Back in 1999, keyboardist Chris Gestrin and guitarist Russ Klyne created an electronic music CD featuring ambient soundscapes, melodic guitars and intricate electronic production. It was simply titled 'VARUNA' and was never officially released to the public. Only available as a home-brew CDR, It was hand distributed by Chris and Russ to friends, family and musical colleagues to rave reviews.

Now, in the fall of 2019, Phonometrograph is releasing a double CD 20th anniversary edition of this great music. Featuring not only a newly re-mastered version of the original 8 track CD, but also a full album's worth of never before heard tracks that Chris and Russ have worked on since the original CD was made.

The VARUNA project originally began in 1998 when Klyne and Gestrin got together to experiment with some ideas they had been talking about on other gigs. They were both influenced by the ambient music of Brian Eno as well as many of the releases on the European label ECM. Expansive reverbs, space and warm ambient textures were the goal. What became of these explorations became much more when Chris started to manipulate the tracks and reconstruct various improvisations they had recorded. Although some of the tracks remained as performed without much modification, often the improvisations would be starting points for further development. Chris would take them in a new direction and then have Russ come back to add new materials which in turn would inspire further exploration.

One of the most important of the Vedic gods, Varuna was the supreme lord of the cosmos, the keeper of divine order, the bringer of rain, the enforcer of contracts. He is called omnipotent and omniscient; he is responsible for the sun to move in the sky, for day and night to stay separate, and for the earth to keep its form; he watches the flight of every bird, is present at every gathering, and knows every thought. His name means "he who covers", and this probably refers to the sky. Varuna is the keeper of the cosmic order, a force called rta. It is rta which keeps everything working as it should.