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The path
of Khan >>
How this eclectic techno-slut makes his way
by LORRAINE
CARPENTER
Mirror:
So, you lived in Mexico recently. What’s this I hear about field
recordings in sleazy mariachi bars? Khan: Yeah,
I do field recordings all the time with my mini-disc. I’m actually
working on tracks with Julee Cruise, for her album, and I’m using
those. But I’m not mister Señor Coconut, I don’t wanna
just use some cha-cha beats like, “Hello, I’ve been in Mexico
a month.” I’d rather use my human experience. And Mexico is
really sleazy, they have the craziest places. It’s just a weird
mix, scenes are not so segregated. It’s not about age, it’s
not about style, people just go out and have fun and end up in weird
places. That’s what I really enjoy. M: Is Temple,
your NYC record store/label, still open? K: I actually
sold the store a year ago but I couldn’t tell anyone because I
was illegally subletting. It was the same store, the same people working,
just different owners. But after September 11 they lost half their sales
and went out of business just a month ago, it was really sad. M: Crap.
Was it close to ground zero, or what? K: It was
pretty close, and I guess people also spent more money on drinking and
partying than buying things, that’s what I feel. That’s what
I do, I just get drunk every night. M: How did
your Locotronics remix robot come about? Are you still using it? K: I was
invited to the two first Robot Wars in San Francisco to do the live
soundtrack while the robots were fighting. I thought, “Okay, these
people built all these robots that fight, then I have to build a robot
too,” so I designed Locotronics, but I use it more as an effect.
I like doing things that are out of my control, where you just plug
something and something happens and you just have to work with it. M: Speaking
of which, I hear you’re still working with Diamanda Galas. Is it
true you two united over mutual hate for Moby? K: She called me the anti-Moby. I met Moby through a friend who was dating him for a while and I thought he was the most pretentious guy I ever met. He had so many issues, you know what I mean? I was like, “Come on, relax, we’re just having dinner here, nothing else, you don’t have to do a rock star thing now, just eat your food, have a nice conversation, that’s it.” And I’m not a fan of his music, but Diamanda has way more hate for him than I do. It’s fun, fun to hate Moby. : Khan &
Kid Congo Powers, with les Georges Leningrad, at la Sala Rossa on Wednesday,
May 1, 9pm, $10
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Khan
(née Can Oral) is just like any 30-ish Finn-Turk from Germany
in New York, a continent-hopping techno transient with a long list of
monikers, collaborators and odd fetishes. Following the first LP under
his own name, ’99’s 1-900-Get-Khan, Khan got the likes of
Jon Spencer, Stereo Total’s Françoise Cactus and current
tour partner and self-made freak Kid Congo Powers to sing on No Comprendo,
a sex-sonic partnership between the maestro and his carnal compadres.
Before hitting our town with his many machines and “foolish-silly”
English, Khan regaled the Mirror with tales of robots, Moby and mariachis.