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TOUR SPECIAL - TOUR SPECIAL - TOUR SPECIAL - TOUR SPECIAL - TOUR SPECIAL

KULA SHAKER FANZINE

ISSUE No. 10 MAY 2016

All about the tour: Reviews, photos, interviews and more!

STRANGE FOLK

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Contents

2 CONTENTS3 EDITORIAL4 INTERVIEW with Kula Shaker: “It was such a wild ride”

8 GIG REVIEWS10 Worthing – The best thing you’ve ever heard12 Glasgow – An audience for one of Mountain Lifter14 Manchester – Spiritual, weird yet beautiful…16 London – 90 minutes in Kulaverse18 Worthing/London – From Australia to Kulaland20 Amsterdam – It felt like being in paradise22 Munich – Time passed too quickly24 Milan – A night of Infinite Fun!28 Rome – Something I will remember for many years30 Moscow – Out of this world32 Paris – Solar eclipse, Shiva and crowd surfers

36 INTERVIEW with Kate Baylay: “I immediately got a strong feel for the music”

39 INTERVIEW with Simon Roberts: The story behind 33 Crows

41 Festival dates42 UK tour dates

Photo by Liz Fraser

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Hi Strange Folks,

Wow, it’s only three months ago since our latest issue was published – now you are sitting in front of your screen and browsing through issue ten!

It’s a little anniversary for us indeed – not only have we reached the 10th issue of the one and only Kula Shaker Fanzine STRANGE FOLK, but also it’s our 10th year making the fanzine! The first ever issue saw the light of the day in 2006.

During the past six months everything seemed to go crazy in Kula-land all of a sudden – a new album, a full European tour – what else could we ask for? While several festival dates were already in the pipeline, nobody expected the band to play any further gigs before summer. But sometimes dreams do come true: Tomorrow the guys are heading towards Dublin and are back on the road again touring Ireland and the UK!

To prepare you for more fabulous gigs, we have spent the past few weeks working on the biggest STRANGE FOLK issue yet published. Loads of fans sent in their photos and reviews from the spring tour – we hope you enjoy reliving these special moments! You will also be happy to read a full-length interview with the band, in which they talk about the spring tour and also reveal some exciting plans for the future…

Enjoy the forthcoming gigs and the brand new single, a new recording of “Let Love B (With U)”, which will be out May 27th! Don’t forget to send in your photos – we’ll publish a photo album for each gig on our Facebook page!

Much love, Andrea

STRANGE FOLK - KULA SHAKER FANZINEFanzine team are: Andrea Zachrau - Editor, Anni Kotisalo - Layout & Design, Mary Nilsson - Text & Proof readingProof-reading: Mike Bray

Cover photo: Simon Reed - Musical Pictures. Copies of these pictures can be downloaded from the Musical Pictures website at: http://www.musicalpictures.co.uk/Archive/Kula-Shaker-The-Roundhouse/

Big thanks to all the fans and professional photographers who contributed to this issue!!

Strange Folk fanzine is published on issuu.comhttp://issuu.com/kulafanzinestrangefolk

Join us on Facebook and Twitter:www.facebook.com/kulafanzine.strangefolktwitter.com/kulashakerzine

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INTERVIEW WITH KULA SHAKER

A few weeks after the most recent European Tour, we managed to catch up with the band. Despite Crispian battling with various ailments, Pauli almost getting lost in the spaciousness of St. Petersburg and Alonza dropping many hints that he would like to see a Welsh gig or two, everyone seemed to enjoy being back in the saddle thoroughly. You’ll all be happy to also read about some quite exciting plans for later this year…

STRANGE FOLK: What was it like playing live again after six years?

Crispian: I’ll be honest with you, the build up to the tour was terrifying. There was so much to get ready, so much to remember - coupled with the fact that none of us, apart from maybe Paul, were at all match fit. It could have been a complete disaster. But the Force is strong in this family, so… it all came together. The warm up show in Worthing was a bit of a mess, but we warned the audience at the beginning, so they were expecting it,

looking out for it, and actually seemed quite delighted when I forgot the words and the lights screwed up.

Alonza: In the last 6 years, I’ve been playing with a folk group, an acoustic Sitar project & of course Tumblewild with my lovely wife Audrey. I’d completely forgotten how noisy it is playing with Kula Shaker. Thankfully, I’m a little deafer than before, unfortunately so is everyone else, which means we play even louder!

Paul: It was of course amazing to be back in the saddle with the band. My hands found it tough going but it was a pleasure playing those towns again and seeing Black Casino and the Ghost playing some better gigs.

Harry: Amazing. It’s always such a wild ride playing live with KS. Starting up again after six years felt like starting a massive flywheel moving with a tiny, tiny cog - once it gets up to speed its almost out of control.

by Andrea Zachrau & Mary Nilsson

“It was such a wild ride”

Photo by Simon Reed, www.musicalpictures.co.uk

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STRANGE FOLK: Which was the best crowd of the tour?

Crispian: The ‘Roundhouse’ was an amazing night, jam packed, playing in our home town, but it’s hard to say it was the ‘best’. We’ve been given an incredible reception everywhere we played. Glasgow was fantastic on our 1st night, and Paris was an absolute joy, I can’t think of a disappointing show to be honest.

Alonza: The best crowd of the tour wasn’t the Welsh crowd, because we never play there… subtle hint to booking agent...

Paul: Well Milan was pretty good. I felt like we clicked that night and the crowd were amazing-loud and passionate.

Harry: It’s hard to pick - KS fans are all so great. I remember the Manchester show being pretty massively raucous, but I think the standout was

Paris. We haven't played there in over 10 years I think, and maybe I kind of expected the French crowd to be quite refined and quiet but they were insane. Great fun.

STRANGE FOLK: Which was your favourite venue of the tour?

Crispian: The ‘Roundhouse’ was the best venue of the tour, but that’s because it’s a great space.

Photos by Romano Nunziato and Niska Tognon

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Alonza: I liked the ‘Worthing Pavilion Theatre’. Classic Edwardian dance hall which hasn’t yet had the charm renovated out of it.

Paul: Favourite venue? It was nice doing some bigger rooms again, the ‘Roundhouse’ (London), is rightly seen as a prestige sort of gig – so I might have to say that.

Harry: Playing the ‘Roundhouse’ (London) is always a pleasure. I'll have to go for that.

STRANGE FOLK: Which song did you enjoy playing live most?

Crispian: It was great to hear the new songs go down well. We experimented with running orders and worked out that we’d take our time easing into the new material. ‘Mountain Lifter’ was fun, ‘Infinite Sun’ was tricky but we found the pocket in the end; ‘33 Crows’ often worked well as a more impromptu kind of thing. We’ve got so many songs that sound great live, so we wanted to go and play some more dates, even if they were smaller clubs and things. We’ll mix up the set a bit, play ‘Demons’, ‘Oh Mary’, maybe even ‘Ballad of a Thin Man’.

Alonza: The loudest ones!

Paul: ‘Mountain Lifter’, because it's fast, heavy proggy & tricky. Hopefully we'll delve into our prog-back catalogue for this next leg of the tour. Would be good to try and play ‘Hurricane Season’ again, or ‘Second Sight’.

Harry: It was nice to play ‘Ophelia’ – it’s such a great song and I enjoy the opportunity to play guitar. ‘108 Battles’ is too much fun, ‘Mountain Lifter’ is a blast, and ‘Govinda’ is always amazing.

STRANGE FOLK: Do you have any anecdotes from the tour that you would share with us?

Crispian: As delightful as the gigs themselves were, I spent most of the tour battling injury and ailments. I started with fractured rib, injured my thumb throwing the Strat in Worthing, and slowly developed laryngitis, which is what happens when you tour in Winter. At one point I couldn’t even get out of bed and the Paris show had to be rescheduled. That was tough, but apart from that I ploughed on valiantly.

Photo by Romano Nunziato

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Alonza: The endless parties, the sex, drugs and rock’n’roll, it’s really hard to pick a single moment, maybe the time we all went out for Pizza in Milan, I even had a glass of wine… Ooooohhh!!

Paul: Anecdotes? Well I'm pretty well behaved these days, and others might mention this because maybe I was seen as the clown. But in St Petersburg, we were in traffic going from station to hotel, and after sitting in terrible queues in Moscow too, I decided to hop out of the van and walk to the hotel. Unfortunately I didn’t know where the hotel was and my phone was dead. I'm glad Maurice had given me some Rubles, so I was able to get a lift with a large taxi driving drummer (in yet more traffic) to the wrong gig before being directed to the right gig! I got there fine….no one was even worried about me apart from the promoter’s rep - who hated me for my desertion. I am an impatient bastard! And we must have less rock n’ roll stories than ladies playing bridge in West Hampstead!

