The Lines - Interview

Danny (Bass)
Dean (Guitar)
Alex (Vocals & Guitar)
Paddy (Drums)

The Lines were formed in 2006 in Wolverhampton by long term school friends, Alex and Dean. Since those early days, and a couple of line up changes, the band have gone on to support some great acts such as The Killers, The Maccabees, The Twang, The Charlatans, Supergrass, Ian Brown, and recently, Peter Doherty. Playing at their hometown, whilst supporting Peter Doherty, Grace decided to catch up the band to find out a little more about them.

So some of you met at school, what or who inspired you to want to be in a band?

Me (Alex) and Dean grew up together, we lived in the same street when we were kids. We grew up going to the same clubs n pubs and listening to the same bands, not really sure how got into the band. I think we were inspired by friends that were in bands and gigs that we went to. We never expected to end up where we are today in all honesty, it's pretty mad when we look back at it.

You've toured with some pretty big names. Who was the most interesting to tour with?

Ian Brown. He's a massive inspiration to us and to support him was mega. He's a real nice guy and told us a bit of the history about the venue which was surreal.

You've been compared to The Verve, what are your opinions on this?

That seems to crop up a fair bit and, as much as I like the Verve I don't think we sound like them. There are a couple of our tunes that echo their influences on us but that doesn't really mean we sound like them. It's a nice comparison mind as they are a great band.

Having played at Birmingham Artsfest, has it made you want to play at bigger events such as festivals or do you prefer smaller venues?

Can I say both? Ha, we've played a few bigger stages now and a few festivals which have been brilliant. I do however enjoy a good small venue that's packed out and very sweaty. It's good to be able to just jump into the crowd and get them involved. So yeah, we don't really mind where we're playing as long as we're playing.

After seeing you play with Peter Doherty in Wolverhampton, Do you enjoy playing gigs in new towns or is it good to come back to Wolverhampton to play to a home crowd?

It's always good to come home though we do like being on the road and playing new places as well. The atmosphere when we play a home town gig is always electric; we've got so much respect for the support we get from people. It was quite moving last time we headlined the Wulfrun and even when we supported Peter Doherty...It's the energy that they give that drives you through the gig. Hard to explain but such a great feeling

What was it like to make your first album?

It was a laugh. We recorded in Sheffield and lived in a 1 bedroom flat for a month. It was winter and we got snowed in a few times. And then there was the man downstairs, who, if you listen carefully is on the beginning of the album but that's a whole different story. We'd never recorded so many songs at one time so it was a bit of a learning curve for us. It was strange when we'd finished, couldn't believed we'd recorded an album, was a great sense of accomplishment.

What are the plans for future releases?

Well, we've written and recorded a whole batch of new tunes that we're dead pleased with and can't wait to play them live. We're hoping to play some of them at our Wulfrun show in December. We're currently looking into next steps now and how to get them out so watch this space.

To find out more about The Lines you can visit their website here: http://www.wearethelines.com/

Interview by Grace