5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Sunday World
The Nineties revival is in full swing and indie favs are joining in with Irish gig
KULA BOOLA |
Kula Shaker are joining the party in Laois with the likes of Oasis back on the way to Irish shores.
It's like the '90s all over again with even indie favourites Kula Shaker set to perform in Ireland next weekend at the Forest Fest in Emo, Co Laois
'Just when you thought it couldn't get any worse,' Crispian Mills says in his droll sense of humour as he chats with Magazine+ over Zoom from his home in Penzance.
'No, I think it's crazy. We're touring America in autumn and everybody is out there. I think there's something about this '90s resurgence that is different to any other because it's based around live bands, whereas a lot of the contemporary music now is not so much around guitars and bands.
'I've been around gigs recently and festivals of contemporary bands and there's not a lot of noise coming off the stage. There's a lot of people on headphones and things like that.
'Guitar bands plug in and it's a bit of a racket, so I think people are going to get that taste again…and see whether they like it or not, whether they remembered it as being fun.'
Crispian Mills of Kula Shaker. Photo: Sergione Infuso/Corbis via Getty Images
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Kula Shaker enjoyed success in the UK and Ireland from the mid-'90s with Top 10 hits that included Tattva, Hey Dude, Govinda, Hush and Sound Of Drums.
'You don't make money from recording anymore, but now even the live shows are at the mercy of the cost of living, the cost of everything,' Crispian reveals.
'I think that nobody is escaping the situation that we're in now where the cost of everything is unsustainable and ridiculous.
'It has got to the point where you are hoping to sell a few T-shirts, but even then these big corporations that run the venues are taking 25 per cent of your merch as well. So really they are just squeezing you for everything.
'That's the way it is, but you gotta keep on rockin' in the free world.'
We talk about perception and reality and how some people think if you're even moderately famous you're rich. 'No, we didn't get invited to Jeff Bezos's wedding, that's for sure,' he says.
Jay Darlington, Paul Winterhart, Crispian Mills and Alonza Bevan of Kula Shaker. Photo: Katja Ogrin/Redferns
'But we're a very lucky band because we're still friends and we're still playing music and we still see the funny side. So in that respect we are very fortunate.'
They disbanded between 1999 and 2004 and did solo work, which was probably healthy for their relationships.
'It definitely allowed us a little bit of space from each other and also to appreciate each other,' Crispian admits. 'There's been a lot of unexpected twists and turns for this band – Jay being in Oasis was one of them…who would have thought.'
Kula Shaker's keyboardist Jay Darlington joined Oasis in 2002 for their live shows and toured with them until their last tour in 2009.
'This is a really good time for Kula Shaker, a good time to see Kula Shaker and it's a good time to be in the band as well,' Crispian says as the chat turns to their forthcoming show at Forest Fest in Emo next Saturday, on a bill that includes Franz Ferdinand, Manic Street Preachers, Travis, Orbital, Billy Bragg, Something Happens, The Stranglers, Peter Hook & The Light and many more over the weekend.
'Festivals are always great…it's great to play to your own crowd, but festivals are a real mish-mash of people where some may know all your B-sides and some may never have heard of you in their life, so you've got a great mix.' Read more
It's an opportunity to win over some new people? 'Yes, it's an opportunity to convert the non-believers,' he laughs.
'Kula Shaker were always a live band. I'm very proud of the records we've mad, but the place where we've always been at our strongest and being constantly evolving has been on the live side of thing, that's really where the band come into their own.
'It's a crazy time in the world, there's a lot of strange things going on and this guitar band throwback is all part of the fun. I think it can contribute something musically, but I think also that attitude, being a little big more rebellious and not taking any sh*t from The Man is very much needed right now.'
As the conversation draws to a close, I ask Crispian if he's happy with Kula Shaker's place in the history of UK music.
The droll self-mockery comes out again. 'Somebody said to us recently that we were the most underrated band,' Mills says, adding: 'We want to become the most overrated band, that's what we want to go down as.'