Harry: Hmmm, it was actually a pretty full on tour with few days off, so larking about was at a minimum. Paul went swimming in the sea before the 1st gig on the south coast. In February. In England. Shackleton stuff.

Looking back, it’s a minor miracle the rest of the tour happened at all!

STRANGE FOLK: Can you reveal any details about the next single?

Crispian: The next single is a new recording of ‘Let Love B with U’. Some people at Radio 2 said they wanted to play it, so we did some tinkering in the studio and it sounds great. Having said that, whether they will actually play the song or not remains to be seen. There will be an exclusive single after that, which is called ‘2Stix’.

STRANGE FOLK: Are there any plans for another tour in winter?Crispian: Yes. In addition to festivals, there’re likely to be some USA dates in the Fall. Japanese dates in November, and another laryngitis tour in the UK sometime after that. Stand by…

Alonza: (talking about the upcoming tour) I’m looking forward to getting over to Ireland, haven’t been there for a very long time. Also some very cool looking rooms in Scotland and England… none in Wales however… hints getting less subtle.

Photo by Romano Nunziato

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GIG REVIEWSFEBRUARY - MARCH 2016

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WORTHING, PAVILION THEATRE, 13/02/2016

The best thing you’ve ever heard

by Rob Dillon

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The first show of the whirlwind tour was staged on a freezing night at the front of Worthing Pier in front of a packed knowledgeable Kula Shaker audience, including people who had travelled from Spain. The venue which it has to be said had a great sound was the perfect fit for the bands 'warm up show’ which had something off every release (except Strangefolk). Crispian took to the stage in a suit and you knew once 'Sound of Drums' kicked in this was a band that seemed intent on enjoying themselves up there as Mills screamed 'Revolution' at full pitch. The band then rattled along for the next hour and a quarter playing some old and some new.

Each was appreciated like it was the best thing you'd ever heard... Perhaps some of it was! Some songs which featured at later shows were not present here but it was that off the cuff routine which I felt worked well keeping the band on their toes. We can be critical sometimes of when a band has a new album to promote that they flood the set with that product… fair play to the band that they did not overdo this dropping a couple here and there. Of these both 'Infinite Sun' and the

superb '33 Crows' worked the crowd really well.

There was something for everyone here… from the halcyon days of '96 with 'Hush' (crowd surfing!), through to 'Peter Pan RIP' and 'Ophelia'. It was noticeable that the younger watchers were singing every word showing the bands legacy. It's hard to pick real highlights out as to be honest the band totally produced and no one was disappointed… even the bagpipes at the end of 'Mystical Machine Gun' were spot on! 'Tattva' still means a lot to the band as it was as good as I've heard it, but a mention for the crowd as their willingness to participate perhaps got more out of the band.

An encore of 'Hey Dude' (we wrote this many, many years ago was its introduction) 'Great Hosannah' (my personal favourite) and finally a full band/audience rendition of 'Govinda' wrapped up proceedings. We applauded they waved and that was it... Let’s just hope we get more because on this form they're a must watch! It was even colder outside when we left but with your ears ringing it didn't matter…

Photos by Simon Vieler

WORTHING, PAVILION THEATRE, 13/02/2016

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GLASGOW ABC 15/02/2016

By Mary Nilsson

An audience of one for Mountain Lifter…So, it had been the better part of 6 years since getting to see Kula Shaker live, following the release of ‘Pilgrim’s Progress’. However, the hiatus had not been too bad for myself or my husband. With both of us having been very much involved with the Tumbleweed & Tumblewild projects, we had spent of lot of time with Alonza & his family in Belgium, helping the campaign to see the realisation of ‘When The World Had Four Corners’ come to fruition! So for us, that beautiful late winter day in Glasgow was also about catching up with Alonza, have a good chat and of course, there was time for a few cups of tea!

Heading back to the ABC that afternoon, I had flashbacks, not only of seeing Kula Shaker there 10 years ago, but also back to when the ABC was a cinema, and I was telling Alonza that it was there at the tender age of 5 that I saw my first James Bond movie! The ABC is a place full of amazing memories, and of course that evening promised to make some more… after a small catch up with Crispian, Henry, Pauli and of

course the lovely Mr Simon Roberts (make sure you catch my interview with Simon also in this issue), it was time for sound check. These are always fun – kind of like your own little gig, but you also get to hear the kinks being ironed out. At one point, as the sound check progressed, my husband and Susheel seemed to have disappeared – and, at that point, as the band played, I realised that I was an audience of one for ‘Mountain Lifter’. I have to say, it was a little bizarre, but kind of humbling all at the same time. But before I knew it, sound check was finished and it seemed like the crowd would be coming into the venue in no time at all! Glasgow crowds are unique – people give their all when they love a band, and that night was no different. Things were a little quiet when ‘Black Casino and the Ghost’ made their Glasgow debut, but as people realised just how good they were, they were drawn towards the stage – and as Elisa finally blasted out ‘Boogeyman’ (a petite lady with such a BIG voice), the crowd were bouncing!

Photo by Karen Rogerson

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Following BCATG, the smell of Nag Champa incense became all too familiar, signalling that the lads were due to kick off. Completely owning the stage from the moment they stepped on, they began with ‘Sound of Drums’. Always a firm favourite with fans, this song caused the crowd to explode with excitement whilst Crispian with his usual enthusiasm, jumped around the stage – and is it just me, or does he seem to have enough energy to jump on & on forever? Of course, with a bit of a rib injury, I don’t know how he managed the jumps, but he still made sure that he put a smile on everyone’s face. Apart from the band themselves, the other consideration was the stage lighting. It was amazing. Hindu pictorial reference always goes along nicely with Kula Shaker’s music, and this was no exception. In an already mega-charged atmosphere, this just made things even better!

With their new album, ‘K2.0’ only having been released a few days prior to this gig, it was refreshing to see that there was still an excellent mix of some of their time-proven classics including ‘303’ (always a crowd pleaser), ‘Grateful When You’re Dead/Jerry Was There’, ‘Mystical Machine Gun’, ‘Shower Your Love’, ‘Temple of Everlasting Light’ & ‘Tattva’ to name but a few. However, it was beautiful to hear songs from the newly released album, including ‘Infinite Sun’, being played live – clearly, although it is a lovely song whatever the circumstances, it is even more beautiful, somewhat delicate to be heard live. It is easy to see that the band are very much in love with this song, and it translates beautifully to the stage & definitely put a smile on the fan’s faces.

In addition to ‘Infinite Sun’, Crispian proudly announced that Glasgow was the debut for the live version of ‘Mountain Lifter’. Having heard it earlier at sound check, I was eager to see the reaction of the crowd, and from what I could see, they loved it. As I mentioned in my previous review of ‘K2.0’ (Strange Folk, Issue 9), this song is of epic greatness & is made to ‘blow your minds’.

In the encore of this brilliant evening, we were treated to ‘Hey Dude’, a song which has certainly stood the test of time, and still gives

me goose-bumps to this day when I hear it. Followed by the beautiful ‘Great Hosannah’, we all knew that the last song had to be ‘Govinda’ – and as always, everyone sung along & waited for Crispian to throw his guitar in the air (which he always seems to catch in Glasgow). With that done, it was backstage to say our goodbyes and off home with a case of tinnitus & a grin on my face.

From the time of writing this review, the lads have announced another small tour, with a stop off at the ‘Liquid Rooms’ in Edinburgh, so I look forward to another catch up, and hopefully the chance to hear some more of the new songs played live. Personally, I would love to hear ‘Love B (With U)’, ‘Holy Flame’ & ‘Oh Mary’, but I guess we will just have to wait and see what our tenacious lads have in store for us!

