His debut EP ‘1992’ was just four tracks deep, but full of both evocative tunes about love and life that was utterly mesmerising. Yet, despite six-figure plays on YouTube and Soundcloud, still little is known about Khan…
What’s with all this mystery then?
Well there was never like the ‘big moment’ where music just kind of happened. It’s been a gradual thing – like anyone’s passion it just starts growing. When I was really young, I was one of the fortunate people who knew quite strongly what I wanted to do. At 12, I began to realise I fucking loved music. I was just doing my guitar thing really, I didn’t really mess with other stuff. I figured I’d just try and get one thing down and see how the others work out. I wasn’t like a child prodigy or any shit like that. I just did my thing and kept that going and then by the age of 16 I was 100%. Now I’m 22.
You’re pretty quiet on social networks, is that part of the mystery?
Not really, I’m not like a big social network kind of dude. I’m just not interested, I don’t wanna read a stream of people’s bullshit. It’s just a shame that someone who could be great can get dwindled down to saturating themselves into an Instagram picture or a tweet. It’s a shame, but its got its positives and its negatives.
What else inspires you other than music?
Everything, man! People watching is great I love that, it’s fun, you can just be quietly judgemental. It’s corny to say everything in life inspires me, but that is kind of the way it goes, it could be the weirdest thing that inspires you someday… movies are always huge for me, those are things that I can remember which definitely inspire me a lot.
If you could play any character in any film, who would it be?
Blade Runner is coming to mind but I don’t wanna say that, so I’d go with Jef Costello from an old French movie that I watched recently called Le Samouraï, who is like one of those neo-noir anti-heroes. It was a real inspiration for a lot of movies that you see out today, for instance Drive. I don’t know if I can see myself in that, but fuck I’d like to be as badass as that guy just killing people on the sly.
If you could live in any period of time in the past which would it be and why?
I think I’m pretty happy where I am to be honest, or I’d just go to the future.
How far are we talking here, spaceship future?
I dunno when spaceship future is gonna be, shit could be changed in 10 years. I would say 20 years from now, I’m imagining some stupid shit happening. I’d like to see hover boards; I want to get on my hover board and just cruise around…
It could be like The Fifth Element?
Yeah, that would be nice as long as I can find a babe like Milla Jovovich.
What is your earliest memory?
Biting the head off a snowman decoration; I think I almost choked. That was when I was young, it is what it is, and I don’t know what I was doing, but yeah.
What are your recurring dreams?
I don’t want anyone coming and trying to dream analysis me, fuck that!
…
I mean, it sounds weird, fuck it I’ll say one of them. I’m basically just pacing it through the woods, faster than I’ve ever run in my life; I’m like Usain straight through there. It opens out onto a massive field on a massive hill, it’s basically the darkest blue everything, the grass is purple, it’s really vivid man. Then I realise I’m being chased and it’s a huge man with a head that’s like a cross between a lynx and a wolf and he’s got a massive dagger and he chases me down and he’s scratching my back with the dagger and then I just wake up as soon as it plunges in. Not all of my dreams are that violent but that’s the one that came to me straight away.
What were you like at school?
I was a couple of different people. When I was younger I was quite popular and had a bunch of mates and it was fun. Then I just started messing around, was a bit of a joker, fucked around a bit too much, got kicked out – well they just didn’t like me. You know that kid that always gets blamed and maybe it’s not always his fault? I got a bit too much of that. Then I was a bit more of the quiet type, just getting on with my day. I went to a couple of schools, but I had fun anyway and that’s what it’s about.
Did you see yourself doing anything else?
Yeah for sure, I would love to do a bunch of different things, but I guess the focus is just to try and do one thing well.
If you could repeat any moment of your life what would it be?
It would just probably be one when I’m young, when you don’t really care about anything; one of those good days that was had in a park or whatever chilling. Something relatively normal where the vibes just nice.
How do you hope to see the next five years going?
Just proper self actualising what I’m doing. It’s still blurry. It’s blurrier than when I have a vision to go in and make a song. But it would be having an album out there which is gonna last and do its thing and be taken seriously. Just to be really satisfied with what I’d done by that point musically and really felt like I’ve added culturally to what’s going on. Creatively I don’t want to put too many structures on myself, I just don’t wanna fuck up the vibe but the album is gonna happen and I want it to happen soon.
Credits
Text Nardene Scott