Entertainment
Q and A: After a tough 2024, the black keys bounce back without rain, no flowers
On No Rain, No Flowers, The title track of the 12th Studio plate of the Black Keys, singer Dan Auerbach sings, “There are bad people in this world. Live long enough and you will be burned. ‘For those who are familiar with the recent history of the Rockduo, it seems as if the song tackles the much-published unrest that Auerbach and drummer Patrick Carney went through in 2024. The band made the headlines when it has canceled its stadium tour to support his Grammy-Nominated 2024—nominated Layers. The music industry – and their PR team.
“It was an (expletive) nightmare,” is Auerbach’s blunt assessment in a recent interview with Postmedia.
Fortunately, it seems to have been reflected in Ohio, in Nashville, that they have been reflected in the new record that they are working on touring in North America and Europe. The album offers the usual mix of genres of the Black Keys, from garage rock to soul, cheerful pop, blues and riff-heavy guitar rock. While the band has collaborated with other artists in the past – including Danger Mouse and Beck – no rain, the first time the duo hired professional songwriters to work out the material. This includes Rick Nowels, an experienced song maker who has worked with everyone, from Madonna to Adele and Fleetwood Mac. He also collaborated with singer-songwriter Lana del Ray on numerous projects, including Ultraviolent 2014, which Auerbach co-produced.
Auerbach took some time to chat about the new record with Postmedia.
Q: How’s the tour going? I understand that you have played different types of locations compared to previous tours.
Da: Some of them. Some of them are the same.
Q: I saw a recent interview and you and Patrick were talking about playing a prison. . . (They actually played Outlaw Field in the Idaho Botanical Garden, which borders on the old penitentiary site of Idaho.)
Da: (Laughing) Yes, we played a prison in Boise. That was a first. It was great. A few thousand people in prison with the prison wall behind it. It was surreal.
Q: How did the new songs pass?
Da: They pass very well. We were just in Europe and people sang along. It felt great. We have just started playing man on a mission a little more recent, because that was the last one to come out. It is great. It was absolutely turned into the set list swimming. Sometimes you never know how a new song is going. Sometimes it is difficult; Sometimes it’s easy. It was easy from the jump.
Q: Represents the title track of the new album, No Rain, No Flowers, a broader theme that you went for?
Da: Not really, but everyone made it. We have to talk about it in every interview. We went through all that nonsense with our manager. It was a (expletive) nightmare, but no, it’s not what the record is about. Each song is its own little story, I think, a small vignette. Maybe a small character study. It is more musical.
Q: Early in your career you recorded in a basement, probably only you two for the most part. What was the shift to collaborate with artists such as Danger Mouse, Beck, Noel Gallagher and Billy Gibbons from ZZ Top?
Da: I think that as soon as we let someone in, we realized, “Wow, it’s really fun.” Danger Mouse (Note: Who worked with the Black Keys in 2008 as the first external producer who brought in the band and has often worked with them since then) really opened our eyes for many possibilities, but also just a lot of fun in the studio: being able to do things, try sounds, work on even bigger ideas and go in different directions if we want. It was really important to us. It was a turning point. Every time, for the most part, that we work, we would like to have someone else in it. It is almost like a super power that we have, just because we are a two -part bond. We can get one or two other people in the studio, and it still sounds just like us. I think that is great, working with people who inspire us and lead them through our filter, because there are endless people who inspire us. That is the pleasure of music.
Q: On this album you wrote songs together with veteran Songwriter and producer Rick Nowels. How did you settle for whom you work together this time?
Da: We talked about it. The last time we worked with a few songwriters who were also artists – Noel Gallagher and Beck – and of course they are all incredible songwriters. But after having lived in Nashville for 16, 17 years, I work with many songwriters and it is not something that Pat and I had ever done. So we thought it would be fun to give it a chance, and we thought in which songwriters we were interested. Rick Nowels just came up in me because I loved those songs that I could work on with Lana, and I kept seeing his name on them. I was just curious. I love to express chords, I love pop songs that are melancholic. We have been contacted with him. He is a lifelong songwriter. He is in the 60s, and it is all he has ever done and he had never been to Nashville. So what were the chances that when we called him and protruded that he would be in Nashville for the first time in two weeks? It was absolute serendipity.
Q: There is a lot of genre hopping on this album: the vocals on Make You Mine reminded me of the Bee Gees, there are many great hard-rock riffs going in Man on a Mission, there are some cheerful pop songs and the rural folk on Neon Moon. What is your relationship with the genre now and how has it changed? Do you give yourself challenges as a songwriter or is it all organic?
Da: I think with this album, which is probably the most reflective, this plate hangs that Pat and I have done, where we have a bag with us where we wear 120 45s when we travel. We are constantly looking for records. We have these little things called record hanging, essentially a small dance party with 45s. We try to play a song that nobody has ever heard before and songs that are unwavering. These songs are really fantastic and you hear it and say, “How did I never know this song?” We play Rockabilly, garage. Soul, we play Reggae or Jamaican records, we throw a hip -hop song. I think it is really reflective in the record we made.
Q: Where can you even find such obscure 45s nowadays?
Da: When we are on tour, we go to record stores. If we are stuck on the bus, they are discogs. Do you know what discogs is? It is an incredible source. And, you know, my credit card account is. . . (laughs). “
Q: You have already talked a bit about this, but there was a lot of press about what the Black Keys experienced in 2024. That included firing your management and canceling the Tour. How have those experiences changed how you do business?
Da: (Sigh). Well, it makes us more aware of the company. But in certain places, such as in America, you can’t really change how you do business, because certain companies own everything. When we just went to Europe, we were allowed to use independent promoters in all different countries, areas. It really makes a big difference if you have a local promoter who has been invested and really care. It’s not something you can do in America. It’s difficult.
Q: You have worked with Patrick Carney for more than 20 years. That is a long time to work as a duo. Has your relationship changed?
Da: Man, I think that’s the reason we’re still there. I can’t imagine that I need more people in the band.
(This interview has been edited for length and clarity.)
