Friday, May 24, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.
You could say Jason Pollock's life has become cumbersome. But complicated is more like it.
After all, the 23-year-old went, practically overnight, from being an indifferent college history major at William and Mary to lead guitarist for the up-and-coming alternative-rock band Seven Mary Three.
Not that he or his three band mates have been overwhelmed by their sudden musical success.
"We've been prepared for it all along. We always knew it was gonna happen to us," Pollock said in a phone interview from Dallas. They've been "just dealing with things right from the start ... thinking of the bigger picture all of the time."
What did surprise Pollock was how the band's first hit, "Cumbersome," which he co-wrote about a relationship gone awry, recently lumbered its way to the Top 10 of the modern-rock chart.
"I knew it was a good rock song," he says. "I thought we'd just get our foot in the door with it."
Instead, they kicked it wide open.
But it was from looking at a smaller picture -- a television screen -- that the band derived its name: Seven Mary Three was the radio handle used by Eric Estrada and Larry Wilcox's cop characters, Ponch and John, on the '70s series "CHiPs."
"We couldn't think of a cool name," Pollock recalls, "so we were sitting around watching TV and the show came on."
Simple enough.
If only it was that easy to pinpoint Seven Mary Three's guitar-laden sound. "We're an alternative band, we're a rock band, we're a punk band," he says "We take a little bit from every scene and make it rock 'n' roll again."
Take their current single, the telltale "Water's Edge." "It's a great song," he says, "because I think we pulled so many different influences ... all into one short song. I hope it takes off like 'Cumbersome' did."
The overriding theme of their first album, "American Standard," "is one of people dealing with things in life, dealing with your feelings, dealing with your fellow man, dealing with women ... and how you really have to work at it," Pollock says.
"All of our songs are written about situations we encounter. Basically, our songs try to tell a story, so you can get that out of it on the surface level, but it also speaks to you."
One of his favorites: "Favorite Dog," which he co-wrote with lead singer Jason Ross. Pollock calls it a "great epic rock song" that reminds him of the Doors classic "The End."
it ... and another singer is killed with every sip I take
Drain away my words, just like my flesh and bone
And they're working on me, yeah they're working on me
Just like my favorite dog.
Look for a more mature Seven Mary Three selection on their next album, which has yet to be recorded.
"The lyrics are gonna grow and expand," Pollock says, and will likely be inspired by the people and places they encounter on the road.
"It's gonna be a lot like the Beatles," he says. "It's gonna change here and there, but it's always gonna be Seven Mary Three."
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