Rainbow Bridge

Photograph by Mickey

I’ve known Sanjeev and Rainbow Bridge for a very long time, in fact from the time they started. I was in Chennai at the same time – I was studying in MCC Madras and we used to actually travel together. And I remember that’s when he started Rainbow Bridge – then it was called Buddha Blown/Buddha’s Babies. And I remember right from the time he started, I really used to enjoy a lot of the tunes he put together. What I really like about them is that they write really catchy, really singalong songs and they’re all really well-written. Sanjeev’s got a good sense of melody and he’s really carried it through. But their music has also really evolved ”“ it’s just gotten a lot more polished over the years. And Sanjeev loves to experiment which I think is great he does a fantastic job with it.

This current line-up of Rainbow Bridge is, I think, an extension of what Buddha’s Babies used to be. They added a little more fusion into their setlist, into their sound, Sanjeev got Benny ”“ and Benny is from MCC too ”“ and he started doing a lot of Indian vocals and I think Benny’s a fantastic singer as well. I’ve done a lot of shows with them and one of the reasons I really enjoy watching them and playing along with them is that they’re one of these bands that really didn’t care. They would just step up and jam and that it’s really nice to watch a band putting music together because they love it. I think after playing for a certain period of time music becomes or tends to become like a business almost and sometimes that joy of playing tends to slide under the door. And what I love about these guys is that the joy of playing music and performing live never really goes out.

By Naveen Thomas of the Galeej Gurus