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Dan Auerbach was 16 and still learning how to play guitar when he and Black Keys drummer Patrick Carney began their music relationship.
He’s 40 now and touring sports arenas with his childhood friend and bandmate for the first time since 2015, fielding a question about how their dynamic may have changed based on the premise that they’re obviously different people than they were in high school.
“Not really,” he says, with a laugh.
“We’re pretty much exactly the same, to be honest. I mean, this is the thing about when you’re a rock-and-roll musician for a living. It suspends your growth into adulthood. So we’re basically the exact same two morons that we were when we first started to bang on things in the basement. And I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
They only took a break, he says, “because the road was tearing the life out of us. We just hit it too hard for too long. And we definitely just needed a break. I needed to make some records, hunker down at home and spend some time with my family. And I’m glad we did it. It was really necessary.”
The Black Keys return with ‘Let’s Rock’
Long before they hit the road, the duo dove back into the creative process, writing their first album in five years, “Let’s Rock,” on which they effortlessly live up to the mission statement of that title.
“It was relatively painless,” Auerbach says of working on material again with Carney. “We got together and honestly, the very first idea that we had when we sat down and started playing together made the record.”
And that came as no surprise to Auerbach.
“It’s just always been there,” he says of the connection he and Carney have. “Like magic, sort of.”
He and Carney both found other outlets for their creativity while on hiatus from the Black Keys.
Auerbach formed a side group called the Arcs, releasing an album called “Yours, Dreamily” in 2015. Two years later, he released his second solo album, “Waiting on a Song,” while also becoming increasingly active as an in-demand producer.
Among the artists he’s produced are, Cage the Elephant, Dr. John, Lana Del Rey, Ray LaMontagne, Jake Bugg and the Pretenders
Carney also got more involved in the production side of things. Among the artists he’s produced are Calvin Johnson, Dams of the West, Tennis, Jessy Wilson and Sad Planets, in addition to his wife, Michelle Branch.
To Auerbach, all that outside experience felt like he’d gone off to graduate school.
“And I got my doctorate,” he says, with a laugh. “Four years ago, I wouldn’t have trusted myself to do brain surgery. Now, I feel like I might be a little tempted.”
Starting fresh with Patrick Carney
One thing he didn’t come back from the hiatus with was new Black Keys material, preferring to go into the writing sessions with a blank slate.
“We just started fresh every day,” he says. “We wouldn’t really even listen to anything. I think we listened to ‘Surfin’ Bird’ once. And we probably didn’t even finish it. I think we recorded six songs, made up six ideas or whatever. And none of them had any keyboards or anything. At that point, I think maybe it was me who suggested just keeping it to electric guitars, drums and bass for the whole record. And we just agreed right there. It was that simple. We made a little gut decision and stuck to it.”
They didn’t even put much thought into not sending out for Danger Mouse, the producer who’s been involved to some degree in every Black Keys album since their mainstream breakthrough with “Attack & Release” in 2008.
“We didn’t even talk about it, really,” Auerbach recalls. “I mean, I don’t think there was any question that we were just gonna do it ourselves. We’ve always kind of produced our own records whether it was with Danger Mouse or whoever we’re working with. We’ve always been producers, too. No big deal.”
It’s always been that magic (sort of) chemistry he has with Carney that inevitably makes a Black Keys record what it is.
“When Pat and I play together, we’re the Black Keys,” he says. “When I’m writing with other people, my role always kind of changes. Sometimes I’m the co-writer, sometimes I’m just the producer, you know what I mean? Trying to figure out how to help, really, is all I’m trying to do.”
Rocking out in the age of hip-hop
It felt good to make such a rock-and-roll record, especially given the current musical environment.
“Everything is so hip-hop-centric,” Auerbach says. “Advertising. Branding. All that stuff. It felt really good to make a record and be like, I’m gonna use absolutely no part of anything like that.”
Then, he laughs.
