Hello, My Name is Crispian
Crispian Mills of Kula Shaker( bottom left)
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6 illinoisentertainer. com march 2026
s a studious connoisseur of Vedic, Sanskrit, and other arcane religious scripture, not to mention a dedicated disciple of Hare Krishna, practicing under the sobriquet of Krishna Kantha Das, Kula Shaker founder Crispian Mills has stumbled upon quite a few selfevident spiritual truths over his 37 years in music. The most recent one? When you recognize an opportune, possibly fleeting moment, do not hesitate. Strike while the iron is hot. Hence, the relatively rapid-fire release of his quartet’ s inspired latest album, Wormslayer, less than two years after its equally adventurous predecessor, Natural Magick.
The 52-year-old Mills— who was raised in a renowned showbiz family, as the son of actress Hayley Mills and the grandson of thespian Sir John Mills— learned the performance ropes early. So he recognized the kinetic spark crackling through his group with the recent return of longtime keyboardist Jay Darlington( after a seven-year stint backing Oasis), cementing the original lineup. Ergo, no sooner had Natural Magic dropped than he’ d raced back to the drawing, trying to capture a cornucopia of new song ideas as they came tumbling out.“ The band was on fire, and there was a massive release of creative energy,” the guitarist / vocalist assesses, frankly.“ So there was no time at all( between recording sessions), maybe two months. And I was still writing, just staying busy, so I had songs left over, and we were coming up with new stuff? all the time, with Jay back in the group.”
Mills is most assuredly firing on all re-energized six on Wormslayer. It starts subtly, via the whirring mechanical effects of“ Lucky Number,” but then plugs in a sitar, huge handclap percussion, and a stomping Monster riff that demolishes everything in its path, as it praises a devoted girlfriend who resolutely keeps her boyfriend alive. The following“ Good Money” seizes on that same ebullient spirit, while it lyrically examines possibly duplicitous reasons for entering the entertainment business itself, a warning echoed later in“ Don’ t Turn Your Back on the Shadows,” the self-mocking“ Broke as Folk,” a dismal potential end of the line for many aspiring young strummers. Kula Shaker even manages to squeeze in a mini-concept album about a wing-sprouting kid with Icarus-grand intentions( spoiler alert: It does NOT end well), in addition to the English-folk-inspired title track. Logically, the set draws to a thoughtful ashes- to-ashes close on“ Dust Beneath Our Feet,” theoretically where we’ ll all wind up one fateful day. The disc, Mills believes,“ Has a kind of shape to it, a storytelling shape. So, if it’ s happening? Hey— don’ t stop it! Just keep rolling, as they say.”
Is it modern studio technology that’ s enabling Kula Shaker to quickly capture its fleeting ideas before they flit away? Sure, it doesn’ t hurt, he reckons. But more than that,“ I think it’ s just a time for us to be prolific, and to have a high output, especially when we’ ve had long periods of silence. So it’ s an exciting time for the band, and everybody is surprised that we sound REALLY good.” He can’ t stifle a wry chuckle.“ And WE’ RE surprised too! We were not expecting to be making some of the greatest music we’ ve ever made!” Mills paused in his fiery tra-
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