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Jack White

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White performing in 2005.

Jack White (born John Anthony Gillis on July 9, 1975 in Detroit) is an American, Grammy-winning rock musician, music producer, and actor. He started as a part-time musician working with various underground bands in Detroit, while working by day as an upholsterer. He is best known as the guitarist and lead vocalist of the rock duo The White Stripes. His popular and critical success with the Stripes enabled him to work with other renowned artists, most notably Loretta Lynn. He is also one of the members of the "supergroup" The Raconteurs. In addition to his music prowess, he is famous for his antics and personality, including his fascination with numbers and colors.

Early life

Jack White is the youngest of ten siblings born to Gordon McKenzie and Teresa Gillis.[1] His father and mother worked in their diocese, Holy Redeemer Church, as the maintenance man and the cardinal's secretary, respectively. Jack, like his six brothers, eventually became an altar boy. According to the September 8, 2005 issue of Rolling Stone, being an altar boy landed him a role in the movie The Rosary Murders, which was filmed at their church in Detroit.[2] At five he taught himself how to play the drums, and as a child was a fan of classical music.[1] Although White grew up near Mexicantown, the lower-middle-class Hispanic district of southwest Detroit, his musical preferences were not those of his classmates, who listened to electronica and hip hop. White, as a teenager, was already listening to the blues and 1960s rock that would influence him in the White Stripes,[2] Son House and Blind Willie McTell being among his favorite blues musicians.

In 2005 on 60 Minutes, White told Mike Wallace that his life could have turned out differently. "I'd got accepted to a seminary in Wisconsin, and I was gonna become a priest, but at the last second I thought, 'I’ll just go to public school,'" White said. "I had just gotten a new amplifier in my bedroom, and I didn’t think I was allowed to take it with me." [3] It would turn out to be a life-defining decision.

At fifteen, White began a three-year upholstery apprenticeship with a family friend, Brian Muldoon. After working in various shops, he started a one-man business of his own, called Third Man Upholstery. The slogan of his business was "Your Furniture's Not Dead" and the color scheme was yellow, white and black — including a yellow van, a yellow and black uniform and a yellow clipboard. While "Third Man Upholstery" never lacked business, White claims that it was not profitable, due to his complacency about money and his business practices that were perceived as unprofessional, including making bills out in crayon and writing poetry inside the furniture.[4]

Career

White's initial professional music experience came in the early 1990s as a drummer for the Detroit country-punk band Goober and the Peas. This led to stints with various other bands The Go, The Upholsterers, and Jack White and The Bricks. Also, in addition to being his mentor and neighbor, Muldoon would play drums with White in late night jam sessions.

Jack met Meg White in 1994, and they were married on September 21, 1996. Characteristically unorthodox, Jack took her last name. In 1997, Meg White first took her hand at the drums, and the newly christened White Stripes played their first gig in Detroit two months later. In keeping live performances to three elements, Jack fulfilled guitar and vocal duties while she played drums.[2]. They later divorced in 2000 (before becoming nationally famous) but the band survived.

File:The White Stripes - NME.jpg
The White Stripes on a 2005 cover of NME

Starting out as an underground favorite in Detroit and other circles, the White Stripes came to international attention when, in 2001, British DJ John Peel raved of the band on his radio show. The buzz turned The White Stripes into a sensation in Britain, and the enthusiasm soon crossed the pond to the States. In a 2003 special issue, Rolling Stone named White the 17th greatest guitarist of all time.[5]

The critical and popular success of the White Stripes opened up new opportunities for White. In 2003, he was well-received in the role of Georgia, the love interest of Renée Zellweger's character, in the feature film Cold Mountain. He also performed several songs for the film's soundtrack (produced by T Bone Burnett) in a traditional acoustic style.[6] As a result of his involvement in the movie, he and Zellweger began dating, but broke up in 2004.[7] Later in that same year, he appeared with Meg in one of the shorts comprising Jim Jarmusch's film Coffee and Cigarettes. Meanwhile, there had been buzz about a project in development, as White produced Loretta Lynn's 2004 album Van Lear Rose, singing with her on the duet "Portland, Oregon." The album was released in April 2004 to massive critical acclaim, and earned five Grammy Awards nominations, going on to win both Best Country Album and Best Country Collaboration with Vocals for the duet.

White made a surprise appearance with Bob Dylan during Dylan's performance in Detroit on March 17, 2004 during the second encore, performing the White Stripes song "Ball and Biscuit."

White has referred to The Stooges' 1970 album Fun House as "the greatest rock 'n' roll record ever made."[8] As a result, he was invited by Rhino Records to contribute liner notes to the 2005 deluxe reissue of the album.

