The Mix
26 | Rolling Stone | July 2019
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FTER 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 dis-
solution of the White Stripes,
with fellow Detroit musi-
cians including co-frontman
Brendan Benson. Their first
two albums have become fan
favorites; their third, Help Us
Stranger, is a welcome return
to their garage-y looseness
and the blend of White’s ag-
gressive vocals with Benson’s
“sweet-sounding voice,” as
White, calling from Nashville,
puts it. “He’s an actual sing-
er,” 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 Ra-
conteurs 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 astonish-
ing 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
semester. 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 equip-
ment — 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 keyboards 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 not much 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 uncontrollable, 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 crit-
icized for copying 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 cool voice. 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
lawyers 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 happen-
ing 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 in-
credible 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 probably
no human being should ever
go through. I’ve walked into
a room and felt like I’m in-
timidating 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.On returning to the Raconteurs, his advice for younger
musicians, and his friendship with Bob DylanBy PATRICK DOYLEJack White
Q&A