Friends of linger will perform here in support of the lGBT community. The band’s lead singer, Sharif Rangnekar, spoke to Iknoor Kaur
If you see the word ‘ling’ highlighted in a band’s logo, the first thing that you will notice is the pun that comes across. However, Friends of linger believes in taking what they say too literally. So much so that the word ‘ling’ and linger both stand a fair chance to explain themselves in Hindi and English. “ling means gender and everything the band does is gender neutral and gender inclusive. Therefore we don’t have any limits when it comes to sexuality or anything of that sort. We look at the word linger positively, too. However, there are two ways we look at it — one is in our own transformational word for gender and two is looking at the positive things that stick with people and linger on. This can be our experiences, moods or incidents that linger on with people forever,” explained Sharif Rangnekar, the lead singer of the band which will be performing at Hard Rock Café tonight.
They will be playing a special song called Head Held High in support of the lGBT community. “I think if you look at the community itself, it is one that needs a voice to communicate what they feel. Music works as a good communicator in this sense. But, we also want to put out content for people who are not a part of the lGBT community. They are the ones who need to understand that being in that community means dealing with dilemmas where the individual doesn’t even know that he’s gay. Over and above, the way they deal with situations when they realise what their orientation is and the courage it takes for them to articulate that,” he elaborated.
Friends of linger is a band that doesn’t stick to one genre of music. According to Sharif, this gives them a chance to experiment. He said, “We are a bunch of friends from completely different walks of life who wanted to sing and decided to form a band where we could experiment with our voices, genres and writing. We went about in a disorganised manner and came to the conclusion that this is actually a great way for us to test our talent. So even in tonight’s show you will see us play classic rock, funk, soul, a bit of pop and electro. We aren’t fussy about anything. If we cover for The Beatles, we also cover for lady Gaga.”
The band hasn’t taken out an album yet but is heading in that direction. Sharif feels that six-seven months down the line, they will have an original album out. “We want to do a lot of social messaging and Head Held High is only the beginning. One can expect songs from us on materialism, capitalism, women’s rights, sexual abuse, love and loss of love. That is what the band collectively believes in,” he shared.
At present the band is working on a video presentation of their song Head Held High after which they will be releasing their new song based on “the society and its complacency”.