When the members of Blakc,an alternative rock band from Mumbai,were recording at the Yash Raj Studios,they met Shantanu Hudlikar,the head sound engineer,who was adamant on sending their album to Chris Athens,a renowned mastering engineer,for mastering. In fact,he was so keen that he even paid all the expenses for the job. Thus,the album Motheredland was sent to Sterling Studios,New York,to be mastered by Athens,who has worked on albums for Coldplay and AC With their single track Untitled climbing up the charts on various international music channels,Blakc is overwhelmed with the appreciation it is getting from across the world. This album has put us on a platform where we stand equal to any other international artistes, says Anish Menon,the bands guitarist. We wrote our first album,we were in our late teens and it was all about introspection. This time,we looked at things around us,and there was a lot of dissatisfaction that needed to come out through our songs, adds Menon. Besides Menon,the band comprises Roop Thomas and Shishir Thakur on bass and drums respectively,and Reinhart Dias and Shawn Pereira on vocals. Menon and Pereira put their heads together to pen down the lyrics that voice strong opinions on the politics,Indias education system and other things that affect our lives as the citizens of this country. The title was thought of after all the songs had been written. We realised what a mess it is out there in our motherland. Thus we came up with mothered,which means messed up, says Pereira. The opening track,Bitten aims to sting the listener with questions, says Menon. Bitten is one of the three songs that we had written around the time 26/11 attacks happened in Mumbai. We,as a nation,were bitten by terrorists,and a fit of rage still runs through your mind and body when you think of the horrors of that day, he adds.
