Courtesy of Luis Valdizon
By Kristi Alexandra [Entertainment Bureau Chief]
Being a longtime fan of The King Khan and BBQ Show, I was more than thrilled when Arish Khan (better known as King Khan) and Mark Sultan (BBQ) invited me into their modest hotel room above the Biltmore Cabaret for an interview with The Runner.
Seriously, I was riding the shanty, vintage red carpeted elevator with the guys who started the Spaceshits and later came to write “fishfight”, the song that initially sparked my love for the Montreal-based twosome. I was elated; it was surreal.
Once inside the hotel room, though—notebook ready, digital recorder in hand—my questions were met with sarcasm and a mild air of condescension. The idols of my early twenties weren’t disappointing, but their response was dismissive at best.
And who can blame them? They’ve heard it all before. So they went to jail last year? Surprise, surprise: they didn’t want to talk about it. Did they care to elucidate on that time they stole robes from Quebecois nuns? Nope. And the things they did want to talk about? Well, that’s off the record. Of course.
If I took this interview at face value, I’d have learned that Sultan and Khan met when they invented the wheel together. Khan’s children are actually inflatable, and despite Khan and Sultan now living on different continents, they have no problem making time to rehearse ‘cause there’s this underground tunnel they’ve built from Montreal to Berlin that allows them to meet halfway.
But I get it. They’re so busy with press, they’ve got to fuck around with some people to get their kicks, and that’s fine.
But dear god, am I relieved I left my King Khan and BBQ show albums at home that night. Imagine asking for an autograph after that mess.
Whether it’s Bette Midler, Justin Timberlake or jeez, even Seth Rogen, don’t meet your idols, kids. Unless you really want to be disenchanted by them, in which case, it’s best to do as often as possible.
I think now would be a good time to clarify that I, the writer, wasn't the one who labeled them "jerks". Sometimes editors write our headlines. As for Khan and Sultan, while they weren't overly enthusiastic about answering some of my questions, they definitely weren't dicks. They were totally pleasant and talkative — when I didn't have my recorder on.
That said, and as I wrote in this article, I realize that they fuck around with wit and sarcasm in most of their interviews but as an amateur journalist (and I readily admit I'm amateur), it's hard not to take it personally.
This article is a result of my feelings about the interview, which I feel justified in relaying, since none of you were in the room when it actually took place. It was my experience, not yours.
Anyways, they played a fucking great show afterwards and I am still a huge fan of The King Khan and BBQ show.
Trust me, people, Arish doesn't have a good memory at all. Mark says he has a bad memory but I think it's better than he says it is. I mentioned insider interviews and outsider ones and all that, and it occurred to me that the insiders would lead them to the answers through their knowledge of the time and scene in which they were. Mongrel for instance would ask Arish about the Maury Povich 3, which was his first band, and this would lead him to that time and to this band and he could give an answer. People who are not insiders and don't have the information might not be able to direct them to the answers. The nonsense interviews have become a running joke with them anyway, when they're together. Who is to say that they were not afraid to disappoint you had they not provided you with your very own nonsense interview?
Jerks, awesome people, why can't they be both? I'll lean towards "awesome people", especially in the case of Arish, who really is a better person than his image suggests.
They're awesome people, not jerks. I asked King about this interview –http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bMIv6kiM9OA&fe... — probably about two weeks after it happened and it took King a while just to recall it. He's an awesome guy to chat with off the record, but it's expected for him to say crazy shit like in that interview and in others.
King Khan did not start the Spaceshits, and neither did Mark Sultan. They came in after it was started – they said it themselves in interviews posted on the internet. It would have been a good idea to research these people and the interviews they do particularly with outsiders. They tell the likes of Mongrel the truth as far as they remember it to be, and other insiders, but outsiders often get funny nonsense and/or a bit of condescension, unless they decide that that the situation requires a more serious approach. Research your subjects I say. That includes the subculture and the attitudes in that subculture. It becomes insular really.
As for King Khan and BBQ, they bleed like anyone else. I don't think they really stole nuns' robes. I mean wouldn't they have used them in performances by now?
how long have you been a fan of this band? and you've never read an interview with them before? all of their interviews are as artful, clever, and funny as the songs they write – real excercises in improvisational wit. who cares if it was not informative – it sounds as though it was really funny. time to turn that frown upside down and try and have a good a time as the folks you were interviewing
at least your a fantastic writer Kristi