Imagine the scenario. You鈥檙e on a night out and you see a drunken guy dancing on a table. What would you do? Well if you鈥檙e Rich or Jody from Coventry group Linear you ask him to be in a band of course!
 | | Ben from Linear |
Three years on from that fateful night Linear have been signed to Indie label Grace Records and released their first single Twisted Eyes earlier his year. On a sunny Saturday afternoon I found them chilling out backstage at the Coventry Godiva Festival, in a dome-shaped tent which resembled a section of the Eden Project. The band - made up of 23 year-old guitarists Rich and Ben, 21 year-old drummer Jody and 19 year-old Holly on bass - looked reasonably pleased with themselves. After being given an early performance time of 12.40pm they had managed to fill an empty marquee with people. Things had certainly changed a lot since Linear joined Grace Records. 鈥淕etting signed is defiantly a morale booster for the band,鈥 said Ben. Rich nodded in agreement. 鈥淭here was a time when we wondered if we鈥檇 ever get signed鈥 he added. 鈥淲e sent out loads of CD鈥檚 but nothing ever came of it.鈥 It was the ever popular web-monster myspace which gave Linear the exposure they longed for. | "Once a guy was leaning his arm on the stage and flicking his cigarette over us. I stood on his arm and played right in his face" | | Ben from Linear |
鈥淲e were asked to release a limited edition seven inch,鈥 said Rich. 鈥淕race are brilliant with us.鈥 鈥淭he best thing about it is that we can be more selective with what gigs we play鈥 said Ben. 鈥淟ast summer we did nothing but play gigs, gigs, gigs. It was fun, but now we can look at a gig and decide if it鈥檚 really worth it.鈥 Travelling the country for small slots wasn鈥檛 all fun, as members of the band could still remember all too well. 鈥淲e once did a gig in Hastings and travelled down in a Fiat Punto with all our equipment. We had an amp each on our laps and it took seven hours!鈥 said Rich. 鈥淚t was for a video promotion, there was a big crowd but when the video finished and we came on stage most people left. We had nowhere to stay and ended up sleeping in a children鈥檚 playground.鈥 Linear admitted that the experience was light-years away from their recent sell-out gig supporting The Departure at The Barfly.
 | | Linear on stage at Godiva Festival |
Ben said: 鈥淲e like to play for people whose fans will instantly be interested in us, so we can steal their fans. 鈥淲e鈥檝e been compared to bands like Bloc Party but our vocals sound nothing like them. There are other influences underneath.鈥 鈥淚t all dates back to Henry the eighth and Greensleeves!鈥 chipped in Rich. I asked if they'd had any rough crowds? Ben laughed and said: 鈥淥nce a guy was leaning his arm on the stage and flicking his cigarette over us. I stood on his arm and played right in his face.鈥
 | | Holly from Linear |
Did they have any pre-gig rituals? 鈥淲ell five minutes before we go onstage we realise we haven鈥檛 written the set list!鈥 said the drummer Jody. 鈥淪ome bands have theirs laminated but ours are usually scribbled on the back of anything we can find鈥 bank statements鈥 cigarette packets.鈥 Linear were asked to play the Godiva Festival by a promoter from the Colly. But with their growing success I wanted to know why they accepted such a small slot?听听 鈥淲e always come to the Godiva festival, so it鈥檚 nice to get a chance to play.鈥 said Ben. 鈥淲e didn鈥檛 want to get involved with the battle of the bands and compete for a place. A lot of bands wind up getting stuck in Coventry that way.鈥 鈥淚t鈥檚 nice to be asked to play,鈥 added Jody. 鈥淧lus we鈥檙e not playing alongside a metal band of 14 year-olds.鈥 Linear seemed genuinely happy to be in their surroundings, sat on plastic chairs and drinking bottled beer. Around the tent there were mini fridges stocked with food and drink for bands appearing later in the day. Would Linear ever make any demands? 鈥淕irls maybe?鈥 said Ben, then laughed and shook his head. 鈥淎s long as our travel expenses are covered we鈥檙e happy鈥 said Rich. So where do Linear hope to be by the end of 2006? 鈥淥ur next single has been pushed forward to be released in November,鈥 said Rich. 鈥淚鈥檇 love us to get a record deal, or even have a video on MTV2. But ideally a record deal with our label would be nice.鈥 Well, if all else fails, at least Rich can fall back on his hobby of magic tricks. | 
