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The Black Keys Dan Auerbach indulges his love of killer fuzz and timeless song structures to create the soul-swinging and super-infectious new LP Brothers.
InTERvIEW by cHARlES SAUflEy PHoToGRAPHy by JoHn PEETS
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Dan Auerbach (right) wields his ancient three-pickup Supro (note the six on/off switches) while he and drummer Patrick Carney lay down tracks for the new Black Keys LP Brothers. ,
escribing his approach to producing Neil Young and Crazy Horse, the legendary David Briggs once declared The more you think, the more you stink! Its a priceless observation that might as well be painted on the door of every rehearsal space or studio where rock and roll is made. And its a beautiful reminder that, while theres plenty of room for the cerebral in great music, rock is fundamentally a thing better felt than pondered. Since they began brewing their funky, wicked stew of blues, garage punk, and soul in Akron, Ohio, in 2001, the Black Keysguitarist Dan Auerbach and drummer Patrick Carneyhave been steadfast in their commitment to feel, instinct, and the magic of a killer tune. They also work tirelessly. Through 2008, they toured behind six LP releasesincluding gigs opening for Radiohead, Beck, and Pearl Jamand crisscrossed America and Europe on their own.
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The last two years have been more prolific still, even by the Keys own lofty standards. Auerbach released an impressive solo slab of swampy, gorgeous rock and soul balladry called Keep It Hid and built a studio in his Akron home, where he continues to produce up-and-coming bands like Radio Moscow and the Buffalo Killers. He and Carney also decamped for two weeks to New York to help produce and serve as a backing band on Blakroc, a deeply funky collaboration between the Keys, producer Damon Dash, and hip-hop heavies such as Mos Def, RZA, Q-Tip, and Raekwon that may be the most realized, organic, and promising synthesis of rock and hip-hop ever attempted. This past May also saw the release of Brothers, the Keys seventh and most colorful and varied release. Reflecting the experiences of Keep It Hid and Blakroc, it features less of the savage garage riffery that defined their last half-dozen
releases. But its bursting with hooks, delicious riffs, economical rhythm work, and some of the gnarliest, most stinging fuzz leads this side of Satisfaction. Brothers was mixed by famed engineer Tchad Blake (Elvis Costello, Tom Waits, Los Lobos, Bonnie Raitt, Latin Playboys, Phish, Tracy Chapman) and it marks Auerbachs maturation into one of the most versatile guitarplaying songsmiths in the business. He weaves his expressive, rough-and-tender voice around licks and lines that evoke everyone from Steve Cropper, Jimmy Page, and Cream-era Clapton to Ethiopian jazz great Mulatu Astatke, Ernest Ranglin, and Curtis Mayfield in songs that are fresh, infectious, funky, and timeless. On the day of the new albums release, Auerbach very generously took time to talk to Premier Guitar about oddball gear, production, influences, why simplicity and economy rule, and why the song is always kingno matter how hot the player.
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Auerbach and his Bigsby-equipped, three-pickup Harmony H77 onstage with drummer Patrick Carney.
A lot of the guitar parts on the new album sound like horn lines. Well, I was thinking much more like a team player than a soloist this time around. I really started thinking about what was better for the song. So sometimes I would be playing fuzz bass like a trombone. [Laughs.] And the shot of you with the Rickenbacker 4001 on the gatefold reinforces the idea
that fuzz bass was an important part of what was going on. Well, theres a ton of clean bass, too. But yeah, we worked from a lot of bass grooves. I was playing all those bass parts through a little silverface Fender Musicmaster Bass amp with a 12" speaker. Theres just a volume and a tone knob on the thing. I used it a lot for both guitar and bass.
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Its cool to see you using Rickenbacker guitars outside their typical context. Rickenbackers are the unsung heroes of rock n roll. Theyre still made exactly the same way they always have been. Theyre built just great, and theyre one of the only companies that only builds stuff here in the States anymore. And they play so wellso much better than most new guitars I check out that its just sick. Theyre so smooth. A lot more early rock n roll records than you might think were made with Ricks. The idea that theyre just for jangling is pure nonsense. Those single-coils are fantastic and have a lot of character. They may not be quite as hot as DeArmonds, but theyre hot enough. You can do anything you want with a Rickenbackeranything.