As of 2006, White is touring following the release of The Raconteurs' debut album Broken Boy Soldiers. It has also been revealed that he has decided to guest star on one of next season's episodes of The Simpsons in which Homer and Marge buy a drum kit for Bart and he becomes a jazz drummer, making Lisa jealous.

It was recently announced that White has recorded and produced the first 45 record for his former teacher Brian Muldoon's family project, The Muldoons. Muldoon's two sons, ages 8 and 11, front the trio.

Musical equipment and sound

Jack White uses a number of effects to create his live sound, most notably a Digitech whammy pedal to create the rapid modulations in pitch he uses in his solos.[9] The guitars he uses live are two 1964 JB Hutto Montgomery Airlines, a Harmony Rocket, a 1970s-era Crestwood Astral II, and a 1950s-era Kay Hollowbody. In concert with A Boss CS-3 Compressor/Sustainer, an MXR Micro-Amp and Electro-Harmonix Big Muff Pi Distortion/Sustainer, White can produce a very distinctive sound. In 2005, for the single "Blue Orchid", White employed the use of a new Electro-Harmonix creation, the Polyphonix Octave Generator (POG). Similar to (but more versatile than) the Whammy pedal, the POG lets the user mix in several octave effects into one along with the dry signal. He plugs this setup into a 1970s Fender Twin Reverb and two 100-Watt Sears Silvertone 6x10 combo amplifiers.[10]

White also produces a "fake" bass tone by playing the Kay Hollowbody guitar through an octave divider for a very thick, low, rumbling sound, which he uses most notably on the song "Seven Nation Army".[9][11]

On occasion, White also plays other instruments, such as a Black F-Style mandolin, piano ("Denial Twist"), marimba ("The Nurse"), drums and tambourine.

Personal life

White is known for his eccentric behaviour, hobbies, and passions. He is, for instance, interested in taxidermy, an interest that sprung from his days in upholstering.[4] He collects stuffed animal heads, claiming they make him think about life and judging things. White also has an obsession with the number three and all that it represents. His obsession with the number allegedly comes from when he looked at a three-legged stool. His sporting interests include cricket (the cover of Elephant features him holding a cricket bat).

The band has also created some sensation on and off the stage. The band (when on official duty) dresses only in red, white, and black, which he says he believes are the three most powerful colors in the universe. White once cursed a San Francisco Bay Area radio station, 104.9 FM, during a show in the middle of a song because a large balloon bearing the logo of the radio station bounced onto the stage, at The Greek Theatre in Berkeley, CA. The Detroit Free Press famously produced copies of not only their marriage licence, but divorce papers. Neither addresses the truth officially; however, over time, they have become less vocal about the origins of their relationship. Jack White has said, though, that siblings are "mated for life," and thus such a relationship distracts less from the music.[2]

White unexpectedly married the model and singer Karen Elson (who appeared in the music video for the White Stripes song "Blue Orchid") on June 1, 2005 in Manaus, Brazil, with manager Ian Montone as best man and Meg White as the maid of honor. Official wedding announcements stated that it was the first marriage for both.[12] On May 2, 2006, the couple had a daughter, named Scarlett Teresa. She was born in Tennessee, where the couple recently bought a new home.[13] The baby's surname is White.[14] In 2006, it was revealed in the Sunday Times Rich List that White and Elson had a joint fortune of at least £20 million GBP (US$37 million). This ranked them at seventh place in the list of entertainers aged under 30 who were born or live in the United Kingdom, ahead of the likes of Orlando Bloom and Kate Winslet.[15] [16]

White gives few interviews and reveals few details of his private life. He states that he does not consider it relevant to his art, saying "It's the same thing as asking Michelangelo, 'What kind of shoes do you wear?'...In the end, it doesn't really matter ... the only thing that's going to be left is our records and photos." [17]

Selected events

It is rumored in 2003 that White was featured on Electric Six's song "Danger! High Voltage."[18] Initially both he and the Electric Six denied this, and the vocal work was credited officially to the unknown John S O'Leary.[19] However, a recent radio interview with Tim Shaw on Kerrang! 105.2 in the UK had the lead singer of Electric Six talking openly about White singing on this song as well as speculating on the amount of money he was paid ($60,000).

White was the subject of The Flaming Lips's song Thank You Jack White (For The Fiber-Optic Jesus That You Gave Me) released on their 2003 Fight Test EP.

File:Jack White - mug shot.jpg
White, following being arrested in 2003

On December 13, 2003, White was involved in an altercation at The Magic Stick, a Detroit club, with Jason Stollsteimer, lead singer of the Von Bondies. He was arrested and charged with misdemeanor aggravated assault. He pleaded guilty, was fined $500 plus court costs, and was sentenced to take anger management courses.[20]

White played bass on the song "Go It Alone" from the Beck album Guero. Beck, a friend of White's, appeared in the White Stripes video for "The Hardest Button to Button."