GLASGOW ABC 15/02/2016

Photo by Karen Rogerson

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Spiritual, weird yet beautiful…

THE O2 RITZ, MANCHESTER 16/02/2016

The crowd waited in anticipation for Kula Shaker to ascend the stage. After a 6 year break from touring and recording, the eccentric 90s psych indie rock band from London, are back again with the newest material for their album ‘K 2.0’ the sequel to their debut album ‘K’. As the audience waited, the room was delighted by the smell of incense, wafting from the stage, filling the room and balancing the energy. A moving kaleidoscope projection lit up the stage, producing a swirling menagerie of colours and imagery of religious deities like Krishna to more present day celebrity figures like Kevin Spacey; weird, but funny. All the Krishna goodness and hippy love, charmed the crowd and tamed their restlessness to finally see the band after so long. Overall the mood was chilled, the clientele were a mix of fans from the 90s when Kula Shaker were at their prime, and the new generation who weren’t there but kind of get what it’s all about.

Finally the music fades from classic old soul records, finishing on a satisfying high crescendo of Minnie Riverton’s ‘Les Fleurs’ and Kula Shaker took to the stage. They kicked it off with their 1998 hit ‘Sound of Drums’ taking us all back to their heyday in the late 90s with everyone jumping up and down. ‘Gokula’ and ‘Hurry Om’ followed, showing the band’s ingrained Hare Krishna and Indian influence. Kula Shaker’s debut album ‘K’ features a storytelling narrative of Indian spiritual journeys with ‘Grateful When You’re Dead/Jerry’ and ‘Temple of Everlasting Light’, full of indulgent, playful, psychedelic guitar solos and ethereal singing. Then to link back to the present day, the band played new singles ‘Mountain Lifter’ and ‘Infinite Sun’ from ‘K 2.0’, harkening back to those classic Indian sitar, tamboura and tabla sounds, enthused with simple yet enlightened lyrics; “She changes everything she touches and everything she touches changes”.

by Liz Fraser

Photo by Liz Fraser

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Frontman Crispian Mills is a likeable fellow, ever thanking the crowd for coming and showing their support, whilst reminiscing about being in Manchester again after 6 years since their last European tour. On Kula Shaker’s hit songs, Mills jumped about on stage with his trademark, statement piece blonde hair swooshing around in the air, though Mills later confesses that due to a couple broken ribs he can’t jump around as much as he’d like too, so not to be mistaken for an ‘old fart’. But you can’t deny that the whole band put a lot of energy into their set; they’re full of life, enjoying being back on tour and playing sold out shows around the world.

As the night went on the band perform an eclectic mix of hits and singles from their 5 studio albums including ‘Shower Your Love’, ‘Mystical Machine Gun’ and the catchy ‘108 Battles (Of The Mind)’ from ‘Peasants, Pigs & Astronauts’, ‘Second Sight’ from ‘Strangefolk’, ‘Peter Pan’ and the lovely ‘Ophelia’ from ‘Pilgrims Progress’, and ‘303’ from ‘K’. The crowd were back jumping again with another catchy lyric and whiney guitar riff. Finally, the track we’d all been waiting for, their best known song that you don’t even have to know Kula Shaker for to know the song because it’s so engrained in our psyche, one word, ‘Hush’. Continued with the epic ‘Tattva’ and the band ended their set with another one of their well-known tracks, ‘Hey Dude’ which would leave everyone on a high, reminiscing about the good old days back when Kula Shaker were at their height in Post-Brit Pop.

Of course the band returned to the stage after a boot stomping, clapping encore plea from the crowd and treated them to a rendition of the classic ‘Great Hosannah’ and the transcending Hare Krishna chant ‘Govinda’. You could feel the love in the air, as everyone chanted in unison, “Govinda Jaya Jaya, Gopala Jaya Jaya, Radha-Ramana Hari, Govinda Jaya Jaya.”

On reflection a very fun, energetic and enjoyable night that was surprisingly spiritual, weird yet beautiful, with the mixture of psychedelic rock and Indian influences.

THE O2 RITZ, MANCHESTER 16/02/2016

Photos by Liz Fraser

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90 minutes in KulaverseLONDON, ROUNDHOUSE, 17/02/2016

After a few years of nothing much from my favourite band, it was such a joy to have that ticket in my hand once more. Supporting on the Kula Shaker tour was Black Casino and

The Ghost, a quirky alternative band from London. They set the mood for the crowd in anticipation of the main act. The air filled with the scent of incense burning on the stage…

by Anni Kotisalo

Photo by Simon Reed, www.musicalpictures.co.uk

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As soon as ‘Radhe Radhe’ started playing from the loudspeakers, all the world outside vanished from my mind and the following 90 minutes were spent in ‘Kulaverse’.

They played three new songs, ‘Infinite Sun’, ‘33 Crows’ (a charming little acoustic number) and ‘Mountain Lifter’, which all fit well alongside the older tracks. For me, ‘Here Come My Demons’ was missing, I’d have wanted to hear that one as it really stood out for me from the new album on first listen. (Maybe it’s the Finnish mentality in me that relates with dark, moody themes in music…) Otherwise, you can’t really pick a favourite, each song was welcomed with as much enthusiasm as the song that had just finished.

A few times during the gig I turned around and looked at the crowd behind me, all the way to the back and up on the balcony. You couldn’t pinpoint a certain group of people who were there – a mix of different kinds of people, of all ages – all gathered together to immerse themselves in the music of Kula Shaker. That’s why it’s special, and why we keep going back for more.

The last song before the encore was ‘Hey Dude’. Crispian introduced it as “a song we wrote a long, long time ago when we were kids, maybe you remember it from your childhood”. For me, as for many others, this is true – I was 13 when I heard ‘Hey Dude’ on the radio and I’ve been a fan ever since!

In the end ‘Great Hosannah’ and ‘Govinda’ had the crowd singing along and “Govinda jaya jaya…” echoed throughout the venue. There are only so many words you can use to describe the experience that is a Kula Shaker gig - the rest you have to find out for yourself.

LONDON, ROUNDHOUSE, 17/02/2016

Photos by Simon Reed, www.musicalpictures.co.uk and Andrea Zachrau

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WORTHING PAVILION THEATRE, 13/02/16 & LONDON ROUNDHOUSE, 17/02/16

INFINITE BLISS! – From Australia to Kulaland

by Christine Hillingdon, Australia

It was 1999. I had just recovered from a mysterious virus. One that seriously affected my hearing throughout its stay. I hadn’t been able to listen to any music for months. Music is my religion in life, so I had been feeling really down during this time. Hubby had borrowed a heap of CDs from his mate and kept them stacked on the CD shelf. On the top was an album titled ‘K.’ The cover intrigued me. A sort of a modern day Sgt Pepper’s with a bit of Indian spice added. I was into India. In fact, I have a smidgen of Indian blood in my veins and am rather proud of it. I slotted it into the player and went off to make a cup of tea… I never made it to the door. ‘Hey Dude’ stopped me in my tracks. ‘Govinda’ brought tears to my eyes, even though I couldn’t understand a word of the lyrics! ‘303’ had me dancing wildly.

Two months later I had purchased every single thing Kula Shaker had released. I was totally obsessed. I wanted to see them live, because from all that I had read, it seemed they were very much a live band, but I really doubted whether they would ever come as far as Australia. Besides, it appeared they had disbanded at this time. I’d missed out completely. I discovered their forum and joined up. Now I had fellow KS fans I could post messages to. Whinge to about wanting a

new album, wishing I could see them live etc. I read all the Fanzines. Devoured any info I could find on them on the Net. When KS finally reformed I was rapt. I decided I would fly to London and see them there. London, my favourite city in the entire world. I do a lot of travelling and needed a break from the “stuff of life” this end, Down Under. But no British tour happened then. No further albums either… Mortified!

Five years later the Net informs me KS is releasing a new album and new tour dates are announced! My birthday was coming up so I went online and purchased a ticket right there and then. By the days end I had planned a whole two week trip to London and purchased a ticket for the Worthing gig as well. After leaving behind a forty degree heat wave in Australia, London felt like I had stepped inside my freezer. But I welcomed the cold. And it was great to be back home, having been born there before immigrating with my family when I was nine years old. The next day was the Worthing gig, so I caught the train down and checked into my hotel just up the road from the Pavilion. Despite persisting jet-lag, I went for a wander and met Don Pecker (a story in itself) busking in the town centre. This resulted in a possible meet and greet with KS after the show!

Photo by Simon Vieler

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That evening, after braving the rain and cold blowing in from the seafront, I managed to grab a spot at the front near the stage, just right of centre, so I could see Paul as well. I stood beside a guy named Sam, from a band called The Bleach. It was his first time seeing KS live too. We were both wired; ready to rock.

