Kula Shaker
Encyclopedia
Kula Shaker are an English psychedelic rock
band
. Led by outspoken frontman Crispian Mills
, the band came to prominence during the Post-Britpop
era of the late 1990s. The band enjoyed great commercial success in the UK between 1996 and 1999, notching up a number of Top 10 hits
on the UK Singles Chart
, including "Tattva
", "Hey Dude", "Govinda
", "Hush", and "Sound of Drums". In addition, the band's debut album, K, reached #1 on the UK Albums Chart
, becoming the fastest selling debut album in Britain since Oasis
' Definitely Maybe
and eventually being certified 2×Platinum by the BPI
in January 1997.
The band are known for their interest in traditional Indian music
, culture
, and mysticism
, with a number of their most famous songs, including "Tattva" and "Govinda", featuring lyrics
written in the Hindu
sacred language
, Sanskrit
. The name Kula Shaker was itself inspired by King Kulasekhara, an Indian emperor from the 8th century. In addition, many of the band's songs feature traditional Indian instruments
, such as the sitar
, tamboura, and tabla
, juxtaposed with guitar
-heavy, Western rock instrumentation. While the band's interest in all things Indian was partly inspired by a pilgrimage to India that Mills undertook in the early 1990s, it was also born out of a love for the Indian influences present in the music of The Beatles
and other late 1960s acts.
Prior to the release of their second album, the band became the subject of controversy surrounding remarks that Mills had made in the NME
and Melody Maker
, regarding Nazism
and its attendant symbol, the swastika
. The Independent on Sunday
ran a front page article in April 1997 reprinting Mills' comments and alleging that the guitarist "had dabbled with Nazism". The negative publicity surrounding the incident, along with overexposure in the British media, hurt the band's sales. Nonetheless, their second album, Peasants, Pigs & Astronauts
, still managed to reach the Top 10 in the UK.
Kula Shaker disbanded in September 1999 but reformed in 2004 for sessions
for the School of Braja compilation album
. This led to plans for a full comeback, although the reformation was not widely publicised until the beginning of 2006. The band's third album, Strangefolk
, was issued in 2007 and their fourth, Pilgrims Progress, was released in 2010.
(grandson of Sir John Mills
and son of actress Hayley Mills
and film director Roy Boulting) met Alonza Bevan
at Richmond upon Thames College
in South-West London. The two went on to play together in a band named Objects of Desire, formed later that year. The band's initial line-up consisted of Mills on lead guitar
, Bevan on bass
, Marcus French (aka Frog) on drums
, Leigh Morris on rhythm guitar
, and Marcus Maclaine (then Hayley Mills' boyfriend) on lead vocals
. In 1991, Paul Winterhart
joined the band, replacing French on drums. During this period, Crispian and Alonza were also responsible for running the Mantra Shack, a psychedelic nightclub at the back of Richmond ice rink, and consequently, the Objects of Desire would often perform at the venue.
The Objects of Desire disbanded acrimoniously in early 1993, after which, Mills went on a spiritual pilgrimage, backpacking
around India. The trip had a profound effect on the guitarist, fostering a deep interest in Indian culture
and Hinduism
. Upon returning to the UK he formed a new band named The Kays, with Bevan, Winterhart, and Mills' cousin Saul Dismont (son of the Bermudan politician Russell Dismont
) on vocals. The band's debut live performance was at the 1993 Glastonbury Festival
. Within a year, Dismont had left the group, only to be replaced by organist
Jay Darlington
, who had previously been a member of several mod revival
bands. After two years of touring and recording
, The Kays elected to change their name and musical direction.
In May 1995, Mills suggested that the band take the name Kula Shaker, in honour of one of the twelve Alvars
(saints of south India), the ninth-century Indian emperor and holy man, King Kulashekhara. In Indian culture, the name Kulashekhara is thought to be lucky or auspicious, and this appealed to the struggling band. Mills also posited that Kula Shaker's music should follow a more spiritual and mystical direction in future, in line with his own growing interest in the philosophy of Gaudiya Vaishnavism
. This new emphasis on Indian mysticism and instrumentation, dovetailed with the Beatlesque, 1960s derived influences already present in the band's music, to create a sound heavily indebted to 1960s psychedelia
.
contest (along with Placebo
), which quickly resulted in a record contract with Columbia Records
, who were eager to sign another band that had the multi-platinum, crossover appeal of Oasis. A debut single, "Tattva (Lucky 13 Mix)
" (later re-recorded for their debut album) was released on CD and limited 7" vinyl in January 1996, but it entered just outside the UK Top 75, at number 86. "Tattva" was followed quickly in April by the band's second single, "Grateful When You're Dead", a slice of Jimi Hendrix
-esque rock which was to became their debut UK Top 40 single (entering at #35). Music press and public alike finally began to take notice of the band, and this sudden exposure propelled the re-released (and re-recorded) "Tattva" to #4 in the UK Singles Chart
. The band's upward climb continued with their third single "Hey Dude", a more traditional rock song which was only kept off the top spot by the Spice Girls
when it was released in August.
October saw the release of the band's eagerly awaited debut album K, which became the fastest selling debut since Oasis
' Definitely Maybe
. The album went on to sell over 850,000 copies in the UK
(double platinum), and a further 250,000 copies in the United States
. The fourth and final single from K was "Govinda
", which reached #7 in the UK charts in December of that year. "Govinda" was sung totally in Sanskrit, and mixed swirling guitars with traditional Indian music. Total sales for all the singles from K came to half a million.
1997 got off to a fine start for the band with four nominations for BRIT Awards
, and they subsequently took home the award for "British Breakthrough Act" at the ceremony in February. In the same month they released what would turn out to be their biggest hit, a cover of "Hush" (originally written by Joe South
for Billy Joe Royal
, and most famously performed by the British hard-rock band Deep Purple
), which peaked at number 2. The song also proved successful in the U.S., where it was used on the soundtrack
to the blockbuster movie I Know What You Did Last Summer
. The song was also placed at #224 by Virgin Radio
, in a poll for the 20th century's greatest songs. In the wake of the single's release, some ill-advised remarks on the traditional mystical properties of Swastika
s by Crispian Mills put the band in the firing line of some of the UK press.
Despite the negative publicity, the band pressed on regardless with a set of live shows in the summer of that year, including T in the Park
where they were acclaimed by many as the best live act T in the Park had ever seen , the Glastonbury Festival
and the V Festival
. The focus during the latter part of 1997 moved to the US where both "Tattva" and "Hey Dude" received airplay exposure. "Tattva" became a minor #10 hit in the Modern Rock Tracks chart and "Hey Dude" peaked at #25. K itself peaked at #11 in the Heatseekers chart and crept to #200 in the Billboard charts
. An EP
, Summer Sun
, was released in the U.S. for the band's fans there. The six tracks on the EP were all B-sides to earlier UK singles.
After initial disagreements with management, Kula Shaker resurfaced with the UK-only single "Sound of Drums" in April 1998, peaking at number 3. A promised album in the summer of that year failed to materialise, and the momentum generated by the single was lost as a result. Fans would have to wait until February 1999 to hear any more new material from the forthcoming second album.
The second album Peasants, Pigs & Astronauts
was partly recorded aboard the houseboat-studio Astoria
, which belongs to guitarist David Gilmour
(of Pink Floyd
). Brett Findlay
joined the band as resident percussionist and remained with the group until their break-up at the end of 1999. The release of Peasants, Pigs & Astronauts was preceded by the single "Mystical Machine Gun" which failed to make as strong an impact on the charts as their previous singles, peaking at Number 14 and only remaining two weeks in the top 40. The album itself followed in March 1999 to mixed reviews, and only sold a mere 25,000 copies in its first week as it crawled in at Number 9 on the album chart, spending only 10 weeks in the UK Top 75. The album went Gold in the UK (over 100,000 copies sold). The third and final single from the album, "Shower Your Love" failed to reignite momentum, stalling at #14, even with it having more TV exposure on Top of the Pops
, TFI Friday
, Later with Jools Holland and CD:UK
.
