If you want to make it in today's music industry, sometimes you just have to travel 3,000 miles to play Café 210 West, 210 W. College Ave.

And to The Slow Signal Fade (The SSF), who will play there Monday night, if you garner just one new fan, it can make the whole trip worthwhile.

"We play to get one fan at a time," guitarist Ron Ulicny said. "If we get one person, it's worth it. It makes us feel good to make others feel good."

Born in Los Angeles in 2002, The SSF grew out of miscellaneous roots and failures and friendships. Ulicny and his bass-playing roommate Chris Walters put an ad in a Los Angeles classified paper looking for a drummer, which brought Christy Greenwood to the mix, and friends referred them to vocalist Marguerite Olivelle.

"We all met up and it just clicked," Ulicny said. "And we've played together ever since."

Musical influences are as random as the forces that brought them together, but ultimately, worked in their favor, Olivelle said.

"We respect each other and each other's influences," she said. "We don't try to mold someone into liking or doing what one of us wants. There are different forces coming together when we work. Without the three of them, my stuff would be really boring."

That being said, the band's Web site proves those comments true by listing (in no particular order) some of the member's influences including Pink Floyd, U2, Tool and Cat Power.

Of course, even bands listing such greats do have their guilty pleasures.

"I love the Postal Service," Walters said. "Typically, the beeping video game stuff drives me insane. It took Ron playing it four or five times for me to get past the Nintendo sounds and really enjoy it."

The band released its first EP shortly after its formation, in what can only be described as the ultimate cram session -- the album was recorded, mixed and mastered in 24 hours.

"Recording takes a lot of money and we didn't have much of it, so we had to do it quickly," Olivelle said. "We went to some hole in the wall to record and just got it done."

The quartet will release a second EP at the end of the month.

Ulicny said Monday's performance will contain a little something for everyone.

"Sometimes we're fast and heavy, sometimes we're slow," he said. "There are two guys and two girls and we cover every aspect of music across the board. And live performances are the most integral part of the band."

Only days before its performance in State College, The SSF will have the unique opportunity to perform in New York this weekend as part of the CMJ Music Marathon 2004.

The annual four-day event features more than 1,000 artists from all over the country performing at a plethora of NYC venues.

Personal friend of the band and local artist Chuck Morrison said the band's future is on an upward trend.

"With their unique kind of sound and stage image they've got a chance to get signed," Morrison said.

"They're a great band and have awesome stage presence. Just knowing Ron, he is pretty successful at everything he does."

Café 210 West is preparing for a busy night on Monday, owner Hal McCullough said.

A private party will be closing operations until almost 10 p.m. and a large, organized bar tour will be browsing through shortly after.

The SSF will take the stage around 10:30 p.m.