The Black Keys' Patrick Carney & Dan Auerbach in Studio Q

all right I mean it is fair to say the buzz has been building for alchemy know since word got out about the Nashville recording sessions you guys were trending on Twitter all day yesterday Pat is this level of anticipation a blessing or a curse I mean it's it's pretty incredible really you know because we've been doing this for almost a decade and you know the whole idea I think of when you start a band is to play music for people and when there's a lot of people paying attention then it feels good so yeah I mean it's cool it's cool that some people are aware that the records coming out but you know we're prepared also for you know whatever backlash is associated with being successful these are more pressure when there's this much excitement about a record coming up I mean there's no more pressure for us we went into the studio and you know made a record like we've done you know six times prior to this and I mean we did some things differently but you know I think the only pressure that existed was the fact that you know we knew more people were gonna be paying attention and we wanted to make a great record you know but that's kind of how we approach every and you've miserably failed I know so it's according according to some people on our fan page like blue sludge 1000 we seriously have been washed up for the past eight years for the past eight years yes route was just right but they're on your fan page I love that part yeah right that's our biggest fan Dan you're in a couple days you're in New York playing SNL you're gonna be on The Colbert Report again I mean as much success as you've had the momentum building towards this release has been palpable and it can't just be about the fact that you had one song on the radio in a big way what do you how do you account for this and in your mind well that was a major part of it you know that was really what brought us the attention of a much wider on it so we'd ever had before but I mean we don't we'd we'd had a really strong fanbase already going into it so it's like a just a combination of things hard work and timing and it just all sort of happened this past year does feel like it's kind of skyrocketed though just in the last 12 months yeah I mean it's nothing you could have ever planned really you can't plan a successful year like we just had just things just kept happening and then and yeah it's just been kind of crazy tell me about Nashville I start talking about this record how does does Nashville do you think affect the sound and the approach to this record not really I mean I think that just whenever we get into the studio it it doesn't really matter where we are you know Anna managed just sort of we're so focused on what we're doing that the outside world kind of disappears and we never go outside so I mean we get them literally we get there like 11 or 12 and then we're there till like 3:00 or 4:00 in the morning and yeah the outside world doesn't exist right so that it's it's it's kind of a romanticized or misled notion to think the country capital Black Keys are doing their record in Nashville it would have any effect on you in your social life but not not musically dancing life and regardless of who produces the record there's this unmistakable Black Keys sound but you've also had a certain amount of mainstream success working with Danger Mouse what is what specifically do you feel he brings to the creative process but um you know three of us have similar taste in music and some more ideas about music and how to make it and but you know I think his kind of expertise is just basically organization really he's good at kind of simplifying things and suggesting you know more direct approaches to stuff that you know meaning musically yeah melodically especially and rhythm rhythmically but you know I mean this whole record was just you know the thing that was exciting about this album was that it was a three-way collaboration you know so it was like everybody had to equal say and whatever you know if somebody suggests it's a good idea for a drum beat or good idea for bass line then that's what we would do so basically you know everybody's input was you know it was equally valued and you know it's hard to say exactly what he brought to this record because of that you've talked about consciously wanting this to be more rock and roll record after some forays into a more Bernard B sound why was it important to for this to be a rock record so we wanted to strip it down and make it simplified but we didn't necessarily say let's make a rock'n'roll record it was like we got six songs into it and we're like wow all these songs are kind of up-tempo should we maybe write some slow ones and we just were like nah let's just keep going you know it was more of what we were listening to were getting inspired by we're listening to rock n roll records we getting the studio in the morning and we'd sit around we listened and you know we're listening to some play The Cramps and the The Clash and you know glam bands like the suite and laying fifties rockabilly and it's all just kind of up to up-tempo stuff and just it's interesting you should say the thing about being able to play them live because one of the reactions I had listening to this record truly and a Richards on the other side of the glass I screamed this out to him at one point it sounds it's a big sounding record it sounds produced you know and at the same time it sounds like songs that you could replicate live very easily so like it sounds like you guys went and and so I wonder if you can distill it into words what the magic is between production and overproduction finding finding that line where it's something that you can actually replicate but still sounding a big like a record like that doesn't sound like a live album er you know but it sounds like you could make this live yeah I mean we're such a live band that it's important for us to because we want to play the songs that we have on our record but we also appreciate albums that are just meant to be listened to on headphones you know what I mean some records just like that you know but you know we put them together with the idea it'd be great if we could really