20Q with Jack White of The Raconteurs

The phone rang down here at NWMB World HQ this morning, and a strange voice was on the other line. “Hang on, I’ll get him for you. He’s just stepping out of the studio.”
“Huh? Who’s stepping out of the studio? It’s 7:30 in the morning!”
“Hang on… here he is.”
Clueless, I asked the caller again, “Hello?”
A new voice: “This is Jack. Go ahead.”
Wha?
After an awkward minute of getting acquainted, we were on our way. It was Mr. White, taking a break from some rehearsing in an undisclosed location.
Me: “So the new album sounds great. Where was it recorded?”
JW: “In my secret basement studio.”
Me. “How long did it take?”
JW: “Takes? It took two takes. About three hours. We really gel, we like to bang it out, you know?”
Me: “Wow! Three hours? Did you even have enough time to get a caterer over there?”
JW: “We subsisted on tater tots and beer. My mom brought brownies.”
Me: “What sound were you going for here? It sounds like you were listening to a lot of Bad Company/Paul Rodgers or something.”
JW: “How’d you figure that out?”
Me: “Title track, dead-on Rodgers vocal sound. Real throwback stuff. Nice…. So is ‘Rich Boy’s Blues’ autobiographical?”
JW: “Come on. That’s totally about Warren Beatty.”
Me: “Go figure. My next guess was Pete Townshend.”
JW: “Whomever you like.”
Me: “I guess I had a lot of Who and Queen on the brain, listening to ‘Consoler of the Lonely’. What’s going on there?”
JW: “Yeah, that was Brendan’s input. The harmonies on ‘Stones’ and ‘Top Yourself.’ Yeah, that’s what we were after.”
Me: “Can you elaborate a bit more on the other influences you had in the recording of this album?”
JW: “Uh, the Stones, Los Lobos, Meatloaf… Ravi Shankar.”
Me: “Shankar?”
JW: “I totally stalked him for a week in February. Had my ear pressed to the wall of Abbey Road while he rehearsed.”
Me: “Did you go to London just to do that?”
JW: “Nah, I ran into him while shopping for tapestries for our tour van. Followed him around. Had to change out of my red pantsuit just to absorb his genius. I bought a Utilikilt off a guy on the street, borrrowed an Oxford hoodie from a student in the square.”
Me: “Did you keep the Utilikilt?”
JW: “It was seized at Kennedy on the way back home.”
Me: “Hmph. What do you think of the new Dirtbombs?”
JW: “Sucks. No. Kidding. It’s outstanding.”
Me: “PBR or Milwaukee’s Best?”
JW: “The Beast.”
Me: “Barack or Hillary?”
JW: “Who? Next question.”
Me: “What else are you listening to?”
JW: “‘In Step’ by SRV [Stevie Ray Vaughan], Stones’ Brussels Affair bootleg. 1973? Awesome. And I pledged to PBS so they sent me the entire Monterey Pop Festival on DVD. Amazing!”
Me: “Last questions: will there be another Raconteurs album?”
JW: “Before you know it.”
Me: “Any last thoughts?”
JW: “April Fool’s, readers. I didn’t really call NWMB.”

Popularity: 22%