Photo courtesy of Matias Corral via Pitch Perfect PR.King Khan is a garage-rock renaissance man. He’s explored every sound in the catalog with every name you’d expect to see in a rock history textbook. With messy punk from The Spacesh-ts and rock 'n' roll via King Khan & BBQ Show, it's so catchy you can’t help but excuse its vulgarity. So what about an easterly inspired brand of garage that finds solace in spiritual salvation, or a garage-gospel project with The Black Lips? You bet. A collaboration with GZA of Wu-Tang fame? Tai chi sessions with Lou Reed and family gatherings with Hunx and His Punx? Those too.
While it’s difficult to see King Khan as anything but a perpetual fun machine, it’s crucial to remember that he’s human, and humans sometimes have bad times. And these past few years have been somewhat bad times for King Khan. After he lost three dear friends, “broke up” with long-time collaborator Mark Sultan (AKA BBQ), ended their band and fell into a pretty dark place, King Khan shaved his head and went to Korea to live in an all-female monastery for a bit to recollect his wits.
Thankfully, he’s back, currently on a fresh U.S. tour with King Khan & The Shrines, promoting his latest and most personal release to date, “Idle No More.” The State Press got to pick King Khan's brain about the banality of shock tactics, how to involve children in rock ‘n' roll and what it means to be a musician in 2013.
The State Press: "Idle No More" is essentially a movement in Canada that is protesting the passage of some omnibus bills that are really detrimental to the indigenous people living there. Can you tell us more about your involvement and why you decided to name your latest album “Idle No More”?
King Khan: In the process of writing this album, I started reading about what they were doing all over Canada and the states. I have a place for indigenous people in my heart. I grew up in Montreal, and some of my best friends were Mohawk Indians. I spent my youth on the Mohawk reservation near Montreal, and actually one of the songs on the new album, “So Wild,” is kind of like a requiem that’s dedicated to one of my Mohawk friends who passed away three years ago.
I was really excited to read about what they were doing, and I was sad to see that they were getting no media coverage anywhere, so I thought it would be a good chance to spread the good word about the movement by calling the album “Idle No More.” Also, I think the spirit of this album has to do with digesting a lot of pain and tragedy and suffering, so I think it was kind of fitting for this record to be called that.
SP: You’ve gone through some pretty rough stuff lately, and I’m sure you’re getting sick of talking about it. What I’m really interested in is how you were able to pull yourself out of that, and how you were able to record a new album, go on a tour and all of that.
KK: It was kind of like a rollercoaster of things happening at the same time. I lost three really great friends of mine all pretty young, and on top of that, I got to maybe one of the highest points of my career — you know, like having Lou Reed and Laurie Anderson involved, and me and BBQ getting to play at the Sydney Opera House in Australia — and a bunch of surreal things (were) happening at the same time...
And I guess this rollercoaster of things that were going on kind of took my life to a place it’s never been. When you start to lose grip on reality is when you really have to check yourself. … When I reached that point, I didn’t know if I was going to be able to carry on being the King Khan I’m supposed to be. Somewhere in that period, (the lyrics to) “Darkness” just came into my head, and it was kind of like a ray of light. That really gave me the confidence that I still had it and I needed to keep going, like the phoenix was going to rise out of the ashes. I’m happy that it did, because I can keep on keepin’ on.
SP: Seeing some of your shows is like, “Dear Diary, tonight I saw four butts, a stranger’s genitals, and I think I have blood in my hair.” You know, it’s pretty crazy. But recently you’ve calmed down a bit, which I can respect, because it doesn’t make your performance any less fun.
KK: In a way, ultimately, in a concert, the music is what’s supposed to be the driving force of the whole thing. So, now, I’m very proud of those crazy moments, and I’m really glad there was a place for them in my life, but it’s not a book you have to keep reopening, especially because that type of stuff can consume you, and then suddenly, that becomes the only reason people are coming to your shows, and that’s a problem.
I’ve seen that happen to friends of mine, you know, where their reputation of debauchery really became a problem. … I think when I first had the chance, I was like 22 years old, and at that moment I was really inspired to do more music based around love and kind of like spiritual salvation, rather than make something that makes you want to destroy everything. I’m happy that people still feel like they can let loose and go crazy at our shows, but I’m also grateful that people come just to enjoy music.
SP: A lot of musicians are complaining about how hard it is to be a musician, like it’s impossible to be a band and be successful in 2013. But from what I’ve seen, the independent bands that have really been having the most fun, and actually becoming the most profitable, are these garage-punk bands that really couldn’t care less about the economics behind what they’re doing.
KK: Totally. I mean, I was on welfare for about three or four years when I first went to Germany and had kids. That really helped me focus on creating this band. I’m proud to say it’s been, like, 10 years I’ve been able to raise a family out of this whole thing.
I’m not really inspired to be playing arenas and all that bullsh-t. I’d much rather keep it on a personal level and have more intimate shows. It keeps the intensity of the music very pure. I think people will always want rock ‘n' roll music. That’s something I learned at the age of 17, when I started playing in The Spacesh-ts. All these indie bands in our cities would frown at us and wouldn’t understand how we were able to travel and put out records in Japan and all these places, but rock ‘n' roll is an international language. If you can do it right, people will come.
SP: How are you raising your kids to be involved with what you’re doing, and more importantly, when are you going to let them go to their first punk show sans supervision?
KK: Actually, it’s funny, because I just took them to go see The Stooges in Berlin. It was in a big outdoor place and my daughter — she just turned 13 — at one point was like, “Ah, dad, I wanna go see what’s going on in the front!” There was a little bit of panic, but you just gotta let them try that. And she did. Actually, one of my really good friends is playing drums for The Stooges right now, and he’s one of my neighbors. That’s one thing that’s great, having people like that around me, is that my kids have the best uncles and aunts. We’re just a big, extended rock ‘n' roll family. It’s really surreal.
I remember when my oldest daughter wanted an iPod, so I made a deal with her that we would share one. So I put on every kind of crazy music on this iPod … and she would be coming home from school like, “Oh, dad, I really like Big Daddy Kane!” So it was a really cool way to get music into her head. And now she’s 13 and my other one’s 11, and they both have really good taste. I mean, if you show them Buddy Holly and James Brown and Sam Cooke, you can’t change that out of their brains. It’s a beautiful experience.
King Khan & The Shrines will be performing at Crescent Ballroom on Wednesday, Nov. 13. This isn’t a show you’ll want to miss – get your tickets here.
Reach the reporter at mmspear@asu.edu