Incense permeated the air, the lights dimmed and there they were! ‘Sound of Drums’ belted out. I watched (between photo shoots) KS perform a good choice of their hits spanning the years, along with a couple of new songs off the new album as well. Mills was throwing himself into it; Paul completely disappeared behind a cloud of incense at one point. Alonza and Harry grooved along. Amazing! Was this all really happening? Twelve thousand miles and still jet-lagged it all seemed a bit surreal. It felt so good to be able to sing along with an audience; an audience, who like me, knew all the words and belted them out; threw them back at the band with love. I managed to grab a Set List after it was over, begging the bouncer for one like I was a besotted teenager. Then dear Don magically appeared and took me backstage. When I walked into the tiny room everyone was chatting. There were half-devoured, vegetarian, pizzas in boxes and empty beer bottles scattered around. Crispian’s wife Joe and his mother Hayley were there too. I have been a Mills’ family fan for years so it was lovely to meet her after all this time. So vibrant and bubbly; exactly how I thought she would be. Alonza’s mother, (whose name I forget, sorry) rescued me from my rather star-struck, post-concert state and introduced me to Alonza. I gave him some organic tea in bags from Queensland I had brought with me, sealed inside a zip-lock bag, We chatted about being fellow ‘tea-pots’ then he sniffed

the bag suspiciously, grinning as he did so. I informed him he could try smoking it if he wished, but I doubted he would achieve anything by doing so.

I gave Crispian a CD I had put together of classic Aussie hits, mostly from the ‘60’s & ‘70’s. Stuff I figured they could listen to whilst travelling. Stuff I doubt they have ever heard. Australia is still an isolated country when it comes to music. Crispian appeared intrigued. Paul gave me a beer before buzzing off somewhere. I had spotted him out front, before the show.

He appeared to be moving around; checking things out, making sure all was being sorted. Harry was complaining of sleep deprivation and Crispian was so spent after his performance he could hardly stand up! I managed to have the inner sleeve of my original ‘K’ CD signed by all and on my way out I

also chatted to Elisa from ‘Ghost,’ who has an amazing voice.

Four days later I was at the Roundhouse. My first time inside this historical rock venue! Me - front row, just right of centre again. How lucky is that? An even better show. They had warmed up; Mills was on fire. The band tighter. I wondered what they’d be like half way through the tour if this was how they sounded just three shows into it? Unbelievable. Singing along with the audience to ‘Govinda’ at the end brought tears to my eyes once more.

I bumped into Hayley Mills again on my way out and asked her to pass on my thoughts and impressions of it all – and chatted to Crispian’s half-brother Jason, who was with her at the same time! Dreams really do come true, it seems. It poured with icy rain all the way back to my hotel.

The things I do for Rock & Roll!

WORTHING PAVILION THEATRE, 13/02/16 & LONDON ROUNDHOUSE, 17/02/16

Photo by Christine Hillingdon

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It felt like being in paradise

AMSTERDAM, PARADISO, 21/02/2016

By Daiane Hemerich

The afternoon of February 21st in Amsterdam could not be more Dutch: grey, cold, a bit rainy and miserably windy. But the unmerciful weather didn’t stop this first-time reviewer from parking at the back door of ‘Paradiso’. My hope was to talk to my favourite band again – six years after having this experience during the last Kula Shaker tour at ‘Relentless Garage’ in London. It didn’t happen during the first couple of hours, so I joined the small crowd of fans who had started to gather at the front door, waiting for it to open. They opened at 7p.m., and we all went directly to the front of the stage.

A few minutes and a lot of anxiety were felt between that moment and the beginning of the evening’s program. The day before, the performance in Paris was cancelled. Crispian’s voice was shattered in the middle of the tour. We could only hope he’d recovered for the concert at ‘Paradiso’, one of the main venues in Amsterdam. The place was quickly filling up for the sold-out gig. The excitement only increased with ‘Black Casino and the Ghost’ carrying out the job of warming us up for what is about to come. After the opening band, the venue was packed. The

excitement filled the air. Apples with incense sticks were placed on the stage. Right after, the Peacock Stratocaster took its place. The trip was about to start.

Crispian Mills, Alonza Bevan, Harry Broadbent and Paul Winterhart walked on stage to the screams of the crowd. There they were, nine years after their last concert at ‘Paradiso’, and six years after the band went quiet. Tears and my biggest smile came automatically at the first chords of ‘Sound of Drums’. Crispian mentioned the fact that his voice betrayed him the day before. He warned us that he would slow down that evening, but with all of his characteristic energy the concert proceeded with ‘Gokula’. Then, he grabbed his harmonica for the upbeat cover of Hawkwind’s ‘Hurry on Sundown’. Next, nostalgia came along with ‘Grateful When You're Dead/ Jerry Was There’, ending with the trippy image of Jerry Garcia, and followed by ‘Temple of Everlasting Light’. The cloud of smoke from the incense sticks contributed to the mystical atmosphere. It increased when the crowd started chanting the chorus of ‘Infinite Sun’, a song packed with Indian feeling that opens the new album, ‘K2.0’.

Photo by Daiane Hemerich

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The folky ‘33 Crows’, also featured on the new album, followed in the set list, working as well as a hug. Nostalgia hits again with ‘Shower Your Love’ and ‘303’. The groovy ‘Mountain Lifter’, played along with psychedelic images and a lot of energy, was well-received by the public. The album ‘Pilgrim’s Progress’ then appears on the set-list, represented by ‘Peter Pan R.I.P’ and the beautiful ‘Ophelia’, bringing my tears back. The concert proceeded going back to the older classics such as ‘Mystical Machine Gun’, ‘108 Battles (Of the Mind)’ and ‘Tattva’, this last song increasing even more the level of lysergic feelings. They kept up with ‘Hush’, a Joe South cover played with such energy that it makes it impossible not to dance.

As the first part ended and the band left the stage, I looked around to the astonished faces. I hugged other Kula Shaker addicts that I’d never seen before that day. I couldn’t help but feel like I was at one with the people around me. A few minutes more and the band walked back on to the stage for an encore of pure energy. ‘Hey Dude’, the first track of the 20 year-old album ‘K’ made us dance again.

‘Great Hosannah’, a classic from ‘Peasants, Pigs and Astronauts’, invited the enthusiastic audience to sing along. Finally, the last song and a collective catharsis. The 20 year old mantra ‘Govinda’ was sung in a very special way, and it is and always will be a very special and powerful song. With screams of a thrilled audience, the concert ended and the band walked away from the stage. Ecstasy!

I grabbed Crispian’s set list and started my way out, heartwarmingly seeing emotional faces trying to assimilate what just happened. It happened. Even Jerry was there. It was colder and windier than before, but I was there again at the back door. This time, I was accompanied by a German, Tobi, plus Gabriela and Manoela, two girls I saw by my side in front of the stage wrapped on a Brazilian flag, automatically calling my attention – I’m Brazilian myself. This coincidence could be funny enough, but it turns out our hometowns are actually less than 1 hour away. In a country of huge dimensions like Brazil, this encounter by chance is at least special.

Some one and a half hour after the concert, Paul walked outside from the backstage and found us there freezing. What followed this moment is again quite difficult to describe. Smiles, hugs, pictures, autographs. They were given the Brazilian flag as a gift, along with our requests for a South American tour. As we walked outside from backstage, after chatting with our favourite band, following an amazing concert six years after the last tour, we found ourselves unable to speak a full sentence. Laughing and smiling and hugging each other, the three Brazilians left ‘Paradiso’. And indeed, it really felt like being in paradise that evening.

AMSTERDAM, PARADISO, 21/02/2016

Photos by Daiane Hemerich

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Time passed too quickly

MUNICH, FREIHEIZ, 23/02/2016

Kula Shaker! This is the band I have been wanting to see live since 1996 - but it has never worked out before. Some things are not meant to be except for when it is the right time. So obviously this time was the right time, because on February 23rd, I found myself on my way to Munich. The venue, Freiheizhalle is a nice small place for concerts, and this evening it was SOLD OUT!

First on were the support band, Black Casino and the Ghost, a cute punk rock band. Then a few minutes of waiting, and then Kula Shaker began. ‘Sound of Drums’ was first - it was a great start and a very happy moment for me personally after all this time of wishing for a show to come up I’d be able to attend. But I

wasn’t the only one, from the beginning the whole audience went along with the music.

