Kula Shaker are an English psychedelic rock band who came to prominence during the Britpop era. They split during 1999 but have now reformed without Jay Darlington and are touring and planning to write a new album during 2006.
The first stirrings of Kula Shaker came about in 1988 when Crispian Mills (grandson of Sir John Mills and the son of ’60s actress Hayley Mills and film director Roy Boulting) met Alonza Bevan at Richmond College in Surrey. The two went on to play together in a band named Objects of Desire. The Objects of Desire included Mills on guitar, Bevan on bass, and Marcus Maclaine, then Hayley Mills’ boyfriend. During that time they also ran a psychedelic nightclub, called the Mantra Shack, in the back of an ice rink.
In 1993, following the dissolution of Objects of Desire, Mills went backpacking in India, and upon returning he formed a band, The Keys with bassist Bevan, drummer Paul Winterhart, and vocalist Saul Dismont.
Within a year, Dismont had left and organist Jay Darlington had joined the band; prior to joining the group, Darlington had played in several mod revival bands. After spending two years touring and recording the group had not made any headway. According to Mills, the band changed their name and direction in the spring of 1995, when he had an epiphany that the group should take the name Kula Shaker in honour of the ninth-century Indian emperor and holy man ‘Kulasekhara‘, and that they should pursue a more spiritual direction in future (in line with Crispian’s own interest in the philosophy of Gaudiya Vaishnavism). Kula Shaker became the name for the band’s activities from that point onwards.
Members
- Crispian Mills — Lead Vocals/Guitars
- Alonza Bevan — Bass
- Paul Winterhart — Drums
- Harry Broadbent — Keyboards
Ex-members:-
- Jay Darlington (1995-1999) — Keyboards
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