Vian Fernandes of Thaikkudam Bridge: ‘Social media has nothing on live events’

For their ninth edition this weekend, October Octaves will be hosting Thaikkudam Bridge

Ever since their inception, October Octaves by 5M has remained true to their cause of bringing musicians to those parts of the city not frequented by too many cultural events. This year, they are hosting Kochi’s Thaikkudam Bridge for an evening of music in South Bengaluru.

Madhavan Ramesh,founder and organiser of 5M says, “Thaikkudam Bridge is one of the most popular bands today with a different delivery of songs and a unique arrangement. Their sound caters to music lovers of all genres and age groups, and the audience are bound to enjoy the show and its inviting visuals.”

October Octaves has gained a name for presenting an eclectic lineup of artistes, with guests including Rajasthan’s Swaraag, Iranian daf players and Japanese drummers, over the years. “Thaikkudam have not performed a ticketed event in this part of town and one of our aims is to promote the best of music in South Bangalore so the dependence on certain venues or areas becomes less,” he adds.

Vian Fernandes, vocalist and bassist in Thaikkudam Bridge says, “Bangalore is like a second home to us; we have to shuffle our playlist quite a bit when we are there since we perform in the city quite regularly. While we will play songs from our album Namah, we will be debuting new material as well.”

Known for their high-energy concerts, the members of Thaikkudam Bridge tend to go with the vibe and flow of energy at the venue, usually presenting around 15 songs per show. The band came together when singer-songwriter Govind Vasantha needed a bunch of musicians to work on a project. “Govind called up all the musicians he knew and so did his cousin Siddharth Menon. We all travelled to Kochi, practised and after a week went for the shoot. There, we had to submit a band name for our performance and ended up with Thaikkudam Bridge, since that was where we had been staying,” says Vian.

Their project went viral on YouTube and the musicians had to seriously reconsider being a one-time wonder. That was 11 years ago. Today, Thaikkudam Bridge has become a household name with their signature sound of Indian folk, rock, pop and world music. Some of their most popular numbers have been in Malayalam, Tamil and Hindi, as well as English covers.

Vian says, “We have also had a Marathi track and Namah has two originals in English, titled ‘Inside My Head’ and ‘I Can See You’. But our fan base mostly connect with our Tamil, Malayalam and Hindi songs.”