In June they played Glastonbury Festival
and headlined the Lizard Festival in Cornwall
in August 1999 to coincide with the total eclipse. The band made a few more festival appearances, including an appearance at V99, as a last-minute replacement for Placebo
, before playing their last ever gig in Holland at the end of August.
In September of that year, the band announced their split. "I have loved my time with Kula Shaker and have experienced more than I could ever have imagined", Mills commented. "We've had an excellent time and been a very tight band, but there comes a time when you want to do your own thing."
ran a front page article in which it claimed that Crispian Mills "had dabbled with Nazism and its most potent symbol, the swastika." The article drew together various comments Mills had made to the UK music press in 1996 and early 1997. In one of the interviews from March 1997 for the NME
(New Musical Express) the following was printed:
The other statements quoted in the article were "You can see why Hitler got support. It was probably the uniforms that swung it," said in an interview with NME in November 1996, and "Well, we know that democracy doesn't work. If we had a non-elected body that set the right standards . . ." from a January 1997 edition of Melody Maker. The article also revealed that the Objects of Desire had used the motto "England will rise again", and had performed at a 1993 conference at Wembley called "Global Deception" at which speakers included renowned conspiracy theorists Eustace Mullins
(who has been denounced as an anti-semite because of his writings, which he later recanted) and William Cooper
. William Cooper was also thanked in the credits of Kula Shaker's album.
Mills responded to the allegations by fax and his responses were incorporated in the article. Mills admitted having played at "Global Deception", but claimed not to have fully understood the nature of the event. He indicated that he now felt that the swastika
, which has origins outside Nazism and different meanings in different parts of the world, was hopelessly connected to Nazism in the West. He indicated that it was the outrage that his comments had sparked that had led him to this conclusion. He also offered an unequivocal condemnation of far-right-wing ideology.
"I think there is no better example of my naivete and insensitivity than the swastika comments . . . my comments derive from my long interest in Indian culture, from which the swastika has its origins . . . I apologise to those who have been offended by my comment and humbly ask that they accept that I am completely against the Nazis, their crimes and any other latter-day form of totalitarianism. For the record I have never been an anti-semite especially as my dear grandmother was Jewish . . . I loathe totalitarianism, far right thinking, oppression of all forms, denial of human rights and all things that would limit the free spirit of humankind. I stand for peace, love, generosity and learning."
Alonza Bevan
joined Johnny Marr and the Healers in 2000, having moderate success. After 2004 the status of The Healers is unknown and with all members working on other projects it is not known if they will work together again. As a side project Alonza formed the band Shep (which included Paul Winter-Hart on drums). The band played a handful of gigs in 2001–2002 and released some excerpts of recorded music via the web but nothing further was heard of them after 2003.
Drummer
Paul Winter-Hart joined the band Thirteen:13
, who split in 2001 with little success. He also drummed on an album by Aqualung
and was part of the group Shep with Alonza.
Jay Darlington
joined Oasis in 2002 as a touring keyboardist (though not an official band member), and remained in that role until the band's split in 2009.
Lead singer Crispian Mills
went into the studio in 2000 to work on a solo album. In Autumn of that year, he toured with a group of musicians under the name Pi, first supporting Robbie Williams
on his UK Arena dates, then for some smaller headline shows. A new album was scheduled for release in spring 2001 according to Mills' official website and the NME. However his UK record label didn't feel the material proposed for release was commercial enough, and so Mills negotiated an exit from his contract with them in 2001, continuing to record for the rest of 2001 without a UK record deal. At the start of 2002, he began working with Andy Nixon and Dan Mckinna, formerly of Straw
, and the trio bonded together so well musically that it was decided they would form a group, The Jeevas
. Mills ditched all his previously recorded material up to that point, though some tracks would later feature as Jeevas B-Sides. The Jeevas
enjoyed success in Japan
and moderate success in the UK. They released two albums, toured throughout 2002 and 2003, with some dates in mid 2004. Their records were released on their own Cowboy Music label in the UK and mainland Europe, and by Sony in Japan. Some tentative work was done for their third album, but when it became apparent during 2005 that the reformation of Kula Shaker would be permanent, the band officially split up.
In December 2002, Sony released a best of album, entitled Kollected – The Best of Kula Shaker
. Crispian compiled the tracklisting for the release and approved the sleevenotes. The compilation included the band's final recorded track, a cover of Bob Dylan
's "Ballad of a Thin Man
", which was later featured on the soundtrack to the 2005 movie Stoned
, starring Leo Gregory
.
, who masterminded the album, arranged not only that the Jeevas play on two tracks, but he also got in touch with his old bandmate, Alonza Bevan. The two worked together on a song together for the album, "Braj Mandala", to which Paul Winter-Hart added drums. Jay Darlington was asked to be part of the sessions, but declined the opportunity. At the time of the recording, this was announced on the official Jeevas website as Kula Shaker having reformed to contribute a song to the album, and was referred to by Mills as a Kula Shaker reunion in subsequent interviews. Additionally, the School of Braja album credits officially state that Kula Shaker appear on the track "Braj Mandala". The sessions for the track went so well that Mills and Bevan began writing together again, and making plans for a full-on Kula Shaker comeback that would encompass live touring and the further release of new material. A new band website was also commissioned.
Their first gig back together (as a 3-piece) took place at the Wheatsheaf, Leighton Buzzard
, England
, on 21 December 2005. This was a 'secret' gig and not promoted beforehand; however, blackboards outside the pub announced "Kula Shaker tonight" on the night of the show. As a joke about the nature of secret gigs, Mills told the assembled crowd that the band was called The Garcons whilst wearing a "big hair" grey wig. All sources both official and unofficial have subsequently referred to this gig as a Kula Shaker show.
Kula Shaker announced on 11 January 2006 that they had reformed permanently. They released the following statement on their new official website (which launched that day):
During preparation for their comeback live dates, a new member joined the band – Harry Broadbent. He became the band's new keyboard player, and Kula Shaker were restored to a four-piece once more.
The band undertook a small UK tour in the Spring. The tour dates were split into two 'legs', with a pre-tour warm-up show in Milton Keynes. The band played to sell out audiences in smaller venues, playing a mix of new and old material. They also recorded a session for Scottish radio station Clyde1, and made an appearance on the Billy Sloan show on that station to coincide with this.
The band released a four-song EP entitled "Revenge of the King" on iTunes
in April. This was later released on a limited run of 1000 10" vinyls, sold on certain dates of the band's April/May tour and later from the band's official website. Later still, the EP was released on CD in Japan with a bonus track (the 2006 radio session version of Govinda). Apart from the Japanese bonus track, the tracks on the EP were recorded in a very small studio in London right at the beginning of 2006, before Harry Broadbent joined the band.
The band went on to play some festivals in the Summer of 2006 – T in the Park, Fuji Rock, V Festival and Pentaport Festival in Korea – along with a handful of warm-up dates. After this, they played one more live date in 2006, headlining the Purple Weekend festival in Spain at the end of the year.
After the summer festival dates, it was announced on the band's website that the third Kula Shaker album was underway. Pre-production started in September 2006, with final mixing completed by April 2007. It was produced in collaboration with an all-star team of hit makers & Grammy winners, including Tchad Blake (Peter Gabriel, Crowded House), Sam Williams (Supergrass) and Chris Sheldon (The Foo Fighters, The Pixies).
In Japan, the Freedom Lovin' People
EP preceded the album. It was released there on May 23, 2007. The lead track from this release was the album track "Great Dictator (of the Free World)" and a rough animatic-style video was used to promote the song on Japanese music stations. In the UK, the first single from the album was "Second Sight" released on 13 August 2007, reaching #101 on the UK Singles Chart. The single was promoted with a pro-shot video featuring the band as characters from the Sherlock Holmes
stories.
The third album, Strangefolk
(which was the working title of second album, Peasants, Pigs & Astronauts), was released in Japan on 27 June 2007 through Sony, in Europe on 20 August 2007 through the band's own label, and on 19 February 2008 in North America through Cooking Vinyl. All editions contain at least one bonus track; the Japanese edition contains two further bonus tracks. The track "Song of Love/Narayana" on the album incorporates elements from the tracks "Narayan" and "Climbatize", both of which can be found on The Prodigy
's The Fat of the Land
. Narayan was co-written by Mills and included a vocal performance by him. The album reached #32 in Japan and #69 in the UK.
