Vish Khanna
Vish Khanna is a Canadian musician, music journalist and radio personality, best known as the former host of The Wrath of Khanna show, his work as an Assistant Editor at Exclaim! Magazine, and as a contributor to Signal to Noise. Khanna was born, underweight and three weeks premature, in Kitchener, Ontario and raised in nearby Cambridge, Ontario. He currently resides in Guelph.
Broadcasting
Khanna is the host of The Breakfast Club, a weekly podcast, in which he interviews notable Canadian musicians over breakfast, in cities across the country. Past guests include Nomeansno, Constantines, Sarah Harmer, Jim Guthrie, Braids, Broken Social Scene, Shad, Hannah Georgas, Mark Bragg, Nardwuar the Human Serviette, John K. Samson, Dave Bidini, Al Tuck, Christine Fellows, Wintersleep, Karkwa, Fucked Up, C'mon, and Shotgun Jimmie among others.
Until Tuesday June 21st 2011 he co-hosted the Mich Vish Interracial Morning Show!, a weekly program on CFRU-FM in Guelph, Ontario. Since co-founding the program on April 20, 2005, Khanna has interviewed many prominent artists on the show such as Steve Albini, Ian Mackaye, Nomeansno, Marc Maron, GZA/Genius, Eugene Mirman, Ron Sexsmith, Will Oldham, Patton Oswalt, Cee-Lo Green, Bill Callahan, Patti Smith, David Berman, Gord Downie, Donald Glover, Buck 65, Large Professor, Harmony Korine, Vic Chesnutt, Julie Doiron, D.A. Pennebaker, Fred Armisen, Rick Froberg, Mavis Staples, Mike Birbiglia, and members of Can, Sloan, The Jesus Lizard, Arcade Fire, Pavement, Tortoise, godspeed you! black emperor, and the Lonely Island among many others.
Musician
Khanna was the drummer in the hardcore band Captain Co-Pilot with Steve Lambke and Dallas Wehrle, both of whom went on to play in the band Constantines. He first toured North America, as a roadie for Royal City, documenting such trips on tape, film, and via tour diaries. From 2000 on, he subsequently went on to play drums in the Neutron Stars, Calyx, Dry Tickle, Nathan Coles Outfit, and John Tielli's Metal Kites. He played guitar and sang lead in a community folk-rock band called the Cryin' Out Loud Choir, and occasionally makes hip-hop songs. He also played drums for both Wax Mannequin and The Burning Hell on the Hear Some Evil Tour. Khanna currently participates in a special events-based music project called King Neptune and his Tridents, which he co-founded in 2003.
Community Involvement
Khanna was a DIY concert organizer in Guelph in the mid-1990s. He used to organize one benefit concert a month when he worked for CFRU between 2005 and 2008. He called the series “RYV,” which stood for “Raise Your Voice,” the station's moniker for its fundraising campaign. After leaving that position, he started his own series under the banner KYEO, which is a reference to a Fugazi song of the same name. Shows were at one point co-presented with John Bonnar of the University of Guelph’s Central Student Association, and usually occurred at the Ebar (41 Quebec St.) in Guelph, and beneficiaries would include the Guelph Food Bank, Out on the Shelf, and the Canadian Cancer Society among others. Khanna also served on the Guelph Jazz Festival's board of directors, and was a volunteer/MC for the Hillside Festival.