Good bands don’t need a big stage or video walls and tons of special effects, they only have to be themselves, and they capture their audience with their presence. And the guys were doing exactly that. The set list was a perfect mix of greatest hits and fan favourites and the best known new songs. I can’t tell you which were my favourite moments because I enjoyed every single song; but ‘Jerry Was There’, ‘Mystical Machine Gun’ and ‘Mountain Lifter’ were just great. My boyfriend was especially happy because of ‘Peter Pan RIP’, as this is his absolute favourite Kula Shaker song!

by Andrea Schweinberger

Photo by Andrea Schweinberger

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Time passed too quickly, and way too soon it was over. When it was time for encores, Crispian entered the stage, asking, “What do you want to hear“? Some guys were shouting, ‘33 Crows’, so this was the next song he played. Finally, although I, like everyone else had been waiting for it, I was a bit sad when ‘Govinda’ started for it symbolised the end of the show. The sadness was forgotten after one or two seconds though, and the end of the show made me as happy as the beginning.

It has been a great privilege for me to attend the concert right in front of the stage and to watch the performance up close and to see Crispian Mills’ guitars from such a short distance, and of course see him playing them. Although he seemed to be a bit tired and his voice wasn’t completely ok, he did a great performance.

Thank you Crispian, Harry, Paul and Alonza for an unforgettable, inspiring and incredibly amazing experience! Hope to be able to attend another one of your shows soon!

MUNICH, FREIHEIZ, 23/02/2016

Photos by Andrea Schweinberger

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MILAN, ALCATRAZ, 25/02/2016

Photo by Romano Nunziato

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A Night of Infinite Fun!

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'It is time'. Since that very first Facebook post last September, all of us had already started a personal countdown. My countdown ended up in the venue ‘Alcatraz’ in Milan, on Thursday 25th of February at 9.35pm. Over a thousand Italian fans, all in one big room were all singing loud (and yes, also crying). Sometimes you feel like the world isn't ready for you, especially when everyone else around is trying to make you feel insane just because you're not supporting 'famous bands'. But talent and happiness, is when you feel at home surrounded by many other Kula Shaker lovers.

‘Alcatraz’ welcomed many people, aged 35-40 years old, but also a lot of younger ones. Like pilgrims following the smell of a sweet familiar mantra everyone came inside at 7.30pm. Everyone kept looking around to check how many people were in the big room. 'Let's hope for a sold out': a sweet way to wish luck, in smiling silence, to the upcoming show. One hour later we enjoyed the exhibition of the super talented ‘Black Casino and the Ghost’.

by Irene Carlotta Cicora

MILAN, ALCATRAZ, 25/02/2016

Photo by Niska Tognon

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The 'Howling' voice of singer Elisa Zoot - half Italian, like she said proudly – impressed me, especially with 'Boogeyman' and 'Sherry'. The guy standing next to me said: 'Only the best supporting act can announce the great return of Kula Shaker'. Then incense was suddenly all around: 3, 2, 1. I think the last 10 minutes waiting for a dream to come true is when you realise you did it: 'They're back, I'm here'. Ten minutes to hold your breath until... you hear that familiar ‘Sound of Drums’. And suddenly it was time to 'Hurry on Sundown', straight 'Into the Deep' looking for the enchanted 'Temple of Everlasting Light'. A trip back into the old (unforgettable) days!

Most of the songs were taken from 'K' and 'Peasants, Pigs & Astronauts' with a great cameo: '108 Battles (of the mind)'. That is the song you should listen to when you need to go on, no matter what: just because you can do it. The Alcatraz time machine took everyone back and forth, travelling at the speed of memories. Tears and prayers welcomed 'Infinite Sun' and 'Mountain Lifter' from the exquisite newborn 'K2.0'. A very touching moment was when Crispian sang 'Peter Pan RIP', supported by psychedelic

colours and images on three big screens behind the guys. The crowd was so into the set list: 20 songs and each of us singing everything, especially the Sanskrit super hits 'Tattva' and 'Govinda'. In the 'Gopala jaya jaya' refrain, the crowd was one big voice, even louder than the instruments. I will never forget the moment I felt (once again) like a wizard in a blizzard! With aliens identities hiding all around (with Jerry?). Only one thing on my mind: I AM HAPPY. That's the magic of music. You can only be happy while listening to the one you love. What a night of infinite… fun.

The last one on the set list? ‘Hush’. But there was still time for 3 encores (and one request). ‘Hey Dude’, ‘Great Hosannah’ and, of course, the Sanskrit queen ‘Govinda’. Someone from the audience even asked for a 'Strangefolk' encore: 'Hurricane season'. And Crispian replied: 'Really? Maybe next time'.

‘Next time...’ How can two little words be so beautiful? There you go, we will be waiting (again, as always) until next time. You promised.

MILAN, ALCATRAZ, 25/02/2016

Photo by Niska Tognon

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Something I will remember for many years

ROME, ORION CLUB, 26/02/2016

Kula Shaker are one of my favourite bands ever, so it’s with love that I write this review: I have known of KS since their release of ‘Govinda’ in 1996, when I was a child, and I was really attracted by this sound which was new to my ears. I saw them live for the first time in 2007 in Rome and I promised myself that I would see them again and again. So, this year, 2016 is a lucky year for me, I saw them twice in London and Rome. I went to London to see KS in their “natural habitat”, and the Roundhouse gig was wonderful, people were waiting for them, it was an adrenalin-rush of a concert. But, against my expectations, the Orion gig in Rome was something that I will remember for many years.

Let’s start from the beginning: ‘Orion Club’ is in Ciampino, near Rome. It is a small round place, and it holds probably one thousand people, the stage is small and short, so people could stand very close to the band on stage. The band that went up first on stage

was ‘Black Casino and The Ghost’: they were brilliant, a lot of people in the crowd knew them, and, in my surprise, I found out that two of the guys were Italian (from near Rome!). Half an hour later the end of BCATG exhibition, lights out, and begins the indian voice of ‘Radhe Radhe’ in loop version: then Crispian, Alonza, Harry and Paul were on stage, and the crowd was so excited, you could feel the energy in that small room! After a short guitar intro Pauli started with the rhythm of ‘Sound of Drums’, and people began to jump all together! In a rapid succession the guys played ‘Gokula’ and ‘Hurry On Sundown’: they know too that this night is magic, the band and the crowd are in a telepathic embrace. In fact, I heard Crispian asking to Harry and Alonza ‘Into The Deep’?, and then they played this wonderful song in a brilliant way. The songs flowed fast, in the order ‘Grateful When You’re Dead, Jerry Was There’, ‘Temple of Everlasting Light’ and then ‘Infinite Sun’, when a smiling Crispian mimics the eagle’s fly.

by Antonio Tunno

Illustration by Chiara Santantonio

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Songs like ‘Shower Your Love’, ‘303’ & ‘Mountain Lifter’ gave this night a special feeling, but I think the highest point of the gig was when ‘Peter Pan R.I.P’., ‘Ophelia’ and ‘Mystical Machine Gun’ filled the air: Crispian was jumping and laughing with the crowd all the time, he gave people something that few artists are able to give. I don’t know why that night was special, the guys have a special relationship with Italy, but I think there is more than that. My opinion is that ‘Orion club’ is a small place, the stage is small too, this allows a band to have a different feedback from the crowd because they are both so close.

Keeping this, there are two more considerations: KS music is spiritual, so is more simple to have an energy exchange between the band and the crowd; the last observation is that (this is my thought, I don’t

know if it’s right!) the guys, Crispian in particular, are not “mainstream”: I don’t think they love the modern music business, it’s the reason why they created their own label and why they create new music when they really feel it, not when a major label asks them. In this prospective it’s natural that when you play in a small place, with a crowd close to you that sings along with you and gives you

his love, you are glad to play music for that people!

The setlist finished with ‘108 Battles’ (WOW!), ‘Tattva’ and ‘Hush’. Then the encore… when they returned on stage they gave us all the spiritual, enthusiastic and peaceful music ever, with ‘Hey Dude’, ‘Great Hosannah’ and ‘Govinda’, singing along with the crowd.

Crispian, Alonza, Harry and Paul were all smiling, they thanked all the people for being there that night and they promised that they’ll come back in Italy in the summer (Crispian’s words). That night we were all brothers, we knew that. Thanks Kula Shaker! Thanks Crispian, Alonza, Paul, Harry!

ROME, ORION CLUB, 26/02/2016

Illustration by Chiara Santantonio

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Out of this world

MOSCOW, YOTASPACE CLUB, 03/03/2016

by Anastasia Ferenczy

When I was a teenager, almost all modern music was nothing but a single mass product for me, something released in an unlimited edition. Suffice monotonous stream. I swear, nowadays it’s so hard to find something original, worthy of my attention. Was I lucky enough to find a beautiful pearl in a deep ocean? Yes, of course. About 7-8 years ago I found Kula Shaker.

