Dan Auerbach, one half of the ferociously swaggering Black Keys, is in town for a string of shows in support of his latest advent Keep It Hid. After gallivanting about the world for the last 18 months with the Black Keys, and producing records for the likes of Buffalo Killers and Black Diamond Heavies, Dan squeezed enough room to record, produce and release his first solo album.
The record was cut at his very own stomping grounds – Akron Analog, Ohio. Back in Australia so soon after The Black Keys hit our shores in for their Attack and Release tour in June, and again for a round of shows of the NYE period, FasterLouder found out how Dan’s holding up.
Do you feel like you’re spreading your wings a little bit more on this solo album?
Well, I mean it’s just a different thing. I have a great time playing with the Black Keys, I still feel challenged. It’s just a different thing, playing with six other people – it takes on a different mindset.
What were you listening to at the time of making this record?
Well I think I’m always listening to different things. I’ve been influenced musically by the same things since I was a kid. There’s just a certain thing that happens when I’m in the room with Pat, a certain sound we get no matter what my influences are or what I’m listening to. With the solo thing there’s no Pat there – it’s just all together different.
I guess playing music with other people is cool. It’s an even give and take; I don’t try to impose my will on anyone. I like to hire to musicians because I like the way they sound and the way they play. I want them to bring there thing to the recording: that’s what happened on the record and that’s what’s happening live. They all get to bring their bag, y’ know?
Hacienda, your backing band, didn’t actually record the album with you though, just friends and family from Akron. Is it different playing these songs live with Hacienda?
Yeah it’s great. We got to mutate the songs into this band’s format. Some of them changed. I can’t say one way is better than the other, but it’s really nice to have all these people bring their own ideas. It’s kinda like a new take on the record: some songs are faster, some are slower, some have more instrumentation. It’s cool.
How long did it take to get all the songs together and recorded for Keep It Hid?*
Well, it was such a non-standard way of going about the process. It was recorded in between TBK tours, over the course of 18 months. Some of the songs were older, so I re-recorded them for the record. Some of them I recorded recently. It was unusual. I wasn’t sure I was making a record until I was halfway through it.
Was that strange coming into your own record halfway?
Yeah, it was exciting. I just felt like I was in a really good place. I felt like I was writing stuff that was fun and interesting and different to what I’d been doing. Lots of songs just came out really fast – it felt good.
I understand your father wrote the words to Whispered Words. How much energy and inspiration do you get from your father?
He’s the one who pushed me when I told [my family] I wanted to play music. He helped me gain the confidence to do that, before I had any at all, so without him we wouldn’t be talking.
So what was the trigger that took you to playing guitar?
My mum’s family all played instruments. We would get together for family reunions and they’d play folk songs, bluegrass and sing harmonies. I always wanted to be a part of that…They would show me some basics and I just started playing.
Anything on the horizon we should know about?
The Black Keys are going to record in the next couple months. [We’re] doing more touring and festivals in the States – solo and with TBK. I’m looking forward to recording more bands in the next year.
Dan Auerbach has these shows left on his Australian tour.
Wednesday 8 April – The Basement, Sydney
Thursday 9 April – The Corner Hotel, Melbourne
to listen to their music now on 