To capitalise on publicity surrounding the band's comeback, the re-release record label Music Club issued a hastily-compiled double album Tattva : The Very Best Of Kula Shaker on 16 July 2007, which included all the tracks from the band's first two albums and a handful of previously released non-album tracks. The band had no input into any aspect of the release and their consent was not obtained for its release. They have been asking their fans not to buy it.
The band played UK warm-up dates from early June. They went on to play five festival dates in the summer – Bilbao BBK Live, Culura Quente festival, Japanese festival Fuji Rock, Norway's PulpIt Rock Festival and the iTunes Festival
in London, along with two one-off dates – one in London and one in Spain. Further UK dates and a European tour followed in the Autumn. The band then rounded off the tour commitments for the year with two final performances in November, one at Leicester University and another at The Netherlands' Crossing Borders festival.
A live EP featuring four tracks from the band's performance at the iTunes festival was released through the iTunes stores in various countries in October. A second single from Strangefolk, "Out on the Highway" was released on 5 November 2007, also only available as a download from the UK iTunes store. Neither release achieved a placing on the UK chart. The final release of the year came on 14 December – the free download track "Drink Tea (for the Love Of God)" featured Alonza on vocals and a pro-tea drinking message in the lyrics. The track was accompanied by an animated video, released online on the same day, which was produced by animation house Model Robot.
The band played a Japanese tour and further tours of both the UK and mainland Europe at the start of 2008. They went on to play three European festival dates in the summer.
The band played some further live dates in 2009, starting with a pair of dates in Russia in February and following that up with two headline festival appearances in the summer, at Ypsigrock in Italy and Solfest in the UK. In September the band played a set as part of a fundraising evening to support the charity Anno's Africa.
On 20 January 2010, the band re-released their second album Peasants, Pigs and Astronauts on their own label with additional bonus tracks, interviews and artwork. Only 3000 copies were pressed and it was only available through their official website.
On 28 June 2010, the band's fourth album Pilgrims Progress was released. The lead single from the album was "Peter Pan R.I.P", which was released as a free download from the band's official website on 22 April 2010. The album was issued as a standard twelve track CD, as a limited edition deluxe box set, and as a super deluxe box set with a limited production run of 300 copies. Despite making a limited impact commercially the album was applauded by the music press, becoming their best reviewed album since their debut. The band played an album release show on 8 July at the Garage in London. A successful tour of the Far East followed with a number of festival dates across Japan, Taiwan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Korea and Hong Kong.
On 6 September 2010 Crispian Mills announced on the bands official website that the band were postponing touring so he could concentrate on a film project to begin in early 2011. The news was received with mixed reaction, many suggesting that the band have missed a great opportunity to gain considerable exposure on the back of the positive reaction towards Pilgrims Progress.
On 12 November 2010, the band announced they would be recording a Christmas single which would be a double A-side. The single, 'Christmas Time (Is Here Again)/Snowflake' was released exclusively as a free download from the band's website on 10 December.
In August 2011, the band announced on their official website that they will be releasing a 3-CD/DVD 15th anniversary edition of 'K' on 16 September 2011.
Psychedelic rock
Psychedelic rock is a style of rock music that is inspired or influenced by psychedelic culture and attempts to replicate and enhance the mind-altering experiences of psychedelic drugs. It emerged during the mid 1960s among folk rock and blues rock bands in United States and the United Kingdom...
band
Musical ensemble
A musical ensemble is a group of people who perform instrumental or vocal music. In classical music, trios or quartets either blend the sounds of musical instrument families or group together instruments from the same instrument family, such as string ensembles or wind ensembles...
. Led by outspoken frontman Crispian Mills
Crispian Mills
Crispian Mills is an English singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He is the son of actress Hayley Mills and director Roy Boulting, the grandson of John Mills and Mary Hayley Bell , nephew of Juliet Mills and Jonathan Mills, and half-brother to Jason "Ace" Lawson...
, the band came to prominence during the Post-Britpop
Post-Britpop
Post-Britpop is a sub-genre of British alternative rock, made up of bands that emerged from the late 1990s and early 2000s in the aftermath of Britpop, influenced by acts like Pulp, Oasis and Blur, but with less overtly British concerns in their lyrics and making more use of American rock...
era of the late 1990s. The band enjoyed great commercial success in the UK between 1996 and 1999, notching up a number of Top 10 hits
Hit single
A hit single is a recorded song or instrumental released as a single that has become very popular. Although it is sometimes used to describe any widely-played or big-selling song, the term "hit" is usually reserved for a single that has appeared in an official music chart through repeated radio...
on the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
, including "Tattva
Tattva (song)
"Tattva" is a song by the British psychedelic rock band Kula Shaker, released as the band's debut single. It was first released in the United Kingdom on 1 January 1996 as "Tattva ", then reissued on 24 June as a re-recording from their debut album K with a different sleeve and tracklisting. The...
", "Hey Dude", "Govinda
Govinda (Kula Shaker song)
"Govinda" is a song by British band Kula Shaker, released in 1996, led by Crispian Mills, the son of actress Hayley Mills. The song is notable for its heavy Indian influences such as the Tambura and is unique in being the only British Top Ten hit to be sung entirely in Sanskrit.The text is taken...
", "Hush", and "Sound of Drums". In addition, the band's debut album, K, reached #1 on the UK Albums Chart
UK Albums Chart
The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart...
, becoming the fastest selling debut album in Britain since Oasis
Oasis (band)
Oasis were an English rock band formed in Manchester in 1991. Originally known as The Rain, the group was formed by Liam Gallagher , Paul "Bonehead" Arthurs , Paul "Guigsy" McGuigan and Tony McCarroll , who were soon joined by Liam's older brother Noel Gallagher...
' Definitely Maybe
Definitely Maybe
Definitely Maybe is the debut album by English rock band Oasis, released in August 1994. It was an immediate commercial and critical success in the UK, having followed on the heels of singles "Supersonic", "Shakermaker" and "Live Forever"....
and eventually being certified 2×Platinum by the BPI
British Phonographic Industry
The British Phonographic Industry is the British record industry's trade association.-Structure:Its membership comprises hundreds of music companies including all four "major" record companies , associate members such as manufacturers and distributors, and hundreds of independent music companies...
in January 1997.
The band are known for their interest in traditional Indian music
Indian classical music
The origins of Indian classical music can be found in the Vedas, which are the oldest scriptures in the Hindu tradition. Indian classical music has also been significantly influenced by, or syncretised with, Indian folk music and Persian music. The Samaveda, one of the four Vedas, describes music...
, culture
Culture of India
India's languages, religions, dance, music, architecture, food and customs differ from place to place within the country, but nevertheless possess a commonality....
, and mysticism
Hindu philosophy
Hindu philosophy is divided into six schools of thought, or , which accept the Vedas as supreme revealed scriptures. Three other schools do not accept the Vedas as authoritative...
, with a number of their most famous songs, including "Tattva" and "Govinda", featuring lyrics
Lyrics
Lyrics are a set of words that make up a song. The writer of lyrics is a lyricist or lyrist. The meaning of lyrics can either be explicit or implicit. Some lyrics are abstract, almost unintelligible, and, in such cases, their explication emphasizes form, articulation, meter, and symmetry of...
written in the Hindu
Hinduism
Hinduism is the predominant and indigenous religious tradition of the Indian Subcontinent. Hinduism is known to its followers as , amongst many other expressions...
sacred language
Sacred language
A sacred language, "holy language" , or liturgical language, is a language that is cultivated for religious reasons by people who speak another language in their daily life.-Concept:...
, Sanskrit
Sanskrit
Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...
. The name Kula Shaker was itself inspired by King Kulasekhara, an Indian emperor from the 8th century. In addition, many of the band's songs feature traditional Indian instruments
Indian musical instruments
Indian musical instruments can be broadly classified into four categories, mainly classical, western and folk. See Carnatic music and Hindustani music. The instruments are further sub-classified into the type based on the science behind the same....
