On his latest ‘At Home With’ conversation on Apple Music 1, Zane Lowe is joined by The Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach who discusses the origins of the group’s new album ‘Delta Kream’, his special connection to bandmate Patrick Carney and gratitude for the band’s success, why he wouldn’t change anything about The Black Keys’ trajectory, his record label Easy Eye, what’s next for the group, and more. He also discussed the Jake Paul fight PPV performance for Triller.
The Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach Tells Apple Music What’s Next For The Band…
I have no idea. I hope it will be as spontaneous next time too because I feel just as good about this record as I do about records that we spent months on in the studio. So we’ll see, maybe we’re going to make a string of records that’ll all be a day and a half to make. We’ll see.
We did just announce that we’re going to be playing Pilgrimage later this year, Pilgrimage Festival, but we don’t have any shows to announce just yet. But we do have some plans in the works. Yeah, we just, we played a pay-per-view event and it was fun. We hadn’t played together a long time. So it was cool. Got the band back together.
The Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach Tells Apple Music About The Origins of The Band’s ‘Delta Kream’ Album…
I had a session here with Robert Finley and I invited these guys up. This one guy in particular, Kenny, who was the guitar player for R.L. Burnside. And he played on a ton of records that I love, Junior Kimbrough records, all kinds. So I invited him up. I’d never recorded with him before. And I also invited this guy named Eric Deaton, he’s a bass player, hill country. He’s just like an encyclopedia with that kind of music. I invited him up. We had such a good time, I called Pat. And I was like, “Man, you’ve got to come over here and we got to just play a little bit for fun,” because I just figured he’d really like Kenny. And a day-and-a-half later, yeah, we have a record done.
I think that we wouldn’t have been able to make this record until now. That’s for sure. But yeah, I think that what was one of the really important ingredients was just not knowing that we were making to make a record. And that’s an important part of this music for real. Some of the best like roots music records are those spontaneous records. And that’s what this is, man. And you can just kind of feel the energy and it’s kind of nervous energy, but it was just fun. We left all the studio chatter in, because we loved the songs so much, we were just playing them. And that’s what this record is.
We love blues music, but I think I just think of us as a rock and roll band. That’s sort of what I’ve always thought of us as, basement-dwellers from Akron, Ohio. But we do love this music, and definitely feel a close connection to it. Any chance that we get to turn people on to the old country blues, we want to do that, because it means that much to us.
The Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach Tells Apple Music About Growing Up Around Music…
It was from my family. I was lucky, I grew up in a house that was music all the time. My mom played piano. Her all played bluegrass and it’s like old blues songs. And they would teach me songs on guitar. And my dad had a crazy vinyl collection and would always be playing music. And so I was really familiar with people like Son House and Robert Johnson before I’d heard Led Zeppelin. So I was just lucky I got to be around some great, great music.
The Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach Tells Apple Music About His Record Label, Easy Eye…
Yeah, I’ve been working nonstop over here, man, putting out records. We’ve got so much good stuff coming out. Robert Finley, new Shannon and the Clams, new Yola record. We’ve got young bands, a band called the Velveteers, we’re working on. Some great stuff, some really good stuff. Every artist that comes here has their own story and we’re just here to help them tell it. I mean, really, I want us to get out of the way and just let whatever’s going to happen, happen. That’s my job here, and I can be involved as much or as little as possible, but telling people’s stories is what we do.
The Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach Tells Apple Music About His Special Connection To Bandmate Patrick Carney and Gratitude For Their Success…
I mean, it’s just undeniable at this point, Pat and I just have a connection. We’ve played together for so long that we just have this swing that we can play together and that we have together. And it’s hard to explain, but we never have to talk about anything we’re doing. When we start playing, it just sounds like us, you know?
I just feel like, I don’t know. I just feel so blessed. Honestly, I don’t know really what to say. I can’t believe that I’m able to do what I do every day. Come into the studio, pick and choose what I do, what I work on. Not have to be sucking up to anybody or really thinking about budgets. I can just invest what needs to be invested in a project to make it right. But I do feel like Black Keys make it all possible. And I don’t know, Pat and I, it feels like we’re in a great place. We haven’t been in such a good place in a long time. I don’t know. I just think we just both kind of… I don’t know what it is. I think we just have an appreciation for each other. I think we both worked with other people and we see how it is. And then when we get together to make music, we see how easy it is. It’s like we really are blessed and I think we both are just happy when we get to work together.
The Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach Tells Apple Music He Wouldn’t Change Anything About The Band’s Trajectory…
Even when we’re recording in a big, big studio, and like on the grid, we still want it to be a performance. Some part of it’s got to be a performance. That has to be there. You know what I mean? That’s a crucial ingredient. We definitely did a bunch of experimenting, but I wouldn’t redo anything. I love the trajectory. I love when we chose to change things up. I really can appreciate some of the different, stupid decisions we made. And ultimately, I think each one kind of makes it a little stronger. And I think it’s part of why we have such a good relationship now.
I mean, it blows my mind really. Besides my family, I don’t have a relationship that long with anybody. It’s really pretty incredible to me.
The Black Key’ Dan Auerbach Tells Apple Music About The Band’s Archive…
Yeah, we have a whole archive. We’ve got all kinds of stuff, video, audio, we’ve got all kinds of stuff. We recorded a bunch of shows. We’ve got all kinds of stuff. Who knows? One of these days.
