For Buck, Hiatus Means Albums, Tour

Most people would welcome a year off from work, but a 12-month layoff is a scary proposition to Peter Buck.

“I couldn’t just sit around and do nothing,” says the energetic R.E.M. guitarist. “I like to stay busy. I like to have some focus in my life.”

So, with R.E.M. on hiatus after the release late last summer of its “New Adventures in Hi-Fi” album, Buck involved himself in a variety of undertakings, which he prefers not to call side projects. “When I do them, I concentrate on them fully, 100%,” he says.

Among the activities:

* Forming a Seattle band called Tuatara with drummer Barrett Martin of Screaming Trees, bassist Justin Harwood of Luna and saxophonist Skerik of Critters Buggin’. The group’s instrumental album, “Breaking the Ethers,” is due Tuesday from Epic Records. (See accompanying review.)

* Co-writing and producing a collection of songs with singer-songwriter Mark Eitzel, former leader of the band American Music Club. Eitzel’s album, titled “West” and featuring most of the members of Tuatara, will be released May 6 by Warner Bros. Records.

* Helping write the songs and playing guitar on an album for a Seattle band called the Minus 5 that features guitarist-singer Scott McCaughey, who played second guitar with R.E.M. on its last tour. The album, titled “Lonesome Death of Buck McCoy,” is also due May 6, from Malt/Hollywood Records.

Buck will showcase this balancing act live on a monthlong tour that begins May 1 in Seattle and includes stops May 13 through 15 at the Gallery Theatre in Hollywood’s Barnsdall Art Park and May 16 and 17 at the Ash Grove.

The tour, dubbed “The Magnificent Seven vs. the United States,” will feature all three acts, in various forms, on stage throughout each show.

“The whole thing will be kind of like a circus,” Buck says. “There will be some instrumental stuff, then Mark will sing some and Scott will sing. I just want to keep things kind of fluid. If all seven of us are playing on almost every song, it didn’t seem right to arbitrarily divide it up into sets depending on who’s singing or not singing.

“But we’ll be fair: We’ll all get bathroom breaks.”

Otherwise, down time is in short supply for Buck, who says he thrives on all the activity.

“Every experience you have where you’re allowed to learn something new or try something new is a good experience,” he says, explaining his enthusiasm for these projects.

“For me, playing in Tuatara is a learning experience because I’m playing outside the rock ‘n’ roll discipline that I’m used to, playing with some pretty amazing players who play a lot of instruments. And since we don’t have a vocalist, we’re approaching songwriting in a different way.”

And the next R.E.M. album?

Says Buck: “We’re going to do some recording next month, just to see where we’re going and talk about what we want to do next.”

* Mark Eitzel, Tuatara and the Minus 5 play May 13 to 15 at the Gallery Theatre, 4800 Hollywood Blvd., 7 p.m. $15.50, on sale April 5. (213) 662-6378; also May 16 and 17 at the Ash Grove, 250 Santa Monica Pier, 8:30 p.m. $15, on sale Friday. (310) 656-8501.

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Ropin’ the Vim: Don’t expect a repeat of Erasure’s lavish “Phantasmagorical Entertainment” tour when the English synth-pop duo plays tonight at the Hollywood American Legion Hall.

The show is part of a “stripped-down” series of dates, says founding member Vince Clarke, who joined partner Andy Bell for a triumphant 10-night stand at the Wiltern Theatre in the fall of 1992 before Erasure took a four-year break from performing.

“The idea behind these small-venue dates,” Clarke says, “was to just get back into playing music and not hiding too much behind a big stage production.”

Not that Clarke and Bell have lost their theatrical flair.

The duo will be back in town May 12 at the Universal Amphitheatre with its new production, built around its “Cowboy” album, which is due April 22 from Maverick Records.

“It’s going to be a mixture of ‘Mad Max’ and ‘Annie Get Your Gun,’ ” Clarke says. “There will be lots of western iconry happening on stage. We’re going to have lots of silver cowboy suits, and they’re actually making me a cactus suit, which should be pretty cool. We’re hoping that fans will turn up for the show in Stetsons.”

* Erasure plays tonight at the Hollywood American Legion Hall, 2035 N. Highland Ave., 8 p.m. Sold out. (213) 960-2035; also May 12 at the Universal Amphitheatre, 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, 8:15 p.m. $30.50, on sale April 5. (213) 252-8497.