, such as the sitar
Sitar
The 'Tablaman' is a plucked stringed instrument predominantly used in Hindustani classical music, where it has been ubiquitous since the Middle Ages...
, tamboura, and tabla
Tabla
The tabla is a popular Indian percussion instrument used in Hindustani classical music and in popular and devotional music of the Indian subcontinent. The instrument consists of a pair of hand drums of contrasting sizes and timbres...
, juxtaposed with guitar
Electric guitar
An electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
-heavy, Western rock instrumentation. While the band's interest in all things Indian was partly inspired by a pilgrimage to India that Mills undertook in the early 1990s, it was also born out of a love for the Indian influences present in the music of The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
and other late 1960s acts.
Prior to the release of their second album, the band became the subject of controversy surrounding remarks that Mills had made in the NME
NME
The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...
and Melody Maker
Melody Maker
Melody Maker, published in the United Kingdom, was, according to its publisher IPC Media, the world's oldest weekly music newspaper. It was founded in 1926 as a magazine targeted at musicians; in 2000 it was merged into "long-standing rival" New Musical Express.-1950s–1960s:Originally the Melody...
, regarding Nazism
Nazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
and its attendant symbol, the swastika
Swastika
The swastika is an equilateral cross with its arms bent at right angles, in either right-facing form in counter clock motion or its mirrored left-facing form in clock motion. Earliest archaeological evidence of swastika-shaped ornaments dates back to the Indus Valley Civilization of Ancient...
. The Independent on Sunday
The Independent
The Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
ran a front page article in April 1997 reprinting Mills' comments and alleging that the guitarist "had dabbled with Nazism". The negative publicity surrounding the incident, along with overexposure in the British media, hurt the band's sales. Nonetheless, their second album, Peasants, Pigs & Astronauts
Peasants, Pigs & Astronauts
Peasants, Pigs & Astronauts is the second album by the British indie and psychedelic rock band Kula Shaker. The album was released on 8 March 1999 and reached #9 in the UK Albums Chart, during a chart stay of 10 weeks. It was less successful in the U.S., however, where it failed to break into the...
, still managed to reach the Top 10 in the UK.
Kula Shaker disbanded in September 1999 but reformed in 2004 for sessions
Studio recording
The term studio recording means any recording made in a studio, as opposed to a live recording, which is usually made in a concert venue or a theatre, with an audience attending the performance.-Studio cast recordings:...
for the School of Braja compilation album
Compilation album
A compilation album is an album featuring tracks from one or more performers, often culled from a variety of sources The tracks are usually collected according to a common characteristic, such as popularity, genre, source or subject matter...
. This led to plans for a full comeback, although the reformation was not widely publicised until the beginning of 2006. The band's third album, Strangefolk
Strangefolk (album)
Strangefolk is the third album by Kula Shaker, the first album since the band reformed. The album has received mixed reviews since its release...
, was issued in 2007 and their fourth, Pilgrims Progress, was released in 2010.
Formation (1988–1995)
The origin of Kula Shaker can be traced back to 1988 when Crispian MillsCrispian Mills
Crispian Mills is an English singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He is the son of actress Hayley Mills and director Roy Boulting, the grandson of John Mills and Mary Hayley Bell , nephew of Juliet Mills and Jonathan Mills, and half-brother to Jason "Ace" Lawson...
(grandson of Sir John Mills
John Mills
Sir John Mills CBE , born Lewis Ernest Watts Mills, was an English actor who made more than 120 films in a career spanning seven decades.-Life and career:...
and son of actress Hayley Mills
Hayley Mills
Hayley Mills is an English actress. The daughter of John Mills and Mary Hayley Bell, and sister of actress Juliet Mills, Mills began her acting career as a child and was hailed as a promising newcomer, winning the BAFTA Award for Most Promising Newcomer for Tiger Bay , the Academy Juvenile Award...
and film director Roy Boulting) met Alonza Bevan
Alonza Bevan
Alonza George Bevan is best known as the bassist for the English rock band, Kula Shaker.In between Kula Shaker splitting in 1999 and reforming in 2006, Bevan played in a number of groups including Johnny Marr's band, The Healers.- References :...
at Richmond upon Thames College
Richmond upon Thames College
Richmond upon Thames College is a further education college in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, which provides education primarily to 16-19 year olds...
in South-West London. The two went on to play together in a band named Objects of Desire, formed later that year. The band's initial line-up consisted of Mills on lead guitar
Lead guitar
Lead guitar is a guitar part which plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs within a song structure...
, Bevan on bass
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, Marcus French (aka Frog) on drums
Drum kit
A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
, Leigh Morris on rhythm guitar
Rhythm guitar
Rhythm guitar is a technique and rôle that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with singers or other instruments; and to provide all or part of the harmony, ie. the chords, where a chord is a group of notes played together...
, and Marcus Maclaine (then Hayley Mills' boyfriend) on lead vocals
Lead vocalist
The lead vocalist is the member of a band who sings the main vocal portions of a song. They may also play one or more instruments. Lead vocalists are sometimes referred to as the frontman or frontwoman, and as such, are usually considered to be the "leader" of the groups they perform in, often the...
. In 1991, Paul Winterhart
Paul Winterhart
Paul Winterhart is the drummer for the English band, Kula Shaker. He is noted for being more reserved in interviews and speaking less....
joined the band, replacing French on drums. During this period, Crispian and Alonza were also responsible for running the Mantra Shack, a psychedelic nightclub at the back of Richmond ice rink, and consequently, the Objects of Desire would often perform at the venue.
The Objects of Desire disbanded acrimoniously in early 1993, after which, Mills went on a spiritual pilgrimage, backpacking
Backpacking (travel)
Backpacking is a term that has historically been used to denote a form of low-cost, independent international travel. Terms such as independent travel and/or budget travel are often used...
around India. The trip had a profound effect on the guitarist, fostering a deep interest in Indian culture
Culture of India
India's languages, religions, dance, music, architecture, food and customs differ from place to place within the country, but nevertheless possess a commonality....
and Hinduism
Hinduism
Hinduism is the predominant and indigenous religious tradition of the Indian Subcontinent. Hinduism is known to its followers as , amongst many other expressions...
. Upon returning to the UK he formed a new band named The Kays, with Bevan, Winterhart, and Mills' cousin Saul Dismont (son of the Bermudan politician Russell Dismont
Russell Dismont
Russell Dismont was from a respected black Bermudian family of the time. Despite racial discrimination typical of that period, his father Albert Hilgrove Dismont had become a successful business man and was the first black man to own a property and business in the totally white owned city of...
) on vocals. The band's debut live performance was at the 1993 Glastonbury Festival
Glastonbury Festival
The Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts, commonly abbreviated to Glastonbury or even Glasto, is a performing arts festival that takes place near Pilton, Somerset, England, best known for its contemporary music, but also for dance, comedy, theatre, circus, cabaret and other arts.The...
. Within a year, Dismont had left the group, only to be replaced by organist
Organist
An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ. An organist may play solo organ works, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumental soloists...
Jay Darlington
Jay Darlington
Jay Darlington is an English keyboardist who has played as a member of the band Kula Shaker and as a live member of Oasis.-Early life and Kula Shaker: 1968-1999:...
, who had previously been a member of several mod revival
Mod Revival
The mod revival was a music genre and subculture that started in England in 1978 and later spread to other countries . The mod revival's mainstream popularity was relatively short, although its influence has lasted for decades...
bands. After two years of touring and recording
Studio recording
The term studio recording means any recording made in a studio, as opposed to a live recording, which is usually made in a concert venue or a theatre, with an audience attending the performance.-Studio cast recordings:...
, The Kays elected to change their name and musical direction.
In May 1995, Mills suggested that the band take the name Kula Shaker, in honour of one of the twelve Alvars
Alvars
The alwar or azhwars were Tamil poet saints of south India who lived between the sixth and ninth centuries A.D. and espoused ‘emotional devotion’ or bhakti to Visnu-Krishna in their songs of longing, ecstasy and service. Sri Vaishnava orthodoxy posits the number of alvars as ten, though there are...
