The King Khan & BBQ Show

It doesn’t matter if it was pure luck, fate or some other mysterious force that rejoined the paths of these two old friends in Berlin in the year 2002. The fact that it happened is what matters! After an active adolescence in Montreal, Black Snake, a.k.a. King Khan and Mark Sultan, a.k.a. BBQ were both engaged in the US-Underground legend “The Spacehits”, produced by Andy G (Devil Dogs) and Candy Del Mar (The Cramps). Arish and Mark went into different directions, however, after their band split up in 1995. Nevertheless, their destinies remained intertwined in one way or another. Ever since then, both roamed the earth, both stayed loyal to music since it is the only thing they are both able to and want to do and both of them have mysterious myths shrouding their pasts. Supposedly, King Khan set off an earthquake in the French Colmar using his magic voodoo club. And with BBQ, the story is told that his answer to the devil’s many pleas to trade his soul for musical talent was that he would rather have a good meal instead. This is the best indication for the fact that BBQ already had more than enough talent as well as an insatiable hunger. Enough about myths though. It is a fact that Mark also became known as the singing drummer of the legendary Canadian underground band “Les Sexareenos” and after this also came to an end, travelled around the world as the one-man-band “BBQ” (vocals, guitar, drums). Khan, on the other hand, became the Maharaja of the 60’s soul with his wild band-hydra “The Shrines”. Their first album was produced by nobody less than the producer of the “White Stripes”, Liam Watson!. Meanwhile, BBQ published his solo records with Sound of Subterrania, Alien Snatch and finally with the infamous US label, Bomp Records. Both, King Khan, the master of ceremonies and manic fan of the two crazy bohemians “Sun Ra” and “George Clinton” as well as BBQ, the eternal globetrotter and Rock ’n Roll solo warrior, describe their re-alliance like this: KK: Yeah, Mark was doing his BBQ thing, and he came to Europe. I'd started doing a one-man thing also, called King Khan and his Lonesome Guitar. We did some shows together, and every time we played, we'd wind up doing some songs together at the end. BBQ: We got together in Germany, just to do stupid jamming business. Then, when we played shows - I'm just speaking for myself, but they seemed to be ridiculous, for whatever reason. KK: People's pants were dropping. Excessive shimmying - people were shimmying with other people and cleaning the floor with their hair and stuff. It was crazy. I've never seen such an international amalgamation of freaks. In Berlin, we had these really Mad Max kinda punks, really greasy and scary, coming from Peru and France and all over, just going apeshit. BBQ and King Khan were both friends with the song writer extraordinaire and producer DM Bob, born in Louisiana and now living in Hamburg. DM Bob recently achieved Rock and Roll royalty by producing two Peel sessions together with John Peel right before Peel passed beyond this world. As a result of mutual friendships with DM Bob, BBQ and Khan were invited to Bob’s Hamburg studio where they produced their debut album “The King Khan & BBQ Show”. Even before the release of this with Hazelwood Vinyl Plastics in May 2005, King Khan and BBQ followed their inner call and went on their first almost eternal tour throughout the United States. Detroit, Buffalo, Boston, Brooklyn, Asheville, Atlanta, New Orleans, Jackson MS, Memphis, Milwaukee, Green Bay, Chicago, Kalamazoo, Port Huron – 14 cities in 14 days. No matter where they went, the fanatic duo left crazed fans in their aftermath. When an American journalist asked what else was planned for this year, BBQ answered: “… Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, the US and hopefully Japan – all this year.”

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