Banding Together : Independent-Minded Rock Performers Act in Concert to Get Their Music Heard

America likes to define itself as the land of rugged individualism, and no Americans trumpet their independence more loudly than the ones who play rock ‘n’ roll.

But we ought to keep in mind what Ben Franklin, no slave to herd mentality, said at the signing of the Declaration: “We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately.”

In that spirit, three upcoming concerts will showcase local grass-roots musicians who are using cooperative means to pursue their independent agendas.

The Alternative Power Source, a consortium of bands that play aggressive but melodic college-radio rock, will sponsor a show tonight at Bogart’s in Long Beach featuring nine of the cooperative’s 13 members.

On Friday, five bands from “Banned in L.A.--Band Together,” a network of hard-core punk-metal groups, will gather at Gazzarri’s in West Hollywood to celebrate the release of the organization’s cooperatively produced compilation album, “Mosh on Fire.”

And on Monday, the Blue Beet Cafe in Newport Beach will feature its monthly “Blue Beat American Music Showcase,” which brings together singer-songwriters--both novices and battle-scarred veterans--for a night of song-swapping and talk about the art and business of songwriting.

Rich Robinson, a Los Angeles music writer who helped launch the Alternative Power Source, says the APS cooperative grew out of a sense that too many promising bands on the Los Angeles rock scene were playing to small or indifferent audiences and going unnoticed by the music press and the record industry.

Robinson, who writes for the Los Angeles Reader, said the organization began with a conversation last December, in which he and friends who play in the Leonards lamented “the state of the scene, and how a lot of great bands were being ignored.” Eddie Munoz, a former member of the Plimsouls, was also there, telling stories about how punk-rooted L.A. bands like the Plimsouls, Circle Jerks and X had developed a mutually beneficial camaraderie 10 years before. APS emerged in January, 1992, promoting multiple-act concerts designed to showcase its roster of like-minded bands.

John Surge, of the Long Beach/Orange County band Trouble Dolls, said he stumbled upon APS after Trouble Dolls played a dispiriting show in Hollywood in which it was shoved on after midnight on a bill of musically incompatible bands.

“There were like two people there, one of whom suggested we call Rich Robinson because Trouble Dolls reminded him of the Leonards,” Surge recalled.

“When we heard about (APS) it sounded like something that wouldn’t work,” said Surge, who had tried a few years ago to foster a sense of community on the Long Beach/Orange County scene by publishing a locally oriented rock fanzine called Blow Up. But Trouble Dolls, which had nothing to lose by joining APS, found that the cooperative effort paid off.

Pooling promotional efforts and planting the idea that fans of pop-infused, punk-related rock would be able to sample a smorgasbord of bands in that style, APS was able to put on mini-festivals (usually one or two shows a month) that drew well, and also brought in music writers and record-company scouts interested in one-stop shopping for alternative-rock prospects.

“Through that, we’ve gotten the first (record-company) interest in this band,” Surge said. So far, the Leonards, which signed recently with a small independent label, Red Planet Records, is the only APS band to have landed a contract. But plans are under way to gain wider exposure for all the bands by releasing a compilation album. Robinson said that there have been talks with I.R.S. Records about putting out an APS sampler but that APS will proceed with the album on its own if it can’t secure commitment from a label.

Besides improving its members’ visibility, Surge said, APS has fostered friendships among bands. “It’s almost like a scene, where we know each other and talk and hang out all the time. When I was a kid, you’d see Dream Syndicate and Green on Red, bands you knew were friends, and it made the whole thing stronger. This group of people gives us that. It makes it a lot more fun, and a whole lot easier.”

Tonight’s bill, which starts at 8:30, features nine APS bands, each playing about 20 minutes and sharing equipment to avoid between-set delays. Performing are the Shatners, Trouble Dolls, Boys Named Sue, the Leonards, Let’s Talk About Girls, Nag Nag Nag, Samba Hell, the Clowns and Mini Skirt Mob. Bogart’s is in the Marina Pacifica Mall, 6288 E. Pacific Coast Highway, Long Beach. Admission: $1. Information: (310) 594-8975.

Ben Franklin might have appreciated the spirit, if not the sound, of the “Mosh on Fire” compilation, which features 10 songs by 10 bands of similarly deafening volume, racing tempos, angry lyrics, and dark, glowering, howl-in-a-maelstrom bent. (Then again, Franklin might have had an affinity for hard-core metal music: during one of his experiments with electricity, the patriot/inventor was knocked unconscious by a surge of current, which may have made him history’s first head-banger).

