Rainer Maria

Rainer Maria was an indie rock band originally from Madison, Wisconsin, later residing in Brooklyn, New York. Named after the German-language poet Rainer Maria Rilke, they formed in the late summer of 1995 and released five full length albums, a live DVD, numerous live recordings, and EPs. In its earlier days, the band had a dual male and female vocal line-up. The gender ambiguity of the name Rainer Maria paralleled this and was one of the reasons it was selected as the band's name.

The band's many tours and intimate live shows at venues such as Brooklyn's North Six (which lead singer Caithlin De Marrais referred to as "home" during her final show because it also served as the band's rehearsal space), Washington DC's The Black Cat, the Bowery Ballroom in NYC, and Chapel Hill's Cat's Cradle helped to grow its fan base and fuel album sales.

On November 6, 2006, the band announced, through Pitchfork Media, that the December 16th show at New York City's Bowery Ballroom would be their last. It was accompanied by this statement:

:"We are grateful to our new listeners and especially our longtime fans for their endless support and attention. We feel incredibly fortunate to have come up during a unique time in rock music, in a community that grew with us from the Midwest to Brooklyn and beyond. Making records has always been a revelation, and walking onto stage together we found a vision we could share."

:"For us, this transition can be nothing short of heartbreaking. But for reasons both musical and personal, the three of us have chosen this time to move on."

The band played their last show on December 17, 2006, at North Six in Brooklyn. They opened with "Artificial Light" and closed with a lengthy version of "Rise." Referring to the intensity of the show and the enthusiasm of the crowd, guitarist Kyle Fischer at one point remarked jokingly in-between songs "we should break up every night."

Caithlin and Kyle were at one point romantically involved, however the two were no longer together when the band broke up.

Band members

*Caithlin De Marrais — bass, vocals
*Kyle Fischer — guitar, vocals, synths
*William Kuehn — drums, percussion

Discography

Albums

*"Rainer Maria (EP)" (1996)
*"Past Worn Searching" (1997) (Polyvinyl)
*"Look Now Look Again" (1999) (Polyvinyl)
*"A Better Version of Me" (2001) (Polyvinyl)
*"Long Knives Drawn" (2003) (Polyvinyl)
*"Anyone in Love With You (Already Knows)" (2004) CD/DVD (Polyvinyl)
*"Catastrophe Keeps Us Together" (2006) (Grunion Records)

Other releases

*"" Compilation Track (2001) (Arena Rock Recording Co.)Re Direction: A Polyvinyl Sampler 2001 Polyvinyl RecordsSongs: Breakfast Of Champions, Artificial Light

Music videos

*"Catastrophe" (2006, directed by David Ahuja & Claire Carré)
*"Ears Ring" (2003, directed by David Ahuja)

External links

* [http://www.gearwire.com/rainer-maria.html Video interview from 2006 SXSW with some live footage]
* [http://www.upbeetmusic.com/reviews/461 Rainer Maria "Catastrophe Keeps Us Together" Review (UpBeetMusic.com)]
* [http://www.timmcmahan.com/rainer.htm Lazy-i Interview: February 2003]
* [http://www.roxwel.com/player/rainermariaartistcommentarycatastrophe.html "Catastrophe" artist commentary]