ZOT MAKES THE BEST OF A GOOD BREAK

Considering the impressive list of achievements that Orange County new wave pop band Zot has racked up recently, you might think that the group’s only remaining task is to sit back and count its money.

In February, the Huntington Beach-based band’s debut album was released by a major record label (Elektra) and received national video exposure on MTV. The group has also been taken under the wing of a heavyweight management firm (the Arnold Stiefel Co., which also handles Rod Stewart and a bevy of hot young actors such as Michael J. Fox, Emilio Estevez and Tom Cruise).

And if that’s not enough to make other struggling local bands salivate, within the next few days Zot will play for upwards of 50,000 people as the opening act for Culture Club’s Southland concerts at the Pacific and Universal amphitheaters.

But to the band members, what they’ve achieved to date has only shown them how much more work lies ahead. The musicians, in their early 20s, have discovered that signing a record deal doesn’t represent the end of the pop rainbow.

“People will come up and ask how it feels to have made it,” said lead singer Randy Wayne with a laugh, taking time out from a rehearsal session Tuesday at the Huntington Beach club where the band practices daily. “We’re still waiting for that.”

Added guitarist Patrick Knowles: “Since our video was on MTV, they think we must be rich.”

As if to prove that it is still a workaday outfit, Zot continues to play its regular Tuesday night gigs at Newport Beach’s Deja Vu dance club.

“It’s a good place to experiment with new material and just have fun. And it also helps to pay the bills,” Wayne said.

Along with Wayne and Knowles, Zot consists of bassist Bryant Simpson and drummer Chris Stewart. The band has been together since 1981.

In the short-term world of rock ‘n’ roll, “four years is a long time for a band to stay together,” Wayne said. “But thinking of the long term, it’s a short time.”

All four musicians attended Orange County high schools--Knowles in Huntington Beach, Stewart in Corona del Mar and Simpson in Fullerton. Wayne declined to mention his alma mater, saying: “I want my background to be shrouded in mystery.” Recently, the quartet has been expanded to include synthesizer players Tom Calderaro and Andy Thomas (whom the others refer to as the “Hi-Tech Brothers).

Zot’s music is an unusual combination of styles, incorporating cascading synthesizer lines, Knowles’ heavy metal power chords and fast-fingered solo breaks and Simpson’s percussive, R&B-flavored; bass playing. The result sounds akin to British dance pop, largely because of Wayne’s stylized vocal delivery that recalls David Bowie circa 1972.

While Zot’s sound fits right in with current trends in pop music--hence the billing with Culture Club--it wasn’t always that way.

“In 1981, we were playing a lot of pop music when punk was really happening around here and we were ridiculed for it,” Wayne said. “But from the day we started we always said we’d either do our music or do nothing. We’ve seen so many bands that get locked into playing Top 40 (copies) and can’t break out. So we knew that to do our own music we’d either make lots of money or nothing.”

After sending out demo tapes to numerous music-industry people throughout the country, the band caught the attention of an MTV executive who introduced the group to manager Brandon Phillips, whose company later merged with Stiefel’s. With those connections working for the band, Zot landed the deal with Elektra and was chosen to perform with Culture Club.

The group members are already looking forward to recording their second album, on which they hope to eliminate some of the nervousness and insecurities that showed on their debut.

“There are so many things that go on behind the scenes, from the politics of getting a producer to getting the record pressed and promoted,” Wayne said. “That’s why it took two years to do the first record.”

Said Simpson: “The most important thing for us now is to get the next album done and keep playing.” (Zot’s concert schedule also includes shows Sept. 6 at the Golden Bear in Huntington Beach and Sept. 7 at Spatz in Huntington Harbour.)

Although Zot may appear to many to have come out of nowhere, the band members believe they have earned their position.

“You don’t get that overnight,” Knowles said. “We’ve been working our tails off. In this business, consistency is the name of the game--along with a real belief in what you’re doing.”

SURF TRIBUTE: Organizers behind an effort to establish a surf museum in Huntington Beach are sponsoring a benefit concert featuring surf guitarist Dick Dale on Aug. 30 at the Golden Bear. Proceeds will go toward paying state filing fees required to establish a nonprofit foundation. The museum, according to a spokeswoman, is to be a monument to the impact surfing has had on Southern California music, fashion and life styles.

LIVE ACTION: Supertramp is scheduled to play the Pacific Amphitheatre on Nov. 23. . . . Mister Mister has been added as the opening act for Don Henley’s Aug. 31 concert at Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre. John Parr will open for Tina Turner on Oct. 5. . . . The Busboys and the Wild Cards will play the Golden Bear on Aug. 23-24. . . . The Dickies return to Spatz on Aug. 24. . . . David Frizzell & Shelly West will perform at the Crazy Horse Steak House in Santa Ana on Aug. 27. . . . Fishbone will be at Radio City in Anaheim on Sept. 6.