Q&A: Jack White, the sleepless songwriter →

How is it possible that Jack White keeps finding ways to make more work for himself?

Most of the world has yet to see or hear Under Great White Northern Lights, the excellent new concert film and live album documenting the White Stripes’ 2007 Canadian tour of outports from Glace Bay to Iqaluit.

Yet tireless Jack is already buzzing about other projects he’s currently got a hand in: his second album in eight months with all-star stoner-blues quartet the Dead Weather, due for release in April; the record he’s just recorded with living rockabilly legend Wanda Jackson; another disc he’s produced for “this woman who lives at my house,” model-turned-songstress (and White’s wife) Karen Elson; and, most intriguingly, the new in-house live venue at his Third Man Records headquarters in Nashville, Tenn., which will allow him the luxury of taping shows and releasing even more records at an even faster pace. Clearly, the man doesn’t sleep.

He did, however, settle down long enough to chat with the Star Thursday about Under Great White Northern Lights – which opens a week-long run at the Royal Cinema on Friday after debuting at the Toronto International Film Festival last September, and arrives on DVD and CD (or an elaborate $250 box set) on March 16 – and a few other matters. Not the least of which, by the way, was the possible, long-awaited, in-the-flesh return of Jack and Meg White as the White Stripes.

Q: It seemed that you and Meg had a good night at the premiere of Under Great White Northern Lights last year. Were you pleased with how it turned out?

A: It was cool. I hadn’t watched the film with Meg until that night, so it was nice to watch it with her and see all that had happened, even though it was a fraction of what happened on that Canadian tour … Looking back, it was a last-minute thing. We’d never decided to make a film or budgeted for a film at all. We were just about to leave and my manager said, “You’re going to all these out-of-the-way places. It might be good to film that because who knows when we’ll be back.” So I thought, yeah, why not take a camera or two with us?

Q: I get the sense from the film that visiting places like Iqaluit and Yellowknife had a profound effect on the band.

A: We weren’t just taking a snapshot in front of a statue. We could be part of something that was happening in each town – playing in town squares or riding on buses and performing. Moments like that felt more real than anything we’d ever done before.

Q: Playing to new crowds must have had an effect, too. The performances caught on the film and on the album are pretty electric.

A: I’m not a fan of live albums. They always seem like they fall short of the real experience. But I’m glad that we waited till now because we were on top of our game that whole tour. We were just explosive. There were shows where Meg was just gonna collapse afterwards and me, too. You’d walk offstage and go: “Wow, I’m really glad we caught that one.”

Q: I get the impression from things like the Under Great White Northern Lights box set and all the limited-edition vinyl coming out of Third Man that you’re trying very hard to imbue recorded music with value again.

A: It’s very possible and it’s not so hard to do. We have a live venue that just opened two weeks ago and bands are gonna come over here and play on house equipment and we have an analogue recording booth next to the stage – an eight-track, reel-to-reel – so I think this might be the only place in the world where you can record to tape in front of a live audience and the album comes out on vinyl three weeks later. I’m talking about this too much, but I’m so excited about it. Teenagers can come here to see a band they can’t go see at night and they get to buy special black-and-blue, half-and-half vinyl that you can only get if you come to the show.

Q: Is there a chance we might hear something else from the Stripes in the near future?

A: I think so, yeah. Meg was around a couple weeks ago while we were making the new Dead Weather record, just hanging out in the studio. I’m gonna go tour with Dead Weather for a couple of months. After that, I’m mixing and releasing Wanda Jackson’s record. But after that, I should have time to work with Meg.

Q: I don’t know how you keep up this pace.

A: My mind is never able to rest, which is just a beautiful thing. I’m so thankful that I don’t have a moment to get bored. I never give myself busywork, either. I’ve never said, “I’ve got to do something with myself today.” I’ve never had that happen. I’ve only had “I wish I had more time.”

Read the review: The White Stripes: Under Great White Northern Lights

http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/movies/article/771735

I Cut Like A Buffalo

Precious.

Submitted by sareenie

Alright, so now that all of Jack’s bands are officially done touring until March, maybe this will give him a chance to relax and possibly release a new White Stripes record with Meg.. that would be pretty sweet.

- Jack White