The White Stripes: News, History & Updates

The White Stripes Biography by their producer Jim Diamond

Exclusively for Alternative Nation

The White Stripes worked their ass off. They toured constantly in a Ford Taurus. They had a memorable look — the red and white, the peppermint swirl — no one else took it that far. That helps a lot. Touring hard and having something memorable besides the sound matters.

They were unique because they had a look, and Meg was doing this primal thing. She watched Jack closely because he had the experience — he’d played in Two-Star Tabernacle and The Go. You could sense tension, like things could fall apart, but most of the time they didn’t.

Jack White kept saying during the first record, “It sounds like it’s in a studio.” I said, if you don’t want it to sound like a studio, let’s record a live show. He’d never been in a studio. For vocals, I plugged his mic into a 1950s tape recorder with a built-in speaker, and he sang through that. That’s the vocal sound on the first record — a 1953 Revere tape recorder I found in my uncle’s basement.

They weren’t the first two-piece I worked with. I’d worked with Bantam Rooster before. To the world, the two-piece setup was unique. To me, they were my third or fourth two-piece. I saw it as an extension of Bantam Rooster, but with a female drummer capturing their beat.

The studio was a 40 x 30 concrete room in an empty warehouse. Meg’s feet were always cold, and I kept making her green tea. That’s about as exciting as it gets.

We spent a lot of time in the studio on the first record, and Meg was not a trained drummer. She was very quiet and took a lot of takes, but she had enthusiasm and drive. For their music at the time, it was the perfect fit.

There were a lot of dropped sticks. She relied heavily on the floor tom — the big primal beat you use when starting out. She wasn’t doing Buddy Rich or Gene Krupa, but for the music, it fit. By the time I started working with them, the songs and beats were locked in, so there wasn’t much experimentation.

I was always happy when anything I worked on got attention. In a local studio, you don’t expect that. But when they got big, it was great for everyone in Detroit. Then you had Electric Six getting international notoriety, so it helped everyone.

They were one of the few bands that made an international impact. Detroit Cobras and Dirtbombs had recognition, but the White Stripes had the biggest impact. They looked the best and worked the hardest.

Meg was always quiet. I don’t think she had any idea they’d get famous off those records, so she wasn’t prepared for it.

It’s great when female musicians are in an influential band — a great role model. There’s too much of “you’re good for a girl.” No — you’re just good. A friend’s daughter wanted to play drums because of Meg White. That influence is a great legacy.