R.E.M. Reveals Its New Self to Radio’s KCRW

The crowd was tiny, the box office nonexistent and the performance fleeting, but R.E.M. came to Los Angeles on Friday to play its music and deliver a message: We’re not done yet.

“This is a new band,” guitarist Peter Buck said of the 21-year-old outfit. “We’re old guys, but this is a new band and I feel real positive about the new album and where we’re going.”

Buck and company had just finished recording a five-song show for KCRW-FM (89.9) in a cramped room at the Museum of Television and Radio, a venue that barely held a few dozen people. The performance will be broadcast on Tuesday’s 11 a.m. segment of “Morning Becomes Eclectic.”

The band is not touring in support of its new album, “Reveal,” and despite good reviews and a Top 10 debut on the U.S. album chart, the introspective, ethereal collection is sagging commercially and being all but ignored by mainstream radio.

Combine all of that with the health-related departure of drummer Bill Berry from the band in 1997, followed by the remaining trio’s admitted musings about a breakup, and it’s easy to wonder if R.E.M. might soon call it a day.

Instead, singer Michael Stipe, bassist/keyboard player Mike Mills and Buck all say the fire-tested band has a relaxed and satisfying dynamic in its third decade.

“We want to keep making good music and we each realize this band is the best situation for us to do that,” Mills said during an interview after the audience of KCRW contest winners filed out.

From the days as an underground sensation in Athens, Ga., and even during pop-chart moments in the sun such as “Losing My Religion,” R.E.M.’s path has rarely seemed guided by commercial tastes.

But that only adds a gloss of irony to the blockbuster contract they signed in 1996 with Warner Bros. Records, at a time when alternative rock was more marketable.

The deal by some reports was worth $80 million for five albums. The band’s recent albums have lacked the retail bang that would prompt any label to make that kind of offer again, but R.E.M.’s manager, Bertis Downs, said the band resists putting its current art in a confining frame built from past commercial performances.

“The guys certainly would love to see their music shared by more people,” Downs said. “It’s fun to have hits. And this record is a hit in other parts of the world, and we certainly think it can be a hit here. . . . But I don’t think they’re concerning themselves all that much with it. They’re happy with the successes but they’re also really happy with the music.”

Downs said Berry’s departure and the subsequent turmoil making the “Up” album was a difficult time. “They got through it,” he said. “They learned from it and give each other more space. They’re pushing forward now. They’re already writing songs for the [next] record.”

Instead of hitting the concert circuit, R.E.M. has just completed a seven-week promotional tour that included tiny radio shows and massive free concerts in London, Toronto and Cologne, Germany. They also taped an upcoming “MTV Unplugged” episode and a guerrilla performance at a high school campus that will be used in an impishly funny video for the song “All the Way to Reno (You’re Gonna Be a Star).”

“For a band that’s not touring, we’ve done a whole lot of performances this year,” Buck said. “We’re just not charging money or selling tickets and T-shirts. It’s kind of fun that way.”