From left to right: Paul Winter-Hart, Jay Darlington, Crispian Mills, and Alonza Bevan.
Kula Shaker are a British Rock band who emerged from the post Britpop era. Named after the Ninth Century emperor of the same name, their 1996 debut album K showcased a different approach than their contemporaries, with a sound inspired by 60s Psychedelic Rock and World Music and lyrics influenced by Hindu Spiritualism. After a brief hiatus from 1999 to 2006, they reformed and are still active today.
Current line-up:
- Crispian Mills - vocals, guitar (1993–1999, 2006-)
- Alonza Bevan - bass (1993–1999, 2006–)
- Paul Winter-Hart - drums (1993–1999, 2006–)
- Harry Broadbent - keyboards (2006–)
Former members:
- Jay Darlington - organ, keyboards (1993-1999)
- Saul Dimont - vocals (1993)
Studio discography:
- K (1996)
- Peasants, Pigs & Astronauts (1999)
- Strangefolk (2007)
- Pilgrims Progress (2010)
- K 2.0 (2016)
- 1st Congregational Church Of Eternal Love (And Free Hugs) (2022)
- Natural Magick (2024)
I hear the sound of Tropes:
- The Bus Came Back: Starting in late 2022, Jay Darlington started playing with the band for the first time since the 90s.
- Christmas Songs: They released a Christmas EP featuring the songs "Christmastime Is Here Again" and "Snowflake".
- Cluster F-Bomb: The aptly titled "F-Bombs" from Natural Magick.
- Concept Album: 1st Congregational Church Of Eternal Love (And Free Hugs) could be considered one.
- Cover Version: Their song "Govinda" is actually a traditional Hindu song. They've also covered "Hush" by Deep Purple, "Ballad Of A Thin Man" by Bob Dylan, "Gimme Some Truth" by John Lennon and..."I'm Against It" by Groucho Marx, of all things.
- The Jeevas, Crispian's Solo Side Project, also covered "I'm Gonna Get Me A Gun" by Cat Stevens.
- End of the World as We Know It: Near the end of "Mystical Machine Gun", someone can be heard shouting "Everybody stay calm! Don't panic! It's just the end of the world! It'll be alright as long as we all keep chanting!" Crispian Mills did it in the studio version, but it was done by Arthur Brown for their performance on TFI Friday
. - Epic Rocking: "Hollow Man", "Great Hosannah", "Stotra", "Winters Call", and "Here Come My Demons" all exceed 6 minutes.
- Fading into the Next Song: Used occasionally.
- K:
- "Temple Of Everlasting Light" -> "Govinda"
- Peasants, Pigs & Astronauts:
- "Great Hosannah" -> "Mystical Machine Gun"
- "108 Battles (Of The Mind)" -> "Sound Of Drums" -> "Timeworm"
- "Golden Avatar" -> "Namami Nanda-Nandana"
- K 2.0:
- "Infinite Sun" -> "Holy Flame"
- K:
- Granola Guy: In keeping with Hindu traditions, the band members are all vegetarians.
- Greatest Hits Album: Kollected - The Best Of Kula Shaker.
- Instrumentals: "Sleeping Jiva", "When A Brave Meets A Maid".
- Lead Singer Plays Lead Guitar: Crispian Mills, the band's sole guitarist, is also the primary vocalist.
- Limited Lyrics Song: "Govinda".
- Miniscule Rocking: "I'm Still Here" and the Greatest Hits version of "Strange Folk" are under 2 minutes.
- Mundane Made Awesome: "Drink Tea (For The Love Of God!)".
- Mushroom Samba: "Something Dangerous" might be describing one of these.
- Never Bareheaded: Alonza Bevan in recent years. Paul Winter-Hart also started wearing hats around the time of Peasants, Pigs & Astronauts.
- Out-of-Genre Experience: The song "Peter Pan RIP" has a much more Baroque Pop sound than the rest of their material.
- Protest Song: "F-Bombs" is a song decrying war, as well as all the divisions in life that cause it.
- Putting the Band Back Together: After a seven year break, the members of Kula Shaker decide to tour and record together again. The only exception was keyboardist Jay Darlington, who declined to rejoin. He was instead replaced by Harry Broadbent.
- Record Producer: Pink Floyd producer Bob Ezrin produced Peasants, Pigs & Astronauts, with the band recording the album on David Gilmour's houseboat.
- Rockers Smash Guitars: Crispian smashes his guitar near the end of the music video for "Mystical Machine Gun".
- Sampling: Their song "Gokula" samples the main guitar riff of "Ski-ing" by George Harrison.
- Shout-Out: "Grateful When You're Dead/Jerry Was There" is of course a reference to The Grateful Dead and Jerry Garcia. Apparently, they were recording the former part of the song when Jerry Garcia passed away. The band members felt his presence in the studio, which is recounted in the latter part on the song.
- The song "Peter Pan RIP" from Pilgrims Progress.
- In the music video for "Mystical Machine Gun", one man is seen dressed as Kato.
- Solo Side Project: The Jeevas, a trio formed by Mills during Kula Shaker's hiatus.
- Something Blues: "Modern Blues" from Pilgrim's Progress and "Kalifornia Blues" from Natural Magick.
- Step Up to the Microphone: Alonza Bevan sings a few lines in "Gaslighting".
- Surprisingly Gentle Song: "Drop In The Sea", which only has Crispian on vocals and acoustic guitar.
- Surreal Music Video: The video for "Mystical Machine Gun".
- Truck Driver's Gear Change: Used a couple times in "Tattva".
- Word Salad Lyrics: Some songs, such as "Mystical Machine Gun", have lyrics that can be rather obtuse.
