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".
The Blind Shake
The brothers developed an interest in music at an early age, when they were "in Third and Fourth grade, we had a twenty dollar Sears catalogue acoustic". Both began to study guitar with Mike receiving lessons while Jim abandoned the instrument until he was 23. Roper and Mike Blaha had played together in bands during their college years. Inspired by the simple approach of the punk rock, the two began playing together where Mike would use a baritone guitar. In 2004 they released a self-titled single.