Mark Sultan on the 'Bulls--- and Lies' Surrounding King Khan & BBQ Show Split

Mark Sultan doesn't care about blog buzz. And since his relationship with friend and collaborator King Khan came under the spotlight following the messy breakup of their duo, the King Khan and BBQ Show, the garage rocker known as BBQ is even more adamant about the old adage: don't believe everything you read.

"It was a self-destruction, and it was inevitably going to happen anyway, but especially Internet media pushed it," Sultan tells Spinner of the chain of events that pulled apart the pair. "I remember reading interviews -- I didn't even do some of these interviews -- where somebody would make s--- up about me saying stuff. And this is right after me and King Khan had a really big fight in Asia, and of course he's going to see that or somebody's going to see that."

"There was a lot of bulls--- going on and a lot of lies," he continues. "We're just these two tiny musicians having fun and making our music and doing what we want, and I hope I'm never put there again because it was just so phony to me. I don't want to be on the same page as a band like Radiohead -- that makes no sense to me. I have no business there, I don't think I belong anywhere near there. I'm happy with that -- I don't want anything to do with any of this s---."

Not that Sultan isn't grateful or humbled by opportunities like playing alongside Lou Reed at the Sydney Opera House last year. But the Montreal native, now based in Toronto, would rather focus on making music than collecting accolades.

Watch Mark Sultan Perform in Melbourne (NSFW)
"I never thought I'd see a lot of the things I've seen and be included in," says Sultan. "I just think if I never get included in festivals again [that are] big or mainstream, I'm not going to be sad. If I diminish in stature even amongst my peers and play for five people for the rest of my life, I'm still happy."

"But who am I to say any of this?" he adds. "This is the problem: I speak my mind, and a lot of people think I'm a dick, and that's fine. But I think it's because I'm honest. Even if what I'm saying is honestly wrong, I prefer to say what's on my mind and not to hold back."

That Sultan settled on the titles 'Whatever I Want' and 'Whenever I Want' for his pair of upcoming solo releases then is not surprising. And while you might expect from these too-the-point namesakes to find some serious angst mixed up in these numbers, Sultan says otherwise.

"Two friends arguing -- which, essentially, that's all it was -- is just completely ludicrous that it became something," says Sultan, who performed with Khan once again earlier this year. "I don't think it affected me at all other than 'I hope it mends itself,' and it did, obviously, because we're brothers and friends, and that's what happens. So, no, it didn't really affect any songwriting, that's for sure."