The Black Keys
Millie Stein discovers that The Black Keys are all about the beat
By Millie Stein
It might be all tours, critical acclaim and DVD releases, but what the Ohio duo Black Keys really want to do is sound like RZA. And when you think about it, it's not so strange for a blues-rock duo to idolise the rhythmically skilled ex-front man of Wu Tang Clan. "We loved how minimal all his production was and we loved how dirty all the drum beats sounded. So that's what we've been trying to do since our first record," says vocalist and guitarist Dan Auerbach.
True to form, they insisted on the most real of approaches when making this year's Attack and Release with super-producer Danger Mouse (known to his mum as Brian Burton). "We didn't want to record a record in LA," says Auerbach. "You get your soul sucked out. There're a lot of people fooling themselves over there. I think that art's made in solitary confinement, kind of like in Ohio."
Kind of like how RZA stayed true to the disciplined teachings of the Shaolin Monks?
"Ohio, the Shaolin Monks; I don't know if there's that much of a connection, but I think it all boils down to loving old soul music and funky drumming. That's the root of all this stuff: hip hop, rock'n'roll, R&B, it's all about the beat. Pat [Carney, the Black Keys' drummer] and I heard that in all those old Wu Tang records - it was samples from old funk and soul records, all put together in a really minimal way. That's what we were hearing that we loved so much. It sort of all makes sense, you know."
Between a respect for old soul and one of their songs appearing on a Victoria's Secret commercial, what is the true identity of the Black Keys? "We need to pick an identity and stick to it," says Auerbach. "A vaudevillian mind-reader is what I've been doing lately, but it's not really going to help me. You have to be here with us to get the whole shtick."
The Black Keys play Luna Park on Fri 9 Jan.
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