Khan visiting Mio

Can Oral, also known as Khan, with a Finnish mother and a Turkish father, grew up as an outsider in unfriendly Germany. In 1982, he founded his first group, Mut zum Schlag (Courage to the Beat), consisting of two drummers and himself as a vocalist, and released his first German hip hop/no wave record. Eventually, tired of the rock band life of rehearsals and beer, he bought a cheap Atari computer and a Prophet 2000 sampler and started making music for German and Austrian TV shows. In the late 80s, Khan met the Time Tunnel/Structure collective from Cologne and started making techno with people like Walker, Jammin Unit, Mike Ink, and Jorg Burger. In 1992, he left New York, where he lived with Jimmy Tenor and had a group called Public Extacy, organizing early NY Illbient/Lalalandia parties. In their dirty cockroach-infested kitchen studio, they made hundreds of recordings, such as 'I'm Coming Out Of Your Speakers,' which became a favorite of Junior Vasques (Sound Factory). In 1994, Khan opened Temple Records (an electronic music store in Manhattan) and founded the El Turco Loco label. Realizing that his least favorite DJs were playing his records, Khan decided to change his style and became one of the most innovative ambient musicians with projects like H.E.A.D., Global Electronic Network, Radiowaves, and 4E, recording on labels like Mille Plateaux/Force Inc., Harvest, and Rising High. These records had a strong influence on the UK Fat Cat, Ifach, and Ninja Tune scenes. In 1999, Matador released the electro-porn quasi-soundtrack '1-900-GET-KHAN,' the 'greatest hits' compilation 'Passport' in early 2000, and 'No Comprendo' in the summer of 2001. Khan now lives between Berlin, NYC, and Mexico, studying new languages, art, and music, remaining an 'outsider' until the concept becomes obsolete. He has worked with musicians such as Julee Cruise, Andre Williams, Kid Congo Powers, Francoise Cactus (Stereo Total), Hanin Elias (Atari Teenage Riot), Jon Spencer, Diamanda Galas, Air Liquide, Jimi Tenor, Lukas Ligetti, Thomas Brinkmann, The Modernist, Little Annie & Christian Jandreiko, and many others. MIО DJ Cafe presents Khan (Berlin) live dj-set on June 25, 2004, at 24:00.