Rain in Sahara is an eco-conscious, genre-bending collective from Assam and the U.S., now based in Bangalore. Fusing hip-hop, rock, electronica, nu-metal, and classical influences, they craft a powerful electro-rock opera experience. Driven by themes of climate justice and social equity, their music is both protest and purpose—using sound to ignite dialogue, inspire youth, and fuel change. In this conversation, the band reflects on their journey and the art of turning activism into music. The exquisite band led by Lain Heringman – keys, flutes, production & vocals includes Rain Jong – lead vocals, Pawan Damai, Rajat Bangia- Bass, Majid drums have much to offer. Read on to know more. Khanak lines up the talented group for a delightful schmooze
Q Tell us about the choice of the name of your band Rain in Sahara? What is the origin of the name?
The name Rain in Sahara is meant to reflect what the band stands for. When we started this project, it was about trying to talk honestly about the challenges we see around us every day, from corruption and inequality to the climate crisis, and to use music as a way to reach people on a deeper level. The image of rain falling in a desert such as the Sahara felt powerful to us. Something rare but life-giving. In a world where truth, empathy, and compassion, can sometimes feel in short supply, it’s a reminder that even in the harshest conditions, hope and renewal are still possible!
Q All your band members hail from different backgrounds. How is it that you decided to come together?
Yes, we’re really from all over the place! From different parts of India and even abroad, but somehow our paths crossed in Assam and later at a festival in Arunachal Pradesh. It was pretty crazy and was just one of those moments where everything just clicked! Lain comes from an international development background, a western classical musical tradition and a deep love of storytelling through music, whereas the other members each brought their own unique roots: from metal, hip-hop, and folk traditions from Northeast India. But what brought us together was a shared love for similar kinds of music and, more importantly, the same fire. We all believe that music can be more than just entertainment; that it can be a way to speak up about what’s happening around us and connect people across borders on issues that truly matter. That spark and energy is what gave birth to Rain in Sahara.
Q What are your early influences musically and how did it shape your thinking as a band?
We come from really diverse musical backgrounds, and that’s probably one of the biggest reasons Rain in Sahara sounds the way it does! Our guitarist, Pawan, is a huge metal-head but also sings and performs Hindi and regional music, which brings this unique blend of melody and intensity to the band (especially live!). Our vocalist, Rain, has a deep love for all kinds of music, especially heavier genres, and he’s developed this incredible ability to move seamlessly between metal growls and clean, soulful vocals, giving our songs a lot of dynamic range.
Our bassist, Rajat, loves grunge and nu-metal, so he brings that raw, gritty energy to the rhythm section, while our drummer, Rui, draws a lot from hip-hop and nu-metal too, adding the rhythmic backbone that keeps our sound groovy. Finally, Lain, our keyboardist, flautist, and vocalist, actually has a classical background on the harpsichord and recorder but also grew up on political punk rock. You’ll often hear those neo-classical and baroque touches (he loves suspensions!) layered with modern electronic and metal textures in our music.
What often surprises people is that while everyone assumes Linkin Park is our biggest influence due to a similar setup, we’ve probably been shaped more by System of a Down and Avenged Sevenfold. Their intensity, unpredictability, and especially System of a Down’s conscious and political messages deeply connected with us all. And, on the other end of the spectrum, both Rain and Lain are huge fans of Max Martin’s production and love studying those perfectly crafted Backstreet Boys and Britney Spears hits! It probably seems like a pretty strange mix, but that’s what has gone into our musical cooking pot combined with finding inspiration in places people don’t expect!
This all blends into a sound that’s constantly evolving but still true to who we are. While we’ve matured musically, that spirit of experimentation and bringing worlds together that don’t always traditionally fit, has always been at the heart of Rain in Sahara.
Q Given the fact that you are an activist band, are all your lyrics written before you set the tune?
