Mark Sultan

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Mark Sultan

Background information
Origin Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Genre(s) Garage rock, garage punk, rock and roll
Years active 1996–present
Label(s) Sultan Records, Sympathy For The Record Industry, Goner Records, Bomp! Records, In The Red Records
Associated acts The Spaceshits, Les Sexareenos, The King Khan & BBQ Show
Website www.marksultan.com

Mark Sultan is a Canadian musician and entrepreneur from Montreal, Quebec. He was a member of a number of Canadian garage bands including the Spaceshits, Les Sexareenos, and Mind Controls. He has also spent time performing as a one-man band under the pseudonym BBQ, a moniker which has followed him beyond his solo career to his collaboration with former Spaceshits bandmate Blacksnake in the two-man band, The King Khan & BBQ Show. Mark Sultan usually performs using a number of aliases including Needles, Krebs, Von Needles, Skutch, Creepy, Bridge Mixture, Kib Husk, Noammnn Rummnyunn, Blortz, Celeb Prenup, and BBQ. In 2007 he began releasing albums under his own name for the first time.

Contents

[edit] History

[edit] The Spaceshits

Mark Sultan began his musical career playing drums in a band called Powersquat, a suburban group which combined a number of diverse influences into their notably violent live shows. After Powersquat, Sultan went on to join the Spaceshits, another Montreal-based band whose members approached Sultan in order to procure a lead singer. Sultan volunteered himself for the position and the band began writing songs together. At the time of Sultan's arrival the Spaceshits were comprised of Oily Chi on rhythm guitar, Stinky B. on bass, and Skid Marks on drums, though within a few months Stinky B. was replaced on bass by Blacksnake, a Canadian of Indian descent. [1]

The Spaceshits, just like the Powersquats before them, were well-known for their violent stage shows. Sets typically lasted no longer than 10 to 15 minutes, in which time the band would set off fireworks, start food fights, and create disturbances. Eventually the band's raucous live shows would lead them to be effectively blacklisted from most venues in Montreal, a trend which was compounded during a set in support of the New Bomb Turks. During the Spaceshits' set, Sultan was erroneously accused of throwing a beer bottle at a member of the audience, while at the same time fellow bandmate Skid Marks threw his drumstick into the crowd, injuring the president of a music distributing company which employed Sultan. The final straw in the Spaceshits blacklisting occurred just before the beginning of a European tour, while the band was promoting a new Sultan Records release. Before the show, the band had an altercation with the venue's co-owner which resulted in Blacksnake's hand being injured. Sultan stormed the stage encouraging the audience to demand their money back for a show the band did not intend to deliver. This event marked the end of the band's booking in Montreal. [2]

The Spaceshits went on to complete a European tour; one which would prove to be the last for the band. After the European tour had ended, Blacksnake opted to stay behind. Rather than continue on without him, the bandmembers broke up, believing both that the band had run its course, and that Blacksnake had been like a brother to them and so replacing him would have been impossible. [3]

[edit] Les Sexareenos

When what was left of the Spaceshits returned from their European tour, they reformed under the name Les Sexareenos, adding bandmembers Choyce and Annie to the lineup. For Les Sexareenos, Sultan was the drummer as well as frontman. The name Les Sexareenos came from a pulp novel by Vin Saxon, pen name of Ron Haydock of The Boppers. As Les Sexareenos, Sultan released two LPs, Live! In Bed, and 14 Frenzied Shakers. [4]

[edit] BBQ

After Les Sexareenos had run its course, Sultan began recording on his own under the pseudonym BBQ, a one-man band in which Sultan sang, played guitar, and drummed simultaneously. As BBQ, Sultan performed with numerous bands including Bob Log III, The Deadly Snakes, The Woggles, The Ponys, Mr. Airplane Man, Nathaniel Mayer & The Shanks, The Cool Jerks, The Del-Gators, Scat Rag Boosters, The Mystery Girls, The Come-Ons, and The Soledad Brothers. Sultan's solo career lasted from 2002 to 2005, at which point he became dissatisfied with having to write songs on his own and reunited with former Spaceshits bandmate Blacksnake, who, since the breakup of the Spaceshits, had gone on to adopt King Khan as his stage name and was heading a band called King Khan and his Shrines. [5]

[edit] The King Khan & BBQ Show

Starting in 2003, Sultan began recording with King Khan as "The King Khan & BBQ Show." The King Khan & BBQ Show released their first self-titled album in 2005. This was followed by a U.S. tour, and eventually a world tour encompasing Europe, Australia, and South America. Their first album was followed in 2006 by a second LP called "What's for Dinner?" which was released on In The Red Records. [6]

[edit] Sultan Records

Mark Sultan is also the founder and current owner of Sultan Records, an independent record label based in Montreal, Quebec. Sultan Records has issued releases from a number of garage rock bands, including Scat Rag Boosters, The Deadly Snakes, The Daylight Lovers, and Sultan's own band, the Spaceshits. [7]

[edit] References