KING KHAN
LABEL: Vice Records  |||  TEXT: Lydia Sprague  |||  PHOTO: Rustee Pace

King Khan hits the stage wearing a shimmering gold smock and a feathered headdress. He aims to shock and mixes his costumes just like his garage-soul-funk music. Arish Khan says he was dubbed the King by homeless people in the German town he was living in after he began wearing a German war helmet around. He says he wasn’t aware of the Bollywood Superstar known by the same name until years later.

The Montreal-born Khan formed King Khan and the Shrines in Berlin in 1999. The band is mostly made of French and German musicians. It features a horn section and a percussionist who once played with Stevie Wonder. Although Khan has been living in Germany for over ten years and sometimes refers to himself as being German, he admittedly can’t speak the language. 

The Shrines is a funk-jazz-infused psychedelic garage band. Not coincidentally, Khan compares himself to James Brown, and describes the band's music as psychedelic erotic gospel. Furthermore, he says his music is about humor and laughing at yourself.

The band released its first album Three Hairs & You're Mine in 2002. A second full-length, Mr. Supernatural, followed in 2004. In 2007 the band released WHAT IS?! to critical acclaim from all over the world, landing at #33 on Pitchfork's Top Albums of 2007.

Prior to 2008 the band’s music was not available in North America. WHAT IS?! was released in North America in 2008. The same year the band released The Supreme Genius of King Khan and the Shrines, which featured songs previously only available in Europe.

King Khan has made a name for himself through his antics on- and off-stage. He is known to perform in sequined hot pants and a golden cape. And is never without his German war helmet. The live show is a wild experience featuring costume changes and a cheerleader.

A high point of a Shrine’s show is audience participation; Khan encourages requests. During the song “Welfare Bread,” he often tells the audience to pull a dollar bill out and rip it up. He’s also been known to take down hecklers; one Groovemine reviewer says he once saw Khan bash a heckler in the face with his guitar. At a recent show when somebody started crowd surfing Khan stopped him and said, “I don’t remember anybody crowd surfing at James Brown’s shows. Make love, but don’t do that.”

Off-stage, Khan is known to do a lot of drugs, which leads to stories about the band sleeping in parks, urinating on other bands’ merch and, of course, run-ins with police. In November of 2009, King Khan was touring with another act, King Khan & BBQ Show, when he and his tour manager were arrested in Kentucky for possession of mushrooms.

Another collaboration King Khan lent himself to in 2009 was a collaboration with The Black Lips and BBQ dubbed, Almighty Defenders, “here to show you the Holy Way is the spirit that lies in the gutter of your mind.” (vicerecords.com)

King Khan and the Shrines just finished a tour of North America in April 2010.


Read the Groovemine review of Invisible Girl by King Khan & BBQ Show



PRESS

“King Khan belts out each song like a bar-band hero working overtime. He’s at his best when he’s confidently driving the Shrines, a large crew supplemented by horn players and a cheerleader!” —Paste

“Whether they're raising hell or lowering your panties, King Khan exude beaucoup soul, making the ineffable quite effable” —The Stranger



Preview & purchase music from eMusic (subscribe and get 25 FREE downloads)
Preview & purchase music from Other Music



LINKS
King Khan and the Shrines on Myspace
The Almighty Defenders artist's page on Vice Records

King Khan from Joe Keenan on Vimeo.

The King Khan & BBQ Show from FREELANCE SUBVERSIVE on Vimeo.