The Black Keys
told me he stopped caring about that stuff a
long time ago. He said “A carpenter can’t blame
bad work on his tools.” So I don’t think about
the ways that gear or the fact that it’s just Pat
and me working on a song limit what we do.
Your new studio figures significantly into
the production of this record. How did
you configure it, and what sound were you
going for?
I’ve already learned a ton from recording bands
in other studios. And more than anything else,
I’ve learned the value of keeping it simple.
Brothers doesn’t have a single song with any
more than 12 tracks. All the drums are in
mono—literally mixed to one channel—or sometimes we put the kick drum on its own channel.
Then we’d put the bass on there, a couple of
tracks of keyboards, the vocal, and the guitar. It’s
super simple, and it always sounds bigger than
when you mess with more tracks.
That seems to be common knowledge, but
it’s a philosophy few have the courage to
adhere to.
