Star secret session studio3/13/2024 Khan never seeks out recognition, but it is always appreciated. He says, “As a producer, I'm like, ‘Ok, if they’re wearing the outfit of the song I helped him create, that's a lot of work for them to do, and I admire that they can do that.’” After all, the artists are the face of the music that people have strong feelings about - positive and negative. It’s impossible for some producers to fade into the background, but Khan recognizes the challenges and vulnerability of being an artist. But it is their song, and in my heart I do accept and welcome that for people to own their art,” he says. Obviously, I feel like I have a contribution to that. It’s a role in which he supplies the vision of the artist and offers them ownership. Much of Khan’s career development has been exercising his talent as a producer. Sometimes meeting up for a session leads to a night of movies and beers, and other times, it conjures up an idea that prompts a productive, three-day-long musical undertaking. The people he calls his friends and collaborators are understanding and respectful of each other's energies. It could have been luck, but Khan’s warm and welcoming demeanor likely had something to do with it.įriendship plays a significant part in Khan’s creative process. He reached out the following week and got invited to a studio session that was a six-minute walk from where he lived. He’s a local DJ and also a producer.” A friend introduced him to Mensa, then Khan got his number. And then my other homie and roommate, Brandon Mensa also goes by Kwey. Ben Farmer who plays synth and keys and produces a lot of music with me, Huhroon and Papa, FruitPunchLoverBoy. “By luck of the draw, the same week that I moved up here for college, I met my two best friends,” he says. When Khan moved to Minneapolis in 2017, he made quick connections that launched him into the work he does today. He performed at First Avenue’s Best New Bands 2019 with Fruitpunchloverboy, and at the 2021 event he took the stage twice, playing guitar with Papa Mbye and Honeybutter. Khan plays in at least four bands, and works as a producer for a younger generation creating sensational music in the Twin Cities. Moments like these make Minneapolis feel small, in a comforting way.Įven if his name isn’t familiar, his presence might be. Khan himself enters the space wearing a Carbon Sound (MPR’s new hip-hop and R&B service) T-shirt. Under “Just Announced” there’s a photo of Khan and his bandmates who will perform with Papa Mbye at the 7th St. In a cafe by Lake Nokomis, near a collection of magazines and newspapers, sits a stack of brochures listing First Avenue’s upcoming fall shows. Noticing his interest in music, she taught him about “all these virtuoso guitar players like Hendrix, Joe Satriani and Gary Moore… all these guys who are like, the best guitar players.” Over the years, Khan taught himself single guitar riffs from YouTube, but now he does much more than just play that one instrument. Khan’s mom was a “music head” with a radio show. As a teenager, he fixated on progressive, guitar-based metal. (Every couple of years, he flew to Minnesota, his mom’s home state, to visit family.) Sitting in his dad’s car, he’d listen to traditional Pakistani music featuring songs that were often 20 to 30 minutes long with chanting, drums, sitars, and harmoniums. Three or four years later, he picked it up again.Īs a younger child, Khan lived in Pakistan and moved to Saudi Arabia with his family at age nine. He strummed it a few times, then moved on - like kids do. On his birthday following the airport run-in, Khan’s dad gifted him a no-name-brand acoustic guitar.
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