You'll excuse Jason de la Torre if he seems more relieved by the release of Spell Toronto's new album than excited.

Founder and vocalist of the San Diego band (playing tonight at the Belly Up Tavern in Solana Beach), de la Torre's tale of the making of "Be More Careful" has the air of a Shakespearean drama about it.

"When we came home from Warped Tour in September 2004, we were on a path to building a career out of things," de la Torre said by phone from his San Diego home. "We started working on the second record, but then it all turned into nothing. … Our guitar player quit the band right when we went into the studio to start working on the album seriously -- and our next guitarist also quit!"

It's only now that "Be More Careful" is coming out -- almost three years after they began work on the follow-up to 2003's "The Brown Frequency."

And with the new record -- one of eight finalists in the Best Alternative Album category of this year's San Diego Music Awards (winners will be announced Sept. 17) -- comes a renewed emphasis on that music career for the four members of Spell Toronto.

"We're trying to find backers because we can't afford to do another record promoting it ourselves -- we just don't have the know-how. The industry has changed so much the last five years.

"We saw that we could pay for the record ourselves and shop it, but there's not a lot out there" with the major labels, de la Torre said.

"Everybody I know who's in a band that's got a little success or a little following wants to stay away from a major label, because it's so frightening," he said.

De la Torre said several San Diego bands (whom he declined to name) have signed deals with national labels, gone into the studio and recorded an album and then seen the album either delayed or canceled altogether, with the band unable to do anything on its own thanks to the exclusive contract that labels want when they sign a band.

"There's not even a big initial payday anymore," he said of signing with a label.

"Independent is great if you can figure out a way to get noticed," de la Torre said of Spell Toronto's plans. But he explained that without that all-important promotions budget of a label, being independent makes it hard to get that notice a band needs to build a national following.

"You can get your CDs in the stores, but nobody buys CDs anymore. And getting on iTunes isn't that hard -- it takes about a month. It's just that advertising on iTunes and advertising on MySpace is so expensive."

Growing up in Mira Mesa, de la Torre said he was always fascinated by San Diego's fertile music scene.

"I grew up on Three Mile Pilot and Rocket From the Crypt," he said.

The rest of Spell Toronto are also local: bassist Ismael Velazquez also grew up in Mira Mesa, while guitarist Chris Lewis and drummer Danny King grew up in the Poway/Rancho Bernardo area.

Interestingly, de la Torre said the growing success of San Diego County bands on the national scene is making it harder for up-and-coming local bands to get noticed -- local audiences being a bit spoiled.

"It's an amazing city, and I love living here, but it's a tough city to play music because the weather's so nice people don't want to go out. And the city doesn't back you unless you've impressed the country already."

De la Torre cautioned that leaving town is no piece of cake, either.

"We want to tour -- do the 250 dates a year touring thing. The biggest thing is that these days the United States is the hardest country to tour in because everything is so far away and gas is so expensive." De la Torre said the band has to use a large van to carry all their gear when it tours, and that its fuel bill piles up in a hurry.

"It cost us $280 to drive to Phoenix and back and do two shows. Even if you get decent guarantees you have to really kill it on merchandise in order to simply eat."

Still, despite listing the above obstacles for a band trying to establish itself, de la Torre didn't really seem the type to get beat down by the challenges.

"This is by far the greatest thing I've done in my life, this record.

"I've never been more proud of anything I've done."

Spell Toronto, opening for Buckfast Superbee, with Reeve Oliver

When: 9 p.m. Aug. 30

Where: Belly Up Tavern, 143 S. Cedros Ave., Solana Beach

Tickets: $10-$12

Info: (858) 481-8140

Web: bellyup.com