Eclectic feel in Costa Mesa

Young Chang

Ever heard of a group called Minibar? How about Trespassers

William? Or a form of music called shoegaze?

No? Never? Well, you’re not the only ones.

Nic Harcourt of 89.9 FM KCRW is joining with the Eclectic Orange

Festival to help Southern California musicians without record company

contracts rise out of obscurity. Called “Unsigned Indies,” the free

Sept. 28 concert will feature performers selected by Harcourt, host

of KCRW’s “Morning Becomes Eclectic” and musical director for the

station.

Acts include singer, songwriter and storyteller Gary Jules;

vocalist Julianna Raye, Orange County band Trespassers William and

pop-rock group Minibar. The concert will be held at Town Center Park

in Costa Mesa as a precursor to the six-week Eclectic Orange

Festival, which officially starts Oct. 11.

“Unsigned Indies” was first held last year at the Getty Center in

Los Angeles. Harcourt remembers about 6,000 people attending,

thousands more than organizers expected.

“Hopefully it’ll be a good opportunity to expose our music to the

people in our hometown,” said Matt Brown, a Costa Mesa resident and

guitarist for Trespassers William. “With KCRW’s backing, I think it’s

going to get a lot of right people there.”

A good percentage of the tunes that get air time on KCRW are by

unsigned, independent artists. Harcourt said the station’s audience

expects to be challenged with new and different music. Artists to

perform at “Unsigned Indies” have all had their music played on the

radio station.

“It’s a big part of what we do,” Harcourt said. “We’ve already

supported their music in one way or another. But to be quite honest

with you, apart from that, it’s a subjective decision.”

Harcourt will feature Gary Jules for his talented song writing and

his intriguing observations on living in Los Angeles.

Trespassers William, a folk/indie-rock/shoegaze band, was tapped

for its sultry and evocative sound.

“It kinda reminds me a little bit of Mazzy Star and I thought they

would just be a great band to have on the bill,” Harcourt said. “It’s

a diverse range of music and everyone’s going to be playing about 30

minutes.”

Band members will officially release “Different Stars,” their

second album produced without a record contract, at “Unsigned

Indies.”

“KCRW has built a reputation for always being on the cutting edge

of music, and their mission being so similar to ours it’s really a

natural fit because KCRW has ‘Morning Becomes Eclectic,’” said

Craddock Stropes, spokesperson for the Philharmonic Society, on why

the fourth annual festival is joining with the radio station.

The Philharmonic Society sponsors the Eclectic Orange Festival,

which will host 55 performances in six weeks at several different

venues. The centerpiece of its schedule -- known for its artistic

diversity -- will be performances by the equestrian troupe Theatre

Zingaro.

KOCE-TV’s television crew will be on site to air “Unsigned Indies”

live on their weekly show “Sound Affects.” The program will be

broadcast Oct. 12 through 26.