The Questlove Show - QLS Classic: Jack White

Episode Date: May 15, 2023

Musician, songwriter and producer Jack White talks about how music kept him from the priesthood, his love of analog recording technology and the Amy Winehouse duet that never was.   Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what I'm saying. Yep, that's me. Clivert Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, my basketball and college football journey, or my career in sports media.

Well, now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifers Show. This is a place for raw, unfills of conversations with athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. So let's get to it. Listen to The Clivert Show on the I-Hard Radio app,

Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. This week on the Sports Slice podcast, it's all about the NFL draft. And we've got a special guest. The director of the NFL's East West Shrine Bowl, Eric Galco, joins the Sports Slice podcast to break down what really matters when evaluating draft prospects. From hidden traits teams look for to the biggest mistakes franchises make to the players flying under the radar. This is the insight you won't hear anywhere else.

If you want to understand the draft like an insider, you don't want to miss this episode. Listen to the Sports Slice Podcast on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slical Life 12 and TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. I'm Daniel Alarcon, and this is my friend. This is much more famous than I am. I wouldn't go that far. But I'm John Green, co-host of the podcast The Away End with my old friend Daniel on our podcast The Away End. We'll share with you the magic of international football.

up to the 2026 World Cup. Together, we'll find out why, of all the unimportant things, football, soccer, is the most important. Listen to the away end with Daniel Auerkone and John Green on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Questlove Supreme is a production of IHeart Radio. This classic episode was produced by the team at Pandora. This is Sugar Steve, and on this week's Quest Love Supreme Classic, musician, songwriter, and producer Jack White talks about how music kept him from the priesthood, his love of analog recording technology, and the Amy Winehouse duet that never was. Originally released May 9, 2018.

culture yeah all good fine yeah but it's disdain for bananas yeah that's where I draw the line roll call supremer sub sub sub sub prima roll call supremer sub sub subprima role call fonte's in a building yeah time to settle the score yeah in this room filled yeah with rack and tour roll call Suprema Subrima So supremer roll call Supremia Subrima roll call

My name is sugar Yeah The one you trust Yeah Till I bust out Yeah My blunderbuss Roll call

Supra Suprama Roca Ceprema Suprema Rol I'm unpaid bill Yeah

That's how I'm known Yeah Happy I'm not Yeah Michael Cohen Roll call Supreme Right

Surma Sur prima Roca Supremea Roca Next up is Boss Bill Yeah Ain't no debating

Yeah Y'all fools need Jesus Yeah Get behind me Satan Rocawn Supra Supraima

Suprema Superma Roll call Suprema Suprema Roca Call It's Laea Yeah

And Jack White Yeah You're looking kind of good. Yeah. Want another wife? Roll call. Supreme. Roll call.

Supreme. Supreme. Roll call. Superima. Role call. My name is Jack. Yeah. I don't smoke crack.

Yeah. And if you're nice to me, I might come back. Roll call. Supriva. Subima, sub, subprima, Ro call. Suprema, sub, sub, sub prima,

Ro call. Suprema, Supra, Subima Roll Call Supraima Subra Roll Call Yo, La Eo Why you switched up the phone That was last minute

Were you listen to Cardi B this week? I mean, a little something of that, you know And then sit beside Jack That was a little inspirational, so You switched up the flow Just a little, you know Wow, ladies and gentlemen Nice, nice, wow

Taping from the World Famous Electric Lady A Studios in New York City. I got to say that this is the most people I've ever seen in this room. It's like the higher caliber, the guest, the most, the more. More lighting. Yeah, more lighting. It's like glam shots. More vibe.

Well, I'm glad I can make it today. When we do the Richard Dimple Fields episode, like, will we get the flashlights and some Cheetos? I'm taking it with eyeballs. Yeah. Anyway, this is another episode of Quest Love Supreme. We got Fon Ticolo in the house Yes Yeah

And support no news It's good news Yeah I'm sorry I always I wanted Gary Ganoo that And you're You're past the great spacecoaster Are you

Yeah I missed that whole reference Gary Ganoo was a get-along gang Really Okay I remember to get along gang That's Gary Gano No

All the great space coaster It's good Gano is with Gary Ganoo Thank you Get a long game I'll know what time of it Anyway We got boss Bill the house

Hello Welcome back Are you fine? It's not a tumor. That's all I know. That's great God. That's great. Baby got the stitches, though?

That was a reference from the movie Bumraying. Don't explain it. Just ask your kids, parents. Ask your kids. I'm Pey Bill. How are you doing, bro? Good, buddy. How are you?

I'm good. And it's like you. Oh, yeah. Everything's great. Everything is gravy. I'm proud of your new flow. Thank you. I won't say anything for the rest of the show.

I told you leave it there. I saved the best for last, Sugar Steve. The host of Shaguerg. You know, for some reason, we were taking this as a joke, and now, like, I feel, I feel genuinely threatened that you've managed to turn an IG chatting device into an actual network. Oh, yeah, it's the sugar network now, baby. We don't finessed it up. You're like Ted Turner of Instagram.

You've heard of own. Give our guests some content. You know, I have a spinoff of this show. Damn, he's just, he's just, he's just, he's just, he's just, oh, no, no, this is good, too, Steve. It's an unauthorized spin-off. Okay. It's a spinoff, nonetheless.

It's called chatting with sugar. Basically, Steve, Steve is into the things that you collect. Okay. Vintage mics, old records. Oh, nice. You know, vintage, yeah, so. Weed. Vintage weed, tag?

Vintage weed. I don't think Steve collected. He just smoked it. First collect. I collect the resin in my mind. Right, right, right. Anyway, ladies and gentlemen, our guest today, I have to say, I don't want to say he's a renaissance, man. I don't see he's a drummer, a singer, guitarist, piano player, producer, songwriter, label owner, the hells from the D, the city of Detroit, Michigan.

He wears as many hats in his lives, you know, a member of the rank ofateurs as Fontes. What was that again? The racketeers, rank of, I mean. Rackintateurs, that's it, yeah. He said rankin tours. I'm sorry. No, I said, oh, he did. Oh, yeah, rackintatures.

He said rink. No. He got it right. Okay. Well, I thought he got it wrong, and I was, anyway, the racquet tours. The Dead Weather. Sorry. You know, he's produced and guest in imperiled on a lot of projects that we love from

Loretta Lenz, Van Ler of Rose, one of my favorite records. Legend Jerry Wanda Jackson, done work with Alicia Keys, Beyonce, Tropical Quest, Naz-Elton John of Rolling Stones. The list goes on and on. The Muppets. But it's, and the Muppets, yeah. But it's as one half of the union. That's the one I'm the envious, most amy.

I'm jealous, too. But as one half of the unit known as the White Stripes that once made my hero, John Peele, wants to declare that this is some of the best music he's ever heard since the days of James Marshall Hendricks. Not to mention the massive critical claim he's gotten 12 Grammys, as a producer, as an engineer, songwriter, and I'm jealous as a package,

designer. That's a good one. I'm highly jealous of his package designing Grammys. Anyway, I can go on and on his third solo record entitled Boardinghouse Reach. It was released

March of 2018. This is his third number one record. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the eccentric, eclectic, always entertaining. Damn, I'm good. All the E-Words. Exactly way.

A soul train. Thank you. Thank you for that introduction. Okay, I got to get this out there. What's up with you and bananas? You know, a lot of things, you know, when you make those writers, you make a lot of jokes that only people in the industry will understand, you know, that a lot of fans would understand.

And that was one of those sort of red M&M things, yeah. So did you do that thinking that, what was the website that used to always put all celebrity writers? A smoking gun? Did you do that thinking that the smoking gun would pick it up? No, we just did it for people in the industry think it was funny, you know? All the stuff on there was, you know, for people to think it was funny. But, you know, I think it's one of those mysterious things that people out there think riders are sort of like, you know, snap your fingers and, you know, diamond-encrusted staircases will be made for you or something. But, so, you know, the artist pays for them themselves, you know, so.

Well, didn't somebody say that they put the crazy stuff on the rider to make sure that people were paying attention? Yeah, someone said that. Van Halen or something. Yeah, Van Halen. They, like, the hole just blew him and them. They want to see how much attention you pay to detail. Right.

In my case, they never pay attention to our writer. Like, we still have, like, a white owl bluntson. Oh, it's like the 1994 Wu-Tang writer. No, we haven't changed our join yet. Hopefully there's less PCP on it. Yeah, way less PCP. And the Wu-Tang Rider. I get it.

So, yeah, we thank you for coming to the show. Thank you for having me. So, so many questions to ask. So let's hope I get this right. Were you born in Detroit, Michigan? Yes. Yes. I think it's like the first one.

All the great, man, from Detroit. Yeah. There's more in the hip-hop world like J-Dilla and stuff, but there's few in the rock-and-roll world since maybe the 60s. actually born in, raised in the city itself. Most are from the... So everyone's from the outside. Where's Madonna from? She's from Rochester.

Because on her IG, she's trying to front, like... She did live in Hamtramack, I think, for a little while, which is inside the city of Detroit. It's a Polish neighborhood inside the city of Detroit. So she does have some of that real street credit in that sense. What are the actual sections of Detroit? Because the black people that talk to me to say is the east side and the west side.

Yeah. And then there's like... Damn, what's the... I'm from southwest Detroit, which is sort of also called Mexican towns and all-mexican neighborhood, but it was once in all-Polish neighborhood back in the day. But there is no... You know, that Journey song, Born and Raised in South Detroit. That's kind of a joke in Detroit because there is no South Detroit.

South Detroit is Windsor, Canada. Canada comes underneath Detroit. Okay. So we knew Journey had never actually been... It sounded good, though. So what is your version of... of Detroit because I guess you're the, yeah, I guess you're the first white musician

that I know that I personally know. I mean, I haven't asked, I'm about to say Bob, like me boys. Yeah, yeah, for once upon a time. But you know, I never knew his story. So like, what's your version of growing up in Detroit? Well, it was sort of like, it's sort of like a wasteland, really.

It was, you know, a lot of burned down buildings and Bannon houses, empty lots. closed up businesses, you know, storefront churches, that kind of a thing. I mean, the neighborhood really didn't have a, didn't have a bookstore, didn't have a record store. Nothing, you know, that you could really, like when we needed guitar strings, we went to the pawn shop and got guitar strings and drumsticks. That was the only option where I lived. No music store, no.

No, nothing. We had to get a drive from somebody out to the suburbs to get anything useful. So it was kind of like that. And yeah, scary at times, but rough, but also feeling like no hope. But what's great about it in the last couple years, everything is finally, after 40 years of that, finally has changed. And it's really coming around to a whole new renaissance, really. It's just incredibly beautiful what's happening. Things are just coming alive.