(saints of south India), the ninth-century Indian emperor and holy man, King Kulashekhara. In Indian culture, the name Kulashekhara is thought to be lucky or auspicious, and this appealed to the struggling band. Mills also posited that Kula Shaker's music should follow a more spiritual and mystical direction in future, in line with his own growing interest in the philosophy of Gaudiya Vaishnavism
Gaudiya Vaishnavism
Gaudiya Vaishnavism is a Vaishnava religious movement founded by Chaitanya Mahaprabhu in India in the 16th century. "Gaudiya" refers to the Gauḍa region with Vaishnavism meaning "the worship of Vishnu"...
. This new emphasis on Indian mysticism and instrumentation, dovetailed with the Beatlesque, 1960s derived influences already present in the band's music, to create a sound heavily indebted to 1960s psychedelia
Psychedelic rock
Psychedelic rock is a style of rock music that is inspired or influenced by psychedelic culture and attempts to replicate and enhance the mind-altering experiences of psychedelic drugs. It emerged during the mid 1960s among folk rock and blues rock bands in United States and the United Kingdom...
.
Mainstream success (1995–1999)
In September 1995 Kula Shaker were joint winners of the In The CityIn The City (festival)
In The City is an annual music industry conference and festival founded by the late Tony Wilson, formerly of Factory Records and Granada Television, and his partner Yvette Livesey....
contest (along with Placebo
Placebo (band)
Placebo are a British rock band from London, England, formed in 1994 by singer and guitarist Brian Molko and bass guitarist Stefan Olsdal. The band was joined by drummer Robert Schultzberg, who was later replaced by Steve Hewitt after conflicts with Molko. Hewitt left the band in October 2007 and...
), which quickly resulted in a record contract with Columbia Records
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
, who were eager to sign another band that had the multi-platinum, crossover appeal of Oasis. A debut single, "Tattva (Lucky 13 Mix)
Tattva (song)
"Tattva" is a song by the British psychedelic rock band Kula Shaker, released as the band's debut single. It was first released in the United Kingdom on 1 January 1996 as "Tattva ", then reissued on 24 June as a re-recording from their debut album K with a different sleeve and tracklisting. The...
" (later re-recorded for their debut album) was released on CD and limited 7" vinyl in January 1996, but it entered just outside the UK Top 75, at number 86. "Tattva" was followed quickly in April by the band's second single, "Grateful When You're Dead", a slice of Jimi Hendrix
Jimi Hendrix
James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix was an American guitarist and singer-songwriter...
-esque rock which was to became their debut UK Top 40 single (entering at #35). Music press and public alike finally began to take notice of the band, and this sudden exposure propelled the re-released (and re-recorded) "Tattva" to #4 in the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
. The band's upward climb continued with their third single "Hey Dude", a more traditional rock song which was only kept off the top spot by the Spice Girls
Spice Girls
The Spice Girls were a British pop girl group formed in 1994. The group consisted of Victoria Beckham , Melanie Brown, Emma Bunton, Melanie Chisholm and Geri Halliwell. They were signed to Virgin Records and released their debut single, "Wannabe" in 1996, which hit number-one in more than 30...
when it was released in August.
October saw the release of the band's eagerly awaited debut album K, which became the fastest selling debut since Oasis
Oasis (band)
Oasis were an English rock band formed in Manchester in 1991. Originally known as The Rain, the group was formed by Liam Gallagher , Paul "Bonehead" Arthurs , Paul "Guigsy" McGuigan and Tony McCarroll , who were soon joined by Liam's older brother Noel Gallagher...
' Definitely Maybe
Definitely Maybe
Definitely Maybe is the debut album by English rock band Oasis, released in August 1994. It was an immediate commercial and critical success in the UK, having followed on the heels of singles "Supersonic", "Shakermaker" and "Live Forever"....
. The album went on to sell over 850,000 copies in the UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
(double platinum), and a further 250,000 copies in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The fourth and final single from K was "Govinda
Govinda (Kula Shaker song)
"Govinda" is a song by British band Kula Shaker, released in 1996, led by Crispian Mills, the son of actress Hayley Mills. The song is notable for its heavy Indian influences such as the Tambura and is unique in being the only British Top Ten hit to be sung entirely in Sanskrit.The text is taken...
", which reached #7 in the UK charts in December of that year. "Govinda" was sung totally in Sanskrit, and mixed swirling guitars with traditional Indian music. Total sales for all the singles from K came to half a million.
1997 got off to a fine start for the band with four nominations for BRIT Awards
Brit Awards
The Brit Awards are the British Phonographic Industry's annual pop music awards. The name was originally a shortened form of "British", "Britain" or "Britannia", but subsequently became a backronym for British Record Industry Trust...
, and they subsequently took home the award for "British Breakthrough Act" at the ceremony in February. In the same month they released what would turn out to be their biggest hit, a cover of "Hush" (originally written by Joe South
Joe South
Joe South is a multi-talented American singer-songwriter and guitarist.-Career:...
for Billy Joe Royal
Billy Joe Royal
Billy Joe Royal is an American singer.-Biography:Born in Valdosta and raised in Marietta in 1942, Royal became a local star at Savannah, Georgia's Bamboo Ranch in the 1950s and 1960s...
, and most famously performed by the British hard-rock band Deep Purple
Deep Purple
Deep Purple are an English rock band formed in Hertford in 1968. Along with Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath, they are considered to be among the pioneers of heavy metal and modern hard rock, although some band members believe that their music cannot be categorised as belonging to any one genre...
), which peaked at number 2. The song also proved successful in the U.S., where it was used on the soundtrack
Soundtrack
A soundtrack can be recorded music accompanying and synchronized to the images of a motion picture, book, television program or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack of a film or TV show; or the physical area of a film that contains the...
to the blockbuster movie I Know What You Did Last Summer
I Know What You Did Last Summer
I Know What You Did Last Summer is a 1997 American horror film. The film stars Jennifer Love Hewitt, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Ryan Phillippe and Freddie Prinze Jr. The screenplay was written by Kevin Williamson, writer of Scream, and very loosely based on Lois Duncan's popular novel of the same title...
. The song was also placed at #224 by Virgin Radio
Virgin Radio
Absolute Radio is one of the UK's three Independent National Radio stations. The station rebranded to its current name at 7.45am on 29 September 2008.The station is based in London and plays popular rock music...
, in a poll for the 20th century's greatest songs. In the wake of the single's release, some ill-advised remarks on the traditional mystical properties of Swastika
Swastika
The swastika is an equilateral cross with its arms bent at right angles, in either right-facing form in counter clock motion or its mirrored left-facing form in clock motion. Earliest archaeological evidence of swastika-shaped ornaments dates back to the Indus Valley Civilization of Ancient...
s by Crispian Mills put the band in the firing line of some of the UK press.
Despite the negative publicity, the band pressed on regardless with a set of live shows in the summer of that year, including T in the Park
T in the Park
T in the Park is a major British music festival that has been held annually since 1994. It is named after its main sponsor, the brewing company Tennents. It was originally held at Strathclyde Park, Lanarkshire but since 1997 has been held at a disused airfield in Balado, Kinross-shire...
where they were acclaimed by many as the best live act T in the Park had ever seen , the Glastonbury Festival
Glastonbury Festival
The Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts, commonly abbreviated to Glastonbury or even Glasto, is a performing arts festival that takes place near Pilton, Somerset, England, best known for its contemporary music, but also for dance, comedy, theatre, circus, cabaret and other arts.The...
and the V Festival
V Festival
The V Festival is an annual music festival held in England during the penultimate weekend in August. The event is held at two parks simultaneously which share the same bill; artists perform at one location on Saturday and then swap on Sunday. The sites are located at Hylands Park in Chelmsford and...
. The focus during the latter part of 1997 moved to the US where both "Tattva" and "Hey Dude" received airplay exposure. "Tattva" became a minor #10 hit in the Modern Rock Tracks chart and "Hey Dude" peaked at #25. K itself peaked at #11 in the Heatseekers chart and crept to #200 in the Billboard charts
Billboard charts
The Billboard charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs or albums in the United States. The results are published in Billboard magazine...
