Rainburn was founded in the fall of 2011 by classically-trained pianist Avik Chakravarty and singer/guitar player Vats Iyengar as a vehicle for eclectic, progressive music. Adding drummer Praveen Kumar from Blood & Iron and bassist Jayaram Kasi soon after, the band rehearsed for the rest of the year before starting to gig in early 2012. Rainburn’s brand of technical-yet-accessible music found immediate takers in the Bangalore music scene, leading to shows throughout the southern Indian circuit. In the middle of 2012, Jayaram Kasi left, and after a protracted search, was replaced by Shishir Gupta on the bass; meanwhile, the band recorded two demo songs but already, Rainburn’s musical leanings were changing.
After searching for new ideas and inspiration for much of 2013 and continuing to play in and around Bangalore with new keyboard player Ashwin Ethiraj, the band found their calling in the juxtaposition of their progressive roots with a strong pop sensibility, and melodies and motifs that subtly reference Indian music. This led not only to a change in sound but also to a significant change in instrumentation – a second guitarist in the form of ex-Groove Chutney member Abhishek Prakash was added to the lineup, and keyboards were dispensed with. After opening for Avial, to an audience of several thousand people at Eurotech Maritime Academy, Kochi, the band hit the studio to record their debut EP. Abhishek left not long after commencement of recording, and after a brief search, was replaced by shredder Toshimoa Jamir. With this new addition, Rainburn emerged out of their temporary hiatus with renewed force, road-testing not only songs from the upcoming EP, but also performing ambitious covers of bands such as Dream Theater and Porcupine Tree.
Towards the end of 2014, the band released their debut EP Canvas of Silence locally, followed by a worldwide release shortly after, to acclaim from publications such as Classic Rock, Prog and Pure M, and websites such as Prog Archives, Prog Sphere and Music Aloud. They were also featured on local radio stations such as Radio One and Radio Indigo, international radio, and in newspapers, including The Hindu and Deccan Chronicle.
In early 2015, the band replaced Toshimoa and Shishir with Vineet Gogoi on guitar and Allan Julius Fernandes on the bass, respectively. In July of the same year, Rainburn played at Progworks, a music festival that the band helped organize and curate, and featuring some of India’s biggest progressive artists. Canvas of Silence was rated one of the Top 5 Prog Albums of 2015 by Classic Rock magazine.
Summer, 2016 saw the band play their first shows in Mumbai and Pune, followed by an ambitious and extremely well-received national traveling festival, Progworks on Wheels, in October, 2016 with new members Ravi Nair on bass guitar and Paraj Kumar Singh (as a live member) on guitar. May, 2017 saw Rainburn release their first music video, the single version of Merchant of Dreams.
November, 2018 saw the release of the song’s parent album, Rainburn’s long-awaited debut LP titled Insignify. The album received highly positive critical acclaim, including being a featured album on Apple Music, and was named one of the Top 10 Indian Albums of 2018 by Rolling Stone, and one of the Top 20 Heavy Prog Albums of 2018 by DPRP.
In March of 2019 Rainburn mounted a commercially successful tour of India to support Insignify. A double-page feature in Prog Magazine followed in May. Soon after, the band announced a new EP called Resignify, to be released in November and featuring live cuts and radical reworkings of songs from Insignify. Resignify was released on 21 November 2019.
In 2020, as Covid ravaged the world, Rainburn replaced long-time drummer Praveen Kumar with Neilroy Miranda, and guitarist Paraj Kumar Singh with Saakallya Biswas; this new Rainburn lineup performed for the first time in January, 2021 to a rousing reception in their hometown, Bangalore. After another bout of Covid-induced isolation. two back-to-back tours followed in 2022, one of them marking Rainburn’s long-overdue North-East India debut. These shows received immense acclaim and were widely lauded by long-term fans as Rainburn’s best live performances to date.
Much of 2023 was spent arranging and recording Vignettes, Rainburn’s second full-length album and the first with its exciting, new lineup, which will be released on 24 November 2023.