Interview

from GQ:

In It Might Get Loud creativity is portrayed as a reaction against one's surroundings. Jack, when you were growing up in Detroit you didn't exactly fit in?
White: I grew up in a rough neighborhood. I went to an all-Mexican grade school and an all-Black high school. I'd find a couple people here and there that liked the same music as me for a minute, but it was tough to feel supported. People would make a wrinkled up face when I would mention different things I was interested in. Even music teachers. It's not like I went to high school in the 50's. I went to high school in the 90's, you know? But that still happens. I was not encouraged musically at all. I was discouraged. It can leave a bad taste in your mouth.

You say in the film that when you don't have anything to react against, you make it up.
White: Oh yeah. I don't like making my job easier. How are you accomplishing anything if there's no struggle? If I have to create a struggle that doesn't exist, I'll do that. Time and money constraints are a great way to do it. Or if you're in the studio, record on four tracks instead of twenty-four. Onstage it's like, I don't know the lyrics to half this song, but I'm not going to write 'em down. When you finish playng the song you almost wish you could tell people, "You know, I sang half of that off the top of my head." You can't, of course, but I think they can smell it.

Jack, is it hard to step out of the spotlight to sit behind the drums in your new band, the Dead Weather?
White: Whether it's the Raconteurs, the Dead Weather, or whatever, I have to find a zone that makes sense to me and, more importantly, that makes sense to the music. There are a lot of traps: Star power, celebrity, and showmanship can all do a disservice to the songs. But I tend to be that guy, you know? When me and four friends walk into a restaurant and nobody else talks to the host, I say, "Yeah, it's a table for five." I don't want to be that guy; I wish someone else would say something. But it always ends up being me, and I hate what comes with that. There's a lot of baggage-ego and narcissism-that comes with leadership. It's difficult to cope with at times.

What's the worst thing about being a guitar player?
White: It's like a scarlet letter, you know? If I was playing bingo or drinking a cup of coffee next to someone who's 75 years old and they asked me what I do I wouldn't tell them I'm a guitar player. I'd be ashamed.