Beans and rice on the tube

Mike Lanza, loves his scene. Skating, snow boarding and especially

music are what drive him. Take one look around his Huntington Beach

apartment/television studio/recording studio and you’ll see walls adorned

with head shots of bands he’s worked with, various musical instruments

he’s toyed with and surf, skate and snow paraphernalia.

Of course, it couldn’t have been any other way. The 33-year-old grew

up in Huntington Beach, a town that embraces the things nearest and

dearest to him.

“As a kid I was always into music and surfing and skating, those were

the things kids in my area did,” Lanza.

However, not all of the kids parlayed those things into a career.

Last month the premier of Beans and Rice TV debuted on Time Warner

cable channel 16. For Lanza it was a culmination of years of work.

After serving as editor for the now-defunct Electric Ink Magazine -- a

magazine focusing on music and sports -- Lanza has decided to channel his

energies into a television show focusing on the same themes.

The first episode included a piece on the Huntington Beach band Hed

P.E. -- one of the few non-pop acts on Jive Records -- a feature on the

Cypress Hill Smoking Groove’s Tour and a local model segment.

Lanza wrote, shot, produced and edited most of the program on his own.

He also funded it’s air time on his own volition.

“It’s an incredible amount of work, I was lucky to have some friends

help me with editing and shooting, but at this point I don’t have the

time to do an episode every month,” he said.

The first episode will air eight times in January, and he is shooting

for another episode at the beginning of March.

“Right now I’m working on getting some sort of financial backing, if I

can get that and focus all my time on this, we may end up being weekly,”

Lanza said.

Episode one was filled with advertisements including major record

labels, Vans shoes and even Brittany Spears.

“I did a kind of good faith thing where I gave all the ad spots away

for free in the hopes that the same companies would start paying for

their ads on the next episode,” he said.

The broadcast quality of Beans and Rice TV is a cut above that of most

cable access programs. A lot of the show is shot on a Cannon XL1 digital

camera to give the picture a grainy film look.

“It’s really important that this thing look professional,” Lanza said.

“I don’t think I’ll be able to get advertisers or investors if the show

doesn’t look like it belongs on TV.”

Lanza’s would like to see the show take off and gain popularity, but

not necessarily at the cost of selling the program to a some sort of

network.

“I’m really proud of this and I’d like to really see it grow from a

grass roots level and keep expanding,” he said. “I’m not saying I’d turn

down an offer from a big network, but there’s more to it than that.”

The more he is referring to is the level of satisfaction he gets from

working with and promoting acts that he truly believes in.

“Sure it’s great to get big famous bands on the show but for example

take a band like Hed P.E., I’ve been pushing them since day one, and

helping them get their music out is the most fulfilling part,” Lanza

said.

* Paul Saitowitz is the copy editor. He can be reached at

[email protected] or (949) 574-4295