Kula Shaker's founding members in 2024 Left to Right: Jay Darlington, Paul Winterhart, Crispian Mills, Alonza Bevan
Background information
Origin
London, England
Genres
Post-Britpop
raga rock
neo-psychedelia
Years active
1995–1999, 2004–present
Labels
Columbia
Sony BMG
Cooking Vinyl
Strange F.O.L.K.
Members
Crispian Mills
Alonza Bevan
Paul Winterhart
Jay Darlington
Past members
Harry Broadbent
Website
kulashaker.co.uk
Kula Shaker are an English psychedelic rock band.[1] Led by frontman Crispian Mills,[2] the band came to prominence during the Post-Britpop era of the late 1990s.[1] The band enjoyed 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".[3] The band's debut album, K, reached No. 1 on the UK Albums Chart.[3] It was voted number 879 in Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums 3rd Edition (2000).[4]
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 Sanskrit.[1][5] The name Kula Shaker was itself inspired by Kulasekhara, an Indian king from the 9th century.[6][7] 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.[1][8] Despite achieving commercial success, Kula Shaker were unpopular with many critics, with The Observer's Simon Price describing them in 2014 as a "joke band".[9]
Kula Shaker disbanded in September 1999[10] but reformed in 2004 for sessions for the School of Braja compilation album.[7] This led to plans for a full comeback, although the reformation was not widely publicised until the beginning of 2006.[7][11] The band's third album, Strangefolk, was issued in 2007[12] and their fourth, Pilgrims Progress, was released in 2010. The band returned with a mostly sold out European tour and new album K 2.0 in 2016 which was well-received both by the media and the fans.[13]
After taking an extended hiatus, the band released their sixth album, 1st Congregational Church of Eternal Love and Free Hugs in June 2022[14] and their seventh album, Natural Magick, in 2024.
^ abcd"Kula Shaker Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved 5 May 2010.
^"Crispian Mills: Big Mouth Strikes Again". The Independent. London. 24 September 2007. Retrieved 5 May 2010.
^ abBrown, Tony. (2000). The Complete Book of the British Charts. Omnibus Press. p. 484. ISBN 0-7119-7670-8.
^Colin Larkin, ed. (2000). All Time Top 1000 Albums (3rd ed.). Virgin Books. p. 270. ISBN 0-7535-0493-6.
^Hyder, Rehan. (2004). Brimful of Asia: Negotiating Ethnicity on the UK Music Scene. Ashgate Publishing Limited. p. 62. ISBN 0-7546-4064-7.
^Noburu Karashmia (ed.), A Concise History of South India: Issues and Interpretations. New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2014. 143.
^ abc"The Legend of the King". Kulashaker.co.uk. Archived from the original on 14 June 2010. Retrieved 5 May 2010.
^Gardner, Elysa (18 November 1996). "Play That Funky Sanskrit Music, Brit Boys". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 5 May 2010.
^Price, Simon (9 March 2014). "Temples review – cosmic rock straight from the 60s". The Observer. Retrieved 24 April 2017.
^"Last Shake". NME. 30 September 1999. Retrieved 5 May 2010.
^"Kula Shaker Reform". NME. 9 January 2006. Retrieved 5 May 2010.
^"Strangefolk review". AllMusic. Retrieved 5 May 2010.
^"Last Shake". NME. 28 September 2015. Retrieved 28 September 2015.
^"Kula Shaker announce new album and first UK tour in six years". NME. 10 March 2022. Retrieved 10 March 2022.
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