2019-07-01_Uncut_UK

74 • UNCUT • JULY 2019

Thirtyyearsis a longtimefora relationship

• professionalorotherwise– toendure.Whathas
  Carneylearnedabouthismusical partner across
  thepastthreedecades?
  “Ithinkthemostsurprisingthingforsomeone
  tofindoutaboutDanwouldbethathe’svery
  mellow,typically,andveryfunny.A lotfunnier
  thanI thinkpeoplegivehimcreditfor,orthathe
  letsonto.He’sveryrespectfuloftradition,even
  thoughhelivesa veryuntraditionallife.Hehasa
  veryregimentedday,he’sverybluecollarinthat
  hewakesup,goestoworkandstuff.But then he
  alsosmokesweedalldaytoo,so...”
  Carneybreaksofftoshrughisshoulders.
  “I’mnotthestarintheband,knowwhatI
  mean?”hesays.“Ijustplaydrums.I understand
  myroleintheworld.ButI lovemakingmusic.I’m
  morejadedthanDanis andit’seasierformeto
  say,‘Fuckit.’Butwhenit comestoTheBlackKeys
  I won’t,ever.I’mnotsurewhatDanreallythinks,
  butI doidentifygreatlyasa BlackKey.I recognise
  howunusualit is tohavea relationshiplikeDan
  and I have. I think, at times, Dan forgets that.”

B

ACKintheAthensFamilyDiner,Auerbach

andCarneyreflectontheirhometown.It

hasbeena longtimesincetheybothlived

inAkron;butnomatterhowfartheyhave

travelled– emotionally,geographically,

physically– a certainsensibilitypersists.

“Wecamefroma depressedcitythatwasonce

incredible,”saysAuerbach.“Wegrewupblocks

awayfromhomesthatoncehadbowlingalleys in

them,wheretyrebaronsusedtolive.”

“IlivedinNewYorkfora yearandI’dhear

peoplesay,‘Man,I wishyoucould’veseenthe

EastVillageinthelate’70s,’”saysCarney.“Ithink

it’sprobablya lotliketheAkronmyentirefucking

life.Youcan’treallywalkaroundatnight.It’s

terrifying.Therearenojobs.Youcanrentan

oldItaliansocialclubandturnit into,like,a silk-

screening-slash-venuefacility.Wegrewupina

placethatwascoolasfuck,becauseyoucoulddo

anythingyouwanted.It wascheapashell.We

grewupinthelandthattimeforgot.JourneyTo

TheCentreOfTheEarth, wheretheygobackand

there’sdinosaurs?ThehouseI rentedwithfriends

thatwemadeourfirsttwoalbumsin?It’sworth

$20,000lesstodaythanit wasin 2001 whenI

livedthere.Thinkaboutthat.And the house was

onlyworth$50,000in2001.”

Backthen,ofcourse,TheBlackKeyswerethe

underdogs– a situationthatprevaileduntilthe

multi-platinumsuccessofElCaminopropelled

themtotheA-list.Perhaps,consideringthe

intensepressurethebandhasbeenundersince

then– fromexternalforcesasmuchastheirown,

exactingstandardsandferociousworkethic– it’s

fortunatetheyevenreconvenedforthisnewLP.

“WhenwestoppedafterTur nBlue, I wouldhave

beenperfectlyhappynotgoingontouragain,”

saysAuerbach.“Thelastthreeyearsoftouring,

I neverwenttoa soundcheck.I knewwhatit was

goingtosoundlike,whatit wasgoingtofeellike,

whatit wasgoingtosmelllike.I’dbeplayingand

singingthesonghavingcompletelydifferent

thoughts.I’dbeinfrontof40,000 people thinking

aboutsomethingelse.

“Youhavetomakea decisiononwhatyouwant

todowithyourlife.Doyouwanttobea guywho

basically does your own karaoke, or do you want

“Thisis what

wedo”:

Auerbach

and Carney

THE BLACK KEYS

alysse gafkjen

Dan Auerbachonsongwriting,Akron’sJewish delis

andTheKinks’drumsound

“I

satdownwithPat,andformostofthese

songsI wouldmakeupthewholeform

fromtoptobottom.Intro,verse,chorus,

turnaround,verse,chorus,bridge,turnaround,

outro,tag,ending.I’dworkit onthefloor.Pat

hasa knackforknowingwhattodo.I havea

microphonein frontofmeandsoI sing:‘I getlow

ona da-dehandhigh,’andjuststartmakingshit

up.thenI fillin theblanks.