You’d be hard-pressed to come up with an act that’s flown the flag for straight-up rock and roll with more success than Auerbach and Carney since 2008.
And despite the dominance of hip-hop in the mainstream culture, Auerbach thinks rock and roll is in a good place.
“There’s amazing bands out there,” he says. “We’ve got an amazing band, Shannon and the Clams, out with us. And elder statesmen Modest Mouse on the same bill. And we’re selling out these big arenas. It’s exciting. I don’t know. There’s tons of young bands out there. I think this is gonna be the time everybody’s gonna write the (expletive) books about.”
He laughs, then adds, “You know, the scene that’s brewing right now somewhere is gonna be a big blockbuster movie.”
And although he laughs again, it should be noted that it sounds like he believes it.
“There’s so many young bands being extra creative on very little to no money,” he says, “which is always a good thing.”
It’s pointed out that the clubs are full of great young rock and roll bands.
“Hell yeah, they are, man,” he replies. “And live shows have never been more popular. Listen, man, everything comes around.”
What to expect on ‘Let’s Rock’ tour
It can’t hurt that the Black Keys are back out there spreading their rock-and-roll gospel with a newly expanded lineup, playing “a big wide mix” of songs from every record.
“We’ve got three electric guitars, bass and drums on stage for the first time ever as the Black Keys and it feels really, really good,” he says. “And that was based on the decision we just made when we were recording. So far, it’s been really fun. We’re bringing out some old friends. These guys who play bass and guitar for us (Andrew and Zachary Gabbard) are brothers from back in Ohio, where we’re from. They played our very first CD release show 20 years ago. Now they’re playing with us in the Black Keys. And we’ve got one other guitar player, too. So it’s a very guitar-centric tour, which makes it feel fresh.”
Once they started working up the old songs for the tour, he says, “I started thinking ‘Man, why hadn’t I done this earlier?’ Even on the early Black Keys records, I’m always doubling or tripling guitars or overdubbing the solo. Now I get to hear it on stage just like that. And it feels really good.”
He laughs, then says, “We got a problem.”
Asked if they plan on approaching the touring they do on this album any differently to avoid the kind of burnout that caused them to go on hiatus, he says, “Oh, yeah, we’re not gonna tour close to what we used to. Not even close. It’s just really important that I get to make records, be at home and be with my family. I’ve really got to do that more than I’ve got to be on the road. So that’s how it’s gonna be from now on.”
He’s got plenty of other irons in the fire back home in Nashville, from producing acts like Shannon and the Clams to running his own label, Easy Eye Sound.
“It’s really fulfilling,” he says of the opportunity to nurture younger acts. “It genuinely is. I love being able to help these bands so much. I feel like we’ve doubled Shannon and the Clams’ audience in two years. We’re getting introduced to people like Yola, amazing singers like Dee White. I’ve got a new artist coming out soon named Early James. He’s from Birmingham, Alabama – a 22-year-old, really very interesting, hard-to-define artist playing electric guitar. It’s exciting. I love it so much. It’s like a dream come true.”
Asked how it feels to be playing arenas again after stepping away to tour some smaller venues with his other projects, the guitarist says, “I mean, it’s always gonna feel a little ridiculous to me. That’s just the way it is, you know? But I’ve got the best guitar amp setup I’ve ever had in my life. Me and my guitar tech – my friend Dan Johnson, who’s been my guitar tech since I was 16 – we’ve been nerding out pretty hard in the guitar world. We just had this big break in the tour. And I couldn’t wait to get back on tour to hear the sound again because I only get to hear it on stage.
Reach the reporter at ed.masley@arizonarepublic.com or 602-444-4495. Follow him on Twitter @EdMasley.
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The Black Keys
When: 7 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 16.
Where: Talking Stick Resort Arena, 201 E. Jefferson St., Phoenix.
Admission: $54.75 and up.
Details: 602-379-7800, ticketmaster.com.
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