The “Banned in L.A.--Band Together” movement began a year ago as a protest against the exploitative “pay-to-play” policy, in which the King Georges who run most Hollywood and Orange County hard-rock venues impose taxation (usually several hundred dollars per show) on bands before they can gain representation on local concert bills.

A group of hard-core bands took out ads in music publications, decrying the pay-to-play system. According to Brad Jackman of the Orange County band Corruption, these bands couldn’t get prime weekend slots in Hollywood clubs, even after agreeing to shell out money in advance.

One of those who sympathized with the bands’ plight was Pat McKeon. Formerly the singer of Max Havoc, an Orange County heavy metal band of the ‘80s, McKeon had branched into record production. He hit on the idea of putting together a compilation album of hard-core bands and releasing it on his own label, PMRC (Pat McKeon Record Co.). McKeon began contacting bands that had signed the protest ads, and found ready takers for his proposed album. The 10 bands involved, including Orange County groups Fathom, Attaxe, Corruption, Comatose and Malicious, all paid their own recording costs and will share in record royalties.

“I have no delusions of grandeur, but I think there’s a strong market, and it’ll do well regionally,” McKeon said, predicting West Coast sales of 5,000 to 10,000 for “Mosh on Fire.” McKeon and the Orange-based Doctor Dream Records are negotiating over a possible national distribution deal for the album. If the compilation succeeds, McKeon said, he foresees putting out full-length albums by some of the bands represented on “Mosh on Fire.”

For now, said Corruption’s Jackman, “we’re not worried about making a lot of money off this thing. We’re more interested in pushing the album and getting the name out. That will help all of us over the long run. Nobody makes it overnight on one song, but it can spark interest.”

McKeon is promoting the record-release show Friday night at Gazzarri’s and will share proceeds with the bands. “Nobody’s paying to play, and I’m anticipating a sellout,” he said. Even if the show is successful, Jackman said, it won’t revolutionize an unfair system. But he does see signs of progress coming from the bands’ communal effort.

“It’s not going to get the club owners to stop making people pay to play. But this will be the first time we’ve played Hollywood without having paid to play, and it will be the first time we’ll have played Hollywood on a Friday night. That’s a big plus for us.”

Corruption, Malicious, Comatose, Psychosis and Evol play Friday at 8:30 p.m. at Gazzarri’s, 9039 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood. Tickets: $12. Information: (310) 273-6606.

The idea of launching a regular songwriters’ soiree in Orange County came to Mark Wood while he was knocking on doors in Nashville. The veteran Orange County songwriter and bandleader says he has been making frequent trips to the country-music hub over the past year to build contacts and work on songs with Nashville-based writers. Several times he has played at the Bluebird Cafe, the Nashville club that serves as a songwriters’ showcase and hangout. Wood saw a need for the same thing in Orange County--not just for professional songwriter-musicians like himself, but for players just starting to test their craft.

Since August, Wood has organized the “Blue Beat American Music Showcase” on the third Monday of each month.

“I just wanted a new atmosphere, where people could try out their stuff and see people who have actually accomplished something,” Wood said. “Put some of the best songwriters together so the young songwriters could see what it’s about.”

The evenings begin with an “open mike” segment from 6 p.m. to 8:45 p.m., in which up to 20 newcomers are given time to sing a song or two (sign-ups for the slots begin at 5:30 p.m.). Through sponsorships Wood has lined up, each amateur performer is given two sets of guitar strings, and the winner of a drawing among the 20 open-mike participants gets four hours of recording time at Headway Studios in Westminster.

Then, at 9 p.m., established songwriters take over, playing 20- to 25-minute sets, talking song-craft, and describing their own ups and downs in the music business. Richard Stekol, one of Orange County’s best songwriters since his early ‘70s days with the band Honk, is among the performers expected to play on Monday at the Blue Beet Cafe, 107 21st Place, Newport Beach. Also on the bill are Wood and Kenny Edwards, Ken Osso, Nick Pyzow and John Ford Cowley. Admission is free. Information: (714) 675-2338. Wood said that starting Dec. 21, the monthly gatherings will move to the Trocadero, 4237 Campus Drive, Irvine.