Merak

The captivating electronica project from the lush green- scapes of Goa, Merak is made of a sibling duo, Belinda and Brandon Mendes. They are multi instrumentalists and make music that transcends boundaries — there’s a bit of jazz, rock, orchestral, all made more fun with an electronic touch. It’s a sonic experience like no other. The siblings were exposed to many similar experiences that shaped them alike. They grew up in the gulf where they spent weekends listening to The Beatles, The Carpenters, John Denver, Jim Reeves and Queens among others. “It started with this band called Avenged Sevenfold, a progressive metal band. We used to immerse ourselves in the music and play their songs over and over. A lot of Merak has influences of the bands we used to listen to as teenagers like Metallica, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, System Of A Down and Linkin Park. Ironically, we were also in the church choir which influenced us to use harmonies and orchestral elements in our music.” Their debut EP is called Manic Mode and they are kicking it off with a stunning single called Up High.

CREATIVE PROCESS
We often like to play a game — Brandon plays a melody on the piano or guitar and Belinda tries to imagine a scene being played out in front of her or vice versa, which thenbecomes the concept. Or we write the lyrics first that are inspired by books, movies, prominent life experiences or other people’s stories that sat deeply with us, and build a melody from there. It keeps it interesting that the process is always different, and consequently, the output as well.

DEBUT WITH BOXOUT
We were writing and thinking mostly about mental health over the last year which nicely came together when Mo approached us about releasing an EP with the songs we had. Boxout Recordings has been hugely instrumental in our journey so far. We met Sahej Bakshi, aka Dualist Inquiry, also co-founder of Boxout Recordings, when he judged a competition we won. He has mentored us and shared his knowledge on the workings of the industry, and our music with Mo, which was when we released our first single Multicolored Dreams with them. We had a lot of support and the song did very well, which is why we’re grateful to share this journey with them again. There’s still a huge stigma when it comes to talking about mental health and we hope to be a small part in spreading awareness, sharing experiences and eradicating the taboo.

COLLABORATING STORIES
We met David Marston through Boxout when he remixed Multicolored Dreams. We were so thrilled when he and MadStarBase wanted to work on Up High together. They’re both very talented, great human beings and working with them challenged us to take a different approach with this track, opening up our perspective and making us think outside the box. We love how Up High became playful and light, which is basically what the song is about. David always lent his advice and support throughout the EP, which added so much value for us to the release.

INDIE IN INDIA
It’s comforting to know that people are valuing indie and electronica as a sub genre more than ever before. As a country, India is broadening the type of music we listen to and allowing independent musicians to make a living instead of having to move out of the country to be heard. There’s still a long way to go but we’re definitely heading in the right direction.

INSPIRATIONS
We live in Goa and having an abundance of nature and expanse around allows us to deeply introspect and ideate. Being surrounded by like-minded people, who care a lot about the little things in life and feeling a part of a bigger community, gives us the support to share who we are through our music and remain true to ourselves.

Words Hansika Lohani
Date 02-08-2023