The call for zombies rang out in Honolulu's underground music scene, bouncing off the walls of clubs and coffeehouses and being passed, via text messages and MySpace blogs, from indie music supporter to indie music supporter, proving two things:

1. Honolulu is still a small town — if you want to get something done, tell someone about it.

2. People, in this case the zombies, are counting on the Hell Caminos hitting the big time and they want to be able to say that they were one of the zombies in the Hell Caminos' very first music video. That'll be quite a story for some of these kids — to be able to one day say, when the Hell Caminos are rolling with big guys, that they knew the guys when? That's solid bragging rights, right there.

But that's jumping the gun, right? Counting the chickens before they've hatched? Maybe. But in the four years since the band formed in 2004, it's already released one album, gone on one West Coast tour, is working on a second album scheduled to be released March 15, is planning a tour to venues on the West Coast, East Coast and in the South, and, getting back to the zombies, has just wrapped its first music video for the song "Old Snake Road" on the upcoming album.

If the Hell Caminos, whose members are Michael Camino (upright bass, vocals), Nick Danger (lead guitar), Handsome Jack (drums) and Jesse Atomic (rhythm guitar), make it in the big, bad world of rock 'n' roll, it won't be because the guys are lucky. It'll be because they work hard and play hard. And if what we're told about life is true (that what goes around comes around), they just might get what's coming to them.

It's happening already.

The music video was essentially a gift to the band from Walrus Howard, an assistant director on the TV series "Lost" and a business acquaintance of Hell Caminos frontman Michael Camino. He approached the band with an idea for a music video and an offer they couldn't refuse: He would provide the direction, all the production support (lights, cameras, makeup), as well as the final editing and polishing if the band secured a venue.

"I feel really honored that Walrus (Howard) approached us. It makes me realize that the more you invest in the scene, the more you get involved, the more people want to help you out," Camino said.

Howard pitched the concept as a zombie-themed concert video in which audience members at a Hell Caminos show are infected by a roaming zombie, resulting in the eventual zombification of the band. The video is half live action and half animation, leaving the zombification of the band members in the capable hands of animators (the audience zombies were the result of talented makeup artists).

The zombie idea was Howard's, and while Camino admits that he wasn't completely sold on the whole zombie concept in the beginning (he's "more of a vampire guy," he said), the idea of the living dead infiltrating one of his shows grew on him and he said he was astonished by the results.

"At first I wasn't so sure about it," Camino said. "But the more (Howard) talked about it, the more excited I got. We got to see some raw footage of the video and I was blown away. I was like, 'Whoa! This is a real video!' "

DAY OF THE LIVING DEAD, TAKE 13

Anna Bannana's, the two-story bar on Beretania Street, is, on a rainy Saturday in February, transformed into a dark, sweaty cavern of zombies in the making. At least 70 people are crammed into the tiny first-floor room and while that's not out of the ordinary for the place known for packing in the patrons for its popular live shows, what is unusual is that these people are in various stages of death.

Some, like Eric (he can just barely mumble his name through all the gunk on his face), the guy on the barstool behind the door, are just gray. Pale, lifeless versions of the people they were when they answered the call for zombies.

Others, like Michelle Takiguchi, are nothing like the people they were this morning. Takiguchi, a member of the local dance troupe Cherry Blossom Cabaret, arrived all dolled up, with a silk flower in her hair. Now she's bloody and disheveled, with strips of flesh hanging from her limbs and bloody bite marks dotting her chest and face.

One by one, the makeup artists transform regular people into the undead. It's hot and crowded, but everyone is thrilled to death to be here. Some are taking themselves very seriously, sitting quietly, somberly, while hairdressers make a mess of their 'dos.

Others are checking themselves out in the bar mirror, their expressions hinting at what we suspected all along: These people have waited a long time to be made into something as cool zombies. They live for this stuff and the Hell Caminos are giving them their chance.

Some are there at the specific request of the Caminos and some because showing up is their way of supporting the underground music scene.

Upstairs, the production crew barks orders at the crowd — "Walk slower! You're a zombie!" and "Come on, people! Let's do this!" — while the crowd does its part to rush the stage and take down the band, exiling the four guys to zombification. The mass of participants is obedient and quick to take orders.

The whole thing goes off without a hitch. And the Hell Caminos were in Chinatown that night performing their heads off like they always do.

VIDEO TO BE UPLOADED ON YOUTUBE, MYSPACE

The Hell Caminos music video will be ready for distribution sometime within the next two months, and will be disseminated using DIY methods like posting it on YouTube and MySpace. Howard also plans to submit the video to a few film festivals, including the Hawaii International Film Festival, which will give the band and the crew a broader arena in which to show off their skills.

The new album, titled "Lust," will officially be released March 15 at 9 p.m. at an all-ages CD release party at Anna Bannana's. Albums will be available for purchase at the party for $5 (the regular price will be $10). The album will be released on the underground label 86 Records.

"I really like this album. I can't say the same about our first album, but there are 17 songs on this album and I think this one is really good," said Camino.

Good enough to make it big? That remains to be seen.