Linda Perry forms new band

Linda Perry has formed a new band because she is tired of penning "songs for the radio".

The songwriter - who has written huge hits for Christina Aguilera, Pink and Gwen Stefani - has returned to singing her own songs for the first time since her original band, 4 Non Blondes, split in 1995.

Speaking about her new project, Deep Dark Robot, she told Rollingstone.com: "I've just been really bored. If I hear another label tell me that they need a song for the radio I'm going to poke out their eyeballs with a fork. Nobody I work with wants anything out of left field. They just want to keep following the same game plan."

Linda had originally planned to make a comeback as a solo artist some years ago with the song 'Beautiful', but after hearing Christina Aguilera sing a version of it, decided to give it to her.

She also told how starting out again is no easy task, adding: "We just played in Washington, D.C. and there were 30 people in the crowd. It kind of bums me out and hurts my ego. But that's the good part. It's like starting from scratch."

Linda also confessed she didn't really like 4 Non Blondes - whose biggest hit 'What's Up', was an international smash in 1992 - because the record company commercialised their album 'Bigger, Better, Faster, More!'.

She added: "I'm I wasn't really a big fan of my band. When I heard our record for the first time I cried. It didn't sound like me. It made me belligerent and a real asshole. I wanted to say, 'we're not that fluffy polished bulls**t that you're listening to.' It was really difficult."