Welcome to the Kula Shaker Club community and archive. A fan project, not officially affiliated with the band, nor its management.
I’ve been a Kula Shaker fan since the release of "Tattva" back in the summer of 1996. I was 17 years old at the time, and I vividly remember where I was: precariously standing on some steps, painting and decorating for a family friend, when "Tattva" came on BBC Radio 1. It instantly blew my mind. The sounds, the composition, the Indian instruments — it was so completely and utterly different from everything else happening in music at the time, anchored by that instantly catchy, transcendental chorus and melody. I was hooked for life.
Like any typical teenage music fan back then, I went on a mission. I had to hear and know more, so I hunted down music magazines and papers featuring the band - Q, Select, NME, Melody Maker etc, visited local record shops to seek out their previous single "Grateful When You're Dead," bought both CD single versions of "Tattva," and played them on repeat until the follow-up single - "Hey Dude" dropped later that August. It blew my speakers out all over again with its heavy, wig-out rock energy. When the debut album K finally arrived a few weeks later in September 1996, I was overwhelmed with a feeling that I'd never felt before, that I'd found my sound, my vibe, my energy. Kula Shaker have been the soundtrack to my life, ever since.
My memory is generally pants these days, but I remember seeing the band live later that month at the Leadmill in Sheffield. I was rocking the Crispian mop of hair (albeit ginger) by then, wearing a knee-length vintage burgundy leather coat that a friend’s dad generously gave me from his time as a mod in the '60s. It was my first time in a club, first time at a gig, and first time buying drinks underage. All of these firsts, combined with seeing a band that had literally rocked my world, led to one of the best nights of my life, as I'm sure you can imagine.
I remember sharing a fag with Alonza once. Again, outside the Leadmill in Sheffield, probably circa 2006/2007. Thoroughly nice chap. I also remember randomly bumping into Paul in the late '90s at Bristol Temple Meads train station (a station I'd never been to before, nor since) and being far too starstruck and chicken to ask for an autograph! I finally met all of the guys properly in 2024 at an intimate album signing and gig in Liverpool for the release of Natural Magick. As expected, they were cool as heck — warm, welcoming, and incredibly friendly.
Why Build This Site?
I've wanted to build a dedicated Kula Shaker website for years, as a thank you to the band for providing me with the music that has been with me constantly throughout my life, and - after a lot of toil and berating myself, I’ve finally managed to finish it.
The primary motivation behind building this site is to give Kula Shaker fans a proper home to chat and connect again. Over the years, social media has grown increasingly fragmented and divisive, and any real, in-depth Kula Shaker discussion gets instantly swallowed up and lost forever in the algorithms. I wanted somewhere centralised where conversations stay in one place, remain searchable, and don't vanish into the digital ether.
That initial idea organically expanded into something much bigger as I was working on it: a comprehensive discography archive covering the band's entire back catalogue, dedicated sections for upcoming tours, rich hubs for past interviews, media appearances, TV broadcasts, and vintage concert archives. I figured it would be great to try and have all of the Kula Kontent out there, together in one home. I'm pleased with the how the music hub links albums and singles together. I probably have a few details wrong on some of them, so please do let me know in the forum.
We Need You!
This site is a labour of love, but with over 30 years of Kula Shaker (man it is WILD that it has been 30 years) music, there is a lot out there to collate. To make this the ultimate Kula Shaker hub, I need the help of fellow fans to unearth old memories, share memorabilia, interviews etc and populate the history books. I'll be adding upload sections to the site at some point, but in the mean time, if you have any Kula Shaker memorabilia that you'd like to share, then please head over to our forum, and feel free to post in there.
Take a moment to have a look round, register for the site, dive into the forum, and say hello. Many of you will already know each other from the previous Kula Shaker fan forums over the decades. I do hope you will register and help get this Kula Shaker community thriving.
Cheers
JD