KULA SHAKER – AN ARTIST SPOTLIGHT AND COOL CONVERSATION
Photos Dutch-Doscher
By Ralph Beauchamp
Kula Shaker is a British rock band known for blending psychedelic rock with Indian musical influences, mysticism and classic 1960s-inspired sounds. Formed in London in 1995, the group was founded by Crispian Mills (Vocals/Guitar), Alonza Bevan (Bass), Paul WinterHart (Drums) and Jay Darlington (Keys). Kula Shaker quickly gained attention for their spiritual themes, use of Sanskrit lyrics and retro aesthetics which set them apart during the height of the Britpop era.
Their 1996 debut album, K, was a major success. It reached number one on the UK charts and produced such hits as “Tativa”, “Hey Dude” and their cover of Deep Purple’s “Hush”. The record showcased Kula Shaker‘s signature fusion of raga-inspired melodies, swirling organ sounds and rock energy. K established Kula Shaker as one of the more distinctive acts of their generation.
Kula Shaker are back and releasing their eighth album entitled Wormslayer out January 30th. It’s a surrealist, technicolor satire packed with “advanced primates, capitalist muppets, an evil ringmaster, and the devil,” according to frontman Crispian Mills, who describes the record as “a psychedelic opera about a boy who grows wings – and what the world does to him.” In true Kula Shaker fashion, it’s part mystical odyssey, part social mirror, and somehow still groove-heavy rock’n’roll
Kula Shaker have released three single in advance of Wormslayer. “Good Money”, “Broke As Folk” and “Charge of The Light Brigade” all feature Kula Shaker‘s infectious grooves but now they are fueled with current musical inflections. Their positive evolution is so evident. The new material floats in the air with brazen accents and a dynamic vibrancy. “Good Money” is silky smooth. “Broke As Folk” has a sublime soundscape while “Charge of The Light Brigade” just cranks with surreal energy.
Across their career, Kula Shaker have remained a unique voice in British rock. Celebrated for their unapologetic embrace of eastern culture and metaphysical concepts, Kula Shaker‘s sound bridges the gap between 1960s psychedelia and modern rock. They have created an enduring legacy of eclectic, spiritually charged music.
Kula Shaker were kind enough to sit with AMP for this cool conversation.
AMP: Kula Shaker has always stood out with a fusion of Indian music, mysticism and psychedelic rock. What first drew you to those Eastern influences?
CRISPIAN: Personal encounters. It started with a beautiful girl, of course. I was 11. She was 14 and shaped like a Coca-Cola bottle. It was never going to work but she turned me on to Krishna. After that first encounter, the mystic brakes were off and everything got exponentially transcendental.
ALONZA: We played a lot of Indian music in our house (where the band loved together in the early days). Friends would come over and we would chant kirtan together (magical sound formulas) with tablas and flutes and kartel cymbals. It was a glorious freak show.
AMP: Looking back to the mid-90’s, how do you feel your music has evolved both sonically and spiritually?
CRISPIAN: We’re the same band. We just play as if our lives depended on it.
AMP: Your debut full length, K, has become such an iconic album. What do you remember most vividly from that era?
JAY: The amnesia and the amnesia.. oh, and the memory loss too.
ALONZA: I remember feeling like my life was completely out of control.
JAY: Did I mention the amnesia?
CRISPIAN: I can remember recording with Bob Ezrin on Pink Floyd’s boat; headlining Glastonbury festival twice in one year; performing on steroids at our first show in NYC; being given a private jet to use after a gig and then being handed a bill for 20,000 pounds; I also remember checking a mix for “Sound of Drums” in Rick Rubin’s Bentley and the car shaking from side to side as he and George Drakoulias head-banged and ate pizza…
PAUL: There were so many insane experiences from that time. I sometimes wonder if we didn’t make them up. If I wrote a book no one would be able to believe it.
CRISPIAN: No one would be able to read it.
JAY: I do recall wearing trousers most of the time and I’m pretty sure I had the same number of extremities?
ALONZA: I remember having hair.
JAY: Did I mention the memory loss?
AMP: Do you write with a message in mind, or do the lyrics and themes emerge naturally?
ALONZA: Songwriting is basically stealing.
CRISPIAN: Well it’s the mixing of craft and inspiration. Inspiration comes from influences or ideas that you have already heard, or from music you have ‘tuned’ into, floating around in the ether. The ether is like radio waves in the universe, from heavenly planetary systems down to the subterranean regions. Hells. I didn’t make that idea up, by the way. That’s Vedic cosmology 101. Either way, the idea is that inspiration always comes from outside you, and you are either conscious of that or not. The songwriting bit is the crafting — where you make choices and bang the materials into shape.
ALONZA: Yeah, it all comes from somewhere else. ‘Tuning in’ to the ether is intuitive. You have to be careful what you grab. I once got a song that was intended for Zucchero and it didn’t go well.
AMP: Is there a song in your discography that you feel has been misunderstood or under appreciated?
CRISPIAN: You don’t get to choose which of your tunes are hits or become classics. That takes place over time, regardless of your preference. I always liked Frank Zappa’s ‘Strictly Commercial’, which he describes in his liner notes as ‘a collection of songs that, in an ideal world, should have all been hits…’
AMP: Your new album, Wormslayer, drops in early 2026. What is the emotional or philosophical core behind it?
ALONZA: It’s a psychedelic journey.
CRISPIAN: A lot of it is about healing from narcissistic abuse and ancestral trauma.
ALONZA: And that too.
CRISPIAN: Haha.
JAY: A lot of people are waking up to this stuff.
AMP: Do you still feel a sense of rebellion in your music?
ALONZA: Battling the forces of evil isn’t an act of rebellion, it’s an act of love.
PAUL: It’s common sense.
JAY: Staying sane in an insane world.
CRISPIAN: One of the greatest acts of rebellion is to break a cycle of abuse and to live a confident, happy, healthy, loving life. To no longer live in fear as a brainwashed serf or a deluded egotist. Profound spiritual awakening is just the natural and inevitable result of healing from trauma. The vast majority of the planet had no idea that it is suffering from trauma. There’s also a minority of the population that are completely sociopathic. Unfortunately, they are the ones running the show.
AMP: Kula Shaker gigs are often described as spiritual experiences. What’s your goal when you walk out on stage?
ALONZA: Try not to trip over any cables or lights.
JAY: Remember the chords.
CRISPIAN: Don’t be mesmerized by the swirling liquid light show.
JAY: Let the muses guide you and don’t stare at anyone in the audience.
PAUL: I’m seeking balance. A balance between my limbs and my mind, and then forgetting about myself altogether.
CRISPIAN: That’s a drummer’s philosophy.
JAY: Zen & the art of bashing things with sticks.
AMP: Are you finding new inspiration in today’s world, or is it more difficult than in the past?
PAUL: I don’t think finding inspiration is difficult to find now, but it is something to be cultivated, to be conscious of. One advantage of opening your mind in your youth is that you know there’s still more out there, that no matter how deep you dig, you’re only scratching the surface.
AMP: If you could go back and give a word of advice to your younger selves, what would you say?
ALONZA: Don’t invest in those Minidisk shares.
CRISPIAN: Bitcoin!
JAY: Stop that or you will go blind.
PAUL: Don’t listen to your future self.
Views: 709
