Acting Prospects Are Coming to Standard Fruition

No Orange County band has been more ready for prime time than Standard Fruit, whose catchy but muscular pop-rock ranges distinctively between sources as diverse as the Smiths, R.E.M. and the Beach Boys.

Prime time is exactly where you’ll soon find Andrew Lowery, the band’s guitarist and main songwriter. But Lowery is getting there in his paying job as a TV and film actor, not via rock ‘n’ roll, which he always has pointed to as his favorite artistic calling.

Lowery, a Fullerton resident, is part of the cast of a new ABC sitcom, “Life’s Work,” that debuts Sept. 17 at 8:30 p.m., in a Nielsen-friendly slot between two hit series: “Roseanne” and “Home Improvement.”

The weekly program stars comedian Lisa Ann Walter as a young mom trying to build a career as an assistant district attorney in Baltimore.

“I’m her major antagonist,” says Lowery, whose character is an ambitious co-worker and rival willing to play rough at office politics. “We’re taping 13 episodes, and we’ll see what happens.” His only previous continuing part on a TV series was a small role in “A Different World.”

Meanwhile, Lowery said, Standard Fruit’s lack of career momentum has led to some changes. (Record companies have passed on a completed, self-financed album that’s crammed with stuff even more excellent than the outstanding do-it-yourself CD the band put out in 1993.)

Standard Fruit has renamed itself South, in tongue-in-cheek recognition of the general direction its career path has taken so far. It also has adopted a tougher rock sound and parted with guitarist Clark Fisher, who formerly dabbed on economical textures and lead fills to go with Lowery’s rhythm parts.

Lowery takes over as sole guitarist, and the rest of the lineup remains the same, with Denys Gawronski singing, Roger Smith playing bass and Ernest Woody drumming. The band gives its first show as South on Sept. 14 at the Martini Lounge, 5657 Melrose Ave., Los Angeles. (213) 467-4068.

Previously reluctant to link his film and rock careers for fear of being seen as another dilettante actor with a band--a la Keanu Reeves--Lowery says he now is ready to make full use of any attention or other fringe benefits that might arise for South if “Life’s Work” should land him in Hollywood’s buzz bin.

“I’ve always been really hesitant of mixing the two,” Lowery said. “But,” he added wryly, “I’ve gotten to the point where I’ve been so blazingly unsuccessful at [rock ‘n’ roll] that I’m proud. I’ve played in clubs in Muncie, Ind., to three people. This is not a vanity project. I’ve seriously pursued this for almost six years, and failure makes it grand.”

*

BLASTING OFF: One Hit Wonder will soon be working for that multiple-hit wonder, Brian (Dexter) Holland of the Offspring.

Dan Root, leader of the terrific Long Beach-O.C. punk-pop band, says that OHW expects to sign with the Holland-run Nitro Records as soon as some minor details are worked out.

“It’s pretty much a done deal,” Root said. “There was a mistake, a typo” in the contract that he said needs to be changed before the band signs to Nitro, whose all-punk roster also includes locals Guttermouth and the Vandals.

Root says the plan calls for a January release of what would be the band’s first full-length studio CD. Lethal, a small Orange County label, has released “Cluster----astuff,” a compilation of live tracks and singles.

“There was a little interest here and there [from other labels], and we could have pursued other avenues, but given the way Brian runs his company, and the people who work for him, I can’t think of a better label to be on.”

OHW also has close connections with Orange County’s other multiple-platinum alternative-rock band, No Doubt. Drummer Chris Webb was a founding member of No Doubt in the late ‘80s, and No Doubt bassist Tony Kanal served as a fill-in performing member of One Hit Wonder last year while it auditioned applicants to replace Randy Bradbury, now of Pennywise.

One Hit Wonder opened recent shows for No Doubt in Arizona and Las Vegas, Root said, “and the audience was so cool I felt like the headliner. In Las Vegas I got to see myself on Diamondvision, which is a good thing, because I look goood on Diamondvision.”

Besides Root and Webb, One Hit Wonder’s members are Warren Renfrow, the former Cadillac Tramps bassist, and Trey Pangborn, formerly of the Falling Idols.

Root says that the band has a fresh cluster of stuff to choose from for its Nitro debut, as both he and Pangborn have been cranking out new songs.

“I just broke up with my girlfriend of three years,” Root said, “so I’m trying to avoid writing too many songs about how much I miss her and how much I hate her.”

STILL ROCKING: Koo’s Cafe recently marked its second anniversary--a rare longevity for an all-ages rock venue in Orange County, where club promoters, or wary municipal authorities, typically find the teenage crowd too unruly to put up with.

“We’ve just created an environment where [troublemakers] wouldn’t want to be anyway,” said Dennis Lluy, director of operations at the small Santa Ana venue, which has kept the name of its previous incarnation as a Chinese takeout restaurant.

“We’re so strict about drinking and drugs and violence,” Lluy added.

Koo’s doesn’t have a permit to charge admission but asks for donations and sells nonalcoholic drinks to help cover its operating costs.

Coming attractions at Koo’s include Donuts and Glory, tonight at 8 p.m., a day-night doubleheader on Saturday with Channel 6, Grover’s Headache and Pharmaceutical Bandits playing at 2 p.m. and Man Will Surrender at 8 p.m., and a Sept. 14 show by Longfellow. Koo’s is at 1505 N. Main St., Santa Ana. (714) 648-0937.