Seven Mary Three Multiplies

The members of rock band Seven Mary Three belong to a minority of young rockers: those willing to acknowledge that the road to commercial success is paved with compromise.

The Orlando, Fla.-based quartet has seen alternative-rock radio warm to its single, “Cumbersome,” and has seen its major-label debut album, “American Standard,” crack the Top 100 of Billboard’s album chart (it’s currently No. 31).

Lead singer and lyricist Jason Ross knows that as its popularity continues to grow, some things will have to change.

“The key to surviving in this business is being able to make those decisions yourself that affect the integrity of the band,” said Ross, just shy of his 23rd birthday.

So even though Seven Mary Three signed to Mammoth Records, an affiliate of Atlantic Records, the group has been able to have its say in the recording studio.

Ross noted that although studio veteran Tom Morris was enlisted to work on the album, Ross and Jason Pollock, who receive credit as co-producers, “basically produced the record. I realize that there are compromises to be made, but if you keep your head about it, you can transcend it.”

As it moves up to larger concert halls, the group will necessarily lose some of the direct contact with fans they’ve become accustomed to. (The group is still playing clubs, however, including a show Saturday at the Galaxy Concert Theatre in Santa Ana.)

“Treating fans right--with gratitude and respect--is very important to us,” Ross said by phone from a tour stop in Tucson, Ariz. “We go into the crowd after each show and try and talk to the kids until the last one leaves.

“But as our audience grows in number, we won’t be able to do that forever,” Ross said. “All we can do then is just keep putting our heart and soul into our performances.”

Because of the agonizing vocals, the thick, cranked-up guitars and themes of youthful malaise that characterize its music, Seven Mary Three has been compared--and not always favorably--to such grunge bands as Pearl Jam and Stone Temple Pilots.

This is another area in which Ross shies from rock ‘n’ roll convention, which would dictate distancing his band from any labels that fans, critics or radio might try to apply.

The comparisons “used to upset me, but I’ve convinced myself to be secure in my own identity,” Ross said. “As a young band, it’s part of paying your dues, and you’ve got to survive your influences.

“If you can live through the criticism, you’ll be rewarded,” he added. “And if the music can stand alone, it will weather the storm. But, you know, being compared to the greatest bands in the world is the least of my worries.”

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What does worry Ross is the extent to which his ideals, and those of his fellow band members and Generation X peers, may be affected by events beyond their control.

“Our parents have been through divorces, and it’s had a tremendous impact on us,” Ross said. “I think that often our ideals of the perfect family unit--or any romantic relationship--are just that, ideals. . . . and we love more in our minds than in reality.

“Can you be faithful; can you be everything that’s desired of you; are our expectations simply too high?” he said. “It’s a very difficult, but essential, part of the human condition to try and understand.”

Such issues tug and tear, at times shattering like glass, in such songs as “Devil Boy,” “My My” and “Margaret.” Defiant and focused, Ross lashes out with anger and resentment as his band mates unleash torrents of heavy, relentless rock ‘n’ roll.

Seven Mary Three was born in 1992 when the two Jasons met while attending William & Mary College in Virginia. The name was copped from a code name used during an episode of the “CHiPS” TV series.

Initially, they performed as a duo with Ross singing, Pollock playing guitar and both writing music. Later, drummer Giti Khalsa and bassist Casey Daniel joined the fold, and the foursome played coffeehouses and clubs throughout the Southeast.

After releasing its first album, in 1994, the self-produced “Churn,” and getting airplay on an FM rock station in Orlando for the “Cumbersome” single, the band relocated to that area. That regional success soon caught the attention of major-label scouts. The band signed with Mammoth and rerecorded the songs on “Churn,” plus two new ones, for last year’s “American Standard.”

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Thematically, Seven Mary Three’s material was shaped by the band members’ personal experiences and issues Roth explored while taking a creative-writing course in college.

One topic that goes back even further for Ross, and which provides a thread that runs through the album, is the role of organized religion during his formative years.

As he explains, the rigid structure and unrealistic demands of his Catholic high school sent Ross searching for spiritual fulfillment elsewhere.

“I’m not a Catholic. . . . I’m kind of at a religious crossroads,” he said. “Catholicism institutionalizes religion to the point of forcing it on you, instead of letting you uncover it for yourself. I didn’t find it there, but at least I was looking for it.

“It’s more the human spirit that interests me, not some otherworldly presence,” he said. “For me, it has to be more attainable and exposed to everyone around you.”

* Seven Mary Three, Lustre and Gus play Saturday at the Galaxy Concert Theatre, 3503 S. Harbor Blvd., Santa Ana. 8 p.m. $10. (714) 957-0600.