with patrick keeler (pk - drums) und jack lawrence (jl - bass)

you’re on a big tour right now through a lot of cities in Europe, do you like being on tour?

pk: yeah parts of it, you know its, my first time in Europe so I’ve always wanted to see pretty much everywhere we were going. that part I really like although it’s a lot of work. sometimes you miss home a lot of it but so far so good.

did you enjoy the tour until now?

pk: yeah, we tour a lot in the us and travel aboard a bit like in japan and to the uk with the datsuns a couple of years ago. so yeah I really like being on tour.

as the support band of the white stripes you get to play in a lot of big venues in front of a big audience. but the audience doesn’t really know you yet. especially in Europe. is it difficult to play in front of so many people who don’t know you? how were the reactions so far?

pk: me personally. I don’t really care. once the stage lights are on you can’t see anything anyways. I like the big audiences and so far it went really well. we have gotten really positive reactions.

your new album “sewed soles” has just been released here in germany and some other european countries. but its in fact more of a best of album from you. why did you make the decision to start of with such a compilation instead of releasing any of the former albums?

pk: we kind of, we wanted to get through and pact it into 19 tracks, that were more or less an overview of what we do just to introduce ourselves to Europe and you know even in the states our records were hard to find. sometimes they were pretty independent in the release. so its just a way to kind of get everything together and hopefully people want to seek out and find the other records. maybe we will release them properly but well now they are available digitally through itunes and other medium like that.

what do you think generally of best of albums do you like them?

pk: this one was kind of cool just because its kind of like our first record to a lot of people and I think its kind of funny that it’s a greatest hits. it was fun to put together and there is stuff on it that wasn’t released before and stuff that was only available on vinyl like “45 sin”. but yeah sometimes I do. it depends.

in the us you are released a new ep some time ago. is there a chance of you releasing a new record.

pk: yeah we will start recording a new record maybe in december we have to figure out scheduling.

who are you musical influences? because when I listen to your music I can hear some stones, some animals sometimes the kinks. what do you listen to?

pk: i grew up listening to a lot of my parents records. which were like jimi hendrix and Janice Joplin and the doors and stuff like that. you know I am a drummer and I listen to a lot of rhythm and bass stuff. also to a lot of jazz. some tropical music and stuff like that. mostly the kinks, the bryds, I like blue cheer, the stooges.

would you say that you are some kind of evolution of these bands?

pk: we are not afraid to let a lot of our influences show but we don’t try to ambulate that. its just kind of the music we all listen to. it just kind of developed into the thing it is.

today bob dylan is also in the city. what do you think of him?

pk: i’m a big bob dylan fan. i think that without music that he created and a lot of other guys at that time a lot of acts wouldn’t be where there at right now. would it be any type of music techno or anything. he kind of brought the live performance and the storytelling to music.

who is brush thomalson and why did he write something for your booklet?

pk: he is a friend of the band he is a mathematician and also a big music fan and we met a him a few years back in Detroit and he seems like the right guy to write such thing. he is kind of funny too.

on some old record covers one can see that you were actually a five piece band and now you are just three what happened?

pk: we started of with a five-piece. we were all friends and we just were just playing music together for no particular reason. (jack arrives) and just over the years one guy got married and another guy quit and he joined the soul dead brothers. we just kind made it down to a three piece.

how do you write songs are there any special rules you must follow in writing?

jl: no. no special rules, just, Craig writes the most of them. i just helped to write a couple. sometimes songs that are on that album, i just came up with a riff or i added a little part and have craig work on it.

what inspires you?

jl: nothing. (laughter) sunny days and puppy dogs.

what do you think of the music scene today? in europe or usa.

pk: it seems like its always changing. i started to going see shows when I was 14 or 15. and it seems like it was like non-stop. and it seems like now bands coming out that I find myself liking, which was pretty dead some years ago.

if I look onto the charts all I can see is hiphop bands and nu metal, no real rock music. what do you think is the status of rock music today?

jl: I am not sure

pk: some days its hard to find. I guess a lot of music that I liked for a while, which is kind of hard for me to find anyways..

jl: i know where to find it. in some small clubs

how did you get to know the white stripes and how did it come to his tour?