play these you know and for the most part week we can and it's it's fun as hell honestly I can't wait to play him live the debt was there moments in the city of where you want to put something on a track and and you you'd sort of go ahead actually let's not do that because we wouldn't do that live yeah there were a couple couple times when we said let's let's let's not do that let's keep it simple and and how they keep it simple stupid keep it and kiss method yeah and and how much of a how much of an imperative is there to be the Black Keys I sounds like a ridiculous question but at this point because you've got this big fan base and because people know you aren't because you have a sound does that ever feel limiting like we you know you can't just make a a rap record or something without people go like doesn't sound like the Black Keys well we didn't we made a rap record I mean have you listened to like the slowest song and brothers in the fastest song I'll come you know I mean I think they both sound like us I think that you know we're just comfortable making music that we like and not worrying about you know blues sludge 1000's comment back to you see you say you don't worry about it but this is the second time you've commanded them no I don't I don't worry about I'm glad you despised no I mean you know I think a responsibility to a certain sound there's anything that we do it always ends up just kind of sort of sounding like us even when we cover other bands or something we always kind of mess it up and it just sounds like us you know yeah I mean there's certain bands that you know make similar sounding records over and over and over again and that's cool then there's certain bands that make drastically different records record and record and you know I mean I think we're somewhere in between there Danger Mouse is 1/2 of nerves Berkeley even they had that monster hit crazy pat is that is that kind of commercial appeal I'll be in the in the in the vein of rock and roll something you aspire to by having a huge hit like that yeah massive hit uh we don't aspire you know to have any kind of success that we haven't already achieved and like even we put out brothers you know we didn't think tighten up was gonna get played on a radio it did get played on a radio and it was cool and I think that's kind of our mo is you know if it happens and we feel comfortable with it then cool but we're not sitting there trying to force ourselves and do no but but you really mean that you don't you when you say we don't look for any any more success than we've already had this this this record sounds like you know I don't know but just listening to it it sounds much more accessible than almost anything I've ever heard from you guys and I say in the sense of this could be a really big record that was just happenstance uh that's just that's where we're coming from yeah I mean it doesn't sound more accessible than like tighten up or next room maybe know how maybe I mean I think look we want to be as popular as we can be on our own terms and you know I mean every time we go on tour because you know we started we started playing shows to like zero people and over the course of years you know got to like the point where we could play the Troubadour in LA and then the point where we could play to like the Avalon Ballroom which is like big you know twice as big and then we got to the point where we could play to The Wiltern and then the Palladium then the played in for two nights and then every time we go into what we want to do slightly better because it keeps it fun you know and like but you know if we were forcing ourselves to get there I mean it's all been kind of luck everything good that's happened to this band I think has either been from hardwork luck completely by accident you don't require each record to be bigger than the last one to be to be happy to be in this band no but most every record pretty much has been except for a magic potion now it's the only record that hasn't sold better than the predecessor when not when you were playing 2-0 people who that was Blues Traveler 500 or whatever what was that dude was he was he put I when did he come on board I don't know I mean I don't even think I had internet oh let me try this on you dad in the introduction I mentioned how classic sounds like Motown or in your case rock rock and roll can be redefined I mean this album contains a litany of high highly original yet classic sounding riffs guitar riffs how do you find the balance between those seemingly paradoxical things original in class or original and classic yeah well I think you just kind of go out at different fronts I think like sonically we would never want anything to sound retro you know so our records while they may have like maybe a Motown beat or like garage rock fuzz guitar line they still have modern-day like hip-hop low-end and you know I think that helps to make a record sound modern you know what I mean but also yeah I just what's wrong what's wrong with retro well I think it's unoriginal if you're just trying to be retro just copying one style you know we would never want to do that like I said we just love so many different types of music we just kind of take all these things that we love and and filter them through our dumb brains and you know come up with our records basically you know Sal you don't sound like you have dumb brains that's for sure I think you'd be surprised I would be surprised we should take some AC T's right now yeah but you're not afraid to take the piss out of yourself so and you you do gravitate towards that I mentioned you being on Colbert and that you're gonna uncle bear again and it feels like a very different vibe from a time when rock bands took themselves really really seriously you know I'm thinking Zeppelin probably wouldn't have gone on Colbert and made fun of themselves you just can't we can't act like that yeah we were not raised that way our family our brothers would just brother fun of us mercilessly if we walked around with our shirt unbuttoned seriously the gold chains on it would take a lot of heroin and a lot of money to get us to block ouch maybe available to you now yes recent success true yeah we just can't act like them and