On November 7, 2005, it was widely reported that Jack White had changed his name to "Three Quid" (quid is British slang for pound sterling). However, most reports (e.g. Undercover.com,[21]NME.com,[22] and MTV.com[23]) indicated that this would only last until the end of the tour. When asked about this in a UK radio interview, he claimed that "it's all a money thing....it's all about money."

In April 2006, a long-rumored and extremely low-profile Coca-Cola commercial debuted during the MTV Australia Video Music Awards, featuring the original song "Love is Truth," that White wrote exclusively for Coke.[24] As White generally advocates "brand-free music," it was a departure from this stance.[25] In defense of his involvement, White stated, "I've been offered the opportunity to write a song in a way which interests me as a songwriter. I certainly wouldn't want a song that I'd already written to be used on a commercial. That seems strange."[26] However, according to InTheNews.co.uk, the ad was only played once in England, late at night, and was available for only a short time at the Coke website.[25]

Solo discography

  • "Wayfaring Stranger", "Great High Mountain", "Sittin' on Top of the World" and "Never Far Away" – Cold Mountain (2003)
  • "Portland, Oregon" – Van Lear Rose (2004)

Notes

  1. ^ a b Sullivan, Denise (2004). "The White Stripes: Sweethearts of the Blues" PWG.com (accessed June 1, 2006)
  2. ^ a b c d Fricke, David (2005) "White on White". Rolling Stone (accessed April 12, 2006)
  3. ^ Wallace, Mike (2005). "Choosing Music Over Religion". CBS News (accessed January 24, 2006)
  4. ^ a b de la Manzana, Tobias (2003). "Jack White: Your Furniture is not Dead" The Believer (accessed April 12, 2006)
  5. ^ (2003). "The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time" Rolling Stone (accessed April 12, 2006)
  6. ^ Abramovich, Alex (2004). "Curator Rock" Slate.com (accessed May 8, 2006)
  7. ^ Finn, Natalie (2006). "Jack White Adds Touch of Scarlett" EOnline! (accessed May 6, 2006)
  8. ^ Ferguson, Troy (2005). "Jack White looking foward (sic) to hanging out with Iggy" The New Zealand Herald (accessed June 1, 2006)
  9. ^ a b Ratliff, Ben (2003). "ROCK REVIEW: Contradictory and Proud of It"The New York Times (accessed May 2, 2006)
  10. ^ "White Stripes Equipment/Technique" Broken Bricks (accessed 2 May, 2006)
  11. ^ Seven Nation Army tablature and notes. Broken Bricks (accessed 2 May, 2006)
  12. ^ WhiteStripes.com staff (2005). "06.02.05" TheWhiteStripes.com (accessed June 1, 2006)
  13. ^ Smytek, John (2006). "Do they make striped Pampers?" The Detroit Free Press (accessed May 4, 2006)
  14. ^ Huhn, Mary (2006). "Time to Get Saved by Song" The New York Post (accessed May 5, 2006)
  15. ^ NME staff writer (2006). "Coldplay make the rich list" NME.com (accessed April 30, 2006)
  16. ^ This should not be taken as evidence that Jack White lives in the UK, since their qualification comes from the fact that Karen Elson was born there. [1] The couple (as of 2006) resides in Tennessee.
  17. ^ Brian "The Unofficial White Stripes FAQ Version 6". WhiteStripes.net (accessed April 12, 2006)
  18. ^ Laurence, Alexander (2003). "Electric Six Interview" Free Williamsburg (accessed May 17, 2006)
  19. ^ Collective editor (2002). "Detroit funk-rock to set the disco on fire" BBC.co.uk (accessed May 17, 2006)
  20. ^ Wiederhorn, Jon (2004). "Jack White Pleads Guilty To Assault Charge, Must Take Anger-Management Class" VH1.com (accessed June 1, 2006)
  21. ^ Jenkin, Eve (2005). "Jack White Changes Name Whilst Band Releases New EP" Undercover.com (accessed November 7, 2005)
  22. ^ (2005). "Jack White changes his name" NME.com (accessed November 7, 2005)
  23. ^ The Chad (2005). "My Name Is...Three Quid" MTV (accessed November 7, 2005)
  24. ^ James Montgomery (2006). "Jack White's New Coca-Cola TV Advertisement Is Red, White And Weird" MTV.com (accessed May 1, 2006)
  25. ^ a b InTheNews staff writer (2006). "Jack White's 'controversial' ad to air" InTheNews.uk.co (accessed May 1, 2006)
  26. ^ NME staff writer (2005). Exclusive - "White Stripes singer confirms Coke ad" NME.com (accessed May 1, 2006)

References

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