10 Pearls Of Wisdom From Jack White
This video contains musical wisdom from 12 time Grammy Award winning singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer Jack White. White is the lead singer and guitarist of the duo The White Stripes, White’s solo albums have all reached number one on the Billboard charts. He’s also been a founding member, frontman, and songwriter in bands like The Raconteurs and The Dead Weather. He’s got some unique perspectives on music creation, production and what it means to be an artist that we felt were super valuable for any aspiring artist or producer.
1) Being An Artist
White points out how being an artist isn’t a vacation; being successful as an artist actually takes more work than many other pursuits (Interview with Channel 4 News UK, 2019).
2) Success
White shares that he didn’t expect to be successful. He believes that his attitude and disinterest in success made it easier to achieve (Interview with 102.1 The Edge, 2018).
3) Recording
White says that he doesn’t like to plan too much before recording, but likes to create a relaxed environment (Interview with Fuse, 2012).
4) Letting Things Happen
White emphasizes that he tries not to approach music with preconceived notions, but likes to let it develop naturally (Interview with Apple Music, 2018).
5) Making It Yours
White talks about the importance of creating something unique, and not merely mimicking the things you like and are inspired by (DRS 3 Jack White Interview, 2012).
6) Analog Vs. Digital
White explains how digital recording, no matter how high quality, consists of samples and therefore contains breaks in the recorded sound, whereas analog recording creates a continuous, unbroken recording (Adam Savage Interview, 2017).
7) Working In 3’s
White talks about how he likes to work in threes, whether that’s conceptually in songwriting, with instrumentation, rhythm, or melody. He sees 3 as the simplest and most efficient number things can come in (Interview with Conan O’Brien, 2013).
8) Getting Back To Basics
White talks about the power of muscle memory, and how working with gear you’re familiar with can sometimes be more effective than working with the most expensive gear (Interview With KCRW, 2018).
9) Embracing Struggle
White points out how every story contains a struggle between a protagonist and an antagonist. White strives to create struggle in his music, and even creates obstacles for himself (Arte Interview 2012).
10) Let The Music Do The Talkin’
White expresses the importance of not letting ego get in the way of music, and letting the music lead you where it needs to go (Grammys Speech 2012).
Photo credit NPR interview, courtesy of the artist
This video was created for inspirational and educational purposes.