Karnataka are a Welsh progressive rock band formed in 1997 by Ian Jones, Jonathan Edwards and Rachel Jones. The band started as a project to record songs in Ian's home studio, that had been written and performed by Jonathan, Rachel and Ian in earlier bands. The project was augmented by additional musicians, Paul Davies and Gavin Griffiths, who had played with other members of Karnataka in earlier bands. At the end of the recording the decision was made to continue the project as a band. The name Karnataka was chosen by the band, from a suggestion by Ian, following his trips to that state of India.