Guy Jeans Dances With New Partners While Lion I’s Sit Out : Singer-songwriter is fronting new group at Bombay Bar & Grill.

The Throbyn Willies, a band with few spelling skills but the technology to make some very danceable music, play the front bar tonight at Bombay Bar & Grill.

The band is fronted by Guy Jeans, the singer-songwriter and keyboard player whose last weeknight band was the Trouser Trouts. Mainly, however, the bouncy blond is known as one of the main ingredients of Lion I’s, one of the area’s most popular dance bands.

With former Lion I’s front man Bobby Galyan recuperating from an accident, that band is now in a hiatus. In the meantime, Jeans plays with the Willies, which is still so new there’s no name on the drums. Along with Jeans (keyboard and vocals), there’s Tracy (T.K.) Kahanamoku (bass), James Hrabak (drums), Jeff Magyar (guitar), Dave Price (alto sax) and Gabe Chesser (tenor sax).

So far, the Willies is doing mainly Thursdays, but that could change when the status of Lion I’s is resolved. Jeans discussed all this and more during a recent interview.

Where did you find the new band members?

T.K. plays with Lion I’s; the drummer is Big Bad Voodoo Daddy’s soundman; the guitarist does sound for Lion I’s, and Gabe plays with The Upbeat. We’ve been together for two months. Our first live gig was June 1 at Bombay.

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What happened to the Trouser Trouts?

We dispersed after a gig in Colorado in January. This snowboarding company gave as an all-expenses paid trip to Durango. They rented us this van, plus we got to go snowboarding and just party. So we left Bombay on a Thursday night and drove 18 1/2 hours with seven of us all cramped up in the van. The bass player, who was supposed to fly and meet us there, never showed up. I called him about 25 times, but couldn’t reach him.

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All right. What’s up with Lion I’s?

They’re still hanging. Bobby [Galyan] is out. We’ve been rehearsing without him. I’ve known him since third grade, so it was hard to tell him that he couldn’t be in the band anymore.

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Where does Willies’ music fit in with your other bands?

I would say, compared to the Trouts, it’s different because the musicians are different. With the Willies, everything is much more collaborative. If I bring in a few chords, everyone works on it together. T.K. adds a bass line, James adds a beat, and the other guys go off on a horn line. We’re doing a new song every night. We’ve got 21 originals so far, plus a couple of Trouts songs, “Simple Soul” and “Beer In My Hand.” It’s kind of a reggae, ska, R & B thing.

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Does being in Lion I’s so long help?

Yeah, I think it does because a lot of the Lion I’s crowd is showing up, so that’s cool. We’ve just been playing for a month, and people are starting to come around to check it out. Usually, it’s going good by 11 p.m.

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Is it a hassle being the boss for two bands?

It really can be a pain. I had to call up all the clubs and cancel all the Lion I’s gigs, which were booked through September. [Bobby’s accident] screwed us up big time. We were doing mini tours to the Bay Area, Tahoe, all over. It takes a lot of your time to book both bands; well, not so much the Willies, at least not yet. It takes a couple of hours each day. That’s why I have a cell phone.

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Where do you expect the Willies to be in six months?

I dunno. The way it’s going, it’s looking pretty good. It looks like we could get a good following going. The crowd seems to double each night.

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Does the Bombay work for the band?

Yes. The Bombay really is a good place for us. No one anywhere else is going to pay us that much money to play original music on a Thursday night. It’s cool, man, to play original music and get paid for it. It really is.

Details

* WHAT: Throbyn Willies.

* WHEN: 9:30 p.m. tonight.

* WHERE: Bombay Bar & Grill, 143 California St., Ventura.

* HOW MUCH: $2.

* CALL: 643-4404.