jl: just from playing up in Detroit. in 1998. and we just became friends through music.

how did it happen that you collaborate with so many people, like brendon benson, holly golightly and Loretta lynn?

jl: it just happened. playing all these towns. everyone loves us. (laughing) we are so likable.

pk: jack wrote a pretty famous rhythm section. and a lot of people ask us to play with them. we even have turn down some offer. and that pretty much how it all came about.

with who would like to work with in the future?

jl: with who? mmhh. there might be something with the pretty things. there are a british band from the 60s. and they are still around.

so jack, I have a question especially for you. your side project blanche is just about to start a new record and doesn’t that attention clash with that tour?

jl: well not really, seems like there are always ways to work out. I just never get a rest. like when I go back with the greenhornes to record, I go to nashville with blanche. they don’t tour a lot.

but is there a chance that they will play in Europe some time?

jl: blanche? we already played twice in europe. last year. we didn’t play in germany. we played in france and in Belgium.

is there already a release date fixed for the new album?

jl: not yet. hopefully around april. maybe march.

question to both of you. what do you think in general is the task of music? more entertainment or more political statement?

pk: i think it’s a bit of both. i mean i think it doesn’t have to be political as its obviously about musicianship and songwriting. just making a record and put it together somehow. I think in a live situation its more about entertainment. its more a hearing seeing experience, you know. kind of goes both ways I suppose.

how do you see yourselves? I mean in your music video to ”pattern skies” you dress up as soldiers as some kind of “love soldiers” and you make other people smile. and you try that they get a more optimistic point of view. is that what you want to achieve with you music?

pk: sure, well as far as the video goes we tried to make a video where we looked cool and this came out. it was more or less just a play around. you know, be kind of psychedelic, kind of tip your hat with a little bit of beatles help and have fun about it. and be optimistic.

who had the idea to the video?

pk: craig our singer. vietnam and airplanes.

kind of a 60s influence then?

pk: probably. it was filmed in cincinnati. so I mean…

are you rather optimists and do to yourselves what you do in this video?

pk: generally I find myself rather optimistic. I depends what day of the week you catch me I guess. it changes.

and you jack, are you an optimistic person?

jl: not at all. (laughter)

have you learned some real profession?

pk: I never had a professional job other than doing what I am doing now. this is my job.

how did it happen that your songs appears in the new movie of jim jarmush “broken flowers”?

jl: we met jim a couple of years ago and he came to our shows in new york. he liked us and we gave him the records. then he came to another show and he said that he has been listening to the records a lot and to one particular song. he was writing a movie at that time and it seemed to get along with the movie. and he asked us if he could put it into the movie. and at first we denied it but then he offered this giant sum of money and then we said yeah.

do you like his films at all?

jl: yeah sure I’ve been a fan of jims movies. I really like all of his movies.

do you think of doing other songs for other movies?

jl: yeah maybe a little talk about scoring for a movie. like doing the whole thing.

if a filmmaker would come up to you and ask you to do a song for acertain movie would you do it?

jl: yeah of course. definitely.

do you actually like interviews?

jl: no.

pk: i kind of lost interest. i mean it depends but some time they just get kind of boring you know?

j: some are better than others.

what was the most silliest question you’ve ever been asked?

jl: I don’t know.

pk: I seriously can’t remember I usually push this kind of information right out of my head. well but we had this really horrible interview once where we had nothing to do. and well this guy just kept on asking random questions. like “what kind of car do you drive?” and stuff like that.

do you have to do a lot of interviews on this tour?

pk: we have done a lot of interviews in every territory, country we’ve been in.

do you have enough time to see a bit of the cities?

pk: well sometimes but not really in the last couple of days. which is kind of boring as you just hang around the venues at night. and usually the venues are kind of out of the cities so you really can’t go and see something.

and one last question. why the name greenhornes? what is the meaning? and has it a special meaning to you?

jl: no not really. i think our old guitarist came up with that or did you?

pk: no I didn’t, brian our guitar player just kind of said one day that he kind of felt like a greenhorn. and it kind of made sense at that time cause we were young and we just started off. really didn’t know what we were doing and sort of we still don’t know now so its kind of fitting.

I think that was it. thank you.