The Black Keys nicknamed Noel Gallagher “The Chord Lord”.
The former Oasis rocker features on the duo’s new LP ‘Ohio Players’ and while the pair were ready to “embarrass” themselves in front of the ‘Wonderwall’ hitmaker, they worked well together thanks to the British star’s drive and determination.
Dan Auerbach told Classic Rock magazine: “We ended up calling Noel the Chord Lord because he just would not stop until he was satisfied.
“We wrote ‘On the Game’ together and basically, the CliffsNotes on that song would be that everyone’s a whore for something. Pat and I were like, ‘On the game’? What does that mean?’ We didn’t know that phrase. And Noel was like ‘It’s a prostitute man.’ “
The pair had previously been “pretty insular” in their work but got excited about the prospect of having a “bunch of fun” making their latest album.
Patrick Carney said: “I think we kept The Black Keys pretty insular. But with ‘Dropout Boogie’, we were like, ‘We have so many friends that we can make music with.’
“That changed the whole feeling on this record too, rather than just us in the studio grinding away.
“So we set our sights on Noel Gallagher and we flew to London – even though Dan hates to fly – and our whole MO was we’re gonna stay in the nicest hotel, have a bunch of fun together, then go into the studio with a rock legend, with zero material, and risk completely embarrassing ourselves…
“It was stressful afterwards, thinking about what could have happened and how we could have just fell on our faces.
“But that’s the whole thing with ‘Ohio Players’ – it’s like, we were taking creative risks with this record.”