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An interview with Jack White of the White Stripes from Issue 8 of Vortex zine (this follows on from the review)....
....After
the show I did a quick interview with Jack White – as usual I’d had too much
to drink and didn’t have any questions prepared, but fortunately Jack was a
hell of a nice guy and answered my questions the best he could…
Vortex
– Do you find it an advantage, being in a band with your sister?
Jack
– Yeah – it’s really good – we have a good communication between us
which helps us figure out what we want to do. Because there’s just the two of
us in the band it means the music is less structured and can be more ‘on the
moment’ so to speak…
V
– Does it also mean you can be a lot more honest with each other?
J
– Yeah, exactly – we can be very honest, and even if we scream and yell
at each other we’ll still love each other…
V
– I notice there seems to be a strong red and white theme with The White
Stripes – is that to do with candy cane or something?
J
– Yeah it is – we got our colours from peppermint candy. We wear red and
white on stage because it’s something that stands out and will maybe help
people remember us better.
V
– My knowledge of Detroit is 1. It’s a rock’n’roll city and 2. It’s a
big abandoned kind of ghost town….
J
– Yeah that’s exactly what it its – it’s kind of abandoned and grey,
but there’s a lot of feeling in the city – there’s a lot of emotion there
I think…
V
– Is it a good environment for you both to do your thing?
J
– I think it’s perfect – I wouldn’t live anywhere else in the world.
I was born and raised there so I love it.
V
– Are there still a lot of good rock’n’roll bands coming out of Detroit?
– I know that Bantam Rooster are from there….
J
– Yeah, there’s some great bands – I’ve produced an album of all
Detroit bands and Bantam Rooster are on it. Everyone came to my house and
recorded a song each – there are 13 bands on it and it’s coming out on
Sympathy pretty soon.
V
– Your influences seem to be pretty wide ranging….
J
– Yeah, I like any music that has powerful feelings behind it…
V
– What do you think of New Zealand so far?
J
– I love it – it’s so beautiful – I’ve never been out of America
before. I’d really like to go and check out White Island…
V
– You’ve been to Japan before coming here – how was that?
J
– It was ok – it was kind of a weird reaction. The crowd wouldn’t clap
after songs – I don’t know why. People would come up after the show and say
that they really liked it though…
J
– Yeah, it was an art movement based on colours and vertical and
horizontal lines – really simplistic -
we thought it went pretty well with what we do….
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