The Mix
A
after making 2018’s
wild Boarding House
Reach, Jack White
decided it was time to take a
little pressure off himself. So
he re-formed the Raconteurs
— the band he put together in
2006, just before the disso-
lution of the White Stripes,
with fellow Detroit musicians
including co-frontman Brendan
Benson. Their first two albums
have become fan favorites;
their third, Help Us Stranger,
is a welcome return to their ga-
rage-y looseness and the blend
of White’s aggressive vocals
with Benson’s “sweet-sounding
voice,” as White, calling from
Nashville, puts it. “He’s an
actual singer,” he adds. “I’m
not.” This time, White branched
out by taking on some of the
more sentimental songs while
letting Benson sing some of the
rockers. “What’s cool is it’s not
competitive,” White says. “It’s
more like trying to inspire one
another to leave their comfort
zone, over and over again.”
What’s changed the most in
your life since the last Racon-
teurs album, in 2008?
I was married with kids, and
now I’m not married and
everyone else in the band
is. We’re 10 years older, and
we’ve been doing music for
25 years. I remember when I
had my upholstery shop and
I would’ve done anything to
only play music, but I thought,
“There’s no way. Forget about
it.” It’s astonishing to think
that you can go one day — let
alone another decade — being
an artist and getting away
with it.
You just received an hon-
orary doctorate from Wayne
State University, which you
attended before the White
Stripes. What was it like?
It was an honor. I could only
afford to go there for one se-
mester. I took film classes and
ate lunch at the student union.
The White Stripes got to play
that same room a couple of
years later. I remember the
A/V club put six microphones
all in a row, pointing toward
our equipment — someone
who had never done it before.
It pops in my head all the
time. It’s just so fucking funny.
When you listen to the
White Stripes for Third Man
vault releases, do you feel
nostalgic?
It’s a catharsis every time.
I have been very lucky. If I
had been in a scenario where
someone made me play key-
boards and I didn’t want to,
or dress a certain way, I’d look
back and say I’m not really
proud of that. But there’s notmuch I can think of where I’m
listening to something I’ve
been a part of and it makes
me sad at all. I always feel like
everything is meant to be.
What advice do you give
younger musicians who come
to Third Man?
I just know that if I were
to hear artists complain, it
doesn’t impress me. Being an
artist means you have to work
harder than everybody else.
It’s a responsibility, 24 hours
a day. I think about it all day
long. If you don’t already have
that inside you, like it’s uncon-
trollable, I don’t know what to
tell you.What new music gives you
hope?
All the rock & roll albums
coming out this year. The
Hives, the Black Keys... It’s
also great that people still
appreciate a band that writes
songs like Vampire Weekend
and Twenty One Pilots.
How about Greta Van Fleet?
They’re often criticized for cop-
ying older blues and rock acts,
just like you once were.
They’re three Polish brothers
from Frankenmuth, Michigan
— I thought that was a joke! But
it’s exciting to see young people
play rock & roll, no doubt about
it. That guy has a very coolvoice. The more he makes it his
own, the better. People used to
say, when I first came out, “He
sounds like Robert Plant.” If you
keep pushing forward, that shit
goes away.
Your label’s Twitter
recently congratulated the
Black Keys on a new single,
which was surprising given your
history of tension. How did you
get there?
I respect all rock & rollers. I
think [the beef ] was some law-
yers trying to screw me over and
trying to take something out of
context. Patrick Carney stopped
by while we were recording this
Raconteurs album and let me
borrow a microphone. That was
cool of him.
The biggest song in the U.S.
is Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road.”
Have you heard it?
It’s beautiful. The song is only
a minute and 47 seconds long
or something — that’s how long
“Fell in Love With a Girl” was.
People said, “They’re not going
to play that on radio.” But it
worked, and it’s great that it’s
happening again.
You know Bob Dylan, who’s
about to open a new distillery
and venue in Nashville. Has he
ever said anything to you that’s
stuck with you?
All the time. He’s been an
incredible mentor to me, and
a good friend, too. I’m lucky to
even have one conversation with
him. Everything else has been
icing on the cake.
Is there a side to him people
don’t see?
He’s very complicated. A lot of
people who go through fame,
even a small taste of it, are going
through experiences that proba-
bly no human being should ever
go through. I’ve walked into a
room and felt like I’m intimi-
dating people. You don’t know
what you’re supposed to do. I
think people like Dylan end up
trying to avoid that stuff.
Have you two written a song
together?
I cannot tell you that. I wish I
could tell you, but I cannot.Jack White
On returning to the Raconteurs, his advice for younger
musicians, and his friendship with Bob Dylan
By PAT R IC K D OY L ERICH FURY/GETTY IMAGES19 | Rolling Stone | July 2019
Q&A