Some Questions with the Black Keys

Whatever you might think of the Black Keys' music, I imagine most of you would agree that they are one of the best examples of a no bullshit rock band in the "indie" music world today. They're not trendy, ironic, or "artsy," and their primary list of influences could possibly be more familiar to your grandfather than to you. Every time I turn on one of their records, I'm reminded of why blues has continued to excite people long after post-punk supposedly killed it, and how sometimes a guitar and a drum kit is all it takes to wow everyone in a room. The Black Keys' approach to music is a relatively simple one in today's musical climate of Sufjan symphonies and Jewelled Antler art armies, and in many ways its quite refreshing.

But despite this distinction, it seems kind of strange to refer to them as an "indie" rock band at all, doesn't it? After all, their stripped down guitar/drum/vocal blues assault has much more in common with old timers like Muddy Waters, Junior Kimbrough and Jimi Hendrix than it does with say, Jon Spencer Blues Explosion or the White Stripes. In fact, their songs, recordings and overall delivery point to something beyond contemporary notions of cool "authenticity." They don't sound like an "authentic" blues band or an "indie" blues band, they just sound like a fucking blues band. And a great one at that.

And since they're playing a highly anticipated (at least at WSJR headquarters) show with the excellent Dr. Dog at the Granada this Friday, I decided to ask them about their music, their city, and how their band fits in with this whole "indie" rock thing that no one really seems to get. And yes, I asked about Wolfmother too. Here is my telephone conversation with drummer Patrick Carney:

Would you tell me about how the band got together?

We just grew up in the same neighborhood and knew each other for a long time, and we both got into music at the same time. We didn't know anyone else that wanted to play or could play, and since I played drums and Dan played guitar, we just started playing together and it evolved into a band from there. We got together in 97, so we were about 17 at the time.

I wanted to ask you about your hometown Akron since I've read so much about places in the northern Ohio rust belt and the effect that those surroundings had on other bands from the area such as Devo, the Dead Boys and Pere Ubu. Did those surroundings have an effect on your band's sound?

Well I think most likely it did I guess. I love the Dead Boys and some other bands from Akron, but when we were growing up as teenagers, the music scene in Akron and pretty much all of northeastern Ohio's pretty much sucked. There were some cool small bands but not really any good bands doing anything on a large scale. We were paying attention more to the old stuff than the stuff that was going on at the time. Theres just something about Ohio and lo fi I think.

I've read that the industrial atmosphere in Cleveland and Ohio in general has been a really big part of what a lot of Ohio bands have been all about. Do you think Akron had that kind of effect on you?

At one point, Akron was more of an industrial town than Cleveland, but when we were growing up, it was all over both places. I think when we were growing up, like every other band in Akron, we were more influenced or affected by a desire to get the fuck out, or do something that will prevent you from being stuck in the city, or in a situation. And a lot of my friends left town, but a lot of people like me and Dan will tell you that its fucking cheating to move to a cool city and forget about your hometown. Its a lot harder to stick around and make something worthwhile. Theres a lot of people that have stuck around, and there are a lot of good bands around Akron now. Theres even an independent record store there for the first time and a cool venue as well. Growing up in Akron, you know its a shithole. But I think it influenced our DIY aesthetic and our approach to things. I'd rather make a difference in Akron that go to Williamsburg or something.

Yeah, I think a lot of people in Dallas sort of feel the same way about our town, albeit for different reasons. So could you tell me about recording the new album?

We recorded it in my basement, and we did it all ourselves. No one else knows how our shit is set up, and I even forget half the time.

What was your motivation to do it yourself?

A couple reasons. For one, I think its the most fun to do it yourself. I think the most fun part about recording is actually recording, and I didn't want to pay someone to have all the fun. I've always recorded the records myself, and when we have other people record us for demos or something, it always sounds like garbage. I'm sure there are people out there that can record us and make us sound better than we can, but it would be less fun for us, and thats the reason we make music.

How does your song writing process typically work?

Dan writes all the lyrics either before or after we get all the songs together. We'll just be in the basement and I'll come up with a drum beat or Dan will come up with something or something will just come up while we're playing and it works. And from there, we just jam and try to come up with more. We work pretty fast, and if we don't get anything within like an hour and a half, we just move on to something else.

One of the things that has always struck me about your band is Dan's voice. Is the power and uniqueness of his voice something that stood out to you guys right away?

