Superlatives
A Vulture series in which artists judge the best and worst of their own careers.
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(Not to mention a second life as in-demand producers.
)Now, though, the Black Keys are looking backwards for their future.
(Theres a lot of Junior Kimbrough love.)
To mark the occasion, Carney walked us through the best and worst of the band.
That might have to be my best song, then.
If I get really nervous before a show or something, Ill focus on that song.
It made me a little bit nervous, just because nobody was there.
The opposite of what you anticipate happening.
So I put I Got Mine first on the set list because its so fun to play.
Its not a really known song and theres no expectation of what it should sound like.
It takes me into a caveman state.
Knowing what I know now, I wouldnt do that again.
I think Too Afraid to Love You has a lot of potential.
Its moody and dark.
That kind of music seems to resonate with me and Dan.
We were in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, in the dead of summer.
It was a million degrees.
It was too hot to be outside, and we were in this room without windows.
Its rough around the edges.
We really werent sure how to play our instruments yet, especially me.
Its rough-and-tumble, but its endearing.
Ive always thought that Akron never had a particular sound.
The most famous musicians from Akron are Chrissie Hynde, Devo, and I guess us.
I have a hard time finding similarities between the three of us.
In a place like Akron, the beauty is that theres a lot of interesting things about the city.
Youre slightly off the grid.
Especially when we were growing up before the internet.
Thats what a lot of people I know did.
Other people I know would gravitate toward hardcore music or math rock.
We were the two guys who were gravitating toward Captain Beefheart and Junior Kimbrough a much different musical direction.
Like, Electric Eels and Peter Laughner.
That was a scene.
Some New Wave, some punk, and thats still the case today.
College radio has come a long way, too.
You know what the hot songs for me in college were?
The omnipresent songs at my lame college were The Thong Song and Back That Azz Up.
We had no other options.
The fact that we even have songs that are certifiable hits is bizarre to me.
I wouldve liked to have heard that on the radio.
Nerdiest song for drummers
Im not a technical drummer at all.
I dont really even understand how triplets work.
Ive never taken a drum lesson in my life.
Drums, to me, are a soulful instrument that help propel songs.
When I watch someone like John Bonham, hes the perfect rock and roll drummer.
Theres a lot of raw, natural talent that goes into that, and I clearly dont have it.
Ive never made a song that another drummer should be jealous of.
Whats always inspired Dan and myself are self-taught artists.
Thats kind of whatDelta Kreamis.
Were paying tribute to musicians who taught themselves how to play.
Our band is named after a self-taught artist [Alfred McMoore].
Whats interesting to me, for anything, is the nuance.
I love watching baseball because its a group effort and a comedy of errors at times.
I dont like watching the Olympics because its just to see whos the best at something.
How boring is that?
Music isnt a competition.
We write and record at the same time.
Essentially our demos are on our records, always.
We usually get through a song in one day, maybe two days.
But there have been a few songs that have stretched into a three- or five-day realm.
So our most stubborn songs are unreleased and will never be heard.
We got fried on it.
Theres a couple songs on there that are contenders.
That was the first time someone had done that.
We went to a studio in Nashville and made a record calledYoung & Old.It was so cool.
I really helped Tennis at the time and helped open up their sound.
The song Origins is my favorite.
Dan had put out a solo record; I went through a divorce.
I was able to really clear my head when we were making that record and focus on the music.
There was no drama or distractions.
Theres a lot of depth toBrothers.There was almost like a desperation behind it.
We werent trying to write hits, we were just trying to express ourselves.
That ended up becoming our first hit record.
It really connected with a lot of people.
As a musician, thats ultimately what I was trying to achieve.
It was surreal, really.
We did six albums in eight years.
We put a lot of time in.
We felt like seasoned pros.
At that point, we had existed longer than a couple of my favorite bands.
So to have success then, it was a complete blessing, because we really appreciated it.
But it was also scary.
We werent anticipating it happening.
Things changed based on perception.
I just totally forgot that we said yes to letting them use our music.
It wasnt a college station, it was the proper radio.
We were driving through the middle of northern California near Arcadia.
This must have been 2006 and Your Touch came on the radio.
We had a day off from driving and it came on while I was scanning the radio.
It was like a ghost coming in to taunt us.
We shouldve moved to the town that was playing it right there.
Im into any museum that celebrates music.
I think its cool to acknowledge peoples careers in certain ways.
That night, though, wow.
Like I said, Im a college dropout and I dont know how to write shit.
When someone asked us to induct Steve Miller, I didnt know that much about him.
So I Googled Steve Miller and it said that he was born in Milwaukee.
Everyone in America thinks El Camino is the car, but it means the road.
ForDelta Kream,it was just by accident.
It was more of the image that we liked.
It was a photo taken by William Eggleston sometime in the late 80s.
It really resonated with Dan and I; we loved everything about it.