Actually, no! While we’re always jotting down song and lyrical ideas that come from our lived experiences or things happening around us, the music usually comes first. We’ll often start by experimenting with guitar riffs or keyboard parts, and building a track together from there to see what kind of emotion or energy it creates. Once that soundscape starts taking shape, the lyrics and melodies somehow naturally start to form around it.
For us, it’s key that the message doesn’t just sit on top of the music but actually grows out of it. The music sets the mood, for example whether it’s something dark, hopeful, or angsty/rebellious, and that vibe and energy help us figure out what story we want to tell. Sometimes a drum pattern or chord sequence will spark a lyrical idea about a social issue or something personal we’ve been feeling. It’s a really natural process where the activism and the art organically blend together, instead of one leading the other.
Q. You are known for being beyond the restrictions of genre in your music creations. Can you expound on this working style philosophy?
We don’t really follow a genre formula or a set songwriting structure. We experiment a lot, always trying to find the sound that best serves the message or emotion of a song. Sometimes that means blending orchestral or classical elements with heavy guitar riffs, or mixing hip-hop, and electronic textures with Indian percussion and flutes! It’s kind of like a conversation between worlds that don’t usually coexist.
For example, in one of our deeply climate-conscious songs, Ominous Clouds, there’s a bridge section that strips down to electronic synths and haunting, harmonized Indian flutes; a sound that aims to mirror the fragility of Mother Earth. It then transitions with a distorted downward guitar pick slide symbolizing deforestation and destruction before erupting into a heavy hip-hop/electronic-rock chorus. We’re always looking for ways to tie sonic elements directly to the story or message, building a kind of cinematic subconscious soundscape through texture and emotion.
The world doesn’t fit neatly into boxes, and neither do we! In our live sets you’ll see the gamut of our experimentations ranging from sweeping orchestral arrangements, to crunchy nu-metal riffs, to reggae and hip-hop, and massive modern sounding electronic drops with bone-rattling low-end, to Indian percussion and classical flutes. We love keeping audiences on the edge of their seat not really knowing what might come next!
Q. You are known for your collaborations as a band. How do you choose your collaborators?
For us, collaboration is all about energy. Music is one of the few remaining art spaces where we are able to exchange energy and connection directly with audiences. So for us, we love working with other artists who have something meaningful to say and who approach music with the same sense of purpose.
Because we have elements of hip-hop in our songs, we’ve had some incredible live collaborations with conscious hip-hop artists in our live shows. Most recently we performed with Mahi G in Mumbai and the synergy and vibe was amazing. Our first ever collaboration was years ago in Copenhagen, Denmark, at the International Anti-Corruption Conference organised by Transparency International. We met Nasseman, a conscious reggae artist from Liberia, through Transparency International and JM International’s anti-corruption music program FairPlay. The connection was just instant, and he jumped on stage with us the next day without even rehearsing as we opened up for Mos Def! We decided we had to do the full song together, Gangsta Bankers, and then shot a music video in Assam and Liberia. We loved the experience and are always keen to collaborate with other artists!
Q. How would you describe the sound of Rain in Sahara, especially its uniqueness?
People have often described us as eco-conscious electronic rock/nu-metal, but there’s so much more to our sound. While our songs can sound pretty different, there’s a kind of sonic DNA that ties them all together but you never know what you’re going to get! Maybe that unpredictability has sort of become part of our identity and uniqueness.
Take Gangsta Bankers for example. The song came from this quirky keyboard riff Lain was playing which had a very comedic and satirical sound reminiscent of an early 2000s Slim Shady vibe. From there it evolved into a reggae meets hip-hop meets rock track with an electronic drop with a folk instrument sound from Assam. Then our upcoming music video about social media addiction is on the other end of the spectrum; it’s full of nu-metal riffs accompanied with dhol, neo-classical arpeggiated progressions and almost a barbershop quartet like chorus with 3-4 part vocal harmonies! Other tracks in the pipeline are experimenting with south Indian percussion such as matka, different electronic genres, polka, and more. For us, the uniqueness is that we’re always experimenting with sounds and genres that we love and figuring out how to piece them together in ways that still feel authentic to our message and who we are as a band.
