This archive report was first published on 16 August 2019.
On August 16, 2019, Nairobi's vibrant rock music scene welcomed a new addition with the launch of Straight Line Connection's debut album, 'Spaceless'. The band, comprising Gun Di (Guitars and Vocals), Reuben (Bass Guitar), and Param (Drums), has been making waves in the city's music scene with their unique sound.
According to Eddie Branchs, an American researcher who has studied the emergence of heavy metal across the continent, Africa lends itself as the perfect setting for metal music to thrive. 'Heavy metal is synonymous with a lifestyle which is seldom seen with other genres of music and African metal fans are representative of such a lifestyle.'
Straight Line Connection's journey began in August 2017, when Gun met up with Param, the drummer, and started jamming on acoustic rock cover versions. The two musicians quickly discovered a musical chemistry between them and abandoned the idea of playing cover versions, starting to write their own music and forming the band.
At the beginning of 2018, Gun and Param met Reuben, the suave bassist, who added a touch of funk to the music and completed the line-up. The band's motto is to bring the rock and heavy metal scene to the forefront in Kenya and indeed the entire African continent.
The album 'Spaceless' features a range of rock sub-genres, including heavy metal, classic rock, and soft rock. The band describes the sound of the album as a 'cauldron of energy, emotion, timelessness, and philosophy'. Their first single, 'Fight and Reconcile', with its heavy guitar riff, talks about the notion that there is no need to fight if you know you are going to reconcile anyway and that life is about going around in circles searching for that elusive straight line.
