For more than 20 years they have been carving their love of the blues on discs that win over crowds and critics every time. The American band The Black Keys have just released a new album, Dropout Boogie. Coincidence or not, this eleventh studio album was released twenty years to the day after the first.
Dan Auerbach and his guitar on one side, Patrick Carney on drums on the other, the backbone of the band is still holding up. However, everything remains as on the first day for the indefatigable Dan Auerbach: “Everything has changed around us. We’ve been all over the world, we’ve done so many different things.”
“In reality, success has only brought us closer together.”
Dan Auerbach, co-founder of The Black Keysat franceinfo
“Really, I feel lucky to do what I do, to play music with Pat. The world changes all the time but all we have to do is sit in the same room without even thinking.“
On this album, there are many first takes, the result of sessions of a confusing simplicity between passionate musicians. We meet Billy Gibbons from ZZ Top, renowned studio musicians too, because the identity of the group is there, not necessarily in the live.
“We both grew up in recording studios“, explains Dan Auerbach. The first time I saw a cassette tape recorder was in Pat’s basement and I was 17. He and I have always been recording junkies and have always had our own studios. It’s part of the identity of this group.”
At 17, Dan and Pat were kids from Akron, Ohio. From now on, both are installed in Nashville, a kind of paradise for the two members of the group. “There is music everywhere. It is a preponderant part of this city, it is even almost strange! Every day, I walk through the Music Row neighborhood to get to work. On every street corner there are recording studios, billboards for songs. That’s crazy ! It’s impossible not to be influenced by that.“
By collecting the Grammy Awards, the Black Keys have not lost the main thing in the middle of the blues: their sincere friendship.