MUMBAI: A journey which started off with a music video featuring a group of men, has today transformed into something more significant. The 14 member band 'Thaikkudam Bridge' is not your standard band as they feed their audiences with music with a mix of various genres.

Govind Menon (vocalist, violinist, music producer), Mithun Raju (lead guitars), Ashok Nelson (rhythm guitars), Vian Fernandez (bass guitars and vocals), Abin Thej (Drums), Ruthin Thej (Keyboards), Vipin Lal (Vocals), Christin Jose (Vocals), Peethambaran (Vocals), Siddharth Menon (Vocals), Piyush Kapoor (Vocals, Guitars), Krishna Bongane (Vocals), Nila Madhav Mohapatra (Vocals) and Anish Krishnan are the band members of 'Thaikkudam Bridge'. The band is a group of friends who had different dreams and aspirations but their rising popularity after the 'Music Mojo' stint led them to form a band and connect with their fans across various countries. Govind said, "It is a task to have a huge band but it is fun at the same time as we are all friends and we have know each other for ages now."

'Thaikkudam Bridge' for the 2014 edition of Music Mojo has recorded 17 songs. Siddharth said, "Now people know everyone in our band and so everyone needs a song because we are 14 of us and three sound engineers." These tracks will be aired over three episodes and will be on television and Youtube simultaneously. Before the show, the band is planning to unveil their first single 'Theevandi' in partnership with a film. Govind said, "We do not want to feature in every film that comes out, we will feature only in selected films." Siddharth confirmed that singles will be released at regular intervals. The lyrics for the Malayalam track are penned by Dhanya Menon.

Last season, they performed 46 shows in four months and plan to continue the marathon this year. Govind who has been in the music business for more than eight years as a music composer said, "I never performed many live gigs before I played with the band. The response we received during the gigs was really inspiring. Apart from Kerala, we played at Bangalore, Chennai and UAE." He also added that they are getting enquiries from Australia, United Kingdom and Lebanon. "I have only see Lebanon in a map and never ever thought we would have fans there who like to hear us perform," laughed Govind.

Govind and his
cousin Siddharth Menon, who brought up the idea of a band, have worked on various films. Siddharth who is a playback singer and has given vocals for Tamil and Malayalam films, might also make his Bollywood debut soon. The former X- Factor participant said, "I am comfortable singing in Hindi, English and Malayalam." 'Thaikkudam Bridge' plays in all three languages.

Govind gave his solo career up like most of the other members in the band. "Way before the band was formed; I had some commitments, so I am just completing that along with the band. We decided to concentrate on making our band recognised around the world."

The band is at an advantage as it can play in different genres and languages. The band has huge number of views on Music Mojo's Youtube channel and good number of fans on their Facebook already.