Jack White, well-coiffed gatekeeper of rock’n’roll in the classic sense, is preparing to release an album called Boarding House Reach. As a part of his promotional circuit, the former White Stripe called into Los Angeles’ KROQ during The Kevin & Bean Show. Being one of the most capital-R rock’n’roll men going, White was obviously asked about why modern music festivals are booking so few rock bands. In White’s estimation, the new, more “subtle” nature of the bands is part of the problem:
Rock ‘n’ roll needs an injection of some new young blood to really just knock everybody dead right now. It think it’s brewing and brewing and it’s about to happen, and I think that it’s good. Since rock ‘n’ roll’s inception, every 10, 12 years, there’s a breath of fresh air…some sort of what you could I guess call “punk attitude” or something like that, a wildness. Things get crazy and then they’re crazy for a couple years, and then they kind of get subtle. And then you’ve gotta wait for the next wave to come through and get people really excited and screaming about it again. We see it at Third Man all the time, a lot of young rock ’n’ roll acts, and I can tell in the last couple years it’s definitely different than it was five years ago. So I can tell something’s about to explode again.
In other news, White called his record pressing plant “DIY to the max,” talked about the challenges of using samples and electronic drums in his live show, and explained that Q-Tip recommending the drummer in his current band (Louis Cato). Boarding House Reach is out March 23. Listen to White’s full interview below.