Buildings are being bought and changed. And I always think a good sign of a city on the rise is a new restaurant popping up every month. always a good sort of template. So it's not this whole sepia tone great. Because whenever I think of Detroit, I still see brown, sepia tone, muddy existence. Yeah, it's a lot of that's still there, yeah, for sure. But I think it's finally, I think in 10 years from now,

all that's going to be gone. You know, I really, I would put money on that now because the last two or three years, it's just been incredible because it started in the cast corridor. which is traditionally the roughest neighborhood in the city. And that's where I went to high school. And that's where we built a new third man records location there. Our new pressing plant is in the Cass corridor and Masonic Temple.

All the early garage rock shows I was a part of. We're all in that neighborhood. And it's mostly empty lots and, you know, like homeless missions and, you know, some industrial building. So now that's for it to come out of that neighborhood for that Renaissance to start there is a really good sign. So you go back a lot and you give back in your own way because you said you have your studio there, right? Yeah, the pressing plan especially was... Oh, the pricing plan. Wow.

Wow. That was a really, I'm really proud of that because it also created jobs and it also brought together a whole community people who really love music and vinyl and, you know, music preservation and all that. So that was pretty incredible. Would be able to do that in Detroit City, you know? So the part that I know, like where, I don't know, St. Andrews is still a thing or not. But what part of town is that? There's Greek town, there's that monorail thing? Yeah.

What part of town is that? What part of town is the... Like, where St. Andrews Hall... Oh, St. Andrews, yeah. Is that downtown? That's downtown Detroit, yeah. Okay, I see. So without the neighborhood record store,

assuming that you're born in the 70s and having that experience, like, how did you discover music if it wasn't a thing where you could hear your favorite song on the radio. Right. And copper record.

It was a couple different ways. One, I have, I'm the youngest of 10 kids, so a lot of, a lot of,

you like, you were real blues musicians. Oh, it gets heavier. I was it ready for that shit. I'm the seventh son in the family too,

so it gets even heavier. Oh, no. Seven son of a seventh daughter. My mom's the youngest of 10 children as well. And then, so there's a lot of music, a lot of hand-me-down records.

So family reunions are a nightmare for you. Yeah, gigantic. And these are all your mother's children? I'm sorry not to be in her business. Yeah, one family. Wow. One pair of parents. But yeah, so a lot of music coming from them, a bunch of musicians in the family.

You know, they had a huge record collection, a lot of that got handed down to me. For that, sort of like the rock and roll side of things and the 40s music from my parents, the Netkin Coles and the Glenn Miller stuff, all that, all from them. And then out on, you know, outside. like on the street it was the neighborhood kids it was just like I think the easiest way to describe it when we were playing Forest Square it was setting up boom boxes

next to the four square court and that was the music being played you know this is you know 83 through 86 kind of era of those days of hip hop on that side of things which my brothers didn't listen to so it was two sides of the coin you know what kind of hip hop were you listening to it that time well at that time would have been you know it would have been

LL Cool J's I'm bad and You know But it It would have And a lot of the You know Sort of the one hit wonder stuff That was coming through

I think that was a lot of things You know mix tapes Where it's just whatever radio You know you guys remember that obviously The recording from the radio And you missed the first five seconds Of the stuff Right

That those were the Those were the mix tapes We listened to during Forest Square I guess But Wow Okay So As far as

You said you're your other siblings. How many of them are accomplished musicians as well? Or is it just like they were... Four or five of them. Some of them are really talented, don't care about it, though. And some of them are still playing gigs today,

you know, in different kinds of bands in Detroit. And a couple of them work at Third Man Records, where the pressing plant. And so it was cool. I was the drummer growing up in the family. So all I did was play drums my whole childhood. I didn't touch a guitar until I was 14, something like that. So does it become...

somewhat alienating once you have your belt with success and, you know, the massive success that you've had. Are you able to maintain that closeness with your family members now, or is it like some of them are you're cool with some and it's a little awkward now?

Yeah, I think it goes through phases probably with everybody. I mean, that goes for friends too, where you know something happens to you. I mean, what happened to us, especially in Detroit, where there's just nobody has that kind of hope, like maybe in L.A. or something where you'd have, like, oh, yeah, you know somebody works at a record label.

Yeah, you know, we'll get you guys a gig or whatever. Detroit never had any illusions about you could get anywhere, especially with rock and roll or blues music either. And so for us to go sort of very, you know, sort of worldwide after a few years, it's very shocking to anybody around us, especially the family, not really knowing how to relate to what is mean you know what do they think so even at the time when you guys were first

starting out with your music like there wasn't a thing like well eventually let's let's pony up enough cash and then we'll go to you know a music city either Nashville or LA never I never heard anybody talk about that at all I never heard anybody even mentioned the dream of that it was always just like forget it so the beginning never gonna happen you're just gonna be a local musician and that was that was the way I have I, honest to God, had that exact same attitude until probably the third white stripes album. When we started to go to, when we went to London, John Peel started championing us and labels started talking to us.

And Meg and I were just like, wait, what? Wait, so you were still moving furniture on the, they just, like, the first two records? Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. I had my up until at least a second white stripes album. Yeah, so. But that sounds like I've heard you say that. Ten kids, a few jobs.

Yeah. Okay. Just for information. Detroit. What's the age difference between you and your oldest brother? Or you said the seventh son. In my brother. Here we go.

Yeah, the oldest in the family is 21 years older than me. So they were often mistaken for my mom, yeah. Damn, as a baby. I see. I read ones where you said you were considering going in the priesthood. Yeah, yeah. Was that a serious consideration? Yeah, it was wild because I got accepted to a seminary in Wisconsin.

and just sort of trying, you know, your brain starts to want to get out of everything. I want to get out of this room. I want to get out of this house. I want to get out this neighborhood. I want to get out. And that was one way I thought that I could get out. But the crux of the problem was I couldn't bring my music equipment with me.

You couldn't bring drums and guitar or whatever with me to this place. It was a dorm and, you know, you're training to be a priest. I also felt there was some kind of calling for me in some way. I didn't really know what it was because, you know, I'm 13. or something. So at the last second I changed my mind, I went to public school in Detroit, which was a strange thing for my family because it's a Catholic family to go to public school. But the public school I went to was in downtown Detroit in the Cassque corridor, just right off the outskirts of downtown. So the neighborhood school I had in Southwest Detroit was kind of full of a lot of gangs at the time.

They had really exploded at that time. So it was sort of dangerous to go to the neighborhood school. if you weren't part of one of these gangs. So it seemed like for, you know, several, six, seven different reasons it led me to this school of Cast Tech, which ended up being, as I got there, realized it was a very historically Detroit school. I mean Diana Ross went there. Harry Batoa, the famous furniture designer, went there, John DeLorean. There's this huge, huge list of people who that was the school to go to for, you know, 67 years.

Which I didn't know about until I got in there. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what you're saying. Yep, that's me, Clifford Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media.

Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated.

One week, I'll take you behind the same. scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment, and the next we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music. The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast, it's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger. So if you've ever supported me, or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right where you need to be. Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok.

This week on the Sports Slice podcast, it's all about the NFL draft, and we've got a special guest. The director of the NFL's East West Shrine Bowl, Eric Galco, joins the Sports Slice podcast to break down what really matters when evaluating draft prospects.

From hidden traits teams look for to the biggest mistakes franchises make, to the players flying under the radar. This is the insight you won't hear anywhere else. If you want to understand the draft like an insider, you don't want to miss this episode. Listen to the Sports Slice

podcast on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slica Life 12 and TikTok podcast network on TikTok. I'm John Green. You may know me as the author of The Fault and Our Stars. And now, I guess also is the co-host of the away end, a brand new world soccer podcast. I'm Daniel Alarcon, a writer and journalist. And John and I have known each other since we were kids. My first World Cup was Mexico 86. I was nine years old. I watched every game and I fell in love. On our new, podcast the away and we'll share with you the magic of international football, all leading up to the 2026 World Cup. For us, soccer, football is a story we've shared for over 30 years since Daniel was the

star player on our high school soccer team. Very debatable. And I was their most loyal and sometimes only fan. I love this game. I love its history, its hope, its heartbreak, and above all, it's beauty. Together, we'll find out why, of all the unimportant things, football, soccer is the most important. Listen to the away end with Daniel Alarcon and John Green on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What did you establish? First of all, a lot of your businesses start with the word third.

Yeah. What was it, third furniture or upholstery? Yeah, third man upholstery and third man records. So what is it with the significance of the third number? I started anything creative idea, poetry. lyrics, music versus notes in the song, I would just start revolving around the number three a lot. I got obsessed with that number as about in 15, 16. We were working on a couch, and it was three staples I'd put down, and it was the minimum amount to hold a piece

of fabric on a side of wood, you know, left, right center. And I thought, well, that's great. That doesn't leave everything black and white, so there's two choices. You know, Republican, Democrat, black and white, is that there's a third option, which sort of means everything. And I thought that's a great balance for anything I do artistically. So I've been holding onto that for dear life ever since, you know, to sort of ground me whenever I'm working on anything. Damn, so electric relaxation must have blown you away. Right.

And threes. So how did you, how did you meet Meg? We, it was the same plastic surgeon down in Argentina. Say, hi. And just, we looked. looks so much alike we had to start a bit. Wait, does that mean that you're always, you always, because we jumped to May, but I was just curious,

like, you always who you are? Like, when you went to high school, you are the same person that you were in high school? Yeah. Wow, that's cool. I mean, the same height and everything? No, I just mean, identity-wise, are you know what I mean? Some people change, they evolve, they... Yeah, I'm just, I think I'm just in a constant state of confusion.

Welcome to adulthood. It looks very focused. Well, actually, I did skip me and good. What were your early band experiences like? Drumming. It was drumming. I drummed with my brothers in their band Catalyst, and then I drummed in a three-piece blues band with my brother,

and Dominic, who plays bass with me now still. We had a bank all the fuck-ups, and that was sort of his punk and blues mixed together, kind of in a very teenagey way. And then, I'm sorry if I wasn't supposed to swear. You totally were allowed. Okay, and then... Greatest name ever.

We were, we, um, so Dominic, he still plays bass with me now on this tour right now. We've been playing together since we're 13 or so. And, um, then I was a drummer in this sort of cow punk band. I wanted to sort of learn about, uh, reading music for drums. So I thought I joined them, maybe the marching band to learn how to read music for drums. And it didn't work out. I lasted one day in the marching band and they were just like, get out of here. Really?

