Karnataka (band)

For the Indian state of the same name, see Karnataka.

Karnataka
Origin	Swansea, Wales
Genres	Progressive Rock Rock
Years active	1997–present
Labels	Immrama (Independent/Unsigned)
Associated acts	Chasing The Monsoon, Mostly Autumn, The Reasoning, Panic Room, Parade, Fish
Website	www.karnataka.org.uk
Members
Ian Jones Enrico Pinna Colin Mold Hayley Griffiths Cagri Tozluoglu
Past members
Rachel Jones Paul Davies Jonathan Edwards Gareth Griffiths Anne-Marie Helder Alquimia Nick May Bob Dalton Lisa Fury Gonzalo Carrera Louie Palmer Ian Harris

The Welsh progressive rock band Karnataka were formed in 1997 by founding members Ian Jones (bass/guitars), Rachel Jones (vocals) and Jonathan Edwards (keyboards). The three had previously worked together for some time before going their separate ways with various local bands based around the Swansea area, then finally regrouping due to a desire to record some of the songs they had written together. Ian built a home studio and bought a mixing desk so that the trio could start recording.

Debut album

The embryonic band were augmented by guitarist Paul Davies and drummer Gavin Griffiths, who had both played with the other members of Karnataka in other bands or in rehearsals. Enjoying an instant rapport, the five-piece Karnataka recorded what became their debut album, Karnataka. In the beginning, the band had no thought of actually releasing the album — they made the recording for their own pleasure. As they started to play live shows in their new configuration, however, word of mouth ensured that an increasing number of people started asking for copies.

It was recommended to the band that they send a copy of the album to Martin Hudson at the Classic Rock Society. Martin gave the band their first break by positively reviewing the album in the society's magazine, and then offering them a gig for the Classic Rock Society in Rotherham, supporting the Genesis covers band Re-Genesis in 1999. The show was a success and Karnataka were offered another support with Jump in October 1999. Encouraged, the band had already started writing the material that would eventually appear on their second album, The Storm.

The Storm

The Storm was recorded between August–November 1999, usually in the evenings and at weekends, since most of the band still had day jobs. The album was then mixed over a period of five days at Rockfield Studios in Mounmouthshire, Wales—a studio used by such notable bands as Rush, Hawkwind, Queen and Clannad. While the album was well received, the band still felt it did not accurately reflect their live sound. Embarking on a more rigorous touring schedule, the band toured the UK extensively with the new album, culminating in a show before an audience of die-hards at London's Mean Fiddler, which was filmed and subsequently released on DVD under licence to Classic Rock Productions. The DVD, entitled simply In Concert, was well received by fans but frustrated the band, who still felt that the results did not fully reflect their acclaimed live performances.

Delicate Flame Of Desire

The In Concert DVD did, however, feature some new material the band was working on for their third album, although the songs were destined to change a little before they were recorded in the sessions for what was to become the band's breakthrough album, Delicate Flame Of Desire. While working on the album, the band worked harder on the arrangement of backing and harmony vocals, which eventually led them to take on vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Anne-Marie Helder as a full-time member of the band, expanding the line-up to a six-piece.

Strange Behaviour

Shortly after the release of Delicate Flame Of Desire, Karnataka were invited to play their first shows overseas: indeed one of their first shows in the US was filmed and released on DVD as Live In The USA, again through Classic Rock Productions. The band were also working on more new material, some of which was premiered over the course of 2003 and 2004, as the band continued to expand their fanbase and received increasingly positive reviews. A double live album, Strange Behaviour, was released in mid-2004 to accompany what was to be the band's final tour with the existing line-up.

The live album is particularly notable for containing two of the new songs that were later to be discarded after later events - Talk To Me and These Dreams Are Over. Other new songs premiered at the 2004 shows included Chasing Rainbows, Breathless and Fallen Angels. Rachel Cohen was later to use her lyrics for Chasing Rainbows and Fallen Angels in eponymously-titled songs for her new band, The Reasoning, who also regularly performed Talk To Me for some time, going as far as recording a studio version of the song which they made available for free download for a time with the consent of her ex-bandmates. The music from the other songs remains officially unreleased.

Dissolution

Although another tour of the UK was in the early planning stages, in August 2004 the band's website was updated with a notice that due to unforeseen personal circumstances, the band had decided not to continue. There followed a period of inactivity, during which the members of the band embarked upon new musical projects.

Ian Jones joined forces with songwriter Steve Evans and guitarist Ian Simmons to record an album under the moniker Chasing The Monsoon, whose first album is due to be released in summer 2010.

Rachel Jones decided to take time out from the music business and returned to college, although she appeared on recordings from other bands and occasionally took to the stage as well, most notably with Mostly Autumn. She subsequently joined Swansea-based rock band The Reasoning as a vocalist in late 2006. She married The Reasoning's Matthew Cohen shortly afterwards.

Helder released her first solo recording, The Contact EP in 2004, before joining forces with Edwards, Davies, Griffiths and bassist Alun Vaughan under the name Panic Room. Both Helder and Griffiths are also currently members of progressive rock band Mostly Autumn and ex-Mostly Autumn musician Chris Johnson's new band Parade. Griffiths also remains ex-Marillion frontman Fish's drummer, after taking up the post in 2006.

