Wanted: Popularity

Poppycock.

That’s what members of rock group Guster think of the notion popular in indie-rock circles that selling a lot of records means selling out. And now that the trio has released its first major-label album, “Lost and Gone Forever,” they hope to prove it.

“We self-released our first two CDs [1994’s ‘Parachute’ and 1996’s ‘Goldfly,’ the latter reissued last year by Sire Records], but for us, it was never about playing long sets of music in the corner of a bar,” singer-songwriter-guitarist Ryan Miller said by phone from his Manhattan apartment.

“We want an audience,” Miller said. “There are some very worthwhile acts out there selling quite well, like Rage Against the Machine and Lauryn Hill. That’s nothing to be ashamed of.

“We know the reality at this level is if you don’t sell records, you don’t get to make more,” he added, even though Guster has a three-CD deal with the Sire/London Records Group. “We’re certainly no overnight sensation. . . . We take our notes from organizations like Phish, the Dave Matthews Band and Barenaked Ladies. They’re all bands that have built their success steadily through hard work and lots of touring.”

The Boston-bred, New York-based group, which also features vocalist-guitarist Adam Gardner and percussionist Brian Rosenworcel, leans to the experimental side of the pop-rock spectrum. For starters, they have two lead singers. Also, Miller and Gardner play acoustic guitars, Rosenworcel drums by hand--no drumsticks--and the group has no bassist.

The trio, which makes its Orange County debut tonight in San Juan Capistrano, insists its unorthodox approach is not merely an attention-getting device.

“The band started very informally in our dorm rooms when we were college freshmen,” said Miller, a Texas native who graduated in 1995 from Tufts University in Medford, Mass., with a degree in religion. “All we had were our guitars and some bongos, and so that’s what we played.

“We never really set any rules or had this subversive plot to be gimmicky,” he said. “But when people kept telling us, ‘You can’t make it without a real rhythm section or electric guitar,’ it only strengthened our resolve to prove them wrong.”

One admirer who shares Guster’s vision is Steve Lillywhite, the influential producer of albums by such big-name acts as U2, the Dave Matthews Band and Peter Gabriel.

Lillywhite first noticed the band a couple of years ago during two packed shows at New York’s Irving Plaza. Intrigued by the group’s sound and rabid following, Lillywhite caught several more gigs and then offered to produce what would become “Lost and Gone Forever.”

“I remember hearing ‘[Nothing but] Flowers’--that Talking Heads tune on [their 1988] ‘Naked’ album--and the way 10 different things were going on at once but it all worked,” Miller said. “Steve Lillywhite [co-produced] that record, and ever since then, I’ve wanted to meet him and make a record with him. . . . I think the biggest thing Steve gave us was a feeling of confidence where we could dabble and experiment,” he said. “We learned to trust ourselves and our instincts. And because we knew that he was at the helm sonically, it freed us to concentrate on other key areas, like the writing and flow of the tracks.”

Through lyrics written by Miller, Guster addresses themes of suicide, the worship of false idols, self-doubt, alienation and relationship woes. The band frequently marries the dark subject matter with upbeat, melody-rich soundscapes.

Prime examples are its current single, “Barrel of a Gun,” and “Fa Fa,” a bouncy ditty being sent to radio stations next month that opens with the verse, “When you look in the mirror / Wish you were somebody else / Just a perfect reflection / You and no one else.”

“I didn’t want our records to be disposable pop,” Miller said. “The things that always affected me lyrically are words that made you think, whether [they’re by] Bob Dylan, Peter Gabriel or Beck.

“My challenge is figuring out what I have to say that hasn’t already been said--and said better than I ever could--by someone else. I’m a 26-year-old college graduate from a white middle-lass family . . . so I’m not about to get preachy about the more complex issues of the day,” Miller said. “I’m just trying to express the range of my personal feelings--love, jealousy, anger, guilt--for whatever they’re worth.”

If some listeners don’t quite grasp what Guster is all about, Miller isn’t surprised.

“I don’t think we really sound like anybody else, and sometimes, it takes more than one listen to get a handle on what we’re doing,” he said. “It’s probably easier to determine what we’re not, like a conventional rock band. We don’t improvise, so we’re not a jam or hippie band, either.”

“We do put a lot of thought into what we do, but it’s not this real sophisticated stuff you’ll hear from the Flaming Lips, Mercury Rev or Beck,” he said. “More than anything else, with our harmonizing and sense of melody, we just aspire to be a good pop band like Crowded House or Squeeze--one that packs each record with a little smarts and a lot of ear candy.”

* Guster, Kepano Green and Phantom Planet play tonight at the Coach House, 33157 Camino Capistrano, San Juan Capistrano. 8 p.m. $10-$12. (949) 496-8930.