. An EP
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
, Summer Sun
Summer Sun EP
Summer Sun E.P. is an EP by Kula Shaker. All the tracks on the EP had previously appeared as B-sides to the band's UK singles.-Track listing:# "Govinda '97, Hari & St. George"# "Gokula"# "Dance in Your Shadow"# "Raagy One "...
, was released in the U.S. for the band's fans there. The six tracks on the EP were all B-sides to earlier UK singles.
After initial disagreements with management, Kula Shaker resurfaced with the UK-only single "Sound of Drums" in April 1998, peaking at number 3. A promised album in the summer of that year failed to materialise, and the momentum generated by the single was lost as a result. Fans would have to wait until February 1999 to hear any more new material from the forthcoming second album.
The second album Peasants, Pigs & Astronauts
Peasants, Pigs & Astronauts
Peasants, Pigs & Astronauts is the second album by the British indie and psychedelic rock band Kula Shaker. The album was released on 8 March 1999 and reached #9 in the UK Albums Chart, during a chart stay of 10 weeks. It was less successful in the U.S., however, where it failed to break into the...
was partly recorded aboard the houseboat-studio Astoria
Astoria (recording studio)
Astoria is a grand houseboat, adapted as a recording studio by its owner, Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour. It is moored on the River Thames near Hampton Court...
, which belongs to guitarist David Gilmour
David Gilmour
David Jon Gilmour, CBE, D.M. is an English rock musician and multi-instrumentalist who is best known as the guitarist, one of the lead singers and main songwriters in the progressive rock band Pink Floyd. In addition to his work with Pink Floyd, Gilmour has worked as a producer for a variety of...
(of Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd were an English rock band that achieved worldwide success with their progressive and psychedelic rock music. Their work is marked by the use of philosophical lyrics, sonic experimentation, innovative album art, and elaborate live shows. Pink Floyd are one of the most commercially...
). Brett Findlay
Brett Findlay
Brett Findlay is a British film and stage actor.Trained at the Drama Studio London. Married to Jemilah Findlay née Litvinoff, granddaughter of Cherry Marshall and Emanuel Litvinoff. They have one daughter, Akiko....
joined the band as resident percussionist and remained with the group until their break-up at the end of 1999. The release of Peasants, Pigs & Astronauts was preceded by the single "Mystical Machine Gun" which failed to make as strong an impact on the charts as their previous singles, peaking at Number 14 and only remaining two weeks in the top 40. The album itself followed in March 1999 to mixed reviews, and only sold a mere 25,000 copies in its first week as it crawled in at Number 9 on the album chart, spending only 10 weeks in the UK Top 75. The album went Gold in the UK (over 100,000 copies sold). The third and final single from the album, "Shower Your Love" failed to reignite momentum, stalling at #14, even with it having more TV exposure on Top of the Pops
Top of the Pops
Top of the Pops, also known as TOTP, is a British music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly from 1 January 1964 to 30 July 2006. After 25 December 2006 it became a radio program, now hosted by Tony Blackburn...
, TFI Friday
TFI Friday
TFI Friday is an entertainment show broadcast on Channel 4 in the United Kingdom from 1996 to 2000. The show produced by Ginger Productions, written by Danny Baker and hosted by Chris Evans, for the first 5 series. The final series was hosted by a number of Guest Presenters. It was broadcast on...
, Later with Jools Holland and CD:UK
CD:UK
CD:UK was a British music television programme. Originally run in conjunction with SMTV Live, the programme was first aired on ITV on 29 August 1998 to rival the BBC's Live & Kicking and was the replacement for The Chart Show, which had been airing on the network for nine and a half years.In...
.
In June they played Glastonbury Festival
Glastonbury Festival
The Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts, commonly abbreviated to Glastonbury or even Glasto, is a performing arts festival that takes place near Pilton, Somerset, England, best known for its contemporary music, but also for dance, comedy, theatre, circus, cabaret and other arts.The...
and headlined the Lizard Festival in Cornwall
Cornwall
Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...
in August 1999 to coincide with the total eclipse. The band made a few more festival appearances, including an appearance at V99, as a last-minute replacement for Placebo
Placebo (band)
Placebo are a British rock band from London, England, formed in 1994 by singer and guitarist Brian Molko and bass guitarist Stefan Olsdal. The band was joined by drummer Robert Schultzberg, who was later replaced by Steve Hewitt after conflicts with Molko. Hewitt left the band in October 2007 and...
, before playing their last ever gig in Holland at the end of August.
In September of that year, the band announced their split. "I have loved my time with Kula Shaker and have experienced more than I could ever have imagined", Mills commented. "We've had an excellent time and been a very tight band, but there comes a time when you want to do your own thing."
Controversy
On Sunday 20 April 1997, the national UK newspaper The IndependentThe Independent
The Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
ran a front page article in which it claimed that Crispian Mills "had dabbled with Nazism and its most potent symbol, the swastika." The article drew together various comments Mills had made to the UK music press in 1996 and early 1997. In one of the interviews from March 1997 for the NME
NME
The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...
(New Musical Express) the following was printed:
The other statements quoted in the article were "You can see why Hitler got support. It was probably the uniforms that swung it," said in an interview with NME in November 1996, and "Well, we know that democracy doesn't work. If we had a non-elected body that set the right standards . . ." from a January 1997 edition of Melody Maker. The article also revealed that the Objects of Desire had used the motto "England will rise again", and had performed at a 1993 conference at Wembley called "Global Deception" at which speakers included renowned conspiracy theorists Eustace Mullins
Eustace Mullins
Eustace Clarence Mullins, Jr. was a populist American political writer, biographer, and antisemite. His most famous and influential work is The Secrets of The Federal Reserve, described by congressman Wright Patman as 'a very fine book [which] has been very useful to me'...
(who has been denounced as an anti-semite because of his writings, which he later recanted) and William Cooper
Milton William Cooper
Milton William Cooper was an American writer, shortwave broadcaster, conspiracy theorist, and political activist.-Biography:...
. William Cooper was also thanked in the credits of Kula Shaker's album.
Mills responded to the allegations by fax and his responses were incorporated in the article. Mills admitted having played at "Global Deception", but claimed not to have fully understood the nature of the event. He indicated that he now felt that the swastika
Swastika
The swastika is an equilateral cross with its arms bent at right angles, in either right-facing form in counter clock motion or its mirrored left-facing form in clock motion. Earliest archaeological evidence of swastika-shaped ornaments dates back to the Indus Valley Civilization of Ancient...
, which has origins outside Nazism and different meanings in different parts of the world, was hopelessly connected to Nazism in the West. He indicated that it was the outrage that his comments had sparked that had led him to this conclusion. He also offered an unequivocal condemnation of far-right-wing ideology.
"I think there is no better example of my naivete and insensitivity than the swastika comments . . . my comments derive from my long interest in Indian culture, from which the swastika has its origins . . . I apologise to those who have been offended by my comment and humbly ask that they accept that I am completely against the Nazis, their crimes and any other latter-day form of totalitarianism. For the record I have never been an anti-semite especially as my dear grandmother was Jewish . . . I loathe totalitarianism, far right thinking, oppression of all forms, denial of human rights and all things that would limit the free spirit of humankind. I stand for peace, love, generosity and learning."
After the split (1999–2004)
BassistBassist
A bass player, or bassist is a musician who plays a bass instrument such as a double bass, bass guitar, keyboard bass or a low brass instrument such as a tuba or sousaphone. Different musical genres tend to be associated with one or more of these instruments...
Alonza Bevan
Alonza Bevan
Alonza George Bevan is best known as the bassist for the English rock band, Kula Shaker.In between Kula Shaker splitting in 1999 and reforming in 2006, Bevan played in a number of groups including Johnny Marr's band, The Healers.- References :...
joined Johnny Marr and the Healers in 2000, having moderate success. After 2004 the status of The Healers is unknown and with all members working on other projects it is not known if they will work together again. As a side project Alonza formed the band Shep (which included Paul Winter-Hart on drums). The band played a handful of gigs in 2001–2002 and released some excerpts of recorded music via the web but nothing further was heard of them after 2003.