Well, it was sort of like three hours a day of practice every day, then an hour-long bus ride. home so I wouldn't be getting home to like 830 every day and then just two hours too much discipline all this is just you know I love the drums but it seemed like it was almost like joining the ROTC or something for me and that's what band is yeah when did you get your first drum set um well when I was five we had one in the attic so that was that was the one I played all through till high school what kind was it it was a Ludwig black Ludwig set in the 70s some pice oh shit yeah 505 so it was it sounded great it was really cool. My brother's had some pretty cool equipment. They sort of were good friends with the

pawn shop a couple blocks away and they got the stuff behind the desk kind of treatment, you know. Did you ever use any of that stuff on any of your records? Yeah. And then the drums that I had in high school was a set of white pearls, which became Meg's drum set in the white stripes. And then, yeah, all that stuff I bought as a teenager was the wearstrips equipment for the first few years, yeah. So your love for, or at least, what we perceive as your love for vintage equipment. And that isn't you coming to a place where you're sort of going, uh,

I can't explain it how like, uh, this, this is, this is more necessity of you collecting second hand equipment and vintage stuff. Right. More than usually like a musician. Submission. Like,

yeah. Not dumb down, but like, lessen, like a cat like me. that has asked axe. I'm so black right now. Axis.

You're so black. No, but I'm just saying that because of the texture and the sound that older equipment gives, which is why I gravitate to it. But if that's all you were working with, I assume that

even now to the relentless level that you collect vintage things, is more of you staying in your comfort zone? Yeah. There's definitely you're brought up in that certain circumstance. I know some people like I think, you know, Dane Jamass used his first computer program he learned on.

And I don't know if it's, what's it called, acid? Acid, acid, yeah. God, he uses acid too? I think so, yeah. And, um, yo. But he told me, he told me it's not worth the time to relearn it all on a new thing. You might as well just stick with what he started with. And that might have something to do with it.

too, learning on tape by myself. Because nobody taught me how to do it really. I had to really just sort of sit and learn how to do a four-track reel-to-reel with a mixer myself. So that maybe kind of gets you in love with the mechanical nature of it. But also, as the years went on, whenever I got a chance to A-B it, like we would record on a tape,

and then we would bounce it to approach to us and I'd listen to them back and forth. You know, and say, God, I guess I can't help it, man. The tape sounds more soulful. It has, whatever it has, that movement, it has that movement to it. It's like intangible. You can't really describe it, this movement that it has.

All mechanical things have this movement that add little wobbles and warbles to what's happening. And that maybe kind of comes out as soulfulness to the listener. I'm not sure, but it just feels alive to me. We've got to plug in for that. Exactly. No, but see, that's the thing. I'm hoping now a guy like me has to work with computer technology. technology simply because the small confined space that I'm in doesn't allow for,

of course. You know, the, you know, a lot of these things that you're using. And it's expensive, you know, so a lot of people don't have access to it, younger kids. So I'm hoping that one day, like, someone just invents. You're going to put a reel to reel in that little room you practice in? I would pay money to see that. No, I mean, I just want the plugins because I spend. at least hours

trying to lower the quality of the sound of things that I record or to make it sound to make it sound like it's beat up and used or whatever Have you put plugins next to Real Real Jack and listen to them? Do you hear you hear? Well you got that sort of

I get into being sort of the poster where like I'm always preaching for people not to use this stuff. I'm really not. Yes I know. People are just asking me how do you do it? You know how do you do it and I say well this is how I do it and it's sort of like what amp do you like if you listen to a tube amp and you nix it to a to a solid state and I'd be saying it's pretty good but it's not like the two BAM you know

I was going to say you also edit your own uh tapes correct yeah we this album I just put out is the first time I ever edited on Pro Tools a whole album so that um before that it was all just razor blade tape and razor blade edits so it would keep it another kind of way to kind of confine things to keep it really simple so they didn't get too complicated but this album so it wasn't just to challenge yourself as in like okay well I conquered that and Let me try to force myself to do a new way of recording. It was sort of out of necessity. I mean, there was a lot of modern techniques being used in the album,

and that was one of them, but it was definitely out of necessity for recording with bands here in New York and L.A. and in Nashville, I'd have 18 to 20 tracks, which for me was a ton. I usually only record on eight track. So that was a lot of stuff to try to get down. And the only way to possibly do it was to edit on Pro Tools. Do you lose my voice? It seemed like it went out of the headphones. I don't know.

He's engineering right now, folks. This is all going to tape, for sure. Yeah, we should do this only five to EL tape. We really should have recorded this. It would sound fantastic. Can you imagine how long it would take to put the show out? Let's just lie and say we're recording it to tape.

See if anyone can figure out. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, we're now on. But you know what you were talking about was that they are doing plugins now with, or imitating the warble of tape and that those little squiggles and that tiny little mechanical, you know, sort of flaws to the tape machine in making a plug-in and running it through that. I know a lot of people record on Pro Tools and run it through a tape machine in back, which is kind of a cool technique as well.

But at any rate, any time, whether it's reverb or compression or that kind of program, every single one of them is an emulation of the real thing. You know, digital reverb, for example, a reverb in a cave is real reverb, or reverb through a spring is a real reverb. So the digital version of it, it can sound exactly like it, but it's still an emulation of the real thing, which is, I don't know, if you want to get that deep into the psychology

of the soulfulness of things. I want you to convince me because I also know that you, you deal with Shinola, correct? Yeah. So, what is it? Shinola, oh, it's, you don't know Shinole? I don't know Shonla. Yeah, we know.

Explain to us what it is. No, you tell us. No, you tell us. You don't know about it. All right, we're going to start fist fighting. right now. Welcome back. Just somebody tell me what it is. Anyway,

Shinola turntables and... They make watches first and then they're starting to make turntables and headphones now. We bought a building together in Cass Corridor where the third man records location is and Shinola has their flagship store

and they open the factory where they make watches in the city of Detroit. So it's pretty amazing what they did. So I'm just saying that I know a lot of audio files that, you know, they have, you know, vintage turntables. And I'm a dude that loves collecting records and stuff. But the one thing I feel guilty of is that I'm not the guy that, like, gets an orgasm off of vinyl.

Now, as a deep... I know a lot about you. And I feel like I've learned so much more. I thought you did. I thought that was your thing. You and Steve. Together. What else?

I'm just saying that. It's, it's, I mean, for a guy that relentlessly collects records and all those things, like, um, I feel guilty that I'm not one of these, like, I don't have a, audio file guys. Yeah, what's, what's the turntable in the lobby right now? Macintosh. Like a Macintosh. Like, I've yet to get a Macintosh. Do you own a Macintosh?

Not a Magnetosh turntable, but I do have the amplifiers yet. So, turntables a little too expensive. Does that truly make a difference to you? Or? I think that the, what goes on. To me, there's the mcuffin of, whether the format is eight-track tapes or cassettes or vinyl. I think vinyl is just the most viable thing that everyone can kind of get around to with a large artwork and the large object. Just trying to be reverential to music itself, like a movie theater and a 7-millimeter film.

Going in there, closing the door, turning the lights off, the curtain opens, and we watch a film. We actually, in 2018, we all get off our ass, and we drive to a theater and sit down in silence, turn our phones off, and in the dark watch a movie. That's incredible we're still doing that. I just want that same reverence for music. So the vinyl part, you know, if it's 8 track or cassettes or whatever it is, I just like that it's something you can hold in your hands. Something tangible, yeah. Yeah.

And I also think that when it comes to the way, you know, I say we travel and stuff, I'm not bringing a turntable backstage and setting it up. I'm listening on an iPod or we're listening in someone's phone going through a beats pill or something like that, doing whatever we can to make it. Wait, you have a phone now? I don't have a phone now. someone else is phone yeah i was coming to it in and i was like wait a minute i thought you went on phone so you still don't on a on no cell phone i don't know but um but the

all the family members would you i'm like how did they reach i'm sorry no that's real though that's real as fuck i do uh mostly just emails is how i communicate that way i can walk away from it i can sit down and do it and walk away must be nice i'm sorry i know you were making another point but when did you get to this point where you were allowed to do that because you know that's a luxury yeah oh my god it's don't think people around me it doesn't drive them crazy but it's just

sort of a I think that it's just one of those things for me personally again I'm not preaching to other people for me personally I can't do that because I will be on it all day long it will not stop and there's just so much going on in my world

that I don't really want to be a slave to that it'll just consume my life and it's nice to be like I think you know it's an interesting thing I can give you an example of my kids we had a like a family car and the first we had the same car for the first like seven years that they were growing up

we would take long trips from national to Detroit and stuff like that your actual kids yes my kids they're 10 and 11 now okay let's say for the first seven years we had this family car and um this the this car had a DVD player that we never told them about and they would point to this thing and the ceiling what is that dad I'm like oh that's just something for the air conditioning My point wasn't to deprive them of whatever. It was just that imagination time where you get to really think and look out the window. And that's the time where you really start to imagine the best things in life. So you're not the dad that let the Little Mermaid babysit your kids so that you get your silence.

They don't have iPads. Yo, dude, I admire that shit. Because, like, I'll go to Sunday brunch restaurants and I'll see a bunch of kids. Plus, that requires real fathering. Like, that requires you to pay attention and stuff. Yeah, yeah. It's nice to be able to, well, it's like, I remember, like, working when I, wherever, all the jobs I've had, the best music ideas, I think, were me,

whatever it was, making a, you know, a pizza at a restaurant or busing a table or, or working on a piece of furniture, that's when I get home, that's what that's the thing I got to do. I got to put a reverb on that, a snare drum when I get home. That'll give you time to think. That's this time where you have the best ideas, you know. So, if you can, name me five. albums from your childhood like before the age of 13 like the music that defines you that you

hold on to that you grew up with not like you know you heard your brothers playing or whatever like that you personally gravitated towards um i i loved a lot of deep purple when i was a kid that was a that was a big man from you richie blackmore and ian pace what they were doing i really love that i loved Roger Miller. I liked his sort of cross that cross between country and sort of,

I don't know what, folk in 40s tunes or whatever that sense of humor he had. The Beatles, a lot, Beatles' white album. I can't think of Roger Miller name of an album, but maybe just sort of the catalog

of Roger Miller or whatever. And then, you know, he's talking about 13, 14, at that moment, there was a really funny moment that people kind of think is, you know, I'm making it up. But, you know, in Detroit, in the alleys, we had these giant dumpsters. They were trying to kill the rat problem in Detroit. So they got rid of garbage cans and they put giant dumpsters up.

