SULACO'S BEEN LED TO A HARD-ROCK SOUND.

Byline: Sandra Barrera Staff Writer

Johnny Rossa of the indie-hard rock band Sulaco remembers hanging out in the Black Crowes' dressing room at a show in Chicago.

The Crowes were on tour with Jimmy Page, guitarist of the legendary '70s rock band Led Zeppelin.

``Zeppelin's been my favorite band since grade school,'' said Rossa, 24, as he recalled how he stepped outside the dressing room just as a door to his right was opening.

Out walked Page.

So what did Rossa say to his idol?

``I just said, 'Thank you,' '' Rossa said with a laugh.

Why?

Because it's the music of classic rock bands like Led Zeppelin, Soundgarden and Black Crowes that is the driving force behind Sulaco.

The Los Angeles-based band of 20-somethings has been honing its thunderous, voluminous rock sound on the stages of local clubs and now takes the spotlight at the Troubadour as the ``BMI Pick of the Month.'' BMI is an American performing rights organization that represent some 300,000 songwriters, composers and music publishers and spotlights an up-and-coming band or artist each month.

``They are a great hard-rock band in the Soundgarden vein,'' said Hanna Bolte, senior director of BMI publicity. ``I'm sure they'll get a deal soon.''

Guitarist Andrew Flad formed Sulaco with bassist Chad Crawford in 2000. The lineup was solidified with the addition of Rossa and drummer Dave Moreno, who came aboard last year.

``When we came together and started writing music, we all had different visions,'' Rossa said.

``We were all rock musicians, fans and players,'' added Flad, 26. ``But we all had different areas of rock we were coming from, and so when we met in the middle, we all learned a lot from each other, and it helped with the songwriting.

``We were like, 'You know what? We want to play no-frills rock 'n' roll,'' Flad said. ``We don't want any rapping, we don't want any DJs.''

The result is just classic. Kind of like Led Zeppelin, of which Flad has also had an encounter with a member - in this case, singer Robert Plant.

``I met Robert Plant on a family vacation over Christmas on some islands south of Florida,'' Flad said. ``Because my birthday's in January, my mom cornered him in the gift shop and bought a birthday card and had him fill it out.

``I still have it,'' Flad continued. ``And he was at the same hotel buffet for New Year's, so I took a picture with him. I was so geeked out.''

Log onto www.sulacomusic.com for concert information and music downloads.

SULACO

Where: Troubadour, 9081 Santa Monica Blvd., West Hollywood.

When: 8:30 tonight.

Tickets: Free.

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The unsigned, Los Angeles-based Sulaco plays a free show tonight at the Troubadour.