A week ago I finally managed to see them live at their concert. In my opinion, the most valuable experience can be acquired when we are in contact with that music, which is really filled with sacred meaning. If the genesis of the universe had a soundtrack, then it was ‘Great Hosannah’. In my head, Heidegger and Sartre unwittingly re-arguing

over an eternal topic: what was the primary - essence or existence?

For me, Kula Shakers’ Moscow gig has become, perhaps, the biggest revelation in my life: as if the guys lifted the veil of ‘the Being’ in front of me. An interesting twist: the desire to have fun was transformed into spiritual enrichment. The relaxed atmosphere that prevailed before the concert, lulled me a little. A giant postmodern Kaleidoscope turned my head, allowed me to abstract from everyday hustle and bustle and some minor problems. Even before they started playing, Kula Shaker shared some real magic with the Moscow audience. If there was a relevant comparison, I would have mentioned the 14-hour Technicolor Dream.

Photo by Anastasia Ferenczy

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MOSCOW, YOTASPACE CLUB, 03/03/2016

The sound of drums has always seemed to me to be something ceremonial. And, of course, it wasn’t a surprise that the original ceremony of a new meeting of the band and the Russian fans was opened by ‘Sound Of Drums’. All our favourite songs sounded like something special, very personal, very touching - even those which were saturated with incredible guitar passages and ultrafast beats, ‘Hush’ and others. Crispian Mills stood just a few metres from me, he intelligently joked with the audience between songs and smiled – a bit embarrassedly, I guess? There was no point to remind yourself of his younger image, because here he was, the real Crispian, very close, just the same, a little cheeky, frolicsome, talented and lively. I just couldn’t stop smiling. He brought us so much real joy and goodness!

Just a little message from me to you, dear KS guys, you really should play more songs from the new album! It is the real thing, it sinks into the soul. Something very inspirational and incredibly beautiful. How can you ignore such cool stuff? Songs from the “K 2.0” are responsible for the amazing psychedelic experience, which I was lucky enough to get at the Moscow concert. Such a powerful, realistic and, most importantly, a

legal trip I will never forget. It’s like feeling electricity at the fingertips, yes, an infinite sun, very gentle and charming. Is there any way to stay in this fantastic world forever? My suffering soul has finally received the long-awaited opportunity to see my guru. Mr. Mills apologised for not coming to Russia since 2009, also he said something nice about the public and the beautiful city. To my mind, Crispian is just one of those musicians whom you can trust. So honest. The complete opposite of the rest of his colleagues on the British rock scene. He’s someone familiar and at the same time - out of this world.

Now I’m listening to a remarkable oldie ‘Magic Theatre’. Somehow I

feel it’s the most delicate allusion to the immortal “Gnossienne No. 3” by Erik Satie. Maybe one day I’ll listen to a live version of this reprise, who knows?

Dear Kula Shaker, you have taken my little happy heart away with you. I hope that the experience I’ve got I’ll repeat soon and even multiply. Yes, we all know how slushy, unpleasantly cool it was outdoors that evening (ordinary Russian weather, eh), but you gave me a wonderfully joyous spring mood, which won’t leave me for a long time! I hope so.

Photos by Anastasia Ferenczy

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Solar eclipse, Shiva and crowd surfers

PARIS, LA MAROQUINERIE, 08/03/2016

by Ian W

So here we are again at La Maroquinerie, and the atmosphere is one of excitement mixed with a slight apprehension. Excitement due to the fact that we are an hour or two away from the experience of seeing Kula Shaker live in 2016, something that not many of us expected to happen after the very low-key release of ‘Pilgrim's Progress’ in 2010 and the band's subsequent hiatus due to Crispian's film work. And the apprehension... well, some of us are here at La Marquinerie for the second time in a matter of weeks after being greeted by a sign on the door first time around announcing (quaintly) that "le chanteur de KULA SHAKER étant malade.”

Although admittedly this came as no great surprise to the faithful who had seen KS in Brussels a couple of days earlier where it was clear that Crispian was struggling badly with his voice. (In hindsight one wonders if a busy European tour starting the day after the end of a UK one might have been a case of too-much, too-soon for a band who haven't played live for such a long period of time.)

But that was then, and this is now... subsequent shows on the European tour apparently passed without further voice issues and we're hopeful now that we'll see KS at full strength.

Photo by Daiane Hemerich

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PARIS, LA MAROQUINERIE, 08/03/2016

The venue itself (now that we can finally see what lies behind the slightly-foreboding wooden door) is tiny. Considering that the band played a sold out gig at the 1,700-capacity Roundhouse in London the previous month, this might seem a bit beneath them, but in truth the band have never really built up a strong fan base in France, which is presumably why the band concentrated on more receptive territories such as Belgium, Netherlands, Germany and Italy for the touring that followed their initial reformation in 2005. (Crispian will later joke that the last time the band played Paris, Val Kilmer came to see them "back when he was still thin"). Still the fact that the band are prepared to take on France this time around shows a positive mind set, and a good showing tonight will no doubt help to translate to a bigger venue next time around.

While we wait, we have the support acts to occupy our attention. Originally in February we were due to see Baston and The Loved Drones, however only the latter could make the rescheduled gig and as a result the evening's entertainment commences instead with Judah Warsky. Not exactly the obvious choice for a KS support act, Warsky is firmly rooted in electronica, with a mass of synths and electronic gear on stage which he darts between as if trying to keep plates spinning on poles (at one point failing altogether when the sequencer simply stops dead mid-song.) Nonetheless for those like me with a taste for electronic music it's still an impressive sound, although my Gallic companion will later inform me that the (mostly-French) lyrics were "a bit rubbish."

If Judah Warsky was an odd choice for KS support then by contrast The Loved Drones are an inspired one. These Belgian psych/ garage rockers provide just the right kind of spaced-out drone to get people in the mood for KS. They even have a sitar player on stage with them, a fitting instrument for a KS gig, yet one that is rarely utilised onstage by KS themselves. They look the part too, with a greying singer dressed in a wizard's cape who, one suspects, probably is unaware that the sixties actually ended, while the other band members could be absolutely anyone, since they have their faces covered by uniform monk's robes (maybe a tribute to seminal 60s garage rockers, The Monks?)

Indeed their sound is clearly inspired by sixties garage rock, but also there's a distinct electronic edge and growled lyrical repetition that reminds one of seventies critical favs Suicide also. It's an intriguing mix that seems to go down well with the crowd, who by now have filled the venue.

KS will be soon on stage, an event heralded by their familiar mix tape, which hasn't much changed since they last toured. This mostly comprises of distinctive covers such as the Spanky Wilson version of Cream's "Sunshine of your Love" and 4Hero's "Les Fleur" cover (originally recorded by Minnie Ripperton.) The latter in particular has become something of a pivotal track in proceedings, as it builds into a triumphant climax that signals the band's on-stage appearance.

Sure enough, this is the moment KS take to the stage bathed in red light, Crispian - in a smart buttoned shirt for once rather than the usual tee - is just visible crouched on his knees wrestling effects from his guitar pedals over the extended intro to ‘Sound of Drums’ until that riff kicks in... And we're off, Crispian bouncing around on stage in the animated fashion we've come to expect, while the audience lose no time in throwing themselves around. How many of those gathered here are French and how many are the travelling KS faithful is open to debate (I see a few familiar faces from the Brussels gig, and hear plenty of English accents around me) but there's no doubt that - wherever they're from - those gathered here have been waiting for this and are fully up for it.

Next is ‘Gokula’, a song that started out as a George Harrison instrumental before the band added lyrics to make one of their best nineties B-sides. Rarely played live since then, this is a great up-tempo song to keep the momentum going. Because Crispian is such an animated figure on stage - and the only one to speak between songs, for that matter - it's easy to find yourself focusing on him and in the process forget just how much of a contribution the others make to the overall sound. But KS are most definitely a group in the true sense of the word, and the rhythm section of Alonza and Paul are clearly in evidence on this one to keep the song motoring along.

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During the first two songs it has become clear that the gig is being professionally filmed, with a guy armed with a very large camera indeed on stage recording the proceedings. "This is Michael", Crispian announces. "He's just making a document for Her Majesty's Tax Inspectors", he adds helpfully. Presumably the real purpose is to make some kind of tour documentary (there doesn't seem to be enough cameras present to make a full recording of the gig, sadly).

