Jack White
Detroiters will forever count recording artist Jack White as one of its own, even if he doesn't live here anymore.
And it's not as if he's forgotten his roots.
He talks to Ray Suarez of NPR's "All Things Considered" about a new album and Detroit. Here's an excerpt:
Ray Suarez: I want to talk a little bit about Detroit, because it's so tied to your identity. You're famously from there, but you're now living in Nashville.
Jack White: Yeah, I moved to Nashville about 10, 11 years ago and we started Third Man Records' headquarters there. We now have a second location in Detroit. And what's more important right now is, we're currently building a brand-new pressing plant in Detroit connected to that location, so it'll be the first time in a record store you can look through a window and see the records being pressed in the back.
Suarez: You've been a champion of vinyl, and continuing to put recorded music on vinyl. For people who've grown up in a post-vinyl world, what are they missing? What was great about being able to drop a needle on a record?
White: Well, Ray, I'd like to be known as the czar of vinyl if you don't mind [laughs]. I always think it's beautiful to look at something mechanically moving, and I think you're more involved in it. I think when you look at a campfire, you feel blessed, and you don't know why you're staring at it and why you feel so involved. Yes, you can play things on computers and you can lip synch, and people can still get something out of it. But you're more involved when you see mechanics and you see things turning.
Suarez: Well, every czar needs an empire — and by putting an imperial outpost back in Detroit, putting the factory there, are you kind of saying to your hometown, "Look, no hard feelings? I'm back; don't be mad at me!"
White: Oh, there was never — you know, Detroit is a tough, blue-collar city. It's in the rust belt; all those towns are tough. So being an artist in those towns, it's not like you're in the south of France in a field of poppies or whatever. You're in a working town, and I worked hard in those towns. It's about building things and letting people see things being really made in a town that has always been known for creating and crafting beautiful mechanics. As it says on the flag of Detroit, it says in Latin, "We hope to rise from the ashes." And I think that's probably the most prophetic phrase on any flag in the country.
Listen to the interview below.