Drummer
Drummer
A drummer is a musician who is capable of playing drums, which includes but is not limited to a drum kit and accessory based hardware which includes an assortment of pedals and standing support mechanisms, marching percussion and/or any musical instrument that is struck within the context of a...
Paul Winter-Hart joined the band Thirteen:13
Thirteen:13
Thirteen:13 were a British alternative rock band formed in 1999 from the ashes of Catch.Quickly signed to Polydor, the band's original line-up consisted of songwriters Wayne Murray and Toby MacFarlaine with Ben Etchells and Martin Carling...
, who split in 2001 with little success. He also drummed on an album by Aqualung
Aqualung (musician)
Matthew "Matt" Hales , better known as Aqualung, is an English singer and songwriter best known in the UK for his song "Strange and Beautiful", which was featured on a television advertisement for the new Volkswagen New Beetle during the summer of 2002 and went on to become a Top 10 hit in the UK...
and was part of the group Shep with Alonza.
Jay Darlington
Jay Darlington
Jay Darlington is an English keyboardist who has played as a member of the band Kula Shaker and as a live member of Oasis.-Early life and Kula Shaker: 1968-1999:...
joined Oasis in 2002 as a touring keyboardist (though not an official band member), and remained in that role until the band's split in 2009.
Lead singer Crispian Mills
Crispian Mills
Crispian Mills is an English singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He is the son of actress Hayley Mills and director Roy Boulting, the grandson of John Mills and Mary Hayley Bell , nephew of Juliet Mills and Jonathan Mills, and half-brother to Jason "Ace" Lawson...
went into the studio in 2000 to work on a solo album. In Autumn of that year, he toured with a group of musicians under the name Pi, first supporting Robbie Williams
Robbie Williams
Robert Peter "Robbie" Williams is an English singer-songwriter, vocal coach and occasional actor. He is a member of the pop group Take That. Williams rose to fame in the band's first run in the early- to mid-1990s. After many disagreements with the management and certain group members, Williams...
on his UK Arena dates, then for some smaller headline shows. A new album was scheduled for release in spring 2001 according to Mills' official website and the NME. However his UK record label didn't feel the material proposed for release was commercial enough, and so Mills negotiated an exit from his contract with them in 2001, continuing to record for the rest of 2001 without a UK record deal. At the start of 2002, he began working with Andy Nixon and Dan Mckinna, formerly of Straw
Straw (band)
Straw were an English pop band that released one album, Shoplifting, in 1999.-History:Straw was formed in Bristol by Mattie Bennett and Roger Power , formerly of The Blue Aeroplanes. Later adding keyboardist Mark "Duck" Blackwell, the group signed to Arista Records under the moniker "Please" with...
, and the trio bonded together so well musically that it was decided they would form a group, The Jeevas
The Jeevas
The Jeevas were an English rock band. Its members were Crispian Mills , Andy Nixon , and Dan McKinna . Mills was previously the vocalist of Kula Shaker. Nixon and McKinna were previous members of Straw...
. Mills ditched all his previously recorded material up to that point, though some tracks would later feature as Jeevas B-Sides. The Jeevas
The Jeevas
The Jeevas were an English rock band. Its members were Crispian Mills , Andy Nixon , and Dan McKinna . Mills was previously the vocalist of Kula Shaker. Nixon and McKinna were previous members of Straw...
enjoyed success in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
and moderate success in the UK. They released two albums, toured throughout 2002 and 2003, with some dates in mid 2004. Their records were released on their own Cowboy Music label in the UK and mainland Europe, and by Sony in Japan. Some tentative work was done for their third album, but when it became apparent during 2005 that the reformation of Kula Shaker would be permanent, the band officially split up.
In December 2002, Sony released a best of album, entitled Kollected – The Best of Kula Shaker
Kollected - The Best of
Kollected: Best of is a 2002 compilation album by Kula Shaker.-Track listing:# "Sound of Drums"# "Into the Deep"# "Grateful When You're Dead/Jerry Was There"# "108 Battles "# "Start All Over"# "Hey Dude"# "Drop in the Sea"...
. Crispian compiled the tracklisting for the release and approved the sleevenotes. The compilation included the band's final recorded track, a cover of Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
's "Ballad of a Thin Man
Ballad of a Thin Man
"Ballad of a Thin Man" is a song written and recorded by Bob Dylan, released on the album Highway 61 Revisited in 1965.-Meaning:"Ballad of a Thin Man" comments on a conventional "Mr. Jones", who walks into a room of intentionally bizarre circus freaks and doesn't "know what's happening".The...
", which was later featured on the soundtrack to the 2005 movie Stoned
Stoned (film)
Stoned, also known as The Wild and Wycked World of Brian Jones in the UK, is a 2005 film about Brian Jones, one of the founding members of The Rolling Stones...
, starring Leo Gregory
Leo Gregory
Leo Gregory is an English film and television actor. He has appeared in many films such as Green Street, Stoned, Act of Grace, Daylight Robbery, and Menace....
.
Reformation & Strangefolk (2004–2008)
Kula Shaker's reformation has its origins in sessions for a charity album made with the New Braja Village School (a private school in Badger, California for young people which includes as part of the curriculum teachings about Krishna and devotional music). The album School of Braja was recorded in 2004 and finally saw release in late 2006. Crispian MillsCrispian Mills
Crispian Mills is an English singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He is the son of actress Hayley Mills and director Roy Boulting, the grandson of John Mills and Mary Hayley Bell , nephew of Juliet Mills and Jonathan Mills, and half-brother to Jason "Ace" Lawson...
, who masterminded the album, arranged not only that the Jeevas play on two tracks, but he also got in touch with his old bandmate, Alonza Bevan. The two worked together on a song together for the album, "Braj Mandala", to which Paul Winter-Hart added drums. Jay Darlington was asked to be part of the sessions, but declined the opportunity. At the time of the recording, this was announced on the official Jeevas website as Kula Shaker having reformed to contribute a song to the album, and was referred to by Mills as a Kula Shaker reunion in subsequent interviews. Additionally, the School of Braja album credits officially state that Kula Shaker appear on the track "Braj Mandala". The sessions for the track went so well that Mills and Bevan began writing together again, and making plans for a full-on Kula Shaker comeback that would encompass live touring and the further release of new material. A new band website was also commissioned.
Their first gig back together (as a 3-piece) took place at the Wheatsheaf, Leighton Buzzard
Leighton Buzzard
-Lower schools:*Beaudesert Lower School - Apennine Way*Clipstone Brook Lower School - Brooklands Drive*Greenleas Lower School - Derwent Road*Dovery Down Lower School - Heath Road*Heathwood Lower School - Heath Road*Leedon Lower School - Highfield Road...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, on 21 December 2005. This was a 'secret' gig and not promoted beforehand; however, blackboards outside the pub announced "Kula Shaker tonight" on the night of the show. As a joke about the nature of secret gigs, Mills told the assembled crowd that the band was called The Garcons whilst wearing a "big hair" grey wig. All sources both official and unofficial have subsequently referred to this gig as a Kula Shaker show.
Kula Shaker announced on 11 January 2006 that they had reformed permanently. They released the following statement on their new official website (which launched that day):
During preparation for their comeback live dates, a new member joined the band – Harry Broadbent. He became the band's new keyboard player, and Kula Shaker were restored to a four-piece once more.
The band undertook a small UK tour in the Spring. The tour dates were split into two 'legs', with a pre-tour warm-up show in Milton Keynes. The band played to sell out audiences in smaller venues, playing a mix of new and old material. They also recorded a session for Scottish radio station Clyde1, and made an appearance on the Billy Sloan show on that station to coincide with this.
The band released a four-song EP entitled "Revenge of the King" on iTunes
ITunes Store
The iTunes Store is a software-based online digital media store operated by Apple. Opening as the iTunes Music Store on April 28, 2003, with over 200,000 items to purchase, it is, as of April 2008, the number-one music vendor in the United States...
in April. This was later released on a limited run of 1000 10" vinyls, sold on certain dates of the band's April/May tour and later from the band's official website. Later still, the EP was released on CD in Japan with a bonus track (the 2006 radio session version of Govinda). Apart from the Japanese bonus track, the tracks on the EP were recorded in a very small studio in London right at the beginning of 2006, before Harry Broadbent joined the band.
