popular source of commercial background music for television and radio ads.

“My goal was to make a product that could compete with the majors. I did it and it worked,” Anello said. “At first, nobody (at the record companies) wanted to talk to me. They wouldn’t even return my phone calls. But when it hit the R&R; chart, suddenly my phone started ringing.”

The experience gave Anello the confidence to continue with his Cexton label for “Jackson Street Beat” rather than return to the label-shopping wars. The new album travels much the same musical ground as the first work, inviting comparisons to jazz-pop crossover performers such as George Benson and Earl Klugh.

Because he established a track record with the first album, Anello said retailers and radio programmers are more receptive to the second record. Consequently, most Southern California chain stores have agreed to stock “Jackson Street Beat.”

But he remains cautiously optimistic about the future. “You almost always start from square one, because in the music business you’re only as good as your last project,” he said. “So I don’t take anything for granted.”

With his own two albums as a foundation, Anello hopes to parlay Cexton into a multi-artist label soon. But following in the footsteps of his father and grandfather, who both were jazz musicians, and having taught guitar in Orange County schools for seven years, Anello finds it mildly amusing that other musicians are suddenly turning to him for advice about the business of music.

“I’ve had people come up and say, ‘I’ve got $2,000. How do I make a record?’ They think I know something they don’t. This is such a tough business, I wouldn’t recommend anybody getting into it. Not because I’m afraid of the competition but because I know how much work it takes.

“So when someone asks me how to start a record company,” he said with a laugh, “I tell them, ‘First you have your head examined.’ ”

LIVE ACTION: DIN, Run Amok and the Word will play the Golden Bear in Huntington Beach on Aug. 3. The reclusive J. J. Cale returns to the Golden Bear on Aug. 9. . . . The Zentones will be at Safari Sam’s on Aug. 3. . . . The Red Devils will perform at Spatz on Aug. 9. . . . Cathedral of Tears returns to Radio City on Aug. 10.