Dan Auerbach
Dan Auerbach
Daniel Quine "Dan" Auerbachis an American musician and record producer best known as the guitarist and vocalist for The Black Keys, a blues rock band from Akron, Ohio. As a member of the band, Auerbach has recorded and co-produced seven studio albums with his bandmate Patrick Carney. In 2009, Auerbach released a solo album entitled Keep It Hid. In addition to winning several Grammy Awards as a member of The Black Keys, Auerbach received the 2013 Grammy Award for Producer...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionGuitarist
Date of Birth14 May 1979
CityAkron, OH
CountryUnited States of America
I'm not too picky about guitars. I love to collect them, mostly oddballs, but I'm not married to any brand or model. Whatever guitar has the best character for the song is the one I want to use, because if you've got a style, you're going to sound like yourself no matter what guitar you play.
That culture, of looking at catchy music as a negative thing, is weird. It has nothing to do with me, or the music I was into growing up. The Stones and the Beatles only tried to write hits. Every Motown song, every Credence Clearwater song - they were trying to write hits.
I started playing bluegrass with my family, so there were the G, C and D chords. I was playing a Martin acoustic because that's what Carter Stanley of the Stanley Brothers played. Then I got into the really raw blues of Hound Dog Taylor and started on electric guitar.
I used to be really nervous when I sang. Like, when I was a kid starting young, 18 and 19, and my dad really had to sort of push me to start singing in front of people. Ever since I got out there and really started doing it, the only thing I've ever tried to do is just sort of is be myself, you know, never put on a voice. Sing naturally.
I'm definitely a guitar player, but it's the last thing I listen to in a song, after the singer and the drums.
When I learned to play music, I was listening to blues music. And all the blues music I liked was super simple and stripped down. And then all the hip hop I liked was super simple and stripped down and we always heard that connection.
A Grammy is really nice, but having lots of fans is really nice, too. I think just getting a record out is a success on its own.
My mum's family would all get together, with guitars, harmonica, mandolins and upright bass and play old blues and folk songs. That was normal to me.
You get to bring your own sound system when you play an arena, all the lights and visual stuff, which I think is really cool. There's something about those old arenas, where it feels larger than life.
When I'm writing with just an acoustic guitar, it can be for anyone.
You know, there's always someone in mind when I'm writing. You know, it's all comes from somewhere inside.
I'm really not worried about what fans think.
Songs aren't owned by anyone.
Guitar solos bore the hell out of me. Only a few guitarists interest me, and it's not about the solos they play, it's about the grooves they create.