LOS ANGELES TIMES 2/2/96

by JOHN ROOS
special to the Times

: Pop Music: The quartet knows that as its popularity increases, the
  equation with the audience will change. But relationships will
  always be a factor lyrically.

  The members of rock band Seven Mary Three belong to a minority of
young rockers: those willing to acknowledge that the road to
commerical 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 keys 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 teh 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, includign a show
Saturday at the Galazy Concert Theatre in Santa Ana.)

  "Treatings 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 to 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
grundge bands as Pearl Jam and Stone Temple Pilots.

  This is another area in which Ross shines 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'e 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 would weather the
storm.  But, you know, being compared to the greatest bands in the
world is the least of my worries.

  "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 paretns 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 cropped
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 for "Churn,"
plus two new ones, for last year's "American Standard."

  Thematically, Seven Mary Three's material was shaped by the band
members' personal experiences and issues Ross 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 than human spirit that interests me, not some other
worldly presence," he said.  "For me, it has to be more attainable
and exposed to everyone around you."


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