AYUMI NAKANISHI / ANAKANISHI@STARBULLETIN.COM
Linus is, from left, lead vocals, Dave Neely; bass, Nikolaus Daubert; synthesizer, Danmerle Capati; and drums, Sandeep Rai.
Let us consider the name Linus. It's such an innocuous-sounding name. Most of us know Linus through the classic "Peanuts" comic strip: the helpful, blanket-hugging kid who sticks by Charlie Brown through thick and thin. The hopeful optimist who waits for the arrival of the Great Pumpkin every Halloween, even though that holiday icon never arrives.
'Monsters of Rock and Roll!'
With Linus, The Haunted Pines, The Beta Release, Littlejeans and DJ Mike
Where: Pipeline Cafe, 805 Pohukaina St.
When: 7 p.m. tomorrow
Admission: $5 cover, all ages
Call: 589-1999By Gary C.W. Chun
gchun@starbulletin.comYou can say that same sense of friendship and "stick-to-itiveness" is part-and-parcel of the relationship between four musicians collectively called Linus. But singer/guitarist David Neely said the band's name came from a misheard lyric.
"There's a song by (the innovative Japanese musician) Cornelius called 'Starfruit Surfrider,' and I thought I heard him singing 'starfruits of Linus,' for some reason," he said.
Neely and Nikolaus Daubert began as a duo in October 2000 when they were both freshmen at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. Neely had put flyers up around campus, looking for a fellow "guitar strummer into Radiohead, Air and Nick Drake" and, thanks to the prompting on his brother, Daubert proved to be the perfect musical match for Neely.
With the additions of synth player Danmerle Capati and drummer Sandeep Rai (both Hawaii Pacific University students), Linus has distinguished itself from the rest of the pack with earnest melodicism combined with Neely's heart-on-sleeve lyrics. The band has a real chemistry between them, and gangly Neely makes for an engaging frontman.
"The melody has always been the strong point of our songs," he said. "Usually that comes before the lyrics. I'm trying to write songs with a 'hook chorus' in mind, but I haven't defined a style of writing yet."
Besides the core of guitar, bass and drums, Neely said he wanted to add the sound of a simple keyboard synthesizer because he was a fan of the Weezer retro-sideband the Rentals, and believed it could add auxiliary harmonies to Linus' songs.
Daubert said the band has jelled over the last few months, since making a five-show summer tour of the Northeast and recording an upcoming album at Highway Studios in Hawaii Kai. (The band will headline a bill at Pipeline Cafe tomorrow.)
"We were told by a friend that a tour will either make or break you," he said. "We played some gigs in Delaware and New Jersey, set up by a guy I used to play in a band with -- in fact, he let us use his band's equipment while we were there, with the exception of the bass and synth Danmerle and I brought over."
Band members thought they peaked at an outdoor show at Delaware's Rehoboth Beach.
"It was the most fun we had," Daubert said. "We had a good crowd, and it was great to see people dancing to our music. Being from Hawaii was always a big attraction, and we kidded people that we lived in grass shacks out here."
The band members, while flattered (and a bit puzzled) when told they sound like bands ranging from The Cure to The Strokes, are careful to say their self-described "new rock" doesn't neatly fit into any category.
"We've made it a point to make our music so distinctive-sounding," Capati said. "It's important that, to our ears, it feels right for us."
Added Neely: "We don't fit into any distinct genre. There's nothing theoretical about our music."
But it can be said that Linus does rock with a sure conviction.
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