'Steady' Chatter, Entertainment Weekly, April 04 2006
Leah Greenblatt talks with the Raconteurs -- Jack White, Brendan Benson, and two Greenhornes members -- about their new, Jim Jarmusch-directed video
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Jack was in Coffee and Cigarettes in 2003. The Greenhornes were all over the Broken Flowers soundtrack last year. I'm guessing you guys are all pretty big Jarmusch fans. What are your favorite films of his?
JACK WHITE That's a tough one for me to pick a favorite, but I love working with him. Are you making one of those Entertainment Weekly boxes that go on the side of articles?
Maybe...
WHITE I hate those boxes, man. I refuse to be part of it! [Laughs]
I guess I wasn't stealth enough to trick you. That's okay; I'll just say your favorite is [1999's] Ghost Dog.
[Whole band breaks into guffaws]
PATRICK KEELER Dude, she's not wrong.
BRENDAN BENSON [Mock seriously] I admire him for his work of special effects.
KEELEER His greenscreen work is amazing, truly. [More laughs]
Okay, seriously: It's pretty cool you got him to do the clip. Are you guys interested in film in general? Because the White Stripes especially have worked with some pretty cool people (like director Michel Gondry).
WHITE Oh, yeah. The side benefit of getting to make music and make videos is working with those kinds of directors. We're pretty lucky to get to be involved in both worlds. When actors or people involved in film try to switch over and make a record, it's pretty hard for them.... The funny thing is that you can go from being Ice Cube in N.W.A to making movies for kids or whatever, but you can never go backwards. You can't start off being Audrey Hepburn and then get a pin through your nose. But you can start off with the pin and go glamorous later.