I don't know we feel uncomfortable wearing sunglasses indoors you know I mean if you ever see a photo of us with sunglasses indoors it's because we're making fun of each other yeah right right well you could always pretend that you're doing it you know the way Bono does you could pretend you're being a rock star even though you really are being a rock star you know it's a weird man I think it's like helped us and hurt us at the same time because I think the mainstream public I really feel like they want a rock star who acts like a rock star they really want that that person up there that they're not like and we just we don't act like that and I think it's kind of hurt us in some ways I think people sort of some people and you know a lot of lot of writers I think don't like some don't take us seriously or don't think that we can it could have a gain the kind of success that we have because we're just too normal you know what I mean I really feel like that happens a lot you know like yeah then and I also check each other I mean that I think we've known each other for so long that if one of us started like changing the way that we like ourselves or started talking stick which I've seen lots of musicians do this stuff it's just bizarre it's bizarre it's crazy you know I mean Dan will be the first person to make fun of me a be the first person making fun of him right but we'd also be the first people to make fun of a musician doing that and once we got on our tour bus I mean you know what like we're friends is a lot of talented people and a lot of like super creative you know artistic you know people and pretty much none of our friends act like that I mean that is seriously it doesn't come with the territory just because you know when you start talking about yourself in the third person it's like talk about yourself like you're the greatest thing on earth night that that does not mean like just because somebody wrote a cool song doesn't give you the right to do that that's just straight-up crazy you're not gonna develop an English accent after a short tour of right now right Patti has been getting into Kabbalah de vie I mean deep we tend to quantify commercial success in terms of album sales but you've also scored a lot of additional airplane revenue by licensing your songs to TV shows commercials films then how do you choose when it's appropriate to allow your music to be used that way since you seem like a band that puts a premium on integrity yeah it just depends on how many zeros are in the check it's basically take the hip hop methodology when it comes to licensing yeah it's like we get it we put a song in like a sitcom and we catch crap for it Drake puts his face on Air Canada planes and everyone's like what's up it's awesome do you take take some criticism for having your stuff up here and sitcoms etc we used we used to I mean it's a silly it's weird though surprisingly little yeah it's the kind of thing that we used to worry about and I don't know people have heard this story where we turned down a lot of money and we were turning in the minivan that's on the cover of our new record and it was terrible van it was you know kind of smelly there's no air conditioning right and we turned down it was like 200 pounds 200 yeah 200 thousand pounds we had no money you know we had zero we had zero made like maybe two thousand bucks an hour checking again what was it what was it for a mayonnaise there's a TV commercial right in the UK mayonnaise and we're like oh man we can't sell out man no we can't do that and like will people think and our manager at the time was also telling us it would be a really look for us hmm meanwhile we're we made the record in our basement for no money with only you know the purest of intentions making the music and we're on the road touring we have no money and we turn down this money because we were worried what other people think but I kind of like that whoa not if you're worried about what other people say why we turn it down was because look our our parents are middle-class they live in Akron they work all year long all right like Dan's mom was a schoolteacher my dad works at a newspaper they were they worked their asses off like you know they got they got upset with us but when we told him we didn't take the money cuz it's crazy because it's like four years of their salary yeah and you know what when you start making decisions based on what some a blogger blog or that they went to Bard College or Overland right you know like no you're absolutely right about it on the other hand if you feel uncomfortable with something promoting something that you don't agree with you would you still talk about mayonnaise seriously two hundred thousand pounds I really look at it I do love mayonnaise that's true is there anything you wouldn't do it at if we turned down we turn down a bunch of it okay so there is a line for you too we we actually try to get a Halliburton so they wouldn't go with us you know we support by really good companies Blackwater we try to get down on you turned down Hummer the way we did turn down home right now but you know yeah I think you know a lot of bands like take a stance I saw some day I'm making fun of Kurt Vile I'm he's a musician from Philadelphia is play with us yeah he's been in the studio here yeah I saw something make fun of him for taking a Bank of America commercial but it's like yeah the dude like makes like you know what thousand bucks a show he's offered if enough money to buy a house in Philadelphia to have a commercial and have people here as music I mean I don't see a problem with it and you know it is it so yeah it is also we're because music seems to be on the only art form where that's even an issue yeah do you know what I mean every other art form in the world know really cares you know every actor every every sport every athlete you know is like hawking some sort of something you know watches perfume drinks you know everybody gets into it somewhere I mean Arcade Fire's Madison Square Garden Terry Gilliam things you know presented by American Express you know like most famous of course they are a band that is very very strict about they say not not taking okay with it okay whatever so just confusing it's not