I've always known that Dan was a really good singer and guitar player. And when we first started off, that was the thing that everyone would talk about. Everyone would say that he sounded like an old blues guy, or the record sounded like something from the 60's. But I think everything about the band has gotten better since we first started out. We've just become better musicians overall. I think a lot of our sound has to do with Dan's voice and guitars, as well as the actual rooms we've recorded in. When we play in a small space it sounds old. When you record in a big studio and a big room, you have a better chance of sounding like Van Halen than Cream.

Do you find that the two person set up is limiting in any way, or possibly could be limiting in the future? Are there things that you've wanted to do and couldn't because there were only two people in the band?

No, I don't think so. For us, it never really comes up as an issue. We'll put bass on stuff in the studio or something, or overdub the guitar if we want. We have no problem with that. We just won't play a song live if we can't pull it off. But the songs on our new record, we can play every one of those songs live. Thats part of the reason we did it so stripped down, so that we could build up smaller songs and play them live. I think we've put out about 50 songs or more, probably more. And out of those, we can play most of them live.

Do you think its strange that you guys get lumped in with "indie" bands, even though the music you make doesn't really have much to do with a lot of that stuff?

No, I grew up listening to indie rock more than anything else, and I wouldn't really want to run in any other circle in the music world I guess. There are a lot of indie bands that don't really sound like "indie" rock bands, you know?

So what is it that you find appealing about that categorization?

I think as far as indie bands go, we're not really on an indie label, but we did put out three full lengths and an EP on a ridiculously independent label. We toured in a lot of vans and busted our ass and paid our dues. I don't know. Its kind of what we are I guess. Our debut record didn't come out on a major label, and its weird enough for me to see bands come out with a debut record on a major and still get called an indie band.

Yeah, the word "indie" really doesn't have anything to do with record labels anymore.

I think its more about a certain type of hair cut to be totally honest.

What were some of your favorite bands growing up?

Pavement, I was obsessed with them. And you know, Built to Spill, Modest Mouse. I guess the stuff that is now considered the classics. The best concert I've ever seen was Pavement on May 19th, 1995 on the Wowee Zowee tour. And my first concert was Dinosaur Jr. To me, that was like the indie rock peak. All these bands that had been around for a really long time actually started getting played on the radio. I don't know if those bands even realized it at the time, but there seemed to be a year long gap when all that was happening that has had more of an effect on music now than anything else. People like us heard that music as it came through the mainstream in that one window of time, and it changed my life and the lives of a lot of people my age.

Are there any bands around right now that you think might have a similarly big impact years from now?

I don't know. Its hard for me to tell. I'm used to something not getting on my radar until it reaches a certain level, but now I'm able to pay attention to bands that only sell a couple thousand records, so its hard to say. I think the Black Angles and Dr. Dog are two really fucking good bands.

Are you a Jon Spencer Blues Explosion fan?

Oh yeah, definitely.

Because you guys play a more traditional blues based garage rock, and they obviously draw from a lot of that too, although they obviously process it much differently.

I saw them when I was sixteen and was obsessed with Orange,, and they definitely influenced me for sure. My only problem with them is that they paid more attention to their schtick than actually writing songs in a way. When I listen to it now, the drums and the guitars sound fucking awesome, but its almost like they kind of seem a little bit dated, a little goofy. But bands that actually wrote songs, like Pavement, don't seem dated at all to me.

Since you guys write more traditional songs, I wondered if you were a little reluctant to get behind the things that Jon Spencer does.

I think they're really good, and they're an amazing live band. They sounded better live than on record. I'd just rather just be a human being on stage, rather than going up there and having to rehash some character. That would make me feel like a total fucking goofball.

What do you think of Wolfmother?

I know those guys, and they're nice guys. They opened up for us a long time ago. I think they rushed into it a lot. Its hard to say this too because when you're an Australian band, its really hard to get to the U.S. and to come over here and tour. Most Australian bands can't do it, and its almost as if a lot of those bands are pressured into signing deals that most bands over here won't sing, like a huge major label deal, which is basically a total gamble. I think there are some outside factors that play into it.

Are you guys going to be out and about in Dallas after the show on Friday?

Yeah, our friends Buffalo Killers are playing right after we're done, so we'll be there. Its kind of the after party for the show. They are a really great band, everyone should check them out.