2. The Black Keys
•
Comprised of Patrick Carney (drums) and Dan Auerbach (guitar, vocals)
•
Dan records the bass tracks and most of the piano parts on the albums
as well
•
Blues Rock/Garage Rock band formed in 2001 in Akron, Ohio
•
Released 7 albums
•
Their 2010 album Brothers won 3 Grammys, and their 2011 album El
Camino won 4, including Best Rock Album, and Best Rock Performance
3. The Early Days
Patrick and Dan first started jamming when Dan’s band didn’t show
up to Pat’s house, who was going to record a demo for them. They
then decided to just jam together, because Pat had a drum set and
recording equipment, and Dan was a guitar player. They had a few
rehearsals together, and ended up coming up with 6 songs for a
demo. This got mailed to a dozen indie labels, and they ended up
signing with Alive Records.
Their first record, The Big Come Up was released in 2002. It was
recorded entirely in Patrick’s basement in lo-fi with an 8 track tape
recorder.
4. Brothers
Brothers was their 6th album, released in 2010. It was their
first major commercial success.
It featured two of the band’s most successful singles Tighten
Up and Howlin’ for You.
This album had tons of licensing contracts for commercials
and movies, and The Black Keys were named the most
licensed band of the year.
Brothers won 3 Grammy Awards, and really helped the band
gain international recognition, and sold out arena venues.
5. Style
The Black Keys have an interesting overall style. Dan and Pat
have a love of vintage music, and blues. This carries over into
their music. They exclusively use analog equipment in their
recordings to preserve their warm vintage sound. Dan loves to
use vintage guitars on stage and in the studio, and his pedal
effects board is minimal.
They regularly make recordings in odd shaped rooms, old
buildings, and other unconventional spaces. Their first two
albums were recorded on an 8 track lo-fi tape recorder, giving
it a really cool 60’s sound.
Their third album, Rubber Factory, was recorded in an
abandoned tire factory in Akron. This was because the house
they recorded their first two albums in, was sold by the
landlord.
6. Online Presence
The Black Keys have an extensive online presence. They keep fans updated
and engaged by regularly providing new content and news updates. Some
of the ways that fans can interact with them, and listen to their music are
• YouTube
• Facebook
• Twitter
• Tumblr
• Reddit
• Deezer
• Last.fm
7. Official YouTube Channel
The Black keys has an official YouTube channel where they
post content regularly for fans to follow. This includes
•
Official Music Videos
•
Webisodes
•
Behind the Scenes
•
Live Video from concerts
•
Full versions of some of their songs
Fans can follow their YouTube channel to keep updated with
new content added on the channel.
8. Facebook Page
The Black Keys’ official facebook page allows fans to interact
with each other and keep in touch with updates from the
band.
The band posts photos, and posts tour dates and album news.
There are likes to listen to their songs for free on Deezer as
well.
9. Free Listening
Deezer is a music service offering over 30 million tracks for
free.
It allows registered users access to them, and revenue is
generated for the recording industry through ads or paid
subscriptions.
The Black Keys offer fans the option of listening to their music
for free using this service.
There is a link to their songs on Deezer from their Facebook
page.
10. Twitter
The Black Keys have a large Twitter following. Their feed is
regularly updated with news and updates on each show.
They offer contests and deals on merchandise to their Twitter
followers.
You can access their feed on https://twitter.com/theblackkeys
11. Tumblr
The official tumblr account for the band is theblackkeys.tumblr.com
There are links to their other social media accounts at the top, and
their tumblr page consists of all of their promotional posters. They
post a poster for each show on their page.
This is a cool way to keep track of each of their shows, and each of
the posters are very different.
12. Official Website
The Black Keys’ official website hosts all of their current
tour dates, band news, photos, videos, and their current
discography.
On the main page of the site, there are a bunch of pictures
of old, worn out vans. Each of these vans has a link to an
upcoming or recently played concert venue.
The van goes with the theme of their newest album El
Camino. Dan and Pat initially toured in an old worn out van
for their first two albums, travelling all over the United
States. It is meant to be both a throwback to that time
they spent on the road together.
The van was also featured on the cover of El Camino as a
jeer to represent their hometown of Akron. Pat said it was
representative of Akron: a broken down van in a broken
down parking lot.
13. Reddit
The Black Keys have an extensive Reddit following as well.
They have their own unofficial subreddit located at
http://www.reddit.com/r/TheBlackKeys/
There is quite a bit of daily activity on this subreddit on the
topic of the band. Much of the discussion pertains to tours,
shows, and fan discussions of the music and band in general.
This is not maintained by the band, and I doubt that either
Dan or Pat contribute to it. It seems to be just a Reddit
following of the Black Keys, similar to most of the other
subreddits.
14. Unofficial Fan Pages
There are several unofficial fan pages for The Black Keys.
One of the more prominent ones is
http://theblackkeysfanlounge.com/
This site has no connection to the actual band, but they still
keep fans up to date with tour dates, merchandise, photos,
lyrics, and tablature.
Also, unlike the official Black Keys page, there is a discussion
forum pertaining to the band.
15. Last.fm
The Black Keys have a last.fm page filled with virtually
all of their songs. Users can listen to songs on the
last.fm webpage.
There are links to buy the music and share links to it
with other users.
A list of albums and similar artists are provided on
their last.fm page.
16. MySpace
Additionally, I found a MySpace page for the band
as well. I don’t think that this is an official page
however. There is no music available and no
videos.
It also does not seem to be updated frequently at
all. This page has quite a lot of followers, but
because of the lack of content, I think it is
probably maintained by a fan.