good - yeah yeah I mean I'm not I'm not I would never call anybody as a sellout for taking money to help them make art this is what we did you know and like you know my house is a piece of art so I take money to pay for that I mean what about just to follow it through here and I'm not I'm just just because it's fun it's an interesting conversation what about if you're if it's not curved I'll if you don't need the money what like what about Dylan now licensing and stuff does that bug is there something about that not to go no you know it loads up on anok Alec we're gonna hear it you know what would you rather be surrounded by Nickelback and you know what Fergie and whatever like now if you're gonna if you're gonna have to be exposed to music randomly I'd rather be our music you know it's good talking to you a year ago you didn't you didn't have three Grammy Awards you weren't playing to a lot of sold-out amphitheaters and arenas I that you that you are today do you find this kind of success patrick bewildering on some level it's interesting you know I mean I never thought that we would be this successful you know all the bands that we liked in high school you know whenever they were able to play to like 500 people I thought that they were huge you know and when we got to the point where we were able to play to 500 people I didn't think that there was anywhere else to go you know so it is kind of you know but you know we both feel like kind of privileged to to be where we are and realize how unusual it is for like a rock band to you know who hasn't like you know actively sought out this kind of thing to be in this position dan is it be true of you too you you never thought this would happen yeah absolutely not I mean every year something new happens and his surprise for us we we've never we didn't start this band saying we didn't have like a list of ambitions you know what I mean or any sort of dreams we wanted to fill fulfill other than play music you know that was it we liked making records we liked playing shows and we liked I think you know we never really talked about it I think we liked the freedom of like getting on the road playing a show and somebody handing us cash and then us leaving then going to another city and doing the same thing yeah that was cool what's the biggest misconception about the Black Keys I think it's something that Dan might have touched on earlier about mmm the way that we're perceived you know in general I mean we don't put up a front we're like pretty much we're open straight-up honest guys for the most part when it comes to like talking about our opinions and how we operate and you know because you know we're open about talking about yeah we take money for a commercial for you know because you know it's money and it's free and you know and then you you know you hear certain bands take money in other other ways and they pretend like they don't pretend like they have a different level of integrity when we have the same exact level of integrity we're just more open about it you know what do you think the biggest misconception is now boy I don't know if you think there is one oh yeah I'm not really sure that there is one necessarily and and what would you say before I let you guys go what would you say the secret of of u2 hanging out together has been I mean to be friends since teens and to be through going through this all together and to seemingly I mean before we hit the air here you were I mean generally genuinely look like you're still friends there is no secret I mean we've been around a lot of bands over the years and we've seen how they interact with each other and sometimes it's it's you know their friends sometimes it's super depressing because they hate each other you know but Pat and I genuinely love each other and care for each other and we've been buds for like you know I mean I have known Pat since since like right when I started having memories you know I'm like it's eight years old or something yeah you know so I mean it's just like I'm big as long as this doesn't get in the way now cuz we both have the same goals we're both like competitive people and we want to succeed but we also love making music and we just we got lucky man that's really all there is to it cuz this this business is like ruthless and it's you know we've seen so many bands and somebody talented people just have zero success you know and there's no way you can be sure of success in this in this in this profession we just worked hard and we got lucky when we first started after the first year like um it was like fall of 2002 we started getting approached by major labels and Seymour Stein came to our show and some people for my DreamWorks and you know there was option for us to go to a major label for our second record and we didn't feel ready to do it and we wanted we felt like it would you know take a long time to put another record out and then we you know we just were unsure about it so we went the indie route for three records and then we went back and talked to major labels and found Nonesuch and sign with them but i mean i think during that whole time I thought that our window to be like really successful was that first opportunity in 2002 and we let it go so yeah I never expected when brothers came out I would never expected basically to have come and being able to go it on a major label make a record put a song out they gets played on the radio and then having just been around for the amount of time we have been around and having the kind of I guess clout within the label to be able to go do that and the labels we've never ever had one input about our music from our record label what's the best thing about Dan um that he's really funny and hard-working I think what's the best thing about Pat I'd say the same thing it's funny as hell hmm it's really great getting to talk to you guys and it's a really strong record and I thank you so much for making the time to come in and do this in studio Q seriously thanks man thank you

Channel: q on cbc

Views: 159,848

Rating: 4.9312215 out of 5

Keywords: Dan Auerbach, Patrick Carney, Black Keys, El Camino, Ohio, cbc, jian, ghomeshi

Id: p_wWs3B0578

Length: 27min 19sec (1639 seconds)

Published: Tue Feb 21 2012