By Brett Ratner

I n an era of angst-ridden alterna rockers, jamming has almost become a lost art.

The Orange County quartet "Groove Salad" is an up-and-coming group keeping the funky faith with incendiary live shows augmented by extended improvisation. The two-year old band has been steadily building a buzz in southern California by lifting peoples spirits.

"We're trying to get people on their feet and get them moving, get them dancing and clapping to the songs," drummer-vocalist Julie White said. "We're kind of a positive vibe I would say. Usually when we play in a club, the dance floor is full, people are out there just shuffling along doing their thing."

Like the name implies, White, guitarist-vocalist Bob Brown, guitarist-vocalist Jerry Chaviaras and bassist-vocalist Chris Waterman throw in a variety of musical elements tied together by the common thread of groove.

"It's a mixture of music that makes something groovy," White said. "There's four different styles thrown into the music."

And what are those styles?

"We're somewhat of a cross between the Black Crowes, Stevie Ray Vaughn and the Red Hot Chili Peppers, with a little Lenny Kravitz feel going on in there," White said. "The direction of the band deals with a lot of improvisation live. We have our songs structured, then try to take it one step further live in front of the people."

Like their music, White says the band's best shows leave a lot to chance.

"I think one of our coolest gigs was actually unplanned in a way," White said. "It was a local club in Newport Beach. It was a gothic kind of place with different rooms and pool tables. There were stages upstairs and stages downstairs. There were lots of places people could choose to go. The main stage was upstairs and there was usually five bands a night. We were scheduled to play there on a Friday night. They had a stage downstairs as well. Usually what would happen is that the downstairs stage was in the room where people would walk through to go upstairs. The day before they called us and told us that we would be playing downstairs. We thought "that sucks, but let's see what we can get out of it.

"In return for switching us, they gave us an unlimited guest list and let us go in there and decorate and do whatever we wanted to the room," White said. "We put the tapestries up and the oriental rugs, burned the candles and the incense. We turned out a guest list of about 150 people, and I'd say 90 of them showed up. We had the whole place basically downstairs. Nobody was upstairs watching the punk bands. They were hanging with us, dancing, having a great time. We got to play for two hours instead of forty minutes."

Groove Salad's creativity in the face of diversity is paying off. They have been featured in several area magazines, has fielded phone calls from some smaller labels and is set to break into the Hollywood music scene with an upcoming gig at Coconut Teaser's. White says the band members are maintaining level heads as their success grows.

"We're taking it one step at a time," White said. "We're a fairly young band, but things seem to be going well at a fast pace for us. We're playing whenever we can, but now we're getting to the point where we can be a little choosy because we're getting better slots. We're starting to go to that next level."

Getting to the next level may be a daunting task. With the exception of bands such as Phish, dark, introspective, non-jammable music is dominating the airwaves and concert arenas. Does Groove Salad have a niche? According to White, making people feel better through music never goes out of style.

"I think people are getting a little tired of the gloomy dark music right now, White said. "We've played for all kinds of crowds. Punk crowds, heavy metal crowds, your average, everyday middle-class people out for a night at the clubs. We've always had a very positive response because I think our music is happy, it's fun. We cross over into many markets."

White attributes their growing and varied audience to the band's simple approach of concentrating on the entertainment aspect of music, rather than political.

"We try not to get too hung up on the meaning of songs," White said. "It's entertainment, it's fun. It's something to sing along with. We don't want to convey messages to people, or sway their decisions and thought processes. We don't want to be the spokesperson for the next generation."

Groove Salad aspires to take part in the next generation of popular bands. While they are making all the necessary preparations, (demos, photos, press kits, etc.) they plan to let the music and their careers take a natural course. White states this approach simply:

"Usually the things you don't plan are full of surprises."