Most bands are named after a big idea. Pineapple Express got theirs in a living room. "My former bandmates were waiting for me at my place," founder Yogeendra Hariprasad told The Hindu in 2018. "They said this project is going to be called Pineapple Express because our music is trippy. I agreed, and that's literally it." The Bengaluru band that grew out of that offhand decision has since built one of the most distinctive sounds in Indian independent music, a blend of Carnatic melody, progressive metal, rock and electronica. Their 2023 single "Musafir", sung with composer Salim Merchant, sits at No. 26 on Spotify's Rock in India playlist today. This is how a band that "was not supposed to happen" became a festival fixture.

Pineapple Express at a glance

  • Based in: Bengaluru, Karnataka
  • Formed: the current band dates to October 2016, starting as a trio; Hariprasad first started the project in 2013 (Rolling Stone India; The Hindu)
  • Founder: Yogeendra Hariprasad (vocals, keys, composer, producer)
  • Sound: progressive fusion that lays Carnatic and Hindustani melody over prog metal, djent, rock and electronic production
  • Releases: EPs Uplift (2018), Deja Vu (2019) and Passages (2020), plus singles including "Fire" with Benny Dayal, "Money", "Musafir" with Salim Merchant (2023), "Metal Gandhara" with Japan's ASTERISM (2024) and "Fineapple" (2026)
  • Labels: self-released through Pineapple Express Productions; "Musafir" came out on Merchant Records
  • Rock in India: "Musafir" at No. 26 (checked 14 October 2026, about 2:10 PM IST)

A band that was not supposed to happen

Hariprasad's musical education started at home. "I've grown up in a family that played Indian classical music since my mother is a veena player," he told The Hindu. He won the sixth season of Zee Kannada's Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Lil Champs, and his first exposure to Western music was, unusually, Dream Theater. "That changed the way I looked at music," he said. He went on to start the electro-metal project The Yummy Lab and the space-rock band Space Is All We Have, and became a go-to sound engineer for prog bands.

Pineapple Express itself had a false start. Rolling Stone India dates Hariprasad's founding of the band to 2013, and The Hindu's review of the debut EP traces its path "from a band in 2013 to a trio in 2016." Indulge Express put it more starkly: the current group rose "from the ashes of the defunct Eeswara project in 2016." Hariprasad credits a guitarist with the rescue. "This band was not supposed to happen. The present guitarist convinced me not to let the music die," he said. He places the start of the current line-up in October 2016: "It was initially a three-piece project with me, guitarist Bhargav and drummer Gopi."

That trio, with guitarist Bhargav Sarma and drummer Gopi Shravan, soon expanded. By early 2018 Pineapple Express had become an eight-piece: vocalists Karthik Chennoji Rao and Jimmy Francis John, guitarist Ritwik Bhattacharya, flautist Arjun MPN and violinist Shravan Sridhar, then also part of Anand Bhaskar Collective, joined the founding three, with sound engineer Abhinav Joshi and lighting engineer Hrishii Ravi completing the crew. Sarma, Rolling Stone India reported, called the line-up the "world domination dream team." "We have members from Assam, West Bengal, Kerala and Chennai while the other half are from Bengaluru," Hariprasad said.

Uplift: a debut built for three generations

The band's breakthrough came on screen before it came on record. Their own biography credits their rise to "Money", released on Season 5 of Kappa TV's Music Mojo, a song Indulge Express noted even carried hip-hop elements. The debut EP Uplift followed in March 2018, after its four songs were reworked for about a year, Rolling Stone India reported, before the perfectionist bandleader deemed them fit for release.

The songs are long and unashamedly complex. In his review for The Hindu, Anurag Tagat described the music as "delightfully complex in their blend of Carnatic, progressive metal, rock and electronic," singling out "Cloud 8.9" as an entry point into the band's world and "The Mad Song", built on a Kannada hook, for jumping "from bright riffs to a brutal breakdown." He heard Dream Theater, Plini and Periphery in the mix, and concluded: "As far as prog, fusion and even Kannada music goes, Pineapple Express are taking all these genres in new directions."

What set the band apart was writing with listeners in mind. "There's always been a part of me that has taken the audience into consideration while I write these songs," Hariprasad told Rolling Stone India. "A highly debatable issue, and probably a crime to some musicians, but I believe that I've got nothing to lose artistically." He said he knew of fans who shared Uplift with their parents and grandparents, and that one person had written to say "children with autism are responding positively to the exact same music."

Deja Vu and the happier songs

In October 2017, ahead of Dream Theater's India debut, keyboardist Jordan Rudess told Rolling Stone India he was delighted that Indian bands such as Agam and Pineapple Express were pairing classical influences with Dream Theater's: "To me that kind of fusion is the best kind of prog." In 2018 the band released "Fire" with playback singer Benny Dayal, and that September Indulge Express reported them billed for NH7 Weekender in Pune and Kochi Rocks, with visual projections now part of their high-energy live sets.

The second EP, Deja Vu, arrived in August 2019 and launched at Fandom at Gilly's Redefined in Bengaluru. Its four songs ranged from the Rajasthani vocals and flute of "Colour" to the arena-rock ballad "Find You" and "Phir Chale", a riff-heavy closer about mental health anchored by Hariprasad's rap. The title, Hariprasad told The Hindu, was about listeners "reliving the times they heard the songs live." Guests included violinist Narayan Sharma, a live member of Raghu Dixit Project, and vocalist Ketki Herlekar. Hariprasad was candid about what was held back: "These are the happier songs, considerably happier than what we've released so far. We have a ton of songs on the upcoming album that are towards the proggier, heavier and darker side."

