4 Non Blondes: Color Them Unpredictable : Pop music: The female-fronted Bay Area band has broken out of the college market with its hit debut album, ‘Bigger, Better, Faster, More!’

Female-fronted hard-rock bands rarely make it big, but 4 Non Blondes has ended the drought. The group recently crashed the pop Top 20 with its debut album, “Bigger, Better, Faster, More!,” and its single “What’s Up.”

This is no conventional rock outfit--the band’s music covers the musical spectrum, from the sizzling funk-rock of “Superfly” to the moody folk of “Drifting” to the maniacal thrash-rock of “Calling All the People.”

“We thrive on being unpredictable,” boasts Linda Perry, the band’s feisty singer and chief songwriter, during an interview at a Hollywood hotel. “We get a kick out of breaking every rule we can.”

A lot of bands do that. What lifts 4 Non Blondes above the pack is Perry--a bright, daring, confident and candid personality whose bullhorn of a voice reflects the styles of such diverse idols as Phoebe Snow and Janis Joplin.

When Interscope Records signed the band in late 1991, Perry was one of the main attractions.

“She had a voice like one I’d never heard--plus she was a dynamic performer,” says the label’s A&R; executive Tom Whalley.

“They had some very good songs,” he adds. “When I saw them play in San Francisco, there was something endearing and exciting about what they were doing. It was musically raw, but it had great potential.”

There was just modest fan interest when the album was launched in the college market last October with the single “Dear Mr. President.”

“There was nobody listening when it came out,” recalls the 28-year-old Perry, grimacing at the memory. “On the surface you’re confident, but deep down you wonder if the record will ever sell because so many good albums never make it.”

Whalley said Interscope’s plan was to build a base in the college market and then try for a broader audience with the pop-oriented “What’s Up.” “It worked a little faster than we expected,” he says. The Bay Area band was originally all-female, but various personnel shifts led to the hiring of a male studio musician to finish the record. A subsequent search for a female guitarist didn’t turn up any satisfactory applicants, so the group went with Roger Rocha.

“It wasn’t important to be all-female--that’s just a gimmick,” Perry points out. “We had to get a quality guitarist or else our music would have suffered in the long run. Anyway, what’s the last all-female band that made it big in this business? . . . I can’t think of one either.”

Born in Springfield, Mass., Perry, who’s part Brazilian, grew up in San Diego. Her childhood was unhappy: “I was a confused kid, going in 20 directions at once and going nowhere.”

Defining her problem, she adds, “I think too much--even when I was younger. My mind can’t shut off. It ticks and ticks and ticks and I can’t stop it sometimes. I need to stop it so I can sleep. My life would be whole lot simpler if I could figure out how to keep my mind from moving without taking something like Valium--something I’ll get hooked on, because I get hooked on stuff easily.”

For a while, she admitted, she did take refuge in drugs. In recent years, though, music has been her calming influence. “One reason I love it and I’ve been so attracted to it is because it’s a release,” she says. “When I’m angry, I pick up my guitar and play the hell out of it. Singing--especially the way I sing--is a release too.”

Ironically, Perry’s career was nearly sidetracked early because her voice wasn’t appreciated. “People used to make fun of me and say I couldn’t sing. I joined two bands and both kicked me out because they didn’t like my voice. I was a bit discouraged. So I just partied and backed away from music for a while.”

What renewed her interest?

“I moved to San Francisco when I was 21,” she replies. “Suddenly this big voice came out of me--as if by magic. I was saner then so I thought to myself, ‘Why not do something with this voice?’ At the time I felt like I had lived 40 years. It was time to grow up and get a career.”