A chat with Dan Auerbach ahead of Wednesday’s Easy Eye Sound Revue stop at the Truman

When does Dan Auerbach find time to sleep? Even though the Black Keys have been on hiatus for a while now, the Nashville-based, Akron-born musician has in the last few years formed a side project, The Arcs; released his second solo album, Waiting On A Song; and started a label, Easy Eye Sound. That’s to say nothing of the eight records he’s produced since the last Black Keys album, Turn Blue — nine, if you count his own record.

And, of course, Auerbach is touring, currently with an old-school rhythm and blues revue. Called The Easy Eye Sound Revue Tour, the show features Shannon & The Clams, along with the Clams’ Shannon Shaw and soul singer Robert Finley. The backing band is the house band for Easy Eye Sound, which features pedal steel player Russ Pahl, drummer Gene “Bubba” Crisman, bassist Dave Roe, organ player Bobby Wood, and guitarist Pat McLaughlin — a crew whose credits could fill a small book, playing alongside the likes of Kenny Rogers, Lana Del Ray, Dusty Springfield, and Elvis.

We spoke with Auerbach by phone last week about the tour and his new label, as well as what the musician tries for when he’s in the studio. He’s at the Truman this Wednesday, April 4. 

The Pitch: The tour’s now started. How’s it going?

Dan Auerbach: It’s been amazing. We did a West Coast run of like, two weeks, and the whole thing was sold out, and it was just so much fun. I don’t know — playing with all these guys, and having Shannon and Robert up on stage — it’s great.

How did you assemble this house band for Easy Eye Sound, which is also playing the tour?

Well, I was just in Nashville, searching for musicians, kind of trying to find the magic group of people to make records with, because I had the studio put together in a way that was built for having a band — for having a studio band. It just took time, but I’ve been in Nashville eight years now, and slowly, over time, I met these people through word of mouth and friends. Things like that.

I find it really interesting that people refer to Easy Eye as your “new studio,” but you’ve been recording things there for years now, right?

Yeah, and in the last few years, it really feels like it’s tightened up and solidified what the studio’s personality really is. I feel like all of these guys who have been working in the studio with me, making all these different kinds of records — I don’t know what it is. It just sort of settled. Everything settled into place, and it’s like, right when we start recording, we’re already at ten. Like, ready to go. It’s just been amazing to work at that level with these guys. That’s why I can’t wait to get the studio, and I can’t wait to make these records.

It seems like you make an awful lot of records. You’re a very busy person.

Well, that’s what I’ve always wanted to do, and I really love doing it, so I don’t know. I feel very blessed to be able to do it.

When you say that’s what you’ve always wanted to do, do you mean making music in any capacity, regardless of whether it’s your own or not?

Ever since Patrick Carney introduced me to the four-track recorder, all I’ve ever wanted to do is make mixtapes, and then I wanted to make records, and then —yeah, I just love it. It was a medium that I understood, do you know what I mean?

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Well, yeah: when you make records, you’re involved. You’re not just turning knobs or sliding faders. You’re helping write songs and play guitar, and all sorts of things.

No, no, no: I’m not. There are lots of producers who get a production, and then the band goes into the studio and makes a record with the producer’s engineer. Then the producer comes in at the end of the day to see how things are going. [laughs] I could never work like that.

Do you think folks bring you on because you offer up a little bit more, in terms of creative input?

I think everybody’s different. Everybody has sort of different needs. I don’t care what it is, I just want to be there to help, whatever I’m needed for, and it’s part of the place that, being in the studio, you’re allowed to make suggestions. That’s why it’s great. Everybody’s there for the same reason: everybody wants it to be great.

The sound you get in the studio is tough to describe. It’s definitely not vintage. Even though you have this house band that has all played on these classic recordings, with these legendary musicians, nothing that comes out of Easy Eye sounds like a nostalgia trip.

Yeah, no: I don’t want anything to sound retro. If it’s like, rocking, I want it to really be rockin’. If it’s funky, I want it to be the funkiest track. If it’s supposed to make you cry, I want the strings to be so melancholy. I don’t ever want to put an effect on the drums to make them sound old or anything, because even though I grew up playing bluegrass music with my family, I still listened to Dr. Dre’s The Chronic when I was in high school. The drums have to hit, you know? [laughs]

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It’s something that definitely comes through on Shannon & The Clams’ new album, Onion. Maybe it’s hyperbole, but it’s like you’re the first person who gets it, and is trying to make a Shannon & The Clams record, rather than make it sound exactly like a Shangri-Las album.

I don’t know. I love the Clams. I think I do get it. But, again — you don’t really know what you’re going to get until you’re done. I’ve  been doing all of this songwriting in Nashville, and there are just so many songwriters in Nashville. You could put the two most highly credentialed songwriters in the same room, and you wouldn’t necessarily get anything. It’s all about luck and timing, but when I was with the Clams, it flowed nice, and we worked great together. I love their sound. I really do.

Dan Auerbach and the Easy Eye Sound Revue Tour with Shannon & The Clams, Shannon Shaw, and Robert Finley is at The Truman on Wednesday, April 4. Details on that show here.