Nik gave this interview a few weeks back to Mililani Highschool student Caitlin Kubota. Thanks for the press MHS.
By Caitlin Kubota
view the original article here
Over the years, Hawaii’s alternative and indie music scene has slowly been growing. In spite of how small it is compared to mainland venues, bands are still able to make a name for themselves among the local rock crowd. Olivia the Band, Push the Pedal, and Pennylane are just a few of the more well-known groups, but now joining their ranks is “Linus!”
Linus! began in the spring of 2001 when singer David Neely put up “musicians wanted” signs. Bassist Nikolaus Daubert answered the call and met Neely on the roof of his University of Hawaii dorm along with seven other musicians. “A couple of (guys) played guitars, somebody had a bongo drum, and girls were singing, so we literally had an eight person jam. And Dave and I were just kind of like ‘Whoa.’ ... we kind of made a connection,” recalled Daubert.
At first Neely and Daubert casually met to play a few of the melodies Neely had written, but wanting to become a serious band, the duo decided to establish a web site. In need of a name Neely had suggested “Linus” after a song called “Star Fruits of Linus.” It turns out that Neely had misheard the lyric, but in spite of popular belief, the band is not named after the famous Peanuts character. Keyboardist Danmerle Capati and Drummer Stanley Hardjadinata joined the band shortly after.
With Radiohead as a main musical influence and a drummer with a heavy metal background, the band’s music is a smooth mix of indie and rock and roll. However, their catchy melodies and lyrics of heartbreak give their music a pop twist. In addition to Radiohead, Linus! has been compared to The Strokes and Weezer, but Daubert admits that TLC’s album “Crazy Sexy Cool” is his own little guilty pleasure.
Over the last five years, Linus! has acquired a long and impressive list of accomplishments. They have opened for numerous headliners such as Hot Hot Heat, Motion City Soundtrack, My Chemical Romance and most recently She Wants Revenge. In 2003, they took third place in Hawaii’s annual Battle of the Bands Competition. Unsatisfied, they came back in 2004 and won first place. “That was nice, kind of makes us feel validated, you know?” commented Daubert on the experience. Despite being unsigned, Linus! released their full-length studio album The Construction in 2005. The band also went on two tours, an east coast tour where they played gigs in Philadelphia and Delaware, and the more recent west coast tour where they visited Seattle and San Francisco.
But Linus! is far from finished; trying to expand their music, Capati transitions from keyboard to guitar for their second CD, which they are in the midst of recording. In light of their positive response on the mainland, the band has hopes of branching out and unfortunately for Hawaii fans, is planning a possible move to Seattle.
“We are definitely happy with what we’ve accomplished here, but we feel like we kind of topped out (with) what you could do with our kind of music here. So we kind of have eyes on moving, possibly to Seattle because we know a lot of people there. Maybe even next year, I don’t want to jinx it because I’m definitely the one most pushing for it,” Daubert explained.
“But I think that everyone else kind of sees potential. Because when you live there you can take a road trip and play in another city. Here we’ve literally played every venue. There is no such thing as a new spot. I love playing for people who know our music, but it’s kind of nice to play somewhere else, where no one’s heard you because you feel like you have to impress them again. So our plan is definitely to expand,” continued Daubert on the future of Linus!
As the number of Linus! fans grow, it will be no surprise when this indie-rock band hits it big on the mainstream. Working their way up the musical ladder, Linus! is well on their way to being a headliner with underground bands vying to be their opening act.
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