Kavya Kamal
It endures the haunting music, not just the one we heard in the folklores, but also the longing pain and a hope you wished to carry on. It will also take you through the fun you have always wanted and the tantrums you once had during those early ages.
Thaikkudam bridges’ new album “Namah” sings it all in a nutshell. Plug into it and you will walk over a roller coaster of emotions. Sundry genres in this album will grab all of our hearts and souls into it. A project that has multiple instruments involved is surely a masterpiece for all the contemporary music lovers. The album comes as a tribute to the artistes who inspired the band members.Being the only Indian band to perform in Summer fest, which is considered to be America’s biggest musical fest in Milwaukee, Thaikkudam has once again proved their excellence through this album!
In an attempt to know more about this deviant track we spoke to Vipin Lal, the lead Malayalam vocalist of the band says, “ Namah was in making for the last three years.” The album interestingly has collaborated with 11 legendary musical pioneers including Anandraj Benjamin Paul (Vocalist), Chris Adler (Drummer), Guthrie Govan (Guitarist), Jordan Rudess (Keyboardist), Marco Minnemann (Drummer), Niladri Kumar (Sitar Player), Pandit Ram Narayan (Sarangi Player), Pandit Vishwamohan Bhatt (Mohan Veena Player), Rakesh Chaurasia (Flautist), Umayalpuram K Sivaraman (Mridangist) and Ustad Rashid Khan (Vocalist).
Ashok Nelson, the rhythm guitarist of the band says that it all unfolded without much planning. “It all started out very small. We had just finished a rough version of Thekkini, and we thought it would be a good idea to include live percussion and that is how it started. Till then we had an idea of converting the single into an episode with five songs. Then that grew into a 10 song album, one by one”.
The other ten artistes who have collaborated from India, US, UK and Germany have made the track very diverse and had open its door to distinctive genres. “We had approached many musicians across the country. We knew what flavour would gel with a certain song. We wanted to make it a collaboration album and that is why we thought of including the people who were not a part of this band,” said Ashok.
“The lyrical and the tuning excellence had many people involved,” said Nelson. Ranging from Tamil to English and Malayalam, the compositions also have enough ardors and fervors in each track. “The audience had overwhelmingly received our album due to its vibrant variety of tracks. This time we had the opportunity to launch it on various online streaming platforms giving it maximum exposure.” When asked about the audience’s response on the masterpiece Nelson further said that many people have heard it within a short span of time. “It was very good to see an album creating waves without the help of a video,” added Nelson.
To their fan’s surprise, Thaikkudam also reintroduced Anand Benjamin (Avial fame) in one of the track named “Kanne”. We here, see a collaboration with Thaikkudam’s lead singer Vipin Lal. “We are a huge fan of Avial band. They have been inspiring all of us since a long time. That is when we thought about collaborating with Anand! We had approached him a lot many times, but failed,” added Vipin.
On asking about how they finally contacted, Vipin explained; “We had few shows in America. Since he is settled in US, we asked if he could accompany us for few performances for which he was ready. That’s when I saw him for the first time in my life! It was a huge thing for all of us. Anand has been inspiring every band member. He was a very humble person. What flabbergasted all of us was his commitment towards music! We were astounded to know that Anand practiced music everyday for two hours. I honestly think that we lack that practice! And that is how we met, collaborated and sang! It surely was a fantastic experience,” Vipin added while reminiscing about his experience.
When asked about the reason behind the name Namah, Ashok said that the album is a dedication to all those artistes who collaborated with them. ” We have dedicated this album to the maestros who inspired us. Hence the name Namah,” concluded Ashok.
You can now hear Namah streaming on the following platforms!
Amazon
Apple Music| I tunes
https://music.apple.com/in/album/namah/1489564407
Google Play
https://play.google.com/store/music/album/Thaikkudam_Bridge_Namah?id=Byc6l3nx6zyab6zasqazjrvsslu
Hungama
https://www.hungama.com/album/namah/50465693/
YouTube Music
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_kDL8q-sDVdLqBz3h2MOP1BPc6vYeQgePE
JioSaavn
https://www.saavn.com/p/album/tamil/namah-2019/Avp0K2yL5A4_?referrer=svn_source=share&svn_medium=com.whatsapp&utm_source=share&utm_medium=com.whatsapp
Wnyk
https://wynk.in/music/album/namah/hu_50465693?page=0
Hear and “Be The Bridge”,they say !
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