In 1995, Kula Shaker were named after an ancient Indian Emperor and mystic. Before, they were known as 'the Kays' with a different singer. This singer is now a dj in London and he sees one of the Spice Girls. Well, according to Crispian he is... I don't know whether we can believe that! (Interview Humo August)
Up until the band changed their name to Kula Shaker, they had no luck in the music world. Once they changed their name, they got almost immediately a record deal. The guys have a certain pre-occupation with astrology and numerology and are not afraid to let this influence their most important decisions. Their fascination with India often caused awkward situations with the press but the most important one was over the 'Swastika incident'. More info about this can be found on the special Swastika page. Some time after all that, people seemed to be exploring Kula Shaker's music again instead of misinterpretations of what the band have said in the past.
On 20 September 1999, Kula Shaker was history. Peasants, Pigs and Astronauts would have been their last album together. Crispian had decided that he wanted to continu on his own...

The members of Kula Shaker were :

(from left to right : Alonza, Jay, Crispian, Paul)

Crispian Mills

Son of actress Hayley Mills and director Roy Boulting, grandson of actor Sir John Mills
born on the 18th of January 1973, middle names : John David
Married to Jo, a model (She's the one on the Hey Dude cover!). (Jo is very much into clubbing)
Obsessed with India, King Arthur, Star Wars
Favourite bar : 12 Bar Club in WC2
Looks like a mixture of Luke Skywalker and Brian Jones.
Nickname : Dodge
instruments : guitars, tamboura

Alonza Bevan

Born on the 24th October 1970
born West London
Nickname : Shep
son of two Welsh people, loves to speak with Welsh accent
Looks tall & stoned (well, most of the time, anyway), obviously the son of a former model
instruments : bass, piano, tabla and also does some backing vocals

Paul Winterhart

Celebrates his birthday on the 19th of September (born in 1971)
Born in the mystical place Glastonbury
His father played drums in a jazz band in his free time
according to Crispian he can look like a cross between Ginger Baker and Albert Steptoe!
instruments : drums

Jay Darlington

So far, he is the only member above 30!
Celebrates his birthday on 3 May (born in 1968)
Has become one of the most popular bandmembers in a very short time!
Married to Emma Farmer (since the 10th of March '98!)
Used to be a graphic designer
looks like Richard Branson....well, he used to. Now he looks like a friendly walrus!
instruments : organ, mellontron, piano

The albums

K

was released in autumn '96 and went straight to n° 1 in the British charts. It was one of the most exciting debut albums ever. K is a fantastic mixture of Western pop/rock and Eastern traditional music. The album, featuring 13 world-class songs and one hidden message, is a real adventure, you could even say a journey. The combination of the fascinating lyrics and the sitars is truly amazing. Does this sound a bit strange to you? Then rush out and buy this album! Only then will you understand the real magic of Kula Shaker...

Peasants, Pigs and Astronauts

the second album, is a real Gem. All the songs are incredibly good and the whole album is just a massive unity. No doubt about it, this is my album of the decade! You just can't afford to miss this! Produced by Bob Ezrin (who did Berlin by Lou Reed and also worked with Pink Floyd among others). Already famous for the Astrodude...

The singles

There have been 8 singles so far :
Grateful when you're dead / Jerry was there, Tattva, Hey Dude, Govinda, Hush, Sound of Drums, Mystical Machine Gun and Shower your Love. Hush was originally written by Joe South and then covered by Deep Purple. So, in fact, this is a cover of a cover! But it's one of those rare ones where the cover is better than the original. Hush also meant recognition in mainland Europe. In a very short time, it became a real radio favourite. All these singles were re-issued in England. You should check them out for they have all great b-sides...You can hear a couple of these on the Summer Sun EP that was released in the US in '97. Sound of Drums, was released as a UK only release on the 20th April 1998. The CD single also features some amazing b-sides including some tunes Crispian wrote for a short film 'Reflections of Love'.
Mystical Machine Gun is released on 22 February 1999. It was backed by some cool b-sides including the mighty Holy River and Guitar Man.
Shower Your Love was released on 3 May 1999 and is backed by the great Tin Terriers (formerly also known as Mystery Song)