The band went on to play some festivals in the Summer of 2006 – T in the Park, Fuji Rock, V Festival and Pentaport Festival in Korea – along with a handful of warm-up dates. After this, they played one more live date in 2006, headlining the Purple Weekend festival in Spain at the end of the year.
After the summer festival dates, it was announced on the band's website that the third Kula Shaker album was underway. Pre-production started in September 2006, with final mixing completed by April 2007. It was produced in collaboration with an all-star team of hit makers & Grammy winners, including Tchad Blake (Peter Gabriel, Crowded House), Sam Williams (Supergrass) and Chris Sheldon (The Foo Fighters, The Pixies).
In Japan, the Freedom Lovin' People
Freedom Lovin' People
Freedom Lovin' People is a limited edition EP for the Japanese market by Kula Shaker, released May 23, 2007.-Track listing:#"Great Dictator "#"Super CB Operator"#"Big Bad Wolf"#"Out On the Highway" #"Some Good Reason"...
EP preceded the album. It was released there on May 23, 2007. The lead track from this release was the album track "Great Dictator (of the Free World)" and a rough animatic-style video was used to promote the song on Japanese music stations. In the UK, the first single from the album was "Second Sight" released on 13 August 2007, reaching #101 on the UK Singles Chart. The single was promoted with a pro-shot video featuring the band as characters from the Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes is a fictional detective created by Scottish author and physician Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The fantastic London-based "consulting detective", Holmes is famous for his astute logical reasoning, his ability to take almost any disguise, and his use of forensic science skills to solve...
stories.
The third album, Strangefolk
Strangefolk (album)
Strangefolk is the third album by Kula Shaker, the first album since the band reformed. The album has received mixed reviews since its release...
(which was the working title of second album, Peasants, Pigs & Astronauts), was released in Japan on 27 June 2007 through Sony, in Europe on 20 August 2007 through the band's own label, and on 19 February 2008 in North America through Cooking Vinyl. All editions contain at least one bonus track; the Japanese edition contains two further bonus tracks. The track "Song of Love/Narayana" on the album incorporates elements from the tracks "Narayan" and "Climbatize", both of which can be found on The Prodigy
The Prodigy
The Prodigy are an English electronic dance music group formed by Liam Howlett in 1990 in Braintree, Essex. Along with Fatboy Slim, The Chemical Brothers, and other acts, The Prodigy have been credited as pioneers of the big beat genre, which achieved mainstream popularity in the 1990s and 2000s...
's The Fat of the Land
The Fat of the Land
The Fat of the Land is the third studio album by The Prodigy. The album was released by XL Recordings on 30 June 1997 and on 1 July 1997 in the United States by Maverick Records...
. Narayan was co-written by Mills and included a vocal performance by him. The album reached #32 in Japan and #69 in the UK.
To capitalise on publicity surrounding the band's comeback, the re-release record label Music Club issued a hastily-compiled double album Tattva : The Very Best Of Kula Shaker on 16 July 2007, which included all the tracks from the band's first two albums and a handful of previously released non-album tracks. The band had no input into any aspect of the release and their consent was not obtained for its release. They have been asking their fans not to buy it.
The band played UK warm-up dates from early June. They went on to play five festival dates in the summer – Bilbao BBK Live, Culura Quente festival, Japanese festival Fuji Rock, Norway's PulpIt Rock Festival and the iTunes Festival
ITunes Festival
The iTunes Festival is an annual music festival and concert series which is held in London at The Roundhouse art centre and sponsored by Apple Inc. It was first held in 2007...
in London, along with two one-off dates – one in London and one in Spain. Further UK dates and a European tour followed in the Autumn. The band then rounded off the tour commitments for the year with two final performances in November, one at Leicester University and another at The Netherlands' Crossing Borders festival.
A live EP featuring four tracks from the band's performance at the iTunes festival was released through the iTunes stores in various countries in October. A second single from Strangefolk, "Out on the Highway" was released on 5 November 2007, also only available as a download from the UK iTunes store. Neither release achieved a placing on the UK chart. The final release of the year came on 14 December – the free download track "Drink Tea (for the Love Of God)" featured Alonza on vocals and a pro-tea drinking message in the lyrics. The track was accompanied by an animated video, released online on the same day, which was produced by animation house Model Robot.
The band played a Japanese tour and further tours of both the UK and mainland Europe at the start of 2008. They went on to play three European festival dates in the summer.
Pilgrims Progress (2008–present)
On 2 July 2008 the band announced they were back in the studio working on their fourth studio album with working title Pilgrims Progress. However soon after the band became locked in a legal dispute with their label which resulted in most of the work for the next album being frozen. As of May 2009, work on the new album had recommenced.The band played some further live dates in 2009, starting with a pair of dates in Russia in February and following that up with two headline festival appearances in the summer, at Ypsigrock in Italy and Solfest in the UK. In September the band played a set as part of a fundraising evening to support the charity Anno's Africa.
On 20 January 2010, the band re-released their second album Peasants, Pigs and Astronauts on their own label with additional bonus tracks, interviews and artwork. Only 3000 copies were pressed and it was only available through their official website.
On 28 June 2010, the band's fourth album Pilgrims Progress was released. The lead single from the album was "Peter Pan R.I.P", which was released as a free download from the band's official website on 22 April 2010. The album was issued as a standard twelve track CD, as a limited edition deluxe box set, and as a super deluxe box set with a limited production run of 300 copies. Despite making a limited impact commercially the album was applauded by the music press, becoming their best reviewed album since their debut. The band played an album release show on 8 July at the Garage in London. A successful tour of the Far East followed with a number of festival dates across Japan, Taiwan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Korea and Hong Kong.
On 6 September 2010 Crispian Mills announced on the bands official website that the band were postponing touring so he could concentrate on a film project to begin in early 2011. The news was received with mixed reaction, many suggesting that the band have missed a great opportunity to gain considerable exposure on the back of the positive reaction towards Pilgrims Progress.
On 12 November 2010, the band announced they would be recording a Christmas single which would be a double A-side. The single, 'Christmas Time (Is Here Again)/Snowflake' was released exclusively as a free download from the band's website on 10 December.
In August 2011, the band announced on their official website that they will be releasing a 3-CD/DVD 15th anniversary edition of 'K' on 16 September 2011.
Members
- Crispian MillsCrispian MillsCrispian Mills is an English singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He is the son of actress Hayley Mills and director Roy Boulting, the grandson of John Mills and Mary Hayley Bell , nephew of Juliet Mills and Jonathan Mills, and half-brother to Jason "Ace" Lawson...
– Lead Vocals/Guitars - Alonza BevanAlonza BevanAlonza George Bevan is best known as the bassist for the English rock band, Kula Shaker.In between Kula Shaker splitting in 1999 and reforming in 2006, Bevan played in a number of groups including Johnny Marr's band, The Healers.- References :...
– Bass - Paul WinterhartPaul WinterhartPaul Winterhart is the drummer for the English band, Kula Shaker. He is noted for being more reserved in interviews and speaking less....
– Drums - Harry Broadbent (2006–Present) – Keyboards
- Jay DarlingtonJay DarlingtonJay Darlington is an English keyboardist who has played as a member of the band Kula Shaker and as a live member of Oasis.-Early life and Kula Shaker: 1968-1999:...
(1995–1999) – Keyboards
Discography
- K (1996)
- Peasants, Pigs & AstronautsPeasants, Pigs & AstronautsPeasants, Pigs & Astronauts is the second album by the British indie and psychedelic rock band Kula Shaker. The album was released on 8 March 1999 and reached #9 in the UK Albums Chart, during a chart stay of 10 weeks. It was less successful in the U.S., however, where it failed to break into the...
(1999) - StrangefolkStrangefolk (album)Strangefolk is the third album by Kula Shaker, the first album since the band reformed. The album has received mixed reviews since its release...
(2007) - Pilgrims Progress (2010)