“for‘lo/Hi’,everybodykeepscallingit ‘High

andlow!’thereis a deli,it wastheonlyjewish

delicatessenin akron,calledHi andlow– or

maybeHi andlois’s.Butthat’snotwhywe

namedthesong.allI seearea bunchofinside

rhymesandthat’sasfarasI thinkaboutthat

song.thisguitarplayertoldmethere’snosuch

thingashitlyrics.I guessI alwaysunderstood

that.WhenI’mwritingsongs,I’mjusttryingto

make something that feels good. It just has to

feelgood.anda lotoftimesthewordsaremore

aboutthevowels,thevowelsounds,thanthey

aretheactualwords.I’mnottryingtowritemy

epitaphorconcoctsomegreat,like,DanBrown

novelwithsecretlittlehidingspaces.I’mjust

tryingtodosomethingthatfeelsgood!

“I like‘sitaroundandMissyou’,thewaythat

feels.thewaythatPat’sdrumscomein remind

meofthekinks’‘Victoria’.there’sthelittle

suspendedchordending.there’sneverbeen

a Blackkeysrecordwitha suschord!

“for’eagleBirds’,jessieMaeHemphillhad

a songcalled‘eagleBird’andI alwaysliked

thatexpression.I thinkit’sa nativeamerican

thunderbird.

“Istherea throughline?thesesongsare

BlackkeyssongsandtheysoundlikeBlackkeys

songs,becausethisis whatwesoundlike when

we play together. It’s what we do.”

toriskit andbechallengedeveryday?The

hardestpartwasthemoney,really,becauseit

waslikesayingnotosomuchmoneywaslike

sacrilegious.Mygrandmalivedthroughthe

Holocaust.If sheknewhowmuchmoneyI turned

down,she’dcrawloutofthegraveandslapme.

“Butit wassonicegettingtodoit again.It felt

reallygoodtoberemindedofthegoodpartsofit

• whichhadn’tbeenaroundforsolongaswe’d
  beensloggeddownbytheworkofit,andthegrind
  andthehandshakesandtheradiostations.”
  “It’sa weirdtimenow,”admitsCarney.“My
  expectationsofthisnewrecordaredifferentin
  2019 thanin2012,orwhenever.DoI careif people
  liketherecordorbuytherecord?I don’tgivea
  fuck.I actuallydon’t.AndI likethat.Thereal
  successis thatwe’rehappywiththerecord.”
  “Didweevercare?Didweevercare?”says
  Auerbach,hiseyesflashing.“Wemade five
  fuckingrecordsinourbasement!”
  Sowherenext,after“Let’sRock”?
  “YouneverknowwithDan,”admittedCarney
  privately in his home. “There’s a level of trust that

I’vehadtomineinmyselfwithhim,justto

havefaithit’dallworkout.I thinkthatsatiating

whateverneedhehasmusicallyandwhateverI

haveis asimportantif notmoreimportantthan

anythingelse.If thatneedis makinga BlackKeys

record,thenthat’swhatwewillbedoing.I think

we’llmakeanotherrecordsoonerratherthan

later,if I havetoguess.MostlyI thinkwe’lldo

stuffthatdoesn’tstressusthefuckout.”

AuerbachandCarneyfinishtheirdrinksandget

readytoleavethediner.Theyhavebeenupfront

abouttheanxietiesandpleasuretheirreunion

hascausedthem.Butsuchfranknessbodes

well,it appears,fortheircontinuedhealthand

psychologicalwellbeing.TheBlackKeysare,

onceagain,fitforpurpose.Justbeforeheleaves,

Auerbachturnsanddeliversone,finalinsight.

“I justneedtogetawayfromTheBlackKeys,soI

canmakeBlackKeysrecords,”hesayswitha

reassuring smile. “That’s what needs to happen.”

“Let’sRock”is releasedbyEasyEye Sound/

Nonesuch Records on June 28