Music on the Edge of O.C. : Avant-garde: The ‘Errant Bodies Amplified’ series in Huntington Beach offers explorations of experimental sounds.

Tonight, barely a month after the new, 11,000-square-foot Huntington Beach Art Center opened its doors, it will kick off what has become a rarity among cultural programs: an experimental music series.

The biweekly series (every other Friday starting at the ripe hour of 10:30 p.m.) is going by the title “Errant Bodies Amplified.” As this implies, conventional musical approaches are not welcome. The intentionally diverse series aims at validating what center education director Tyler Stallings describes as the center’s “mission statement: to raise awareness of contemporary art.”

What can the intrepid visitor expect to hear? Tonight’s main act, Recess, is a duo: Tom Grimley and Petra Haden, bassist Charlie Haden’s daughter and a member of the band That Dog. “They do these quirky, sonic-oriented tunes,” according to series organizer Brandon LaBelle. “It’s never the same twice. Sometimes they’ll play very acoustic ballad-like things, and the next time it’s very distorted and electronic.” Joining them on the bill: Crib, a lab experiment in bass guitar noise-generation.

“It will be an odd mix,” LaBelle offered--a wry understatement. The odd mix goes on, through June 9. (See box.)

In Orange County and Los Angeles, venues for music on the fringes of the mainstream have been fleeting, despite such successes as the “New Music Mondays” at the Alligator Lounge in Santa Monica and other more periodic nightclub situations. Stallings, who plans to continue new music programming at the center, suggests that “the difference with us is that we’re presenting it on an ongoing basis, as opposed to a one-time, here-and-there basis. As a larger institution, we’ll be able to support that.”

It’s not that there aren’t available creative resources in terms of musicians/performers working outside conventional means, LaBelle said. “Musically, I see a lot of exciting things happening at the moment. There is an undercurrent of experimental things being done, but I find Los Angeles not to be a city that really caters to that type of thing.”

LaBelle, who met Stallings while both attended California Institute of the Arts, is a writer-musician who plays drums in various projects and who has edited the literary/arts journal “Errant Bodies” for two years. He had been wanting to start a music series accenting music in noise, ambient and multimedia settings, when the opportunity arose in Huntington Beach.

“A part of me wanted to bring this music into an art context, where there would be more of an opportunity to present something thought out and intelligent. But also the idea was to bring more of a punk, experimental attitude into the art context, so the two could meet in a kind of middle ground.”

Once an agreement was struck with the art center, LaBelle quickly called several musicians he knows. “Initially, I thought maybe I’ll make each night organized around a conceptual theme. But it’s the same thing when I edit the journal: I want to take myself out of it and let the music be there.

“It’s not about cleaning up the edges or framing it in a conceptual way. It’s more about an attitude. I get heated about seeing curated exhibitions where you’re led ultimately back to the curator’s ego and conceptual wizardry. I wanted this to be more about ‘low-fi,’ low-tech music, about bringing people who are doing interesting things together.”

Guitarist Sam Durant, sound collagist Unica Zurn and artful noise specialist Clancy Pearson are among the music-makers scheduled. LaBelle thinks one function of a series such as this is to present a forum that inspires creative activity. “When I know an artist or a musician that I respect, I like to offer him or her an opportunity to do something. So in this series, Marina Rosenfeld and Kelly Martin are working on pieces now that they’ll present.

“Also, I wanted it to be pretty diverse. I like the eclectic nature of Los Angeles. With everything that’s happening, it doesn’t seem to be categorized into a main movement or scene that’s happening. It’s all going on at once, and the series reflects that.”

On the May 12 program, LaBelle’s own band, Far Flung, will present a largely improvised live score to the film “The Passion of Joan of Arc.” While the band normally functions in a rock format, for this performance LaBelle reports “we’re dropping the drums and guitar format and will play a lot of prepared tapes and homemade electronic devices and synthesizers.”

Stallings is well aware of the unique quality of the series and hopes that word will spread. “There aren’t many venues for the kind of music we’re presenting, experimental, more edgy things. We see that as a niche. We see our audience as going beyond Huntington Beach. By filling these niches, it would be nice if we could draw people from other areas.”

Which isn’t to say he wants to close off the surrounding neighborhood. “In Huntington Beach,” he notes, “there’s a very specific kind of youth culture, with surfing and skateboarding. We’re located right on Main Street, about three blocks from the beach. We’re expecting to tap into that crowd with the music series.”

* “Errant Bodies Amplified” begins tonight at 10:30 at the Huntington Beach Art Center, 538 Main St., Huntington Beach. $4 and $5. (714) 374-1650.

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MUSIC SERIES

The schedule for “Errant Bodies Amplified”:

* Tonight: Recess; Crib.

* May 12: Kelly Martin, punk spoken-word; Far Flung, a psychedelic, experimental group performing to the film “The Passion of Joan of Arc” with an orchestra of oscillators and prepared tapes, along with a few unforeseen noises.

* May 26: Sam Durant, improvised grooves, solo guitar to trance-funk; Marina Rosenfeld, performances in conjunction with video projections that act as accompanying musicians to form a visual/aural play.

* June 9: Unica Zurn, polyrhythmic juxtapositions; Clancy Pearson, noise-ambient improvised music by guitar and drums.

All programs at the Huntington Beach Art Center, 538 Main St., Huntington Beach, starting at 10:30 p.m. $5, $4 for members. (714) 374-1650.

Source: The Huntington Beach Arts Center.