Ready to rock resurgence after two year hiatus

almost 2 years in TT News day

After a two-year forced hiatus due to the pandemic, exciting things are coming from TT’s premier death metal/Caricore band, LYNCHPiN. And some will be revealed on June 25 at Skyy View Lounge, San Fernando, during its first live performance in years.
The show, titled Resurgence, will feature LYNCHPiN, grunge and hard rock band Goodnight Parliament, and the progressive metal band Mindscape Laboratory.
LYNCHPiN’s lead vocalist Sievan Siewsarran said Resurgence is more than just a show. It is also a nod to a few of the people who, in various ways, helped the local rock community through the lockdowns and restrictions.
So for the show, chef Allan Bachan of Hungry Nature TT, who is also a local rocker, will be creating specialty dishes named after the bands, as well as local twists on international dishes.
DJ Kelo The Energy will be the DJ and MC for the event.
“During the pandemic he started this online programme called Kelocal Lockdown Tuesdays. The rock community was going online and listening to him playing local and international rock, and we were just feeling at home. He just wanted everyone to feel connected.”
Siewsarran said it was difficult for the original band members – drummer Aaron Maharaj; bassist Jiggy Khatri; and guitarist Gerard Ferreir – to adjust, not only to not performing but to having no entertainment, sporting or other events to attend.
And even now that the economy has reopened, some people are still afraid to go in public.
“That’s how the idea of the show came about. It’s not just a resurgence of the rock scene but the resurgence of human nature, the culture: we’re starting to come back together.”
[caption id="attachment_958184" align="alignnone" width="764"] The newest member of LYNCHPiN, guitarist Tristan Farfan. Photo courtesy Tristan Farfan -[/caption]
Being mindful of people’s fears, the band chose to re-emerge with an intimate indoor show rather than a large outdoor event, to allow people to meet again and not be overwhelmed by the number of people attending.
“Yeah, we’re forfeiting money, but there’s a bigger objective here. It’s about getting everybody back to being around each other and enjoying each other again.”
It so happened that the new imagery for the band synced with the concept of resurgence. LYNCHPiN’s first promotional video gives glimpses of the band members in white body bags.
Siewsarran explained that it felt as if they had been frozen as a band, dead for the past two years, because they were not doing anything and no one was hearing from them. But the body bags are open to show their faces so, despite how it may look at first sight, they are not officially dead.
To underscore its undead status, LYNCHPiN will be premiering a new song and its new guitarist at Resurgence. The members’ updated look will be revealed after the release of the new album, which they are in the process of writing.
Siewsarran said even before the pandemic, the band had grown, so its members had talked about getting another guitarist. However, between writing and performing, they never slowed down enough to look for one. The pandemic gave them that chance.
“He came in and got the feel of the band immediately. On his first day he was writing the riff for a song which turned out to be incredible. Then, he ended up helping write one of our new songs and we realised he fit in well.”
And so Tristan “Shirley” Farfan became the fifth member of LYNCHPiN.
Because they had an extra guitarist, the music began to evolve. With two guitars they included melodies, harmonies, and were able to experiment with different sounds.
One of the new songs the band intends to play at Resurgence centres on death. It speculates on how people in different situations – whether it be suicide, dying alone, flatlining, or loneliness – may feel as they are dying and tells the story from their point of view.
[caption id="attachment_958182" align="alignnone" width="1024"] An image of LYNCHPiN members in body bags from the band’s promotional video. Photo by Sataish Rampersad. -[/caption]
“It’s going to be a dark album, but there’s going to be a lot of feeling and expression in it. Everybody has dealt with death, but normal society has a weird fear of it.
“In this album, we don’t see it like that. It’s like we’re trying to comprehend it.”
Siewsarran said the songs express how the human spirit fights to stay alive. It confronts death and he believes that could help people face facts and might bring some people peace.
Speaking to Sunday Newsday, the band members gave their take on their experiences over the past two years and their excitement about returning to the stage.
Khatri said he missed the adrenaline of performing on stage, so he was happy they would do so once again.
Maharaj said while two years was not his longest break from playing live music, it was different because there was no other live music around to enjoy. But, for them, the “chaos” brought the opportunity for their sound and music to evolve.
