MUSIC : Release of CD Sparks Celebration of Toads : The Santa Barbara band will preside over a party in honor of fourth album, ‘Dulcinea.’

Wanna hang out with some rock stars? They don’t get much bigger than those hometown Toad boys, who will be hosting a CD release party Sunday night at the Beach Shack in Santa Barbara. The object of discussion and adoration is none other than the fourth Toad the Wet Sprocket album, “Dulcinea.” The album’s first single, “Fall Down,” is already all over local radio.

The two-buck cover charge will go to one of the band’s favorite causes, the Rape Crisis Center. No macho menaces in this band; in 1992, Toad was the only all-male act to appear at a National Organization for Women rally for abortion rights in the nation’s capital. The proceeds from a May 28 concert in a field across the street from Dos Pueblos High School, a show that will feature Toad and some of their musical pals such as Creature Feature, Dudley, Woodburning Project and Cory Sipper, will go to the same cause.

The Toadsters, four S.B. locals from San Marcos High School, include Dean Dinning on bass, Randy Guss on drums, Todd Nichols on guitar. Glen Phillips is the singer. Just a nine-year overnight successes, Toad used to open for local Ventura bands at Charlie’s.

Dinning discussed his favorite band named after a Monty Python skit during a recent phoner.

How’s the Toad bizz?

Great. We’ve been home for a year and a half; we had to rest up from our grueling 18-month tour. We took a little time off to get used to having a home life again, and because we didn’t want all of our new songs to be road songs. We didn’t want to do a “Running On Empty II.” Last time, after we’d been on the road for eight months, radio started to play “Fear.” It was like it was all brand-new again, so we went back to the places we’d already played. You could drop me in any town in the country and I’ll bet I could find a good sandwich.

Things are definitely looking better. It’s kinda nice to see a little reward after going into debt for five years.

Big deals with big labels usually end up in big debts?

Sure, you have to pay it all back. The cost of recording your album, the cost of the videos, the cost of touring--you have to pay for it all. Making 500 bucks a night on tour doesn’t cover the crew or the hotels. We ended up with a platinum record with “Fear,” and we’re finally starting to make a little bit. Bands get signed everyday and I’d say 95% of them go into debt and never get out of it. The other 5% have careers. We turned down a million dollars from MCA, and we only took enough money from CBS to get by. We wanted total control over our careers and a four-album deal. You know, our first album only sold 15,000 copies. The way we did it, they didn’t see such a huge negative right away. I think we made the right decision.

What’s “Dulcinea” like compared to the other albums?

Oh boy, well, it’s actually less like “Fear,” and more like the first two. On “Fear,” we overdubbed everything, then separated everything out, and tried to make it sound perfect. The new one is actually a good bit of regression for us. We wanted to recapture more of the live playing feeling; it’s more song- and less production-oriented. Actually, we don’t have a clue. I hope it stays that way.

With “Dulcinea,” that’s the third one-word-titled album in a row. Do I detect a trend?

Well, our name itself is a mouthful. Could you imagine Toad The Wet Sprocket does “The Low Spark of High-Heeled Boys”? We’re giving our fans a break.

Is there any one thing that makes Toad a particularly Santa Barbara band?

I guess it’s the fact that we’ve lived here all our lives. The good thing about Santa Barbara is that so many different bands can co-exist far enough away from the music business in L.A. This is a real good place to be creative. I think the scene here is happening way more than when we started. There are a lot more places to play.

I remember when you guys used to open for the Mudheads and the I-Rails at Charlie’s in Ventura.

We had some awesome gigs down there--that was the best place in town. I always thought Chris O’Connor of the I-Rails and Bill Coffey of the Mudheads wrote great songs. I thought we would all get signed and we’d still be playing together.

How did Toad get their buzz going?

Well, we made a tape and started selling them around town, and one of them got into the hands of this ASCAP guy in L.A., and before we knew it, we were getting phone calls. We never sent tapes to anybody.

What’s alternative music?

By definition, it used to mean music that wasn’t getting played on the radio. But now alternative radio is one of the most popular formats, so alternative radio itself is an oxymoron. The alternative to the alternative is the real alternative now. All I know is that now I can listen to the radio and actually hear music I like instead of Poison or Nelson.

Why did you become a bass player?

I became the bass player, but originally, I was the keyboard player. When I was 16, I wanted a guitar for my birthday, but my dad told me “There are 10 guitar players for every bass player that can sing.” I’ve never forgotten that. I enjoy the more rhythmic aspects of music, and you can screw up on the bass and nobody will notice.

The band recently appeared on a KISS tribute album, but would KISS do a Toad song?

I hope that they would. Gene Simmons was a Toad fan, that’s how we got involved in that project. I’d love to hear him do “Walk on the Ocean.”

Details

* WHAT: Toad The Wet Sprocket.

* WHERE: Beach Shack, 500 Anacapa St., Santa Barbara.

* WHEN: 8 p.m. Sunday.

* WHY: CD release party by these hometown boys.

* COST: $2.

* ETC.: Call 966-1634.