Luca happy with his corner of the music world.

Byline: Serena Markstrom The Register-Guard

CONCERT PREVIEW Luca What: Mellow, sometimes rocking indie When: 8 p.m. Wednesday Where: Cozmic Pizza, 199 W. Eighth Ave. Cost: $3

Unlike some of the indie demigods he has worked with, Nick Luca wouldn't mind being admired by millions.

He would not be a reluctant hero.

"We're slowly moving up the ladder of indie geekdom," Luca said when reached at Wavelab studio in Tucson, Ariz. "These guys are into the bands that they are into. It's funny, 'cause if you look at my resume I have worked with all those people - all those little buzz indie bands. ...

`I feel pretty good. It doesn't pay the rent, but at least I'm cool."

About that resume.

Before Luca started the Nick Luca Trio in 2001, he was a much-sought-after session man, engineer and producer. He's worked with Calexico, John Doe, M Ward, Neko Case and Giant Sand, often at Wavelab.

And, as those in the know know, those acts are just really cool.

(While we're name dropping, Tom Larkins is the drummer on this tour. Yes, the Tom Larkins, the guy who sat in a tree and played the bongos in "There's Something About Mary.")

These days, Luca continues his production work but is focusing on his own band, now simply called Luca. He's gaining fans, who might eventually add up to his millions of admirers - one off-night, partially attended show at a time.

He's frequented Eugene - played two gigs here in March - and said he's noticed a small cache of fans gathering. The good news for the live show is that Luca has snapped out of its dreamy, contemplative post-Sept. 11 mood it was in when the band got going in 2001.

Now they are rockin' - but not too loud. Luca said there's secret to playing a room like Cozmic Pizza that, let's be real, doesn't have the best acoustics. And it's to not play too loud.

"That takes maturity," said the man with a master's degree in music composition. He's 36 years old now, and he knows "all the tricks."

New CD will be out Tuesday

Luca has a new CD coming out Tuesday, the day before his Eugene show.

"Sick of Love" is the fourth release from the trio, which is rounded out by Chris Giambelluca on bass and Paul Ellis on drums. (In response to a follow up e-mail regarding Giambelluca's uncanny name, he said, "It's crazy! Sometimes I introduce Paul as 'Paul Ellis-Luca,' just to be cute.')

As it should be, they have some fun with their live show. And now they have a CD to match.

"As we started playing out more and gaining some recognition around town, it just sort of naturally progressed that we'd get louder, more upbeat," he said. So this time in the studio, they decided to make a record that contained more songs they actually play live.

"Each time we make an album we get a higher percentage of songs we will play again," he said.

The one cover tune on the album, "Loosin' Ground," is by Rainer Ptacek, a Tuscon musician who died from brain cancer in 1997. Although Luca admired and appreciated Ptacek when he was alive, and is good friends with his son, Luca said he put the song on the album because it was one the band had been playing live.

Also, creative, independent, do-it-yourself artist and guru Howe Gelb said he'd play on the song. The tune also appeared on a fundraising disc that Gelb co-produced with Robert Plant, "The Inner Flame," created for Ptacek when he was still fighting cancer.

CD will help New Orleans artists

Speaking of fundraising discs, Luca recently worked on "Graciously," a Wavelab and Funzalo Records collaboration. Luca's song "Shadow Painting" is on the release, but he also helped put it together.

Luca, has been working for 10 years at Wavelab. This CD is a compilation of some homeless songs that were loitering in the studio and some recorded specifically for the project, Luca said.

"Graciously" features many indie acts that have made trips to Eugene recently, including Steve Wynn and the Miracle 3, DeVotchKa and Robyn Hitch- cock.

Luca won't sell "Graciously" at Cozmic, but you can buy it at record stores and online at funzalorecords.com, cdbaby .com and milesofmusic.com.

One third of the CD's net proceeds go to help New Orleans musicians get housing through Habitat for Humanity's Musicians Village Project.

Luca's advanced university degree has come in handy, he said, because he actually can write music and do string arrangements. He arranged the Steve Wynn song "Riverside" on "Graciously."

That skill could come in handy even more often with the recent indie trend of using as many instruments as possible, including violins, banjos and trumpets.

"It's interesting," he said. "It's hard to know where music is going right now. It's all over the map.

`We're just happy to have our little niche."