In the working-class English town of Birmingham, kids became so frenzied they poured pints of lager on each other, then tossed the glasses straight up in the packed-nightclub air. In posh London, a sold-out theater crowd undulated like a furious python, males waving their rock & roll fists overhead, females screaming in delirious abandon. Even in New York, before a mostly music-biz audience during the recent CMJ convention, tastemakers found themselves caught up in the fey Far Eastern melodies and psychedelic guitar swirl of Britain's latest rage, Kula Shaker, whose "K" Columbia debut had already hit No.1 overseas, a month prior to its October Stateside release.

Adding to the exotic allure was whip-thin, '60s-attired frontman Crispian Mills; his sandy blond hair, unnaturally high cheekbones and heavy-lidded doe eyes betray his royal lineage as son of Disney actress Hayley Mills, grandson of stage legend Sir John Mills. A pop-culture phenomenon, just waiting to happen? Possibly.

Mills's deep mystical musings are a tough American translation, however; not only does he sing several "K" songs in Sanskrit, but his underlying message -- people, get ready, 'cause Armageddon is on its way -- isn't exactly the most uplifting lyrical focus. Add to this Kula Shaker's decidedly schizophrenic sound (half of the "K" cuts are beefy, Yardbirds-school blues) and ... well, in the wise words of the late Yul Brynner, "It's a puzzlement." And talking with 23-year-old Mills -- an 'old soul' if ever there was one -- only serves to deepen the musical mystery.

RS.com: You're obviously heavily influenced by Indian culture. When did you first visit?

Crispian Mills: I went to India for the first time in THIS lifetime in 1993, in the spring. And my God, was it hot out there. I ended up running to the Himalayas, where it was cooler. See, I travel quite a lot. I spent about three months there, enough to get a taste. But it's a big country, and I reckon you'd need the minimum of a year of traveling just to see all of India. And I've become more and more fascinated with its culture, the more I know about it. You go to India and it's like going to another planet, almost more than any other country in the world. If you really wanna have an ALTERNATIVE experience, apart from going to see the Grateful Dead, well, that place, my God.

RS.com: So you went on to study the Hindu religion?

CM: Not formally, no. We got 'hip to the vibe, man.' We 'dug the Hindu scene.' But actually, Hinduism is kind of a broad term for what's going down in India. There are people in India who worship Siva, people who worship Krishna, and people who are into all sorts of different philosophies and paths to the truth. But over here, we call them all 'Hindu,' because it's much easier for us to handle. The truth of the matter is, Hinduism is actually the most esoteric, complex form of paganism. And in paganism, everything has a spirit.

RS.com: Ever feel you were reincarnated?

CM: I'm more of an adherent to the school of thought that sees reincarnation as snakes and ladders, because it is a perpetual cycle, and you're actually trying to get off, get out of the cycle of birth and death. Because with snakes and ladders, one false move and you're back into rebirth. But we're leaving it open for people to find their own way of fulfilling themselves spiritually, because that's the only way you CAN, actually -- by making contact with what's inside.

RS.com: You certainly have some pretty strong views on modern society ...

CM: It's degraded, man. The whole thing's degraded. It's twisted toytown, is what it is -- a toytown existence with murders and rapes and guns. And you know what I say to those people in America? I say hold onto your guns, man, because you're gonna fuckin' need them when they start rounding everybody up. I like a bit of conspiracy, but I'm into the truth. I'm getting a bit carried away here, but the Oklahoma bombing, the Michigan Militia -- it's all there to make people frightened of these sort of people. But really, who you should be frightened of are the people trying to stop them. They actually want people to have their right to bear arms taken away from them, so that when they start rounding everybody up for Armageddon there's gonna be no problem.

RS.com: What's the first spiritual lesson Kula Shaker wants its fans to learn?

CM: You're not in control -- all you can do is play your part. And we're playing the part of people in a rock band -- the script's already been written, the future dictates the past, everything is already happening. If there is such a thing as a divine being or a divine source to all that is or ever will be, then it knows everything -- it's omniscient. And if it's all-knowing, then it knows the future, so all you can do is play your part and do the best you can.

RS.com: When did you discover that music would be such an integral part of your life?

CM: When I was 12, I wanted to learn the guitar because I was always a guitar worshipper. And it wasn't just music I'd discovered -- I wanted to become one of the greatest guitarists. And my mother was actually very supportive, because she encouraged me as opposed to saying 'Oh, guitar's all right, but get a proper job.' But we were never like that, because half the family doesn't have proper jobs -- they have circus jobs. And she's been working like a dog since she was 12 doing that. So it's the family business, isn't it? Getting out there and jumping through the hoop. But from a very young age you're taught that you're a temporary, biological functioning unit, a building block in society. That's what they want you to think. So we're just trying to offer some resistance to that and show people the way to rebel these days. Because it's very difficult to rebel, now that drugs aren't outrageous and sex isn't outrageous