What is fascinating is that, despite the fact someone else is wielding the camera, Crispian remains in full charge of proceedings. Several times before songs he will proceed to whisper instructions into the cameraman’s ear, who will then take up a particular position on stage to capture the desired shot. Clearly Crispian has developed a taste for being the director.

‘Hari Om Sundown’, a (slightly re-titled) Hawkwind cover is another B-side that is fast becoming a permanent fixture in set lists. Crispian puts on a neck rack in order to provide harmonica as well as guitar accompaniment on this one. By now he has also swapped the black and white Strat for the beautiful blue "Peacock" one.

"We've got a solar eclipse tonight, we've got the festival of Lord Shiva, and (the gig) was meant to be postponed!" Crispian is maybe getting a little cheeky now, but it's good to see him on stage and enjoying himself nonetheless. ‘Into The Deep’ follows, one of the key tracks from ‘K’ that didn't really get a hearing on the UK leg of the tour (unlike ‘Hey Dude’, a reliable staple of most KS gigs that gets left out altogether tonight; maybe they're finally a bit bored with it?)

‘Grateful When you’re Dead / Jerry Was There’, the band's tongue-in-cheek tribute to a lamented 60s icon is as muscular as ever. It seems fitting in a way for it to be performed at a venue so close to Pere Lachaise cemetery, the last resting place of another lost sixties rock icon. At one point Crispian changes the lyrics of GWYD to "Let's leave this world of spookery!” cryptically.

‘Temple of Everlasting Light’ was one of the songs that Crispian was clearly struggling with in Brussels but there are no such issues with it tonight. Unlike ‘Into the Deep’ this relatively-short song seemed overlooked when it came out originally on K but has grown in stature over time to become one of their best live tracks, and a fan favourite to boot. You may have a noticed at this point a lack of new songs, and in fact it's not until now - seven songs in - that we get to hear one, the first single ‘Infinite Sun’. Although as you may also know, "new" in this context may be a little misleading since this in fact a song from their

earliest days, but one that has only now been finally committed to tape (or whatever music is committed to in these digital days...) But regardless, for most of us it's still a new song and it works very well live. As a piece of songwriting it maybe betrays its ancient origins a bit too much, but its chant-along nature is well-received.

PARIS, LA MAROQUINERIE, 08/03/2016

Photo by Daiane Hemerich

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"This is Henry, how's your organ tonight?" - It’s not often the British can resist the temptation to make an organ joke, and tonight is no exception. But enough ‘Carry On’ humour, it's time for a fine live version of ‘Shower Your Love’, although Crispian avoids going for the octave leap at "I've done all I can do-ooo", possibly still a bit concerned about pushing his voice all the way.

"This is a love song that we dedicate to a road called the 303..." Another ‘K’ classic follows, the combination of wah-wah guitar and Crispian's full-throttle vocals are as irresistible as always. Everybody yells along. Next is "a song from the new album that a lot of people have been asking for, and we're going to give it to them!"

‘Mountain Lifter’ is indeed one of the most popular songs from ‘K 2.0’, possibly because it's one of a handful of tracks that harks back to their classic Indian/ raga sound (although in truth the album taken as a whole has more in common stylistically with the band's last two efforts than it has with ‘K’ or ‘PP&A’).

If there are only two songs tonight from the new album, ‘Strangefolk’ is neglected completely. It may be that the band see that as their least successful album (Crispian described it as a "very difficult album to make" in a recent interview, so maybe that troubled recording experience has created a negative association with the songs themselves in the minds of the band). But it seems a shame that great live tracks such as ‘Hurricane Season’ and ‘Out on the Highway’ no longer get a hearing. However we do get two of the quieter tracks from its successor ‘Pilgrim's Progress’ instead. Played together, ‘Peter Pan R.I.P.’ and ‘Ophelia’ definitely slow down proceedings somewhat, but after a long string of up-tempo songs this is maybe no bad thing. For ‘Ophelia’ Henry will temporarily abandon keyboards for acoustic guitar (at which he seems impressively accomplished for a keyboard player.)

Clearly after two slow ballads, something a bit more bombastic is now called for, and Mystical Machine Gun fits that bill nicely. Crispian opens this with a repeated "Om Namah Shivaya" chant that doesn't usually feature in the song, but one of the appeals of

seeing KS live is that songs are rarely played exactly the same way from night to night. Instead the band are happy to go with the flow and bring each song to life as the mood takes them. Another up-tempo PP&A track – ‘108 Battles (Of The Mind)’ - leads us nicely into ‘Tattva’, a classic so well received here that by the second verse at least one person has taken to crowd surfing. As with other dates on the tour, this is the extended version of the song which segues both into The Happy Mondays' ‘Hallelujah’ as well as the ‘Force’ theme from the Star Wars films.

The song ends with Crispian perched atop the stage monitors to lead the crowd for the 1-2-3-4 count into a rapturously received version of ‘Hush’. In the past it has slightly jarred with me to see this song get a better crowd reception than many of the KS originals, but over time I've come to accept that - as their only UK No.1 single - this is probably inevitable. No-one can argue anyway that the song works extremely well live.

The band vacate the stage, but there is no question of them leaving without an encore, and soon they're back out again. The familiar wah-wah riff to the epic ‘Great Hosannah’ kicks in and everybody sings along to the verses. The song fades out into a quickening Indian riff picked out by Crispian, which means that the song that ends pretty much every KS concert is now upon us - the majestic Govinda. Crispian leaves it for us to sing the "Govinda Jaya Jaya" choruses, and we're more than happy to oblige. And that's it. We yell "Kula! Kula!" in the hopes of getting them to return for another encore and for a short while it seems like we might succeed. However the evening is over and we return to the Parisian back-streets. It's been quite a night. We hope we'll get to experience Kula again in the coming year, but even if we don't... Well, we'll always have Paris...

PARIS, LA MAROQUINERIE, 08/03/2016

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INTERVIEW WITH KATE BAYLAY

“I immediately got a strong feel for the music”

By Andrea Zachrau

We managed to catch up with the graphic designer who was responsible for the wonderful artwork for K2.0. Kate Baylay talks about how the music inspired her and what the ideas behind the cover and the different song sheets were.

Kate, we love the design that you came up with for the ‘K2.0’ album cover. How did this come around?I am so pleased that it has gone down well, I really enjoyed working on it. I had a very thorough brief for it so I knew what the general layout and ideas would be. I knew that the band wanted an Indian theme, which is a fantastic theme to work with, as it is a culture full of amazing imagery, bright colours, beautiful patterns and decoration and, fascinating symbolism. I have always had a real interest in using such themes in my work. I wanted to make the most of working on a brief that combined this with the concept behind album covers and the bold, energetic, eye-catching imagery associated with them. On top of that I was really excited to be working for Kula Shaker and wanted to create an image that represented their music. I think that the image came about from the wonderful feeling of knowing that the nature of the brief meant that I could really go all out on the theme, the characters, the ideas, the decoration and the colour. Of course the main

source of inspiration was the music itself. I listened to it and read through all the lyrics and immediately got a really strong feel for it. It was a fantastic commission and I went into it with so much enthusiasm and just had great fun doing it!

Did you immediately have this idea for the cover, or did it evolve from other ideas?I first submitted a rough for something much simpler and more subdued. However this didn’t really fit with the feel of the album so, after discussing it, I went with something bolder. After the first rough I was sent lots of ideas from Crispian and some really useful reference imagery which helped make everything click into place. When I started working on the final image I felt that it was a much stronger design and that it worked better with the fantastic music I’d been listening to. This was when I found that ideas of what I wanted to include in the image came much more easily.

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What did the working process look like, how much was the band involved in it? I was given a brief including a lot of the band’s own ideas about how it should look which was really helpful. I had direct contact with Crispian after I submitted my rough. I felt that right from the beginning we were working together on the image, it’s always really interesting to have direct contact with the creators of the work that my images will be representing, whether they’re musicians or authors etc. I am always fascinated to hear their feedback and when they are pleased with the image it’s extremely rewarding. It was such an enjoyable and inspiring experience to talk directly with Crispian and to have that exchange of ideas. It made for a very stimulating and effective creative process.