Q. Electronica, Regional folk,hip hop and a host of other styles suffuse your music. How do you find the right sound mix?
Blending genres can be really hard! Each genre has its own language, so it’s not just about throwing sounds together. They have to be able to speak to each other authentically. Having a deep understanding of the genres we’re working with definitely helps, but a lot of it also comes down to instinct and feel.
Usually, we start by finding the vibe that feels right for what we’re trying to express. From there, it’s all about finding that balance of making sure each element has space to breathe and that the transitions flow naturally. Those transitions are absolutely key, because that’s often where you’re moving into a different soundscape and where you can either lose or completely hook the listener.
Sometimes we’ll spend hours experimenting with tiny details, like the texture layers, or often layering up too many orchestral parts or counter-melodies and we need to strip things down! Ultimately, the music should breathe in a way where nothing is feeling forced. When it’s sounding like this it will click, and that’s when we know we’ve found the right mix!
Q. The fight against corruption, issues like climate change, social apathy etc have been a large part of your thinking and ideology. Tell us about the inspiration and the making of any one of your songs?
Absolutely. The whole project, in a way, was born out of seeing things around us that we just couldn’t ignore anymore. The first spark actually came when we were walking by what we thought was just a drain near Lain’s apartment in Guwahati, and then found out it was actually a river; completely black, full of trash, and so polluted it barely flowed! It was heartbreaking. That became the inspiration for our first single, Black Water (Kala Pani), which talks about all of these issues, and we shot a big portion of the video on the municipal trash heap.
More recently, we’ve just finished the music video for Venom, which is about social media addiction and the power big tech has over our minds. And what’s interesting is that all these themes you’ve mentioned, corruption, climate change, social apathy, they’re all interconnected. Corruption often sits at the root of environmental destruction, and social media addiction can deepen that sense of doom and helplessness.
But we never want to just dwell on the negative. Our goal has always been to make music that doesn’t just highlight the problem but also points toward hope and solutions. Something that brings people together, sparks conversation, and maybe even inspires action in their own communities. That’s what keeps us going.
Q. How do you go about balancing your art with your activism? Where do the two meet in your music?
That’s a great question! Honestly, it’s something we’re still trying to figure out every day. In the early days of the band, a lot of our music came from a place of frustration and anger at the systems that keep failing people and the planet. It was raw and intense because that’s exactly how we felt. But over time, our perspective has evolved. We’ve realized that while anger can light the spark, it’s community, compassion, and creativity that actually keep the fire burning. Something we have expounded on in our song Where’s the Fire (WTF).
Now, we try to use our art not just to call out what’s wrong but to imagine what could be right and the world we know is possible to create. Our activism and art meet in that space; where emotion sparks dialogue, and dialogue turns into collective action and engagement. We see our music as a spark and a bridge: between people who might not normally talk about these issues, between genres, and between art and impact. This is encapsulated in the lyrics of an upcoming song “yeah I’m coming with the flint, the sparks fly through the stereo.”
It’s still a balancing act we’re working on though. We don’t want to ever sound preachy or like we’re just giving a TED Talk over music! So we focus on making sure the songs hit emotionally first. If people feel something, whether it’s hope, anger, sadness, or unity, that’s when the message really starts to land.
Q. What kind of community change are you aiming to bring through your music?
At the heart of it, we want our music to be a spark. Something that helps people see they can make change happen, right where they are in their very own communities. Through Rain in Sahara, we’re trying to help people reconnect, with each other, with their environment, and with their own sense of purpose. Our songs might talk about corruption, climate change, or social issues, but underneath it all is a message about agency and hope. Especially with youth, we’ve seen how music can open doors to conversations that might otherwise never happen.