So one of my favorite things to do was on the way home from school, walk down through the alleys and go through, flip the top of each dumpster and see what was in there, dumpster diving and trash picking. Oh, wow. And I found the Stoge's first album on vinyl in one of those dumpsters. and that really changed my life it really it was kind of

I recorded it I recorded I want to be your dog on four track because of that and it led me into punk rock in a bigger way Really Have you and Iggy worked together or medit?

Yeah we've done a couple tours together and stuff Yeah he's incredible and um Was that four? Yeah I'll see now Um Well I probably

you know anything to do with Led Zeppelin would be I like Led Zeppelin 1. I think Ledzepin 1, you know, someone asked me recently what's the best first album of any group. And I'm kind of, you think like maybe Jimmy Hendricks's first album, Ramon's first album,

but I think Led Zeppelin 1 is pretty tough to top for a debut album. Oh, yeah. I mean, every single track is, you know. So did you ever go, because every music stop I know usually gets to that place because sometimes they go so deep the abyss of the opposite direction.

Like, again, I grew up in the era of Columbia House. Yeah. Where kids ask your parents. We used to a penny. Yeah, for a penny. And TV guide, you tape a penny to that form. Take penny here. Yeah. And then you're part of a record club.

Like, that's part of my ratchezness. Like, I would sign my grandma to be. Oh, man. Yeah. I did that scamming college. That's my worst punishment. My grandma got all these. Y'all put them out of business, by the way.

Well, I'm just saying that I would also be too lazy to mailback the stuff I didn't want. The city of the month, you had the one in the month. So, yeah, I just said like, all right, well, Debbie Gibson out of the blue. Yes, Debbie Gibson. But then wound up listening to this shit. and like committed it to memory. Debbie changed your life. Yeah, so I'm saying like,

I think mine was Kenny G. Dual tones. No, but black people came for the deal on the low. No, you know what I'm saying? Songbird they do. No, my mother-in-law cuts for Kenny G. Black people came. I'll take Debbie Gibson.

Go listen to the first Kenny G. You'll be surprised. Don't it sound like that cause. No, even before the one. Before Dio-Teefe and all that on it. Oh, yeah. Kish and, um. Yeah, Chief.

Guys, Jack White is here. Can we talk? We're talking about Kenny Jean. And Jack ain't saying nothing about Kenny G. We fall down. We fall down. Yeah, really quiet. Nobody over here saying anything about Kenny G.

I'm getting to a point here. Yeah. Black people had a love. White people are two is the universal brigger together. He was ours first. Yes. Yes. And then dual tones came out and then like, okay.

Anyway, it was the tight girls. There was Julia Robert soundtrack. So my point is Columbia House. Ponsie scheme. Did you ever go through a phase where like, you know, you just, is there new kids on the block? Yeah. Cassette in your, like, that you got for when you were 12 years old or something like. Wow.

That's a good question. I'm trying to think of that. Like something sort of like. You wouldn't. You wouldn't totally outside of yours. Because I feel like series musicians and series record people mature once they get out of high. school. Once I was out of high school, then, and I started messing with y'all, you know what I mean? Like, and then your taste are more refined. But there was a period where I was just open and

getting everything. So it's tough, man. I'm trying to think of a time, but I definitely had probably too much of an attitude at like, you know, 11 through 13 where I liked real musicians. So, like, I, uh, I had a chip on my shoulder about that, probably because, of being raised by senior citizens and a lot of people in the family really loving music and older people. You know, by the time

late 80s was hitting, you know, it was the sort of digital soundings, gated reverb kind of sounding stuff was starting to sound kind of fake and stuff. Yeah, I just gravitated normally to more of the 70s and 60s.

I mean, I did like, you know, the guns and roses and I love Michael Jackson, of course, and lots of things from the 80s. I think the 80s gets a bad rap and no white, no poison, Cinderella.

Because you had to be... I would love to say, I paid nominal attention to all those bands like Poisoned, Motley Cruz and all that kind of stuff. I just didn't really buy those records. Now, the question is, were you having musical debates at this age to your peers? Because your peers were listening to this music,

but you were like, that's not real music? I can say that one thing that did bug me, and I was saying this in the interview recently, was, you know, when the first sort of sampling kind of came out, and when we were listening to on the front porches and stuff, where it would be, I think a good example, was like the Beastie Boys sample, the ocean by Led Zeppelin.

Right. And it would be like, the kids in the neighborhood didn't, didn't know, um, that that, what, where that was from. And then it was, um, uh, uh, EPMD, I shot the sheriff. And it was sort of like, yeah, it was like, hey, whoa, whoa, that's, that's, you know, and they're like, I'm like, so. Oh. And I'd be like, what do you mean so?

Like, you know, I think the cool part is that if you know where this is from, that's cool. But then it was, it's just that other debate of, no, it's just the sound of it. It doesn't matter where it came from. Oh, that was hard for me as a 12, 13, you know, the, kind of get my head around. It took me a few more years to figure that out. But there's some people that also,

like for me, hip-hop was crucial in explaining what my dad and my sister's record collection was. Right. So I needed... He helped make sense of it and put it in content. Yeah. Like, my dad had that...

So your dad would... He would tell you where this sample came from with this thing? My family had a large record collection. So something I wouldn't... My sister had houses the holy. Sure.

Actually, she has Zeppelin 1 too. So I never knew about when the levee breaks until one day I saw a kid was listening to it lunch and I was like, wait, I know that drum break from somewhere. Right, right. And then I put two and two and two together like, wait a minute. The Beastie Boys use this. So in my mind, I didn't know what sampling technology was or Lupin and none of that stuff, but once I got home, then I realized like,

oh shit. And then all of a sudden, I died in the lead Zeppelin that way. So I mean... But how did it feel that you knew that information and your friends didn't. Does it matter? I, you know, as a kid, I thought that everyone was supposed to have this savant knowledge of who know, who engineer what, and, you know,

put the headphones on and close your eyes and I just just just us. But, you know, I get it now that not everyone is built that way. All right, we got it. And it's fine, I think. You know, you like the sound of something. It doesn't matter where it came from in a lot of ways. I always say if I'm driving in the car and it's my son with me,

I'm going to definitely tell him, you know where this is from, this is this, and this is how they did that. I won't be able to help myself. I have to. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what I'm saying. Yep, that's me, Clever Taylor the 4th.

You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. One week, I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment. And the next, we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music.

The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast. It's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger. So if you've ever supported me or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right where you need to be. Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. This week on the Sports Slice podcast, it's all about the NFL draft. And we've got a special guest.

The director of the NFL's East West Shrine Bowl, Eric Galco, joins the Sports Slice podcast to break down what really matters when evaluating draft prospects. From hidden traits teams look for to the biggest mistakes franchises make to the players flying under the radar, this is the insight you won't hear anywhere else. If you want to understand the draft like an insider, you don't want to miss this episode. Listen to the Sports Slice podcast on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slice of Life 12 and TikTok podcast network on TikTok. I'm John Green. You may know me as the author of The Fault and Our Stars. And now, I guess also is the co-ho of The Away End, a brand new world soccer podcast.

I'm Daniel Alarcon, a writer and journalist, and John and I have known each other since we were kids. My first World Cup was Mexico 86. I was nine years old. I watched every game, and I fell in love. On our new podcast, The Away End, we'll share with you the magic of international football, all leading up to the 2026 World Cup.

For us, soccer... Football is a story we've shared for over 30 years, since Daniel was the star player on our high school soccer team. debatable. And I was there most loyal and sometimes only fan. I love this game. I love its history, it's hope, its heartbreak, and above all,

its beauty. Together, we'll find out why, of all the unimportant things, football, soccer, is the most important. Listen to the away end with Daniel Alarcon and John Green on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. So, not

knowing you personally, But knowing that you are big on collaborations, I mean, between all the projects that you've done, I can only guess that you're the point person or the alpha person or the leader of these projects. How do you deal with in collaborative situations? Like, how are you able to not manage people? Yeah, impose your will on... I love when... My hope is that they, the other person or other people

are going to bring tons to the table and not just sit there and say, tell me what to do, whatever it is. If, what if it's a bass player or a hired gun, I still want them to bring everything they can to the scenario. And especially if it's somebody else, like if it's, you know, I think we both,

we were talking, we were both played on the Tribe Corps' Quetting record. My cut didn't make it. Oh, shit. Tim. Anyway, way to go, Jack. Oh, shut up. Bill.

Put that part of the tape out. Get the scissors off. Get out of a razor break. That's all right. He made a video. He all right. No, no. It's one thing if you're doing a tribe record where you know, like, Tip has the pedigree and

engineering and all that stuff. But, like, you know, if it's just that I know that you know your music IQ is higher than that, like everyone else's. But I also would assume that you would know that you would alienate people. Yeah. I mostly keep my mouth shut. I think the times where I do say, no, no, no, no, no, there's no way we can do it like that. It's just not worth the awkwardness and the reaction that I'm being a divo or a control freak or something like that.

So I'm for 95% of time, I will kind of put up with things that I can't stand on a mix, out of guilt, you know. Oh, no. It's, it's, uh, so someone just brings a 57 sure to the session. You're just like, sure, I don't care. Well, a great example is on this new album. There were definitely keyboard tones. We had four different keyboardists and, you know, synth players and keyboard players that were definitely playing tones that I would have never picked in a million years.

And I said, all right, let's, let's see if it works. I want to be turned down. And it didn't make you cringe at all like, like, uh, at first it would be like, mm. You know, you know, wait, because DJ Harris is. is also, however you found, DJ Harrison on his record. Yeah, he's great, man. And so they would pick up tones. Some of them I instantly love, some of them.

I was like, I don't know about that. But all of them, by the time we were into mixing the record, I thought all of them were amazing choices. And they turned me onto tones that I would have never picked. That would have skipped right over. Yeah, how did you hook up with them? Because you actually, two good homies of mine have played with you, Daru Jones and DJ Harrison.

How did you hook up with them? Daru is an amazing find for my life because he came in, I produced 45 with Black Milk. And he brought in Black Milk, we did 45 in my studio, and then he did a live show at Third Man. And he brought in Daru to play drums live for that. And it was just, oh, man, I actually said to Black Milk, I'm going to steal this drummer from you. You know, half-chokling half a little. No, I'm really going to steal this drum from it. But I just couldn't believe he's just so unique and so incredible.