Ferreir added, “While there’s no other feeling like playing live on stage to your fans and friends, and I deeply missed doing that, not performing for so long gave us the opportunity to reflect and grow.
“We’ve evolved our sound as a result, both in approach to writing and by adding another member, who is helping us get closer to the sound I’ve always had in mind for us and adds a new dimension to our stage performance.
“So now I’m not only thrilled to be playing out again, but also excited for people to hear and see our evolution and to play alongside our newest member.”
Farfan, 25, is not only the newest, but also the youngest member of the band.
His father introduced him to rock music as a child and bought Farfan his first acoustic guitar around age ten, and an electric guitar two years later. He briefly played in two other bands when he was younger – an alternative rock band with his cousins when he was in secondary school, and a heavy metal band when he was at UWI studying leadership and management.
Farfan, the assistant manager at a cafe in Arouca, said Siewsarran, a teacher, gave him IT lessons for CXC and they kept in touch. He would “harass” Siewsarran, jokingly telling him he was available if the band ever needed another guitarist.
Then, one day last year, Siewsarran told him the band was looking for a second guitarist and invited him to audition.
“All of us were good friends long before this, so they were comfortable with me and we sounded good. Me and the other guitarist mesh well, so they kept me.
“I felt really good about it. I was really excited because LYNCHPiN is one of my favourite local bands. Hearing them and seeing them play for so long, and then finally being a part of that and playing on stage with them, it will be a different feeling. To me, it’s like a dream come true.”
Siewsarran said Trinidad has a big underground rock scene, the biggest rock community in the Caribbean, and it has made leaps over the past ten years. He admitted that it diminished during the pandemic but he believes many bands, including LYNCHPiN, are still making music and plans.
“I’m sure we’re going to see a lot of young people coming in, especially because of the animation boom that occurred during the covid period. Lots of rock music was involved in that, and because of that they started to lean into it. We have been getting a lot of new young fans messaging us, telling us they’re excited for the show. We too are excited because of that.”
He said original local rock has not declined but has been building constantly over the years. Some people just do not hear about it because they are not interested in the sub-culture. But, he said, more bands need to record, release and perform their original music. However, that was difficult for some, as sponsorship for rock bands and shows is usually much less than for chutney or soca music.
“We maintain that rock ‘n’ roll is the world’s music, because you can go anywhere in the world and find it. But, for us, it feels like we’re fighting against the grain, so some bands get dissuaded from continuing in rock or even music.”
He added that LYNCHPiN had been ambassadors of TT, performing in Amsterdam, Germany and Cuba, and would like to see rock music recognised as part of TT culture.
“We have met all those ambassadors in TT because we were going as ambassadors to their countries and we wanted to be able to create that bridge.
“And, after 13 years as a band, we still haven’t met any of our culture ministers. And rock is a part of our culture because we are Trinidadians producing original music.”
Therefore, he said it meant a lot that the TT Music Company Ltd (MusicTT) and Live Music District reached out to the band to help with promotion via social media and their websites, as well as funding to get the band back up and running.
He said the move felt like an olive branch, reaching out to them and acknowledging their music is part of the country. However, he noted that most radio stations do not play original local rock and prefer to push American music.
“Bands like us, we know our music is extremely heavy, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t have a space and time for that kind of music.”
He believed there should be some policy or legislation to put local original music on radio stations.
“If you’re promoting your own and you say to support local, some measures should be in place. If artistes were able to hear their music on the radio that part of the music industry will grow. Right now we only record for the love of the music and the fans, because we’re not getting played on radio at all.”
In the meantime, LYNCHPiN will continue pushing its music. The next step will be a second show in July which will feature LYNCHPiN and one other band.
“It’s the first time we’re going to have such a heavy show. It will be one of the most brutal shows, I think, that we’ve ever put on. It’ll be two big bands that, in their own genres, could mash up a crowd. People need to come ready to sweat. Come ready to bang!”
 
The post Ready to rock: resurgence after two-year hiatus appeared first on Trinidad and Tobago Newsday.

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