The Black Keys, Video Interview

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The Black Keys

Video Interview

July, 2002: two young men, Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney, college dropouts the both of them, are working together for an Akron, Ohio property owner, the type of fella who owns a variety of low-rent apartment buildings around town in various states of repair and, well, disrepair. You get the picture. That sort of operation. They're "horticultural technicians" for this property owner. Not to put too fine a point on it, the boys mow lawns for the slumlord. Between them, they've got a truck, two lawnmowers and a weedwhacker. In addition to working together, these two childhood friends play in a band, a duo called The Black Keys.

Cut to early 2006—The Black Keys return to their basement to record Magic Potion, their fourth full-length album. Despite its title, Magic Potion is ironically the sound of The Black Keys getting their signature sound down to a science—it’s the band at their heaviest, grittiest and most powerfully stripped down. From the nasty, sweaty strut of the album’s first single, “Your Touch,”
to the sublimely narcotic devotional ballad “You’re the One” on down to the stomping, house-rocking call to arms “Modern Times,” The Black Keys have made the finest recording of their career which was released on 11th September 2006 through V2 Records.

Contactmusic.com caught up with Dan & Pat before their recent sell out gig at The Cockpit in Leeds