So that was a cool scenario. And it's also great because, you know, everyone, when you're in different genres, if you play with people in Nashville who are from the bluegrass scene, they've played with so many other people that they're bringing their knowledge from playing with Bill Monroe or some, you know, other cat from back in the day and what they learned from them. and then people who've played with hip-hop live. And I think I've talked a lot about, you know,

I was first impressed when I first see Roots back up, Jay-Z or something I got on a live TV show or it was like playing the samples and the recorded version with live instruments, which to me was like, that's, for this album I was working on, that's the musician I want, the musician that can do that. If you can perform live on stage,

what's been recorded out as a sample or a loop or something like that. And luckily, a lot of those people were up for the idea. And then DJ Harrison, how did you guys, how did he come across a little? Specifically, on DJ, I can't remember specifically, but I was definitely going through footage and saying, who's this guy? How about that guy?

I thought the randomness of saying, who's this guy playing keyboards behind Kanye in this clip? And, okay, can we get him? And who's this person playing bass with Liljohn or whatever? It would be, or Lil Wayne. So it was just like, you know, we'll get to people through these just random picks. And so some of them were there, showed up. Some of them were on tour, couldn't do it.

Some of them, oh, I can't do it, but my friend can. So a lot of stuff would come out of that. Yeah, he's just such a hero of ours. Like, we have a lot of his underground tapes. DJ? Yeah, DJ. Yeah, yeah. Very cool.

And so, such a humble guy, too. And really just, yeah, real interesting tones. I didn't realize how young he was. I didn't realize. I'm like, God, dude, you're like in your 20s. That's great. Let me ask a question. I guess this goes to you in the mirror.

Is it a small collective of those kind of musicians? Like, how small is that collective of, like, reputable musicians who can do that task? Yeah. Well, see, the thing. A good man, it's hard to find. I don't know. Okay. So the thing that I really admire about all the projects that you've done, especially

with your non-white stripes projects is the discipline and a lot of times it's hard for me to convey to musicians

that sometimes less is more that it doesn't always have to be about I'm over here, I'm over here because there's complete websites dedicated to how many notes can I squeeze into, you know, this particular two-bar. So, for me, it's not about the quality or the level of the music.

I'm more into if they're disciplined, if they can keep it in the pocket. Even though they play the most simple thing in the world, if they could play it consistent. I heard you're talking about, what's the drummer's name who played on Billy Jean? Oh, no, Indugu Channel. Oh, yeah, Leon. Yeah. It's simple, that just... Yeah.

I mean, the simplest trumpeted of all time. The second you hear that snare, you know exactly what it is. And it's just... That to me is way harder than, you know... But that's your mantra, too. That's always been your mantra. How can I sound like a metronym? I'm just lazy.

But that's always what you say, but that's bullshit because you work hard to be a metronome. And that closes up the gap then, because that's like even smaller a number of musicians that are distant. Yeah, because I was going to say, if... Like, for me, for me, Me, Daru is actually, oh, God, I don't want to say this statement.

Never mind. Say it. That means you always want to throw me. Someone's got a razor blade and the thing cut it out. We're good. Yep. No, it couldn't shit out. This analog.

Shut up. No, like he is a cat that I, that he's my number one thumbs up drummer cat because he just understands the pocket. You know. And he has methodology to what he does, the way he sets up his kit reverse. I've never seen any drummer do that. Yeah, I was to say, I thought that was something. When I first saw him play, we did a show with you, and I saw his drum. I was like, yo, it's just going to fall over.

Right, yeah. And I never once. I tried that once. I tried sitting down in his kid. I can't play it. It's just impossible. Yeah, that's a very unique thing. He gets great tone.

He tilts the snare in the floor, Tom, towards the audience. He's hitting, he's hitting like this. It's like your wrists are bending the other way. Oh, wow. In Amir speak, he smooth criminal leans the entire drum set towards the audience. Wow. You know, are you okay? That's awesome.

Did you know that's Michael Jackson's only patent application? I know this. I don't even know what that means. To lean, he did a slit in the shoe and he would slide into a nail on the floor. What? And that's how they leaned. So their feet were held. I thought it was cameras.

No. He's a patent to it. Every single dancer is on nails? That's crazy. Yeah. There's a good blooper. It wasn't in Moonwalker. Michael once fell into the audience.

Well, he laughed. It was like a blooper moment. But because they were on Pro Tools and finished it softly. Oh, shit. I want to see something interesting in Michael. I don't know if you guys have seen this clip, but have you ever seen this clip where Slash keeps playing guitar solo and Michael gets mad at him.

No. Oh, black and white? Oh my God. Really? I mean, that was the only time I've ever seen Michael getting mad, mad. He's, Slash for somebody who is pissed about something, and he's coming out to do black or white. Right, right, right. And the end of the guitar cello, blah, blah, blah, blah.

And Michael's like, you know, give him the smoke and pointing. Right, right, right. And he just doesn't stop. And then Michael starts going like this, folding his arms and looking around like, like, That's when the joke came out. They had to pull him off and two guys came and pulled slash off. Really?

Where is this? It's on YouTube. We'll find out. There's a good one also where it's raining. Like in Argentina, it's raining and the floor is slippery's hell. But Michael's angry because, like, the guys aren't there. To wipe it down. Like, he's just skating on the, it's like at the beginning.

He's skating all over the thing. But he's looking at them like, make it stop raining. I think I've seen that one. I think I've seen that one. And he's like passive, like, just running. and then all over the place. And I'm like, motherfucker, you're in Argentina in a monsoon

on a slippery-ass stage with the open, like, with no roof. Like, cancel the damn show. We miss you, Mike. Anyway, so, okay, with, I'm about to say it's an hour and I didn't even get to a one white-strike question. Well-played.

Actually, I want to start at the end. Yeah. How do you know? when it's time to close a chapter. That's a really great question. I think that's the probably... Because I still think you guys are going to come back with the record.

White Stripes you mean? Yeah. Yeah. And I think that in order for me to move on and call things under the name Jack White on my albums that that band needed

to be done so that it wasn't constantly okay well thanks Jack but can you get back to what we wanted you to do? or whatever and that kind of goes with you know i've started over several times started over the raconteurs from scratch started over the dead weather from scratch started off solo from scratch so you're not really supposed to do this if you have an act that's working people are digging in and it's it's working out with people so um i keep doing it but you know i i it's just the way i have i have to move forward and progress so a lot of times i think you know i think meg was always like

Yeah, I like finishing up on top where I don't feel any regret about not even one song we ever did. And that was kind of nice about that moment, too. And so, yeah, I don't feel any urged for that to happen. And I've also talked to people like, you know, Jimmy Page and Robert Plum to continue the Led Zeppelin thread that, you know, I mean, they obviously get asked every day for the last 40 years. When's, when's it's it going to happen? When you're going to end the honey drippers? Yeah. Come back.

I heard the honey drippers at. So it's, it's, I mean, I don't want you to have to reveal the smoke and mirrors of whatever your presentations are. But for those white striped records, were they completely 100% a collaborative drum, Meg, Jack moment? Or did you do some songs by yourself? I'm only asking because my personal favorite album, Satan. Yeah. And the first time I heard the nurse. Yeah.

I was just like, yo, like no one has, no one's timing is this goddamn good. Except for people that play with themselves. Anyway. Damn, I'm good. Try to view. But Prince has a way of doing that on Dirty Mind. there's a way that he

and he answered this question I was asking like why did you fluctuate on the title cut dirty mind so much and he's like well you know I have to give the impression that you know

Prince the bass player is trying to keep up with Prince the drummer and Prince the synthesizer players trying to keep up with the bass player and that so there's like a

there's such a scientific calculated uh fluctuation beautiful mess of fluctuation that I feel that only I've heard Stevie do it

I heard Prince do it I've heard you do it on some of your solo records assuming that the two songs in my head were completely done by you but for some of those songs like even you had to put in 10 hours of rehearsal to get those hits correct

or like what was the process was that all you at least on the nurse Well, the nurse I'm playing marimba and the Meg's playing the drums and that was done in my living room We record that in my living room

But all those stabs and It's all Meg Why are you in disbelief? I didn't see that to that I didn't want to be accused of sexism To see that It's impossible No, but I hear what you're saying

I think on the flip side of that Yeah, she nailed that song And there was time Meg's Meg's rhythm is beautiful It's I think people think I'm dissing here When I say it's childlike but I think there's that thing about saying Papa Picasso said I spent my whole life

trying to learn how to paint like a five-year-old. Yeah, you said that all the time. I would play white striped songs with other like sort of, you know, whatever, proficient drummers. And they perfect it. And it wouldn't sound. Right.

And when she would do it, it was like, that's just, that's it. But she will also say something like, on that same album, my doorbell. The drumbeat on that is very jumbly. The timing is squeezed together at times, spread out at times on the drums. And the drum beats really funk.

it's very cool. I remember Jimmy Ivy and I had talked to him and goes, man, that record is a hit. And he goes, but you needed to record it right. You know, it needs to be recorded properly by somebody. You know, it's like, well, tell me what's wrong with, you know, the way we did it. I know obviously there's no pop appeal really to what the way we did.

It's a, it's a very, you know. When Dorgo came out of, I think, I was spending the shit out of that. Like, I thought that was going to be like, oh, thanks. That moment. It felt, it felt really cool. Maybe, you know, I would love someone to cover that song.

I think there's some really cool things that could happen with the harmonies and stuff. But, yeah, for example, that drum beat was really, almost squeezed together, forced at times and feeling like that. But it just works out. It makes sense, you know. Can you talk about Meg's relationship with the drums? Because whenever I read about it, it sounds like she met the drum, she fell in love with the drum, and then she just killed it. I think she's just very reluctant. And then also got picked on so much through all the years.

of everyone's saying she's the worst drummer in music. And that really affected her. I just seemed like every day she was saying that. I think a lot of people didn't. I spent a lot of time sort of defending that because, and here's what happened. When we were first started to get signed on our third album, she said to me,

said, you know, Jack, people out there in the mainstream, they don't know the goaries and the Velvet Underground and this simple kind of drumming style on things. They're not going to understand me. And they're not going to get this idea. And they're not going to get this idea. they're just going to think I suck, you know, and I said, you know, there are going to people who aren't going to understand that.

But I don't think it's worth us, you know, we have to go out and push forward and just bring that to people, that simplicity. You know, what are you going to do? Some people are going to get it, some people aren't. It's the same thing to me. You know, how much crap does Charlie Watson and Ringo Star get all these years later? I mean, Ringo is insanely good, man. I mean, there's some drum fills that are implanting in my brain

that Ringo's done. And because he's not John Bonham or Neil Pard or something, I don't understand that kind of. I didn't realize he was catching hell. Because, like, for me, for me, Greg Seneer, the drummer of Deerhoof and Meg are like, definitely my two, like, I've stalked you guys millions of times in, like, in concert. But I never thought that that was.