Passages: prog metal in lockdown

That darker side surfaced on Passages, released at the end of August 2020 and made entirely after the pandemic lockdown began. "We took great precautions, and met each other whenever regulations were relaxed, and with nobody else," Hariprasad told Rolling Stone India. "But when we did meet, we worked very efficiently and got results." It was the first record with guitarist Jyothish Mani, who had replaced Sarma early that year, and his Carnatic-inflected interplay with Bhattacharya drives "Relentless", which Hariprasad called one of the hardest tracks to finish: "I spent a few sleepless nights perfecting the structure and transitions on that one."

Vocalist Karthik Chennoji Rao told Indulge Express that the four songs, "Vultures", "Destiny", "Relentless" and "Paralyse", were shaped by the year itself: "It was written amidst racial tensions, threats interrupting world peace and a pandemic bringing the world to a grinding halt." Hariprasad summed up the philosophy: "Prog to me just means the absence of rules in terms of structure and any other barriers. I believe our music should give the listener something new upon every listen."

"Musafir" and Salim Merchant

The single that now carries the band on Rock in India began with a gig. Salim Merchant told Rolling Stone India that his Soundchk series, released by Merchant Records, was curated largely from first-hand encounters, and he recalled seeing Pineapple Express "smash it" at a college festival show. Across the series he called himself a hands-off producer, with one exception: singing on "Musafir".

Released on 26 July 2023 on Merchant Records, "Musafir" runs just over six minutes. Its published credits, reproduced in a review on the Extragavanza blog, list Hariprasad as composer and producer, with lyrics by Rao and Hariprasad and vocals shared by Merchant, Rao and Hariprasad. Arjun MPN takes a flute solo, Mani plays guitars, Ujwal K. S. is on drums and Gopi Shravan switches to chenda, mridangam and other percussion for a Kerala folk passage, before Sarfaraaz Khan's sarangi plays the song out. Merchant takes the Hindi verses and Rao the English lines. It is Pineapple Express in miniature: a big chorus, a virtuoso middle and a pull towards home.

The festival band, and a bridge to Japan

Pineapple Express have long described themselves as a live act first. The band's biography, as published by Japanese metal group ASTERISM, speaks of a touring schedule of "120+ different live shows in a calendar year." Mid-day named them among the acts on Independence Rock line-ups after the Mumbai festival returned in 2022, and Rolling Stone India's January 2024 report put them on the bill for the first Alboe by the Beach festival in Varkala.

That reputation travelled. On 27 December 2024 the band released "Metal Gandhara" with ASTERISM, a collaboration Anime News Network described as combining the Japanese band's "heavy, new-age sound" with Pineapple Express's skill with Indian folk instruments; its music video was shot in Bengaluru. Pineapple Express's comment in ASTERISM's announcement was simple: "Music truly knows no borders." In July 2026 they released "Fineapple", which Rolling Stone India called a "long-anticipated live staple" from the "Bengaluru prog fusion favorites." The band's website currently lists Hariprasad (vocals, keys), Mani (guitars) and Ujwal K. S. (drums), who also played on Joel Jossy's Bagaawat.

Why Pineapple Express matter

Pineapple Express matter because they treat accessibility as an ambition rather than a compromise. Hariprasad has spent a decade proving that six-minute songs with Carnatic phrasing and djent breakdowns can still reach college crowds, festival lawns and grandparents. Their sound sits in a lineage our guide to Indian metal bands traces, while their self-released catalogue shows how independent bands build their sound one EP at a time. "Musafir" at No. 26 on Rock in India, just ahead of Parikrama's "I Believe", is a reminder that the band's warmest songs travel furthest. As Hariprasad put it in 2018: "I think this music has endless game-changing possibilities demographically and beyond, which we'll continue to discover and nourish."

FAQ

Who is the founder of Pineapple Express?

Yogeendra Hariprasad, a Bengaluru vocalist, keyboardist, composer and producer, founded Pineapple Express. He launched the project in 2013, and the current band took shape in October 2016 as a trio with guitarist Bhargav Sarma and drummer Gopi Shravan.

What genre is Pineapple Express?

Pineapple Express play progressive fusion, which Rolling Stone India has called prog metal and prog fusion: Carnatic and Hindustani melody mixed with progressive metal, djent, rock and electronic music.

What are Pineapple Express's EPs?

Three: Uplift (2018), Deja Vu (2019) and Passages (2020), the last made during the 2020 lockdown.

Who sings on "Musafir" by Pineapple Express?

Composer Salim Merchant sings the Hindi parts of "Musafir", with Karthik Chennoji Rao on the English lines and Yogeendra Hariprasad also on vocals. The song was released on 26 July 2023 on Merchant Records as part of Merchant's Soundchk series.

Where is Pineapple Express from?

Pineapple Express are based in Bengaluru, Karnataka, with members over the years from Assam, West Bengal, Kerala and Chennai.

Where is "Musafir" on the Rock in India playlist?

"Musafir" by Pineapple Express and Salim Merchant is at No. 26 on Spotify's Rock in India playlist, checked on 14 October 2026 at about 2:10 PM IST. Positions change daily.

Sources

Cover: Pineapple Express live on stage in silhouette against their visual projections, press photo courtesy of the artist, as published by Rolling Stone India (September 2020). Cropped and resized to 1200×630; metadata stripped. Source: https://rollingstoneindia.com/pineapple-express-ep-passages/.