California funksters Hot Sauce Johnson learned quickly that making a good first impression is very important.

Just a few days after signing onto their label, the band was preparing to play a show in Los Angeles. When they entered their dressing room, four police men were waiting for bassist Jason DeCosta.

“They tried to tell me that one of the cops was an old friend of Jason’s, and they wanted to surprise him,” says Hot Sauce drummer Possum. “I knew this was bullshit from the get go.”

So, Possum set out to let DeCosta know what was happening. It turns out Jason had an outstanding warrant from a while back, and the police threatened to wreck the whole band if he didn’t turn himself in.

“I kept telling him, ‘Let’s just go up and play, they’ll pull us off after one song, it’ll be like the Doors,'” Possum says.

But DeCosta eventually went back to check things out, and they “cuffed him and stuffed him.”

Talk about bad luck.

Hot Sauce Johnson kicked off their latest tour last week. Trailing the Limp Bizkit-headlined Family Values Tour by three days, Hot Sauce and friends are hitting all the same cities and more in between. The Family Values Tour is handing out sampler tapes with Hot Sauce and others on them to build hype for the Loudside Tour.

“One of the bands is kind of heavy/pop and hip, one of the others is just kind of heavy, and then there is local bands,” Possum says of their touring mates.

But Hot Sauce Johnson has created a style all their own. Mixing funk, hip-hop, rock and even roots-country elements, the band combines a cast of talented characters who share love for all kinds of music.

The ability to blend so many genres of music has enabled Hot Sauce to play with the likes of Kid Rock, Smash Mouth, Cotton Mouth Kings and The Urge.

“The one really good thing that we have going for us is that we can play in front of any type of crowd,” Possum says excitedly. “We can play the all hip-hop shows; we can play with the heavier bands; we can play with people like Cake and Jamiroquai and just straight-up pop bands.”

In the spring of ’97, Possum, DeCosta and guitarist Rob Asuncion began jamming together. Shortly after, they started mapping out a game plan for what they wanted to do with the band. Their hardest task was finding singer Sun Sannes.

“That sucked,” Possum says. “There is a thing out here called The Music Connection which is basically a personal ad for musicians. We put these out everywhere and I had over 150 people come over to my house. There was all sorts of walks of life: women, old punk-rockers, Beastie wannabes.

“Sun came, and he definitely had the cool look with the big Don King afro like something out of ‘Fat Albert,'” Possum says. “And he had a really R & B voice. And I thought it may be the real missing piece to put on top of our sound. If you put someone who just raps all the time, it wouldn’t be anything original — it’s been done.”

After adding Sannes, throwing DJ None and horn player Ireeh Kumar Lal into the mix completed the Hot Sauce sound.

On their debut record, “Truck Stop Jug Hop,” the band had the fortunate experience of working with Beastie Boys producer Mario Caldato Jr.

“I was stoked,” Possum says. “The Beasties have always been my favorite, and ‘Check Your Head’ changed the way I thought about music.”

Caldato was busy with the Beasties’ “Hello Nasty” but found time to mix “Truck Stop Jug Hop.”

“It was great,” Possum says. “I was picking his brain the whole time just asking him questions about the Beastie recordings and shit.”

Every time Hot Sauce Johnson takes the stage, they focus on nothing but nonstop energy. During band rehearsals, they constantly work on representing the best show possible to fans.

“With the way ticket prices are nowadays, I remember when I was in the crowd watching; if I just paid 15 bones to get into a show, I want to see a show,” Possum says. “I hate those bands that just stand still and play the music perfectly note for note. That’s fine, but I have the CD at home; I paid to see a show. So, however we can make a show more exciting, we’ll do it.”

Friday night’s show in Des Moines marks the first time Hot Sauce Johnson will play in Iowa.

What are their expectations of Iowa?

“We are looking forward to it. We love the Midwest crowd,” Possum says sincerely. “They seem a lot more hungry for stuff. We would rather play for a Midwest crowd than an L.A. crowd any day of the week.”

With the huge wave of new albums coming out over the fall months, Johnson’s future consists of only touring until January, when they can begin hitting the radio.

“All these superstar bands are putting stuff out, so, as a new band, we have to wait our turn with radio,” Possum says. “Then we want to hit up Japan and Europe and tour through late next summer.”

Hot Sauce’s home base of L.A. is so cut-throat, they find themselves constantly strategizing and working hard to get their name out.

“Last night, for instance, there was a show with Bloodhound Gang and Goldfinger and Insane Clown Posse was playing down the street,” Possum says. “So, we broke up into teams and hit up both shows, handing out cassette samplers, flyers or whatever. We do that all the time.”

Hot Sauce Johnson — a band with a plan.