I thought she was very, I think she was the kind of person to make people want to start playing the drums. I was about this, is it true that she really felt it? Like, she learned very easily and mastered it. Yeah, because our early Weissed record were just those stabs, just poof, you know, and it was like that. I think the first thing we do was David Bowie's, she wanted to record a, what's a song, I'm an alligator. I'm a mama papa coming for you. Rock and Roll, Suicide. Yeah, it's on Ziggy, I'm.

Sorry, the name's escaping me. But we did that song first, and it was just, that was the beginning of our sound, was that, oh, just these stabs, bam. And we thought, wow, let's keep going with this. And it turned into a whole thing. It's changed my whole outlook on music completely. It brought it down to a minimalism. And then it was a great, great outlet to do the blues

and not be that sort of Stratocaster, sort of White Boy Blues at the time, which was very sort of a super, super uncool. So were you conscious of that? Were you conscious of that to... Yeah, I think so. To not get pigeonhold into... You know, the blues had become that kind of, you know, that stratocastery, really clean, slick thing at that moment through the 90s.

And it was a little bit like a bar band, a little bit of an embarrassing thing too. But it's also, at the same time, we wanted to do with the raw getting down to the real nitty-gritty of it, the Lightning Hopkins and, you know, a hound-dog Taylor and those kind of things and figure out a way we could get away with it, you know. And a lot of the things to do with the white shows, the red, white and black color scheme and the way we presented it like children was a great way for us to get away with it.

Is that how you found your personal voice? Because your speaking voice is relatively low. And all of your vocal deliveries are super high and super in that stratosphere, which sort of comes from a blues place, but it's interesting. Just listen to you tall. I don't know. That was a natural thing, that really high stuff. And I know there was one song, and I had my post-reached out that

It was the BBC, uh, Beatles BBC sessions, and it was, um, the Beatles, hippie, hippie shake. Their cover of hippie, hippie shake. And when it starts off with Pam McCartney, you know, I won't do it now to blow out the mic, but Oh goodness sake. Just super high. Shake it to the left, shake it to the right, all on your mind and shake. And you just go even higher than the highest note you did before that. I started to get really into that.

So, yeah, now, um, it gets. it gets wilder. I think there's some stuff on the new album where I'm really squealing up in some two octaves above where I normally sing it's a skiddy up in some wilder stuff. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what you're saying. Yep, that's me, Cliver Taylor the fourth. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show.

This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. One week, I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment, and the next we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music. The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast. It's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger. So, if you've ever supported me, or you're just chasing down a dream.

this is right what you need to be. Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeard radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. This week on the Sports Slice podcast, it's all about the NFL draft, and we've got a special guest.

The director of the NFL's East West Shrine Bowl, Eric Galco, joins the Sports Slice podcast to break down what really matters when evaluating draft prospects. From hidden traits teams look for to the biggest mistakes franchises make to the players flying under the radar. This is the insight you won't hear anywhere else.

If you want to understand the draft like an insider, you don't want to miss this episode. Listen to the Sports Slice Podcasts on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, for wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slice of Life 12 and TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. I'm John Green.

You may know me as the author of The Fault in Our Stars, and now I guess also is the co-host of the Away End, a brand new world soccer podcast. I'm Daniel Alarcon, a writer and journalist, and John and I have known each other since we were kids. My first World Cup was Mexico 86. I was nine years old. I watched every game, and I fell in love.

On our new podcast, The Away End, we'll share with you the magic of international football, all leading up to the 2026 World Cup. For us, soccer... Football is a story we've shared for over 30 years since Daniel was the star player on our high school soccer team. Very debatable. And I was there most loyal and sometimes only fan.

I love this game. I love its history, it's hope, it's heartbreak, and above all, it's beauty. Together, we'll find out why, of all the unimportant things, football, soccer, is the most important. Listen to the away end with Daniel Alarcon and John Green on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What is your weapon of choice? I know that you have an array of guitars and a collection from heaven, but I can't die without it.

Is it the K. How about you, or is it... There's, um, I have this Army and Navy, Gibson acoustic now that I got a few years ago. That's now become my, that's my favorite guitar. It's from 1917. They built it for, they made these for, supposedly for World War I soldiers,

and as soon as they finally got the guitar every production, the war was over. So there's not very many of them. They're like this scaled down, stripped down version of an L1, like Robert Johnson would have used. So it's really, really soft, and the neck is like a baseball bat. And it just, it just fits me perfectly. So for you, the instrument also has to have a specific tone. It's weird for me because back when I didn't have a choice,

when we would have to play in shitty... studios. Like my first drum set is something out of like Alex Van Helen's nightmare. It's like some Tama like power stroke, you know, like a straight heavy metal.

Rotombs? Yeah. Like all of organics. Double kick drums. No, I'm serious. Like all of... Gong. Well that's, you know, maybe that goes back to like the what's the record, the, you know, the boy band record. Maybe that, maybe, maybe I went through that same period too, which is like you kind of get into maybe two kick drummas, maybe rototons, maybe

17 times, and you kind of have to go through that moment and get that out of your system. My point was that at the time, I was bitching, I was like, yo, like, I can't do no break beats on a triple kick drum, Tama.

And the bass drum's like this big, right? Yes, it was. Seriously, everything you're describing is what I did my first record on. And then my engineer was like, dude, it doesn't matter, because the only thing that matters is how we translate it in the mixing board. And once I realized, like, oh, I can manipulate this to sound any way I want to. I mean, it's smoke and mirrors a lot, but it's in the engineering.

So, I mean, does it truly matter if, you know, if you have a particular, you know, Gibson or a Strat or this, did you have a Montgomery Ward? Yeah, I mean, for the most part, it was Montgomery Ward, lines and silver tones and the really cheap out of tune hard to work with guitar is up until this album right now where i wanted to use the easiest guitar i could possibly play so i'm playing this eddie van halen's wolfgang that he designed for all this touring new and it's and it's just i i've never played a guitar tired this easy to play it's crazy i don't it's it's one of those things where what do you do you know when you get a first class ticket on a plane do you can you ever go back i was going to say do you have do you have a fear of

once you sort of dabble and dip your toe into all right let me see what garage band is about or get this particular new shiny drum set or guitar whatever that you might slip into a rabbit hole you can't fall out of. Yeah, I think I definitely, I'm sure, you know, I'm definitely what you were saying before from the discipline sort of side of things

where I can dabble and get something out of it but then return to what I think feels more soulful and more makes more sense for what I try to accomplish. I'll love I'll sit around and play with a synthesizer for hours knowing full well that I'm never going to use this thing live or something like that. But sometimes it does. We did Iggy Tump. I was trying to, I used this instrument that B.L. Gilles used on Baby, you're a rich man, this clavilleen with the very first synthesizer. And that became a thing I took on stage. That turned into a Moog, little fatty. And then I started to learn more about that. And that's now become a big instrument for me. That's that. That's a, that's

that mug. So when you're making decisions on what instruments to use and to play, do you have a judge and jury in your head? So, okay, say if I presented to you the first edition of a Yamaha DX7 from like 1986, like this horrible Richard Marks patches. Sure. You're turning purple. Yes. Richard and marks Start playing the electric piano patch No but it's like

If presented With that I mean Oh my God You just have a moment Where you just fucking forget Your question

Oh yeah All the time Could I make it work Were you trying to say Could I make it work? I think I was going to go there But there was a reason why I had a de-exec-

No whatever But I mean Could you I mean, could you make it work or? Well, there's that line from what's that line. I think John London said something about, you know, I'm an artist. If you give me a tuba and I'll fucking make some sounds come out of it, you know, that that's your job as an artist that went handed the scenario,

which I think that I've done a lot in the past, which is the set up the scenario of here's where we're going to be, here's what people are going to be in the room, and here's how long we're going to be here. That's it. As far as the music sounds like, I don't care what it's going to come out. Like, if it comes out soulful, comes out punk, It doesn't matter to me.

As long as I've set up this scenario, and like I said, some of the keyboard choices, some of those tones, to me at first, it was like, wow, okay. And then later on, I'm like, okay, yeah, now I get it. That really does work. It really does work.

And I don't remember emitting any of them while we were mixing the album. So part two of that question is, are you afraid that snobs like us will be, cool, man. Everyone uses the da-da-da-da-da-da. Like, I can easily tell that there's a da-da-da-da-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a. that he used or...

Sure. I'm a big fan of not noticing production, which is it's hard for me to... Like when I hear, like, oh, they put that even-tied reverb on that vocal. I hear that. I hear that.

When I don't hear it, when I just hear the music, I don't even notice the production. I really love that. That feels good to me. But can you even enjoy an album without getting into... It's hard for me to do that. Like, I'm analytical

and trying to figure out what they... That's my hope. My hope is to first just love it and listen to it and maybe 10 listens down, start thinking, wow, how did they get that drum sound? That's, I was just thinking about that. Yesterday in the car, we were listening to Let's Go Crazy guitar solo,

and it was sort of like, you know, I never thought about it. What was using, an octave pedal on this? I never heard a solo a thousand times. Just saw it, I don't know. I'm kind of want to go look that up now. But can you talk about your evolution of thinking of that? Until Thursday.

Because I didn't say that. Because I think like with the early white stripes record, it was just like two people in a room, press record and go. Whereas this last album feels like to me that you did put it into Pro Tools and you did cut it. You did smush it around because and that and that seems not antithetical to what you're saying, but like an evolution. And even like the, let's say that the white stripes early records seem super riffy to me and super hooky. The middle of your career to really put it bloody. Like the Dead Weather Racket Tour stuff is a different thing moving more towards rock. And then this feels.

That's the hope, yeah. Right. But what was like your songwriting process during those whole things? Because it feels like a definite crescendo and or move. Yeah, it's a definite move. And I use a lot of techniques I've never used before. I rented an apartment where I used the same equipment I had when I was a teenager, the same reel to reel by myself, no amps, no drums.

So I was singing along with a drum machine, writing the songs, writing the melody of the song without any musical accompaniment. So a lot of these songs started the just a vocal melody. And then everything was added later. And then took it to New York and L.A. And played with people I've never met before. And with three days only in each studio, let's hurry up and figure something out.

And then recording all that to tape and then dumping it to Pro Tools and editing in Port Choles for months. I had something I'd never done before either. So you put yourself on a time limit? Yeah, for each city. Yeah, three days in each city. Why do that?

Because I wanted the energy of, I didn't tell them, I told them as late as possible before we did it, so that the energy is, holy shit, what are we doing? And then nobody knows each other, so you have that great energy in the room of everyone's scared a little bit, and they also want to impress each other, so you get that great energy.

