The Black Keys are a blues-rock duo consisting of Daniel Auerbach (vocals and guitar) and Patrick Carney (drums) from Akron, Ohio.
The band's name was inspired by an artist friend of the band in Akron with schizophrenia, who used the term "black keys" to describe people who weren't quite right. A double meaning lies in the fact that the black keys of a piano comprise a pentatonic minor scale when starting on E flat, which is often associated with blues and rock music.
The band is frequently compared to The White Stripes - another blues-based Lo-fi musical duo (drums; vocals and guitar) who experienced their first significant success in 2001, several months before The Black Keys.
The band released their first album, The Big Come Up, in 2002, followed by Thickfreakness in 2003, and Rubber Factory in 2004. October 2005 saw the release of the DVD Live, recorded live at The Metro Theatre in Sydney, Australia March 18, 2005. In 2006 they released Magic Potion and the lesser known, Chulahoma EP, as well as a single version of Your Touch.
One of their trademarks is their preference for low fidelity recording techniques such as using tape recorders and analog effects. The band does most of the recording, producing, and mixing themselves. The majority of the album Thickfreakness was recorded over 14 hours in Carney's basement on an early 1980's Tascam 388 8-track recorder. The band often experiments with odd recording and production techniques, such as leaving in background noises.
The Black Keys were included in the soundtrack of the 2003 movie School of Rock with their song, "Set You Free." The Black Keys have achieved increasing critical acclaim and recognition since their debut album, which was praised by Rolling Stone magazine. Time magazine named them one of the "10 Best Acts of 2003" (behind OutKast and The White Stripes). They have supported a number of bands, and toured with Sleater-Kinney in 2003, as well as a short stint opening for Beck, and performing at Lollapalooza 2005. They have recently opened for Radiohead on the American leg of their brief 2006 tour. In addition to this, they were supported by the influential British radio DJ John Peel and appeared on Late Night with Conan O'Brien, and The Late Show with David Letterman. Led Zeppelin frontman Robert Plant , Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top, and Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood of Radiohead are fans of the band. Metallica guitarist Kirk Hammett has also stated in an interview that he enjoys listening to the band. The Arctic Monkeys' Drummer Matt Helders can be seen in a Black Keys T-Shirt in an interview on MTV's RAW. Their song "When the Lights Go Out" was featured on the film starring Samuel L. Jackson, Black Snake Moan and can be found on the soundtrack.
One of their songs, "Girl is on My Mind", was used in a 2006 Sony Ericsson advertisement, starring the tennis players Ana Ivanović and Daniela Hantuchova, gaining the band more commercial recognition. It was also used in a 2006 Victoria's Secret commercial featuring Heidi Klum. Their new record, Magic Potion, was released on September 4, 2006 in the UK and September 12, 2006 in the United States. It is their first recording for Nonesuch Records.
According to an interview in Pitchfork Media, the band is collaborating on an album with Ike Turner, to be produced by Danger Mouse and released in 2007.
Their song "10 AM Automatic" was used in the video game MLB '06: The Show and was also used in a 2007 American Express commercial starring Shaun White.
The Black Keys are also scheduled to play at the Lollapalooza music festival in Chicago, IL this August. The Black Keys play on Friday, August 3.
TheBigComeUp.jpg
The Big Come Up
(2002)
Thickfreakness
(2003)
The Moan
(2004)
This image is a candidate for speedy deletion. It will be deleted after Monday, 16 July 2007.
Rubberfactory.jpg
Rubber Factory
(2004)
Chulahoma: The Songs of Junior Kimbrough
(2006)
This image is a candidate for speedy deletion. It will be deleted after Monday, 16 July 2007.
Live in Austin, TX
(2006)
This image is a candidate for speedy deletion. It will be deleted after Monday, 16 July 2007.
Pre-expand include size: 1236 bytes
Post-expand include size: 765 bytes
Template argument size: 60 bytes
Maximum: 2048000 bytes
Magic Potion
(2006)
This image is a candidate for speedy deletion. It will be deleted after Monday, 16 July 2007.
Pre-expand include size: 1648 bytes
Post-expand include size: 1020 bytes
Template argument size: 80 bytes
Maximum: 2048000 bytes