Dunlop_MAXGRIP_.5_Premier.pdf
Scott Asheton from the Stooges [told me] A carpenter cant blame bad work on his tools. So I dont think about the ways that gearor the fact that its just Pat and me working on a songlimit what we do.
pickupit just sounds so weird. I used that for the solo on Howlin for You. That solo buzzes like a mosquito. I couldnt figure out how you got that tone. Its just that weird Supro pickup through a little Magnatone with a 10" speaker. You put that sound on top of a big Rickenbacker bass and a fuzz bass, along with some organall holding down the bottom endperfect! Its heavy without being too much, yknow? Theres still some space in the mix, but its really heavy! Theres a lot of Jimmy Pages loud little amp-style ambience on Brothers. Small amps are all Ive ever played, honestly, apart from live stuff. Ive only played
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I used my white-and-black Supro a lot. Its got two DeArmond single-coils that look like humbuckers, and its got a weird bridge pickup thats supposed to sound almost like an acoustic
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[Laughs.] We actually felt like we were going for a Mulatu Astatke feel for that song. The super funky drums, the really tight bass, and the cheesy organ were the meat of the song, so I wanted to keep it simple but melodic on the guitar. It just needed to propel the song and not get in the way. How does the open environment of guitar and drums affect the way you approach guitardo you need to be more disciplined?
I dont ever practice, if thats what you mean by disciplined! [Laughs.] We just do whats best for the record. I guess thinking more about the song is the discipline. I mean, were spending just as much time thinking about tambourine and handclaps, and then I let that guide the guitar playing. You cant think about that stuff too much. You really just need to play and feel it. I was working with Scott Asheton from the Stooges he was coming to my studio to hang outso I asked him what kind of drums he needed. He
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No matter what size Martin Huss D-18 amp I use, Im generand Dalton Collings AuthCustomTD-M D1A entic ally trying to find that sweet spot where the overdrivethe tube or speaker or combination of bothis constant but The nest new Mahogany and it still reacts well to Adirondack Dreadnoughts on earth! pedalsfuzz especially. Lou If theres too much overRusso drive, the fuzz pedal farts out, and if theres not enough the clean 629 Forest Ave. Staten Island, NY 10310 mandoweb 718-981-8585 mandolin mandoweb.com .com sound is too wimpy.
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I think the 80s really twisted peoples heads. Folks sold a lot of records back then. But not too many of them will stand the test of time. I want to make records that are timeless, that you can play whether youre 80 years old or 25. That simplicity helps that happenit gives you a more solid foundation. It must have been different working in a hip-hop environment on the Blakroc record. What did that teach you about other possible roles for guitar in production? The approach we took on Blakroc was really influential on Brothers. We started most of those tracks with bass and drums, which carried over to this record. That influenced the overall sound of the record and the way the guitars went on. I dont think any hip-hop record has been made that way. We started writing the songs in the morning, finished them in the afternoon, and the rappers came in at night. Theyd spend a couple of hours working on lyrics, cut the lyrics, and that was it. Song done. Hip-hop is so aliveand it comes alive even more in that kind of environment. Watching [Wu-Tang Clan MC] Raekwon who could essentially write a film treatment in 45 minutes and then put it to a really raw backing trackfelt like what it must have been like to hang out with Dylan or something. You once mentioned learning a lot from watching videos in your early days. Yeah, I used to get videos from the libraryblues and bluegrass guys and just watch how they did it. Watch their hands, pause it, rewind, replay, over and over again for hours. I remember getting [Les Blanks 1967 documentary film] The Blues Accordin to Lightnin Hopkins, and watching it was just humongous for me.
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Amplifiers
Silverface Fender Musicmaster Bass amp, Ampeg Gemini II, Marshall JTM45, Fender Twin Reverb
Effects
Ibanez Standard Fuzz, Sovtek Big Muff, Fulltone Tape Echo, Tubeplex tape delay, Boss TR-2 Tremolo
Strings
.011-.052
Picks
Dunlop Tortex .73mm
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