That's totally different if I would have said two weeks at that time. Okay, guys, here's the demo for the song, learn this part, learn that part, see you on Wednesday at 2 o'clock, and then we'll have lunch at 4. You know, yeah, then they've got, they've prepared it, they figured it all out. But to walk in the room,

nobody knows what's going to happen. That's a way more interesting energy. That's a producer move. It's a producer move. That's something that happened in this room with D and you guys. All the millions of hours of jam. Dee is DiAngelo, everybody. Yeah, we recorded voodoo in this room.

Who were the players on this new record? Who were some of the players? We got Neil Evans and DJ Harris. Neil? He's in New York. He was a monster. Charlotte Kemp Moe on bass, who plays with the Ghost of the Sabreve-Dookegiger,

Sean Lennon's band. She has her own band, I think it's called Oonie. and then the drummer was Louis Cato on this session. I asked Q-Tip who he thought was good in New York to grab, and he said, Lewis. And then in L.A., we had Carla Azar on drums, who I brought one person I knew there as a sort of anchor, like, okay, I've got one person I work with it.

I know everyone else is going to be strangers. And we got Brew, what's his name, Brewster, Brue, I forgot his last name on Keys as well as Quincy McCrary. And then we had El Nino from Ozo Motley on percussion. Oh, Bobby Allende on Congas in New York, too. I forgot that. Who mixed this album? I mixed it with Josh Smith, my engineer in Nashville.

We did it on Pro Tools, the editing, and then we mixed it through my native console. Okay. Yeah. I want to also talk about other projects. you worked on. You produced Vanler-R-Rose. Yes.

I want to know, well, and also Wanda Jackson's album as well. How do you, how do you, when you're working with someone that's obviously not in your generation? Yeah. And how do you, because again, you, well, Fonte mentioned earlier that you have to manage people. Oh, yeah. So, having been in her presence a few times, how did you get that album achieved? It's tough. I mean, every person is different, obviously, but I've definitely done my time with many octogenarians.

But Loretta was just great because she's just so funny and so talented. And it would be line by line a lot of it. She rushes. She starts singing the next line. before it's time, before we've gotten to that moment. And I said, okay, you gotta put that pause in there. And she goes, Jack, I've been doing this, this my first record.

I'm famous for this. He used to make fun of me back in the 60s about this. I rush, and she does. She rushes live on stage. The band has to jump to the next verse because she just runs to the next line. So we'd have to do it, and we did on tape, so we had to do it line by line, a lot of that stuff

because we couldn't edit it later. And you didn't use Pro Tools? No, that was on E-track. I always wanted to know. Oh, shit, really? Yeah. So the patience factor was... Oh, yeah. Very patient, yeah.

You know what? One of my favorite... I'm about to say, one of my favorite joins was... How did you get her to do... Is it Little Red Shoes? Yeah, yeah. Where she told the story and... Yeah, she was just telling us that story in between takes. And I was like, whoa, whoa, whoa, hold on. Don't finish.

You know, let's roll tape real quick. And she went back and rolled tape. She had music afterwards? I added the music. later and edited that together back in Detroit at Brendan Studio. Because in my head, I'm like, yo, how in the world did he manage to... Oh, man, that would have been a nightmare. Did a perfect...

Yeah, I was going to say, like, there's no way. She actually tried to do it. She actually tried to tell a story along with the music, but the story kept going, the song had ended long ago, and she had five more minutes of story to tell. So that took a lot of time to edit that down into making it work, but it was very cool. She got the idea. She thought it was a very cool idea. Oh, okay.

When you You also did a bond song With Alicia What movie was it for? Quantum of Siles Quantum of Solis So is it Is it in

Curricature Is it an honor to be asked You know to do the iconic bond song Oh man yeah That is that was an insane honor It was also I knew I was entering sort of like You're like doing something for Star Wars or Star Trekers.

You enter in this franchise, you're entering a world of pain because this is a whole 50 years of fans who are very scratchy about anything to do with their beloved characters. So you have to be careful. But the reason I got that gig was because Amy Winehouse wouldn't show up to the recording sessions.

They were going to do, I think it was, I don't know what it was. I guess it was Amy Winehouse and someone else was a duet. Probably weren't. Oh, okay. And because she wasn't showing up, they asked if I was, would do it and what about me doing a duet? And I said, yeah, and I offered the idea of Alicia Keys.

And they said, okay, and they just didn't have much time. So I thought, oh, this is good. Now, I'm going to get to do some shit. They would never let me do if they had given me a year to work on this. So it was super complex. I recommend to people to listen to just the instrumental of that song, because it's really, really bizarre changes that go on. And that was a drum-based thing and Alicia came into Nashville and did her thing with it and um but it's very divisive I think it was the first time I had to put out a song it was divisive and people just loved it or hated it and the one time I got to hang out with Prince um he was um at this club and uh walked over and sat down and he said um well I really love that James Bond thing you did

oh it was right at the time it had just come out I said oh thanks for saying that because a lot of hate it. And he goes, really? I thought it was real strong. Why Alisha Keys? Because you said that was the first person that you thought for that. I just thought her voice would just be like, you know, like the, uh, just the soaring thing. And she, she did a lot of that kind of just soaring vocals. How many did they make you do several different drafts of that song before you, they finally selected it? They did. They came back to me and they wanted me to put a power ballad in the middle of the song and they wanted it. They wanted me to try

again on something else, but I knew they were running out of time, so it's like, mm. Kind of, yeah, I'll try, but. Y'all need this shit by Thursday. Was it like the most creative, most hands in your creative process ever? Yeah, it was definitely, wow, if this

had been, if we had started this six months ago, I probably would have dropped out because it would have just been, okay, guys, just get somebody else. I'm not your guy, you know? Well, okay. He was one of those funny moments. You know, you know, always wanted to ask. Okay, so last time I did a show with you,

you do this very unique thing where none of your, okay, see, he travels with I don't know if you still do this, but two bands. And all male band. Yeah. All female band. Yeah, I did that. And they all

get dressed to the nines. And then about 45 minutes into showtime, they're told which band's going to be his band tonight. What? What in the rich man? The motherfuckers would kill me. The root should do that.

I think we still do that. I know I think you do that. Yeah, I'm not coming to the day. You go. Just sitting Ray angry up there. But one, I mean, I'm never going to ask you why you do things because you are who you are and that's why. So, but do they feel some sort of way? Like, okay.

If they're in L.A. have an hour, I'll give you all the, uh, the reactions. It'll take you an hour to explain them. Yeah, I was going to say, like, because the first time I did it, oh, man, rest and peace to Ike. I was telling me like, yo, I might come to a jam session, but I got to wait for word. Yeah. That's a word on what. He's like, I don't know if I'm going to play with Jack tonight. I thought you were his keyboard player. And then he explained to me the system that he might, and it just happened to be the night that you chose, are they the peacocks?

Yeah, the girls were the peacocks and the boys were the buzzards. Right. So, you chose. Peacock's, and he was like, oh, great, I'm off. And then he came to our gig. And so this was for two albums ago. And Ike was the first person to positively love it. And I respond to it, at least to my face. But so he, I had gathered them together and said, you know,

I had a group me like, here's what's going to happen. I want to have an all-male band and an all-female band. And the reason why is I want people to not know who's going to play with me that night. And I want them to react and say, you know, it would be. be almost like I'm trying to think of a way to do it like if I had a band of all 80 year old people and a band of all teenagers a way for them to directly know this is a different band so if it was a mixed together band maybe a lot of people wouldn't pay attention wouldn't say was that the same band that played in Cleveland yesterday so this was a definite way for them to know oh no this is a different

band completely so that was the one way to do it and also to mess with the preconceptions that people have about female musicians too which you know I think don't kind of ridiculously in this thing and age, still kind of treat like a novelty. Oh, isn't that cute? For a girl. You play fiddle

or you play steel guitar. So, I sat them all down and said, here's what's going to happen. We're going to go on tour and at breakfast, I'm going to decide who's playing that night.

It's going to have absolutely nothing to do with what you did last night. It's not a competition, you know. But here's the great thing. You get paid either way. Wow.

You're going to get a day off when you didn't know it, so it's going to be a nice surprise or you get to play that night. And sometimes we're going to do two nights in a row, three nights in a row and you can't get your feelings hurt. Wait, was there a night where it was like the peacocks at like six nights in a row?

I think three was the most and there was definitely times where people were sort of... They felt some sort of way. I think it was the one sign where they actually spoke up and we had to, I conceded was I wanted them to come out in New York and I wanted the mail band to come out and play one note and leave. What's wrong with that? That is cool. That's cool. I think that's cool.

And then walk up. They were insulted. They get paid for the whole show. What about, but what about, yeah, because it's nice with like my parents are coming to see. Yeah, it was that kind of thing. It was our friends are here. It's New York. And if we're doing it, we got to do it.

It was that kind of thing. It was, all right, I'll concede. I understand, you know. The idea was it was to fake out, to fake the crowd out. And Carla was also your drummer. She was in the girl band, yeah. Right. So the thing is, is if you make a kid.

the decision two hours before show time then does she have to adjust Daru's jump set? It's at breakfast. So yeah, breakfast and then Oh, one of these nights the decision was made two hours before.

Okay, so normally... You're right. No, there were times, you might have been at that. There were times where, okay, a lot of times all the musicians would come and watch the show anyway, which was great. There was like a real family.

They really wanted to see. And they also wanted to see what we were doing because we were doing different versions of the same song with two different bands. So I was rehearsing in Nashville one studio and then I would drive across town to his other studio and rehearse with them and try to come up with a whole different arrangement for that.

Same song. And you never put them together. They never got to... We did Portland, Oregon from the Vanley Rose album. When we played Portland, we did the whole band together, all boys and girls together, yeah. A guy like me, like, I can see right now if I was, like, playing Madden on the tour bus

and maybe one of the dudes kicked my ass, and I'd be like, all right, whatever, girls tonight. You just ruined it. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what you're saying. Yep, that's me, Clivert Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions,

my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes,

creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard but celebrated. One week I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment, and the next we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music. The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast, it's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger. So if you've ever supported me or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right where you need to be.

Listen to the Clifford Show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. This week on the Sports Slice podcast, it's all about the NFL draft. And we've got a special guest. The director of the NFL's East West Shrine Bowl, Eric Galco, joins the Sports Slice podcast to break down what really matters when evaluating draft prospects. From hidden traits teams look for to the biggest mistakes franchises make to the players flying under the radar. This is the insight you won't hear anywhere else.