Over the past few years, we’ve been running workshops with young people using music and art as tools to express and highlight challenges in their own communities. It’s been truly incredible watching them be able to express themselves creatively about issues happening in their own lives and in their communities. The output has been incredible from slam poetry, to art depicting all sorts of social issues, to teenage girls from rural communities even rapping about women’s rights and child marriage! We’re really excited about expanding this work to more of the country.
To sum up, the kind of change we want to see isn’t just about awareness. It’s about activation. If one person leaves a show or a workshop thinking, “maybe I can do something,” that’s the impact we’re chasing. The big revolutions start small with ripples, with people connecting, creating, and caring.
Q. Escapist pop is the demand of the present times while your topics aren’t mainstream and hard-hitting. It must be a challenging environment. How do you navigate it?
Yeah, it definitely can feel like an uphill climb sometimes! We’re not exactly a “mainstream” sound, and the world’s in a really strange place right now. The climate movement feels like it’s lost a lot of momentum, AI has taken over a lot of the conversation, and people feel more polarized and disconnected than ever. So trying to talk about things like corruption, or the environment, through music isn’t always the easiest sell!
But we’ve never seen ourselves as trying to compete with the mainstream. We’re trying to carve a different space altogether. If you want people to listen in a world full of noise and distractions, the music has to come from a place of truth, not preaching. It has to bring meaning to their lives.
So for us, we’re trying to find that balance. We try to wrap heavy ideas in soundscapes that people can connect to emotionally; something that makes them feel before they think. At the end of the day, if we can create music that both sounds great and says something real, we’ve done our job. Even if it’s not “escapist,” but if it helps someone face the world, that’s worth everything.
Q. Has streaming helped you spread your fan base or is it that algorithms still favour the mainstream commercial bands and acts?
Streaming has definitely opened up the world for independent artists like us. It’s incredible that someone sitting in another corner of the planet can discover our music within seconds! But at the same time, the playing field isn’t exactly level. The algorithms and revenue models still heavily favour the mainstream, commercial acts, so it can be tough for bands like ours to cut through all the noise.
Q. What is the difference in your set when performing for audiences in India and abroad?
Honestly, we’ve found that the core of human connection through music doesn’t really change; whether we’re performing in India or abroad. We remember playing at the first-ever Majuli Music Festival in rural Assam. Most of the audience on the final day were locals who had probably never heard our music before, and our guitarist Pawan was worried that they might not connect with the lyrics or the message. But what happened was the complete opposite. Our visuals helped bridge that gap, and when we collaborated with Island Warrior, an incredible artist from Assam who rapped in Assamese, everything clicked for them and the crowd was completely locked in, vibing with the energy and emotion!
We’ve seen that same reaction everywhere we’ve gone; from Denmark to Washington D.C. to urban or rural India. We’ve had people in tears backstage because something in the music moved them deeply, and we’ve had young people trek for over an hour from their villages just to experience our festival performance.
So while the cultural context might change, the set itself doesn’t. The themes we talk about, corruption, climate change, hope, resilience, they’re truly universal. And no matter where we are, the goal is the same: to move people and to remind them of our shared humanity!
Q. What next are you planning to explore as a philosophy and as a contemporary sound?
Even though the world continues to change at lightning speed, for us the core philosophy remains the same. Create music that matters. Climate change is still the defining existential challenge of our time, and we want to keep finding creative ways to talk about it; not through fear or despair, but through hope, resilience, and collective action.
On the sonic side, we’re experimenting more than ever! We’ve got some new tracks in the works that dive into unusual territory blending heavier electronic and industrial textures with Indian classical and folk influences, and even exploring more melodic, cinematic elements that expand our storytelling side. There are also a few exciting collaborations lined up, which is pushing us into completely new spaces.
But at the end of the day, Rain in Sahara has always been about evolution; both musically and philosophically. The world is changing, and so are we, but our goal stays the same: to use music as a force for awareness, connection, and transformation.
Vibhav Rao.