Ezra bounces back from debacle with Elektra label

Kirk Baird

Friday, Aug. 10, 2001 | 9:23 a.m.

What: Better Than Ezra.

When: 8 p.m. Thursday.

Where: House of Blues at Mandalay Bay.

Tickets: $23.

Information: 632-7600.

Better Than Ezra?

For the New Orleans trio it was a case of "Better Than Elektra."

That was the attitude Better Than Ezra took when its then-label, Elektra Records, essentially tried to beg out of its contract with the band after handling the group's first three records.

"We originally had a deal where they had to offer us two more records, under the initial deal," said Better Than Ezra bassist Tom Drummond in a recent phone interview from Los Angeles.

Then Elektra said it wanted only one more record from the band.

"And we were like, 'You know what? We think we might try our luck somewhere else,' " he said. "We weren't feeling the love."

For BTE, which performs Thursday at House of Blues at Mandalay Bay, it was the final straw in a steadily dissolving relationship.

The band's last Elektra album, "How Does Your Garden Grow?" produced a top-40 hit, "At the Stars," which charted as high as No. 14. But there was no accompanying video.

"That's saying something," Drummond said. "We were frustrated."

The band and Elektra parted ways, and the trio found itself without a label. It wasn't exactly virgin territory for the group.

BTE began as a college band in 1988, playing fraternity parties at Louisiana State University. As the group toured extensively through the Southeast, it developed a following, -- "Ezralites," as the fans are called. But it wasn't until 1995 -- nearly six years after forming -- that BTE signed with a major label.

So, waiting around until the band found another label it was happy with wasn't a problem.

In the meantime BTE began recording songs for its next project in the band's studio in New Orleans, a few blocks from where the members of the group -- Kevin Griffin on guitar and vocals; Travis Aaron McNabb on drums and Drummond -- all live.

"It was kind of a fresh start," Drummond said of recording without a contract.

The sessions eventually yielded a five-song demo that the band used to shop around to labels.

Then BTE signed with an "upstart label" no one in the band had heard of -- Beyond Music, a subsidiary of Universal.

Beyond Music, which features a diverse group of clientele -- including the Go-Go's, Motley Crue, Sammy Hagar, Veruca Salt and Yes -- went out of its way to make BTE feel welcome.

The band couldn't be happier.

After getting out of a label meeting to "get all the ducks in a row," Drummond said the band and Beyond Music's publicity department were discussing strategies for the coming months -- concerts, events, TV appearances -- to promote the band's new album, "Closer."

These are all the "little things" that a label is supposed to provide an artist, he said, but many bands find they aren't getting.

"The problem with major labels is that they are no longer in the business of developing new artists or taking artists to the next phase," Drummond said. "If your single doesn't hit in the first month, they move to the next artist. That's just the way it is. It's quicker and easier for them to do that than stick with the band."

In Beyond Music, Drummond said, BTE has found a label that will not abandon the band "when we're not selling a hundred-jillion records the first week.

"It's kind of a building process," Drummond said. "They need (the sales) as much as we do, so we're all in the same boat. It's a good thing, a partnership."

And what's better than that?

Kirk Baird is an Accent feature writer. Reach him at 259-8801 or kirk@ lasvegassun.com