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- Kula Shaker
- Name
- Before
- Other strange characters
- Band Members
- Marital Status
- Birthdays
- Nicknames
- Food & Animals
- India fascination
- Other musicians
- Music
- Jerry was there
- Tattva
- Govinda
- Namami Nanda-Nandana
- Kula on Film
- Covers
- Collaborations with others
- Other Info
- Fanclubs
Kula Shaker - spelled slightly differently ('Kula
Shakhar' or something like that) - was the name of an
ancient Indian emperor who was also a mystic and who
lived in the 9th century. He was a very devoted religious
person and every morning he cleaned the first step of the
temple where he went to pray. He did this so that the
other people could enter the temple in purity. That's why
that step is now called the 'Kula Shaker step'. Kula
Shaker was also the name of a mystical dude who hung
around with John Lennon in the 70s.
Their first (?) name was 'The Kays'. Probably inspired by
Sir Kay, one of King Arthur's knights, the band had this
name for some time but never had any success during this
period. Then they were told to adopt the name Kula Shaker
and instant happiness would find its way to our
boys...and it worked because in no time, our lucky heroes
had a record deal and the first single 'Grateful when
you're dead' was released. Before the Kays, there was the
Objects of Desire, a band fronted by Marcus Maclaine. In
that band, Crispian, Paul and Alonza were also present.
Crispian and Alonza also had a nightclub called the
'Mantra Shack' where bands like Dodgy performed.
Crispian got married to Jo Branfoot in January 1996 in
Vrindavan, India.
Jay got married to Emma Farmer on 10 March 1998 in
England.
Alonza isn't married or engaged but is dating a girl
called Tessa.
Paul is married (since autumn '99) to Katharine Blake of the band 'Mediaeval Baebes' and
she's reportedly pregnant.
Crispian : 18th January 1973.
Alonza : 24th October 1970.
Jay : 3th May 1968.
Paul : 19th September 1971.
Both Alonza and Crispian have already quite well-known
nicknames. Crispian's nick is Dodge, while Alonza is
called Shep. So, if you spot those names on a cd cover,
don't think it's somebody else who plays intruments...no,
it's just Lonz and Crisp.
We all know that the boys love Indian food, but Crispian
is not only a vegan, but he also has a wheat allergy. As
for fave animals, I have heard that Crispian has (had?) a
little dog, but I'm not sure if that was true.... If
anyone knows more about their food and animal habits, let
me know.
Jerry Garcia was the singer/guitarist with the Grateful
Dead and saw himself as a bit of a guru. A guru on drugs,
mainly. When he died, his ashes were thrown into the
Ganges in India. Among the Deadheads (Grateful Dead
fans), he was seen as a very spiritual and influencial
person and when he died the fans 'felt' his presence.
Kula Shaker were jamming on 'Grateful when you're dead',
when they heard that Jerry had died and thought it would
be a good joke if they made an ending to the song as if
Jerry had been there with them. The whole thing was very
tongue-in-cheek but sadly not everyone got the joke.
Acintya Bhedabheda Tattva means the simultaneous oneness
and difference of reality. We all come from the same
source, we are made of the same material but we are all
individuals, very much different from the next person.
The same is true for everything in nature.Crispian put
this in a song because two people said this to him,
without knowing from each other and he thought it must
have been some kind of sign.
Govinda is a different name for Krsna. Govinda mainly
refers to Krsna as a cowherder in India. All the lyrics
in the song 'Govinda' refer to Krsna, it brings hail to
this great deva.
As Crispian explained in the NME, Namami Nanda-Nandana is
about Krisna. More specifically, it's a warning. It warns
young girls not to get too close to Krisna because he's a very beautiful young boy
and he'll steal your heart. The blessing you get when you
listen to the song is that you will find love.
Saul Dismont :
Crispian's cousin, one time vocalist of the Kays. He left
and Crispian became the singer/guitarist. However, it was
Saul that led the band into the mystical and spiritual
world that still fascinates them. He also told them the
importance of the letter 'K'. He now runs a club in
London 'Magick'.
Don Pecker :
Kula Shaker's 'madness guru'. An ex-con and ex-cabdriver.
Crispian met him in a Krsna-temple in '93. Don was very
much into the Knights of the Round Table and the Holy
Grail. Together with him, Crispian was arrested in '93
over a 'stolen mercedes'. However, charges were dropped
and the two could go to Glastonbury and play at the Krsna
tent and this is how Govinda was aired for one of the
first times.
Marcus Maclaine
: one time boyfriend of Crispian's mum, Hayley. He had a
band - the Objects of Desire - and Crispian played along
at one of the gigs this band did and stayed longer than
they planned at first. He played together in this band
with Alonza. Marcus Maclaine dissappeared out of Hayley's
life and also out of Crispian's life because some odd
things must have happened there. Marcus had some links
with far-right in his youth and this is one of the
reasons the Independent could write a story about
Crispian being involved in it too. They failed to mention
that the journalist who wrote the story was on friendly
terms with Marcus.
Mathura Dasa :
Crispian's guru. According to him, Mathura was a
revolutionary conspirator and had served time in a
Siberian Gulag. He helped Crispian with his study of the
teachings of Chaitanya and changed his life. He also
introduced the band to Kula Shakhar.
With Crispian coming from family full of movie stars and
the like, it isn't surprising that some of their music
was used on screen. 'Hush' was used for the thriller
movie 'I know what you did last summer'. Kula Shaker also
did the soundtrack for the 60s movie 'Reflections of
Love', which was re-released and shown in the UK before
George Harrison's 'Wonderwall'. Songs from this
soundtrack can be heard on the Sound of Drums singles
('Reflections of Love' & 'Smile') and on Peasants,
Pigs & Astronauts ('Radhe Radhe'). Emily (see guestbook) also
pointed out that a couple of Kula Shaker songs were used
in the movie 'Rogue Trader' with the brilliant Ewan
McGregor.
And for those of you who know the English tv soap EastEnders, there was a character in this soap called Joe (played by the rather yummy Paul Nicolls) who had mental problems and everytime he had a crisis, he started playing 'K'.
It all started when Crispian was just a young boy. When
he was 12 years old, he fell in love with a girl from
India. She had an enormous influence on him by making him
aware of how cruel it was to eat animals, thus turning
him veggie, and also by introducing her family to him.
Their background inspired him enormously and this was the
beginning of his love for everything Indian. Later on, he
kept on being interested in Indian music, food, and of
course the country itself.
Yes, most famously of course, Hush
originally written by Joe South, later covered by Deep
Purple. Gokula
took the riff of Skiing
by George Harrison, taken from his Wonderwall
movie. Hurry On Sundown is originally by Hawkwind. During
Govinda, they sometimes sing a part of I
feel free by Cream and they also
did a cover of Red Balloon
and finally, they have also done a cover of Baby,
you're a rich man during some gigs.
As most of you know, Kula Shaker don't have an official
fanclub. Which is a pity, I think. However, there is a
fanclub, an unofficial one, based in Madrid, Spain. The
fanzines are in Spanish but I think that the president of
the fanclub (who is a really sweet girl) is planning to
translate the fanzines into English. This is their e-mail
address : KULA13@teleline.es
Crispian provided vocals on 'Narayan', a track on the
Prodigy album 'Fat of the Land'.
If you have any questions regarding Kula Shaker, you send them to me and I'll try and find an aswer as soon as I can and put it up here.