If you want to understand the draft like an insider, you don't want to miss this episode. Listen to the Sports Slice Podcast on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slical Life 12 and TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. I'm John Green. You may know me as the author of The Fault and Our Stars. And now, I guess also is the co-host of the away end, a brand new world soccer podcast. I'm Daniel Alarcon, a writer and journalist. And John and I have known each other since we were kids.

My first World Cup was Mexico 86. I was nine years old. I watched every game and I fell in love. On our new podcast, The Away End, we'll share with you the magic of international football, all leading up to the 2026 World Cup. For us, soccer, football, is a story we've shared for over 30 years since Daniel was the star player on our high school soccer team. Very debatable.

And I was their most loyal and sometimes only fan. I love this game. I love its history, it's hope, it's hard. its heartbreak, and above all, its beauty. Together, we'll find out why, of all the unimportant things, football, soccer, is the most important. Listen to the away end with Daniel Alricone and John Green on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I got a question. Jack, my favorite scene in the guitar guy's documentary.

Do you know what I got loud? So what is it called? It has a great name. It might be loud. Yeah, yeah. Okay, so my favorite scene is you're in a room with Edge. It's like a room like this with Edge and Jimmy Page and you. And Jimmy Page lights into Kashmir.

And the best fucking part of this film is it then pans over to you. And I just want to know what you were thinking because you just look like, what the, like, it was something like that. And you were just like, holy shit, I'm in a room. Like this is happening. I thought there was such a genuine reaction. But B-roll. Talk about B-roll.

That was like a legit B-roll. It was because it was a surprise moment because he had. had, I often joke and say, well, people allow people don't realize it was because the dessert cart was standing right behind. But it was actually a surprise moment. We were just talking and nobody had said anything about anything about playing at that moment. We were just

talking like this. And he just stood up and plugged in and just started playing a whole lot of love. It was like, whoa. But the director sent me that clip and I'm like, damn, man. You caught me not being cool. But it was so... The people are going to be talking about that for the rest of my life. And I was like, all right, let it Go ahead. Put it in the movie.

It was so real. It was not. Well, that was good. You got excited. It was genuinely not. This is just beautiful. It just, it was incredible. When it was pitched to you, you didn't have any reservations of like, because to me, it's almost like summit meetings like that, they have the tendency to turn on their face.

There's the infamous, you ever heard of a toot and a snort? What are you talking about it, Mir? Not in that way. No. Okay, so a tune of snort is, there's the worst. The worst piece of shit ever. On paper, it's awesome. Yeah.

So John Lennon is producing Harry Nielsen and Stevie Wonder also happens to be working on fulfilling this first finale down the hall. And Paul McCartney happens to be doing something in the C room. And so I guess during like a dinner break, they all decided to get together. And let's just have a jam. So this will be the last noted time that Lennon McCartney on the studio. together. So, Stevie's on drums. I think so, yeah. Stevie's on drums. Nielsen's on guitar.

McCartney's on bass, and I think also Lennon's on guitar. And again, Stevie Wonder. I get it. It's like, John Lennon, Paul McCarton. When you said Stevie on drums, when you said Stevie on drums, I was like, that's what you went wrong right there. Stevie's on keys. Paul was on drums. Was it the or the peacocks?

Yeah. Paul was on drums. And they struggle through standby me for like 45 minutes. Oh, God. And it's like a bunch of five-year-olds are playing it. Like, it's the worst piece of shit ever. And it's called a toot and a snort because at one point, I think... Lennon offers... Goes to Stevie and says, you want a toot?

A snort? You know, that sort of thing. No, man. That's fantastic. But it's... You would think that, you know, the summit meeting of the guys would result in, you know, some sort of million-dollar... Sun record session shit.

Nope. Nope. Sometimes the cameras in the room are what ruins it too. Not this time. Not this time. Speaking of which everyone, okay, so we got cameras in this room? Yeah.

Everyone, can we just say yes one second? Like not yes? Oh, yeah. Okay, can we all just laugh right now? Yeah, shit. You're crazy. You're wild, you're out. Stop.

Okay. All right, we're good. Steve's gone. Yeah, Steve's got it. Steve's sad with sugar. Yeah, he's in him. I bet you Steve is literally on his IG right now. So your record, like third man, you guys actually, you're a plant, y'all press records.

Yeah. What is the lead time on y'all stuff? Because I might actually need to press records. Yeah. We try to be as fast as possible. Like, one of the holdups is plating a record, you know, getting the metal plates made. That usually is the one thing that installs a project the most. Because once you have the masters in the room and you can just kind of start with.

whipping them out, as long as the test pressings are sound properly. So there's some stumbling things. If test prescings come back and there's a skip, and then you've got to start over again, get a new plate made. So that can be, but usually it can be pretty fast. A few weeks. Does the various arc work are, curriculum,

what's up with me in words today? Curricature. Does the various options of artwork that you do to your vinyl, like you once had, an angel appear. A hologram. A hologram angel on your... Like, does that affect the sound at all?

Some of those things do. Number one, if you... The reason why black vinyl is became the normal color for vinyl is because it's the best sounding color, the best sounding substrate. Well, not substrate, but the best sounding material. When you use colored vinyl like red or blue or anything like that, you do lose sound quality.

So that's why black became the standard. That's right. I knew you were going to say some shit. You knew that was coming. Right on time. I knew it was coming. So, black-de-blah, blah, blah. Let me play it.

It's going to take a while. Show is. Thank you. All right. Okay. Any final questions before I wrap this up? I got one or two. Oh, my God.

So as Amir stated earlier, we're in Electric Lady Studios here in New York. I know you've been here before. Have you ever recorded here? The White Strives put on a concert here. It was the only time I've ever recorded here. And we actually released it. We did a version of our song, Ball and Biscuit. We did like a 10-minute version of it.

I think we released it on a 12-inch vinyl at the time. And that was great show. That was the only time I'd ever been before. Any future desire to do a record here or anything? Oh, I would love to. I really love to. Well, I'm just, I'm only asking Lai. Yeah, I didn't.

Who's cracking up right now. I am. We don't know why. because of the legacy obviously Jimmy Hendricks and so forth and everybody else who's who's recorded here and plus

it's almost 50 years old and they had to give a lot of vintage gear recording this new album at Sears Sound when we came to New York that was the first time I've ever recorded in New York City so I have never recorded in New York in L.A. and anything I did one little thing with Keith Richards here once and one little thing

for Cold Mountain in L.A., and that was the only time I ever recorded in the big cities I always kind of was scared to come to New York and LA to record. Like it was too much going on, too claustrophobic. So I thought, well, that was another way in this album to break out of some things I'd never done before was to do that. I guess an unrelated question, but are you a fan of the Daptone records label?

Yeah, they're doing great work, great work. For those who don't know, they do a lot of vintage sounding recordings and use a track. Yeah. You know, it's also, what's good about it, though, is the marriage of trying to find what's soulful about anything. If it's an amplifier, if it's equipment, you know, it's not just the idea of using it because it's old or because it's novelty or something like that. It's about finding what's the best sound for whatever you're trying to do. I mean, if you're using, you know, I saw Stevie Wonder one time we played and his clavinet broke, you know.

It's like, that's amazing that he's using a real clav. He doesn't have to use a real clav. But it's nice to see that he is. And you know the difference between a clav emulation and a real clav. There's two different things. Not to say you can't use a clav setting on a keyboard and blow my mind.

You know, I think we did on this album. I think we used a fake clav on some song, and it sounds amazing. It's just about what works for you and what I like to do is marry the best from the future and the past together and find some kind of synthesis between that. That way you'll get somewhere new with it.

I'm always trying to get somewhere new, you know, regardless of how, what microphone and what amp is in there? Bill? I'm good, man. Fonticola? I got a question. That was a great way to close, yeah.

Jack got to go. Motherfucker, I'm the asking you have a last, a last. I've got to end, y'all. Anyway, they're in the control room. We know already. He kind of a mid-deal, so, you know. Anyway, so, we want to thank you.

We want to thank you for coming to the show today. Thank you so much. I appreciate it. You can tell you incredibly interesting and intelligent questions. You guys really, really did your homework and everything. I'm just impressed. No, we're fans.

Amazing. You obviously really love music and I love to hear that. We are music nerds. So before I sign off, I just want to remind you listeners. Yeah, I'm doing my we gotta pay those. My fourth book from Harper Collins comes out. You can get it right now as this recording. It's called Creative Quest.

It's a book or a manual guide to creativity. Oh. Oh, that's such a horrible. Stay tuned for the audiobook. I'm excited. Actually, yeah, the audio books and shit, after hearing Jennifer Lewis's audiobook, I went and re-did my entire audiobook over again, and it's fully, there's a soundtrack to it, there's vignettes, there's acting, it's on point. It's creative.

It sounds like a black gospel play. It is, it is. With Richard Dimblefield, that's Questlove. Anyway, when we have a full. Fantigolo, unpaid Bill, boss Bill, Sugar Steve, star of Chat With Sugar. Yeah, Jack, I've got my show, man. It's Laia. We gotta get

Jack, we gotta get Jack on... Yo, when you come to Fallon in the future, we gotta get you on Chat with Sugar. I was kidding. No, I'm... We, just for three minutes. Three minutes. We'll do it. Chat with Sugar. You and Jack White. Jack, thank you very much. Thank you. This is Questlove.

Thank you, Dad. Thank you, Dad. Thank you. Only on Pandora. Thank you. Quash Love Supreme is a production of I-Heart Radio. This classic episode was produced by the team at Pandora. For more podcasts from IHeartRadio, visit the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.

A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what I'm saying. Yep, that's me, Clifford Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, my basketball and college football journey, or my career in sports media. Well, now I'm bringing all of that excitement

to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfilled conversations with athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. So let's get to it. Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes,

follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. This week on the Sports Slice podcast, it's all about the NFL draft. And we've got a special guest. The director of the NFL's East West Shrine Bowl, Eric Galko, joins the Sports Slice podcast to break down what really matters when evaluating draft prospects.

From hidden traits teams look for to the biggest mistakes franchises make to the players flying under the radar, this is the insight you won't hear anywhere else. If you want to understand the draft like an insider, you don't want to miss this episode. Listen to the Sports Slice Podcasts on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,

or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slica Life 12 and TikTok podcast network on TikTok. I'm Daniel Alarcon, and this is my friend. is much more famous than I am. I wouldn't go that far, but I'm John Green, co-host of the podcast The Away End,

with my old friend Daniel. On our podcast, The Away End, we'll share with you the magic of international football, all leading up to the 2026 World Cup. Together, we'll find out why, of all the unimportant things, football, soccer, is the most important. Listen to the Away End with Daniel Auer Kohn and John Green on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,

or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.