MUSIC / THE SAMPLES : Band With a Plan : These players tour around making music and new fans after kissing the recording-company heavyweights goodby.

Arista. Atlantic. Columbia. Elektra. EMI. Epic. Geffen. Island. MCA. Polygram. RCA. Warner Brothers. Those are the record-company heavyweights. Most bands with even the most modest rock ‘n’ roll dreams would kiss the ground these people would make them crawl on just for the chance to get signed.

Except the Samples. They tried the corporate life and released an album in 1990 on Arista Records then got themselves unsigned. They hadn’t even gotten the chance to meet Milli Vanilli when they decided that Frank Sinatra was right--it was time to do it their way. So far it’s working without A&R; guys, without MTV videos, and without legal counsel. The Samples just tour all the time and make records and continually increase their mailing list.

“We just sort of stick to our own plan,” said Sean Kelly, Samples’ frontman (and Sting sound-alike) in a recent phone interview from Boulder.

“We figure, if there’s an audience, make an album for them. A lot of bands waste their time making demos and trying to get signed. The hype of getting signed is just a waste of talent. You should go out and play and see the country. I mean, there were four people at our first gig five years ago. A month ago at Red Rocks in Colorado, there were 8,000 people there--we were headlining and set up the gig ourselves.”

Most married couples spend one-third of their quality time engaging in the endless, mindless and senseless “what’s for dinner” scenario, which is understandable because nobody knows what they want to do next--not next week, next month, next year, or in 10 minutes.

Everyone has a plan that will not work. Kelly’s plan, so far, has worked well enough to keep any of the band members from that brain death day job.

“I left high school in Vermont when I was 16, to play music,” said Kelly. “I was totally dedicated and I taught myself how to play. I was in four or five bands, then one day in winter, a friend and I decided to move to Boulder, and we packed up our guitars and decided to start a band.

“Right now, the Boulder scene is pretty subtle--it’s not like Seattle yet. When I first got to town, everyone was doing Allman Brothers’ covers. Within a month, we had some gigs. We never could play other people’s songs--we were too bad--so we just did originals. We’ve got about 50 songs now--no covers.”

Nothing to it, huh? You want to be a rock star and-- voila --you are one. Yeah, 70 zillion rock star wanna-bes wish. For most groups, there is a certain amount of suffering involved.

“We got our name the Samples because that’s how we used to survive,” said Kelly. “When I left home, it was at a time when no one would lend me any money, so we’d hang out in the supermarket eating the free samples. We’d just chow down on the little cheeses and crackers, then we discovered the Hari Krishnas, then happy hour, but you still had to come up with enough money to buy a drink. I don’t laugh too much about that stuff because it might come back.”

Now the Samples are the ones driving around in that big ol’ tour bus, while everyone else is crammed in the van that won’t start, or dreamin’ of that big ol’ tour bus, which, in reality is a van that won’t start.

“We have a tour bus because we can afford one now,” said Kelly. “We’ve been selling out quite a few venues lately, and we seem to be dealing with better promoters. You know, we never had a bus when we were with Arista.”

So like Michael On Fire, and darn few others, the Samples are out there driving around making music and new fans. They’ve played in every state except Alaska and Hawaii. The band usually tours in six-week increments, then returns to Boulder, takes a break and starts it all again.

“We’re starting to get some airplay on some independent stations because our music is radio ready,” said Kelly. People that come to see us are people like us--people that don’t fit in. We’re not a bunch of thieves and I think people like that.”

But are they going to like this? The Samples, who will be making their third appearance in Santa Barbara, may be heading West--for good.

“We’re going to record our next album in Santa Barbara,” said Kelly. “I really like it out there. We’re heading West, the only thing is, Boulder is a good location to tour from. Hey, can you see any palm trees from your deck?”

* WHERE AND WHEN

The Samples, Tuesday, 9 p.m. at the Anaconda Theater, 935 Embarcadero del Norte, Isla Vista. Ten bucks will get you in, eight bucks will get you a Samples shirt. For tickets or information, call 685-3112.