Resurrection (2005 - 2007)

Karnataka was then resurrected as a band when Ian Jones' work with keyboardist Gonzalo Carrera took on a life of its own. The pair were joined by veteran drummer Bob Dalton (previously of It Bites), guitarist Nick May (formerly of The Enid) and vocalist Alquimia, and in summer 2005 the Karnataka website announced this to be the new line-up of Karnataka itself.

For various reasons, Dalton felt unable to commit to the project, and was eventually replaced by Louis Palmer (session player). Lisa Fury (who also sang most of the vocals to Ian & Steve's Chasing The Monsoon project) was asked to join Karnataka & subsequently replaced Alquimia, who, with Nick May departed due to musical differences, only to work together under the name Whimwise. Auditions were held for a guitarist & Enrico Pinna joined the line up. This new line-up of the band toured in Spring 2007 in order to maintain some measure of the band's previous profile, playing a selection of fan favourites and four or five new songs to provide a flavour of the work in progress. The band had also booked a handful of festival dates, aiming to bring their music to new audiences, but many of these summer dates had to be cancelled after Palmer decided to leave the band to pursue other interests.

The Gathering Light (2008 - 2010)

Auditions were held for a new drummer, the position finally being taken by veteran Ian Harris, who had previously played with a multitude of acts, including Chris Rea, Mica Paris and Nitin Sawney.

Work remained ongoing on The Gathering Light with Gonzalo & Lisa, though the demands of a full-time job, Karnataka and his other project Chasing The Monsoon meant that Ian Jones' time was divided more than he may have preferred. As 2008 drew to a close, Jones decided to take Karnataka back out on the road in the UK once again to reassure their fans that the band were still busily working on their new record. This time the old favourites took a back seat to a slew of new material, showcasing the band's confidence in their post-split writing. The tour was very well received, resulting in strong voting for the band and the individual musicians in 2008's Classic Rock Society awards, even though the band had yet to release any recordings with the new line-up.

The fourth Karnataka studio album, The Gathering Light, was finally released in February 2010, although fans who had pre-ordered a special edition of the album received their copies slightly earlier. The band are about to embark on a string of live dates to promote the album, which has already received some exceptionally positive reviews.

"The Gathering Light stands true to Karnataka's heritage, yet illustrates significant artistic growth since the former lineup's Delicate Flame of Desire release six years ago. Progressive rock influences are more apparent [...] While their fans have waited a long time for this release, the care taken in the writing, recording and production of The Gathering Light has delivered an outstanding progressive rock album..."

Second dissolution and subsequent reformation

On 18 May 2010, Ian Harris posted on Facebook to state that he, Gonzalo Carrera and Lisa Fury had left the band with immediate effect. It was announced on October 1, 2010 that Ian Harris would be replaced by former Karnataka drummer Louie Palmer, and on October 21, 2010 multi-instrumentalist Colin Mold was revealed as having joined the band in a new role. On 11 February 2011, it was announced that Hayley Griffiths was the new lead vocalist for the band. The band's new lineup was completed on March 24, 2011, when Cagri Tozluoglu was announced as the band's new keyboard player. The new line-up began touring in early 2012. Louie Palmer is missing from the line-up, and he is no longer listed as a member the band's website and facebook page. UK session drummer Matt McDonough is currently touring with the band but it is unknown whether he is to be a permanent member of the line-up.

Members

Founding members listed in bold.

Current members

• Ian Jones - Bass/Acoustic Guitars/Keyboards (1997–2004, 2005-present)
• Enrico Pinna - Guitars (2006–present)
• Colin Mold - Guitars/Keyboards/Violin/Vocals (2010–present)
• Hayley Griffiths - Lead Vocals (2011–present)
• Cagri Tozluoglu - Keyboards (2011–present)

Live members

• Matt McDonough - drums (2012-present)

Former members

• Rachel Cohen (formerly Jones) - Vocals (1997–2004)
• Paul Davies - Guitars (1997–2004)
• Jonathan Edwards - Keyboards (1997–2004)
• Gareth Griffiths - Drums (1997–2004)
• Anne-Marie Helder - Flute/Backing Vocals (2003–2004)
• Alquimia - Vocals (2005)
• Nick May - Guitars (2005)
• Bob Dalton - Drums (2005)
• Lisa Fury- Vocals (2005–2010)
• Gonzalo Carrera - Keyboards (2005–2010)
• Louie Palmer - Drums (2006–2007, 2010–2011)
• Ian Harris - Drums (2008–2010)

Membership Timeline

Graphical Timeline

Year	Lead Vocals	Bass Guitars	Guitars	Keyboards	Drums	Flute	Additional Guitars
1997–2003	Rachel Jones	Ian Jones	Paul Davies	Jonathan Edwards	Gareth Griffiths		N/A
2003–2004						Anne-Marie Helder
2005	Alquimia		Nick May	Gonzalo Carrera	Bob Dalton	N/A
2006	N/A		Enrico Pinna		Louie Palmer
2005–2007	Lisa Fury
2008–2010					Ian Harris
2011	Hayley Griffiths			Cagri Tozluoglu	Louie Palmer		Colin Mold
2011-present					N/A

Discography

Albums

• Karnataka (1998)
• The Storm (2000)
• Delicate Flame of Desire (2003)
• The Gathering Light (2010)

Live albums

• Strange Behaviour (2004)

Video

• In Concert (DVD - 2002)
• Live in the USA (DVD - 2003)

External links

• Official band website
• Official MySpace page
• Lisa Fury website