Midwest boy moves to Hollywood, forms a rock band, gets a job waiting tables, practices drums in his studio apartment off Sunset, cuts a demo, generates a small following, books the Cat Club, plays the Rainbow Room, headlines the Whisky, personalities and money problems arise, lead singer leaves, bassist dies of a drug overdose, alcohol and emotions explode, band breaks up...And... - FREEZE IT - .

Welcome to the world of Thomas Neptune, just another struggling artist competing in the make-it-or-break-it sweepstakes that is Hollywood - coming soon to an iPod near you. At least that's the goal, right?

Change the bio and the details a bit, and this could be any number of young artists trying to make his or her way in the city of El Lay. It's why a lot of us are out here, true?

But some of us do it harder than others. Mr. Neptune is one of those cats.

I caught up with the busy, 25 year old singer-songwriter at the Coffee Bean on Sunset and Fairfax last week to scratch the gloss off the dream and get a realistic taste of what it's actually like to be laboring in the trenches out here, striving to make ends meet, and paying your dues to move up the Hollywood, indie-music ladder one rung at a time.

LA2DAY: Your bio says you started out as a drummer. You move to LA from Ohio back in 2005 with two college buddies - who serve as lead singer and guitarist - and you find your bassist at a party thrown by actor Bill Pullman soon after arriving. Belmont is formed and you are off and running. What was it like in the beginning?

Thomas Neptune: It was difficult. You feel good being out here, around all this history, all this talent, but you have to pay the bills, you know? The band isn't making money right off, so you have to get a survival job. Money was - is - always an issue. You do a lot of juggling.

LA2DAY: In addition to your job waiting tables, you also earned some scratch as a session drummer, correct?

Thomas: That's right. Whatever it takes, man. The cool thing with being a session drummer - I was getting paid for my art. Which is better than waiting tables, but it's still not what you really want to do, since its kind of just following directions, playing someone else's stuff.

LA2DAY: How did you get into it?

Thomas: Through my survival job as a server. This guy, Luigie Gonzalez comes in regular to the restaurant and we got to know each other a bit, and I find out he's a professional composer and producer (http://web.mac.com/luigiegonzalez/iWeb/LUGO/HOME.html). I tell him I'm a drummer, and he brings me on to do some live drum tracks for a Thelma Houston record he was working on. It was a good, little break for me. Nothing huge, but still a break.

LA2DAY: But, then you have to deliver, right? I mean, you get a small break by getting to know someone and they call you in, but you still have to bring the goods.

Thomas: Sure. He liked my drumming - I've been playing ever since I was 12 years old - and because we have a good relationship, he's asked me to sit in on several other projects for him. Luther Vandross, Mauricio Martinez, Alexx Calise...But, as I said before, I didn't ultimately come out here to play drums for someone else.

LA2DAY: You want to do your own thing.

Thomas: Right.

LA2DAY: Well this presents a good segue, then. How did you go from being a drummer in a band to now being a solo artist who writes and sings his own music?

Thomas: Well, I've always written my own music, way before Belmont. I'd sing a lot of back-up, too - I sang in a choir growing up , played guitar - so, the experience and desire was always there. With the band breaking up, it just felt like the right time to come out front.

LA2DAY: You've just completed some new solo tracks. How did that come about?

Thomas: Through Craigslist, of all places (laughs)...

LA2DAY: You've been hustling, man.

Thomas: You have to. It's a funny story. The Craigslist post was for a China cymbal that this guy needed that same night for a show he was playing - his cymbal had just broken - and I happened to have one. So, I drove out to the valley to drop the cymbal off and I left one of my CD's with him.

LA2DAY: Nice move.

Thomas: He was impressed with my drumming and called me back. Turns out, he's an established session drummer and producer - Brett Chassen (http://www.velvetchain.com/brettbio.html) - and he offered me a good deal to personally engineer and record some of the new songs I had been working on.

LA2DAY: You seem to be making a lot of your breaks...But, then, you have to, right? No one's going to hand you anything.

Thomas: No, they're not. I'm just trying to be as open as I can to everything around me - trying to listen to the musical externalities that are all around us out here.

LA2DAY: What's next?

Thomas: Well, I've just now signed on with an entertainment attorney (AJ Fudge). She heard my new tracks and really liked them. Her background is in film and TV, but she's looking to break into music, so it feels like we are meeting each other at a good time for both of us. I'm really excited about it.

LA2DAY: Cool. Sounds like another journey is just beginning for you. I look forward to following your career and hearing more of your music in the future. Thanks for your time, Thomas.

Thomas: No problem. Thank you.

You can check out Thomas's new tracks (a melodic, rock infused mash-up of Greg Allman by way of Anthony Kiedis - its good stuff) at www.myspace.com/tneptunemusic.

by Matthew Sidney Long