Rainburn

Vocalist Vats Iyengar stated in a 2015 interview that drummer Praveen Kumar came up with the name Rainburn. He also explained: "I'm a big fan of bands that work with opposites. Like Led and Zeppelin or Black and Sabbath. The name suggests that we are covering a very wide spectrum of music. I like Metallica but that kind of name would be so limiting to me. Rainburn allows us that luxury."[1]

Rainburn was founded by keyboardist Avik Chakravarty and vocalist/guitarist Vats Iyengar in 2011. The duo was soon joined by drummer Praveen Kumar (Blood & Iron) and bassist Jayaram Kasi.[2] Since its inception, the band has gone through a number of line-up changes, apart from some financial bad times.[1]

In 2012, they started to gig, first in their hometown of Bangalore, then in southern India. Also in that year, Jayaram left and was replaced by Shishir Gupta and the quartet recorded two demo songs, "End of Sleep" and "Listen Through the Noise".[2]

In 2013, the band went through several successive line-up changes: Avik left and was replaced by keyboardist Ashwin Ethiraj, but he quickly left too and the band decided to hire a second guitarist instead: Abhishek Prakash (ex-Groove Chutney). He didn't last long either and quit the quartet as they were recording their debut EP, being replaced by Toshimoa Jamir.[2]

Following a 2014 local release,[2] they globally released their debut EP Canvas of Silence, which was defined by The Hindu as "a brilliant blend of opposing Indo-progressive tonalities that throb together in eclectic energy, exuding the band's vibrant take on music that is rooted and yet atmospheric".[1] It was ranked as the 4th best 2015 progressive rock album by Classic Rock.[3] By that time, they were already thinking of a full-length album.[1]

In early 2015, the band faced another formation change: Toshimoa and Shishir left and were replaced by Vineet Gogoi and Allan Julius Fernandes, respectively.[2] In July of that year, they co-organized and co-curated (with Coshish) the progressive rock music festival Progworks.[4] In October, they were joined on stage by Ted Leonard (Spock's Beard) for an unplugged performance of "Refuge".[2]

By 2016, Fernandes and Gogoi left and were replaced by Ravi Nair and Paraj Kumar Singh, respectively (the latter on a live basis only).[2] In the following year, the band released its first music video, "Merchant of Dreams", a single coming from their then upcoming debut full-length album,[2] by then known as The Anthropic Conceit and expected to be funded by a campaign in Fuel a Dream and succeeded by a tour.[5] By 2018, however, the album was being promoted with a new title: Insignify. It was elected one of the best 2018 Indian albums by Rolling Stone India.[6]

In 2019, they released their second EP, Resignify, consisting of acoustic versions of songs from their two previous releases.[7]

In May 2020, the band announced on their Facebook page that two members had departed sometime late 2019.[8] A few days later, they announced their new guitarist and backing vocalist, Saakallya Biswas.[9] On 11 June, they officially announced that longtime drummer Praveen Kumar had left the band since late 2019.[10] On 9 September, they announced Neilroy Miranda as their new drummer.[11]

The band is normally defined as a progressive rock ensemble. In a 2015 interview, drummer Praveen Kumar stated that "the genre also allows a lot of scope to experiment and better ourselves." Vocalist Vats Iyengar added:[1]

Progressive is a label that people put on music that has certain characters on rhythms and odd time signatures. We never sit down and make it. It comes naturally to us. I also like the term itself. Why choose an expression that belongs to someone else and limit yourself? The term progressive allows us to push the envelope. [...] I'd like to think we make our music organically. We don't want to be a technical band that doesn't enjoy or express themselves in our music.

The band members have different influences and musical tastes. Vats is a fan of pop and progressive rock while Praveen enjoys modern heavy metal. The band is also influenced by Indian and fusion music such as Shakti and Prasanna.[5]

Ep

• Canvas of Silence (2014)
• Resignify (2019)

Albums

• Insignify (2018)

• Official website