How long did it take to do the artwork from the very first idea to the final result?Looking back at my emails, it seems it took me about two and half weeks and I was working on it fairly solidly throughout that time. As it’s a very detailed image with lots of different elements both the drawing and the colouring took quite a while. The feedback I received was very concise and useful which helped a lot to make sure that the image didn’t take too long to complete.

Looking at the artwork for each of the individual songs, we can see that the cover had been broken down into individual design aesthetics. What was the idea behind this continuity? It was a mixture between feedback and listening to the songs. Crispian sent me a lot of ideas that I really liked that had relevance to the music, for example the sun and the mountain were elements that I was asked to include. Elements that linked directly with the lyrics such as the old record player were really fun to add. I was particularly keen to draw some crows as I loved ‘33 Crows’ and

the almost fairytale idea behind the song. All of the imagery created in the lyrics I found worked really well when put together in a single illustration in the same way that the songs in the album work incredibly well as a collection giving the album a wonderful flow. One of the ideas I was given in the brief was to link it back to ‘K’. Again it was a fun aspect of the commission to pick out elements from their first album to include in their most recent. I hope that fans of both albums will recognise the clock and flute! I think some of my favourite elements to work on were the cow and tiger which accentuate the Indian theme, and the mystic guitar in the shape of a K.

Do you work as a freelancer or for a design house? And finally, what other kind

of design services are you involved with?I am a freelance illustrator. I work on a variety of different commissions including book illustration, advertising posters, editorial illustrations and toy theatre design. My clients include: The Folio Society for whom I have worked on three books; ‘The Olive Fairy Book’, by Andrew Lang

published in 2012, ‘Seven Gothic Tales’ by Isak Dinesen, 2013 and ‘Vile Bodies’ by Evelyn Waugh, 2015; Everyman’s Library for their edition of His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman, 2011; ‘The Spectator’ for their Christmas short story by Susan Hill, 2013; the Goethe-Institute and Benjamin Pollock’s ‘Toyshop’. This has been my first album cover which is exciting! I have enjoyed it so much and I really hope that I will get more opportunities to work in this field in the future.

For further info on Kate’s work, check www.katebaylay.com

INTERVIEW WITH KATE BAYLAY

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The story behind 33 CrowsBy Mary Nilsson

It has been a long time since I had the chance to catch up with Simon Roberts, whom many of us know either as the magical music technician, who helps make Kula Shaker sound amazing on tour, or as one half of ‘Bucky the Band’, along with Paul Winterhart’s brother, Joff. However, this time around, I had the chance to chat with Simon about the original idea behind the amazing song ’33 Crows’ which features on the recent Kula Shaker album ‘K2.0’. So if you’re all sitting comfortably, let’s all chill out and listen to what Simon has to say about the making of a classic!

Firstly, Simon, many thanks for agreeing to chat with us again. It’s been way too long! I would like to start by asking you to give our readers an update on the relationship between ‘Bucky the Band’ and ‘Kula Shaker’. I know that all the old faithful know the story, but now we have many new & younger readers who are not completely aware of the huge bond between all of you, and it would be nice to put them in the picture.Hello there, it’s been lovely to be back with the band and crew after so long. It’s been a hectic few weeks of touring but we made it

through! I’m more used to tour/event managing, working on films and being a dad these days so going back to teching and tambourining was interesting as I hadn’t done it for ages! I have been linked with Kula Shaker since the beginning as my best friend Joff is Paul’s brother. I was around in Somerset when they would come down the 303 to record at the Winterhart’s house when still called ‘The Kays’. I was studying in London when they needed someone to haul their equipment off stage when they started getting record company interest so I ended up helping out. I then stayed with them through pretty much everything until they split the first time and then helped out with ‘The Jeevas’ stuff and then the re-formed KS in 2006 (or whenever it was… 2008? I can’t remember this stuff). Joff and I have always had our band, ‘Bucky’. It’s a highly unprofessional two-man garage rock combo that does short, fast, loud songs - mainly about girls, libraries, animals and the past. Crispian has always been very complimentary about our efforts and produced our un-awaited 2005 album ‘All the New Mistakes’. We ended up supporting KS in many countries as a result of ‘just sort of being around anyway’. And we were always very grateful for the opportunities and help over the years.

AN INTERVIEW WITH SIMON ROBERTS

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In our last issue of Strange Folk (Issue 9, February, 2016), Crispian was telling us that the song ’33 Crows’ was originally written by yourself. Can you tell us about your own inspiration for the song?Yes, I wrote ‘33 Crows’. Usually with Bucky songs it’s Joff that comes up with most of the songs ideas and words, but this song just popped out of me in the early hours one morning after the breakup of a pretty long term relationship. It came out fully formed with space for a guitar break and a couple of full verses (not a usual Bucky trait or something that’s happened since). I wasn’t sure where it would fit amongst the usual Bucky staples but we ended up playing it at shows where we had to play a bit quieter than usual and it seemed to work. It’s not a ‘sour grapes’ sort of song, it’s just my thoughts on a situation that I could no longer discuss with her. I played it to Crisp at his house when he still lived in Bath and he liked it. When the band decided to support themselves disguised as the ‘Campaneros’ with Dr Joel, Crisp thought I should sing it with them (and in disguise too). That was fun.

How do you feel Crispian has evolved the song? And are you happy with the changes?I love what he’s done with it! He’s really Carter Family-ised it! It’s great that the song has a separate life to the original. He’s changed the words in the second verse and it works better for his version. The original version says “I just hope that you’ll be happy living with your dad…” but that’s not very rock and roll is it? I think it’s great that there isn’t really a Bucky recording of the song too. There is a live recording of ‘The Lonely Ponies’ (Bucky plus My Two Toms), playing it in the garden of the Cube Microplex in Bristol in 2005, which somehow ended up on a ‘Stitch Stitch’ records album sampler (but that’s no longer available). The version Joff and I recorded on is on our ‘Women, Ladies and Girls (Sing the Bucky Songbook)’, album and this features women, ladies and girls singing our songs (funnily enough…) and has our friend Tammy Payne singing it.

(As an addendum, Simon also had the following to mention about his work intertwining with Crispian… “I forgot to mention that ‘Indian Record Player’ is based on a Bucky song too! Crispian asked if we could collaborate with him on the opening title

sequence for ‘A Fantastic Fear of Everything’. We have an unrecorded song called ‘African Record Player’ that we used as the basis and he really liked it. It didn't get used in the end but he really liked the song, so he nicked it...”).

And one last question, what upcoming projects will Bucky be working on in the near future?It’s been increasingly more difficult to find time for Bucky in the last few years unfortunately. I’ve been busier with projects where I have greater responsibilities and if I’m not working on those I’m busy dadding. We do have an occasional project called ‘The 100 Year Old Band’ where we find 10 people to be in a band – one is aged between 0 and 10, one is aged between 10 and 20 etc. all the way up to someone in their 90’s. We then write and perform a song with them. It’s crazy and difficult and super-rewarding! Not sure when the next one of these will take place though. Joff is working on his 2nd graphic novel after ‘Days of the Bagnold Summer’ and I’m all over the place with projects. Who knows what the future holds for Bucky… certainly not us.

Simon, thanks again for chatting with us, and of course for all the hard work you put in during the most recent Kula Shaker tour. As I mentioned, some of our younger or more recent readers may not have had the chance to hear some of ‘Bucky the Band’s’ music. For those who are interested, you can find Simon & Joff on their own site: www.buckytheband.com & of course you can read about the 100 Year Old Band here: www.the100yearoldband.com

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Huge thanks to all who contributed to this issue with your stories and photos! Thanks to all for your support and comments.

Andrea, Anni & Mary

SUMMER FESTIVALS AND MORE TOUR DATES IN 2016:

2nd July SPAIN, Vida Festival 14th July FLORENCE, Anfiteatro delle Cascine 15th July ROME, Villa Ada 16th July RIMINI, Verucchio Festival 23rd July JAPAN, Fuji Rock Festival 22nd-24th July SOUTH KOREA, Jisan Valley Rock Festival 29th-31st July TAIWAN, Super Slippa Music Festival5th-7th August ENGLAND, Forgotten Fields Festival11th-14th August SPAIN, Sonorama Ribera Festival12th-14th August SPAIN, V de Valares Festival12th-14th August ITALY, AMA Music Festival4th-5th November GERMANY, Rolling Stone Weekender6th November COLOGNE, Gloria7th November FRANKFURT, Batschkapp

Photo by Anastasia Ferenczy

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Poster design by Nico Miranda www.nicomiranda.com