Mark Sultan has been
playing garage rock well before it was in vogue. For 23 years, the
Canadian has plugged away either as a solo musician (often under the
moniker BBQ) or a member of The Spaceshits, Les Sexareenos, Almighty
Defenders and, most notoriously, The King Khan & BBQ Show.
Through that time, he has seen garage rock go from playing to a select few to the masses, and no one is more surprised.
I
never foresaw what has happened happening. I never thought wed ever
get hype, Sultan said. I thought of it as fringe type of music that
only certain people would ever really get into.
Sultan considers himself a relentless songwriter, as if he cant help it.
Im
constantly driven to do this stuff. Its somehow pathetic, but somehow
really cathartic and magical and depressing, he said. Its not sitting
down at a piano and Elton John coming over and tickling my toes. For
me, its a natural thing. Any seed thats there, I will transform into a
song, for good or for bad. I like vomiting up ideas, and if it sticks
to the bowl, cool, and if it flushes, thats fine, too. Im not afraid
to put crap out. I dont care.
That sentiment held true with Sultans 2011 double release, Whatever I Want and Whenever I Want.
I
had recorded so many songs, and was going to just censor myself and cut
it down to a 14-song album, but a lot of the songs meant something, he
said. I think I had recorded 30 in a stretch. I had reviews like, He
should have picked 12 songs and released the rest as singles. Fuck
that.
Sultan recently released the stream-of-consciousness disc War on RocknRoll and plans on recording another following this tour.
People
want what is popular, and Im not going to give it to them. The further
I can stay away from the popularity of this music, the better, Sultan
said. I will give you a show that is full of heart, soul and ferocious
energy with everything I have. Ill lay the cards out, and if it makes
you uncomfortable, thats your problem.