The highlight in Thaikkudam Bridge’s career was performing in front of Ilaiyaraaja

Attributing their USP to the number of members, this 15-member band from Kerala clearly believes in the expression ‘the more the merrier’. The band consists of six instrumentalists: Govind Menon (violinist, vocalist),

Mithun Raju

(lead guitarist), Ashok Nelson (rhythm guitarist), Anish TN (drummer), Ruthin Thej (keyboardist), Vian Fernandes (bassist), six vocalists (Peethambaran Menon, Vipin Lal CK, Christin Hanna Jos, Anish Gopalkrishnan, Nila Madhav Mohapatra and Krishna Bongane) and three sound engineers (Hemanth K, Rajan KS and

Amith Bal Kenath

). Formed in 2013, the band was formed when the members got together for a reunion to work briefly for a show that a channel aired. “People loved what we did, and voila! here we are,” shares Govind.
With multi-lingual tracks to their credit, the band takes its name from a place where they were preparing for a show. Says Ashok, “It just sounded convenient. We were not serious about the band at that point of time. We only wanted to name it something and get over with it; the name was least of our worries.” Owing to the novelty each member brings in, their compositions offer a blend of nostalgia, devotion and a dash of rock star-like feel – be it ‘Shiva’, ‘Fish Rock’ or ‘Navarasam’. The highlight of their career was when they performed in front of the musical marvel, Ilaiyaraaja, where they received a standing ovation; little wonder then, that, their track – ‘

Ilaiyaraaja Medley

’ – is an ode to the maestro.

Talking about the one thing Indian music scene could do with, Mithun says, “Less music in movies and more independent creations. Visual media is different from music media – their aesthetic quotient is different. One can’t abuse the other.”

The band is currently gearing up for the release of their second album (Namah), which features guitarist Guthrie Govan, drummer Marco Minnemann, keyboardist Jordan Rudess, Padm Vibhushan Umayalpuram among other renowned artistes. “It’s a project that has already given us sufficient reward as it was a means to communicate and work with some heroes we never thought we would meet, let alone work. Needless to say, we’re extremely thrilled,” exclaims Ashok.