Black Keys on First Rock Hall Ceremony: ‘It’s Like a Viagra Commercial’

Steve Miller was the second artist to be inducted at tonight’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ceremony in Brooklyn, and doing the honors were longtime fans the Black Keys. Rolling Stone caught up with Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney to get their thoughts on Miller’s Midwestern appeal and their own future Rock Hall chances.

Have you talked to Steve tonight?
Auerbach: We walked up the stage, and we just saw and ran into him. “Steve, how are you doing?” “Dude, what are you here for?” “We’re doing a speech”. He’s like, “Great, great. Can’t wait to get out of here.” [Laughs] That was right when we walked in.

Wow.
Auerbach: Then he apologized to me like 10 minutes later when his wife told him who we were. And then I said, “That’s why we love you. Don’t pay any attention to what’s going on in the music business. That’s why we love you.”

Exactly. Is he a hero in that way? He’s done what he’s done. He’s had hits and not hits.
Auerbach: Yeah, we love that. He’s from the middle of America, and you know, he was kind of able to morph his love of blues music into [something] new and his own.

How did it come about that you guys inducted him? You were asked?
Auerbach: We were asked and we said yeah. Just, like, growing up in northeastern Ohio, Steve Miller is constantly being played. Steve Miller and Tom Petty are constantly on the radio. … It was like air.
Carney: Just as back home in Cleveland, I put the classic-rock station on, and the playlist was exactly the fucking same from when I was 16. It was the same. Ugh.

Have you run into anyone else tonight?
Carney: We met, like, nine of the members of Chicago so far.

What was that like?
Auerbach: What’s your favorite Chicago album? III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, IX? You like the first one?

There’s some wild stuff on there.
Auerbach: That’s what everybody says. … “I like the early stuff.”

There’s wild guitar improv on that stuff. Jim O’Rourke is a big fan. And he played it for Thurston Moore and didn’t tell him who it was. … It totally blew Thurston Moore’s mind.
Auerbach: That’s awesome. I love that.

They were edgy back then. Have you guys been to these ceremonies before?
Auerbach: No, we’ve never been to one of these. I mean, I’ve gone [to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame]. We’re from Akron. I’ve been going to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame since I was a kid with my dad. They do these cool things at the Rock Hall, like bring musicians in and have them play songs of, you know, someone from that. We went to Hank Williams, Sam Cooke. … It was always fun.

What’s tonight been like so far?
Auerbach: It’s awesome.
Carney: It’s like a Viagra commercial upstairs.
Auerbach: “It’s like a Viagra commercial upstairs?” [Laughs] It’s awesome.