Kula Shaker
The band are known for their interest in traditional Indian music, culture, and mysticism, with a number of their most famous songs, including "Tattva" and "Govinda", featuring lyrics written in Sanskrit. The name Kula Shaker was itself inspired by King Kulasekhara, an Indian emperor from the 8th century. In addition, many of the band's songs feature traditional Indian instruments, such as the sitar, tamboura, and tabla, juxtaposed with guitar-heavy, Western rock instrumentation. Despite achieving commercial success, Kula Shaker were unpopular with many critics, with "The Observer"'s Simon Price describing them in 2014 as a "joke band".
Michael Majalahti
On July 15, 2012, StarBuck made his debut for Smash's follow-up promotion Wrestling New Classic (WNC) in Korakuen Hall, teaming with Hajime Ohara in a tag team match, where they were defeated by Naomichi Marufuji and Tajiri, with Marufuji pinning Ohara, who was still without wins in WNC. Following the match, StarBuck attacked Ohara, hit him with a spike piledriver and then walked out on him. In a backstage interview, StarBuck officially ended his partnership with Ohara, deeming him a loser, and announced a new partnership with Akira, who had turned on Tajiri and the WNC Seikigun the previous month. The two were also joined by Syuri, with all three feeling disgruntled by the supposed changes that had taken place since the transition from Smash. The following day in Osaka, StarBuck main evented his first WNC event, defeating Hajime Ohara. StarBuck, Akira and Syuri wrestled their first match as a unit on August 2, defeating Hajime Ohara, Kana and Tajiri in a six person tag team main event. The trio continued their winning ways during the following two days by first defeating the trio of Kana, Tajiri and Yusuke Kodama in a main event in Osaka and then the trio of Hanzo, Kana and Seiki in a semi-main event in Hiroshima. StarBuck returned to singles action on August 6, losing to Tajiri in the main event. On August 30, StarBuck, Akira and Syuri main evented another WNC event in Korakuen Hall, defeating Mikey Whipwreck, Kana and Tajiri in a Barbed Wire Board Deathmatch. StarBuck, Akira and Syuri also won a rematch the following day in Osaka. In the second rematch on September 1, Whipwreck pinned StarBuck for the win, ending the villainous trio's win streak in the process. On October 24, StarBuck, Akira and Syuri named their stable "Synapse". Two days later, StarBuck entered the WNC Championship tournament, but was defeated in his first round match by Hajime Ohara, following interference from his Kabushiki gaisha DQN stablemates Jiro Kuroshio and Nagisa Nozaki.