Interview: Patrick Carney Confirms the Black Keys Will Release a Song With Alice Cooper

When Patrick Carney was faced with the 20th anniversary of the Black Keys — the band he started with Dan Auerbach — he wasn't ready for how that milestone would make him feel.

"I was shocked that I had a band that stayed together that long," he admitted on Loudwire Nights Friday (April 5). "It sparked something in me."

That spark was a challenge to himself to make a record that would sound relevant rather than complacent. As he told host Chuck Armstrong, he hasn't heard many bands cross that 20-year mark and create something relevant.

"That's what led to Ohio Players," he said about the Black Keys' latest LP.

"I wanted [to create something] that would be able to hang up there with Brothers and El Camino. We ended up working very hard on this album and we spent more time in the studio than we did on Brothers, El Camino and Turn Blue combined. I think we were in the studio like 150 days."

When Chuck asked him if he thinks he accomplished his goal with Ohio Players, Carney wasn't quick to pat himself on the back.

"Relevance is hard to define clearly," he said. "For me, the meaning of it is, I wanted something that resonated with people who like the type of music we make and that isn't just like, you know, deep cuts or fan-only stuff."

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Carney did eventually say he thinks Ohio Players lives up to what he set out to do.

"I'm very proud of it."

The Black Keys Have a Song Coming Featuring Alice Cooper

In 2023, well before many details on Ohio Players were officially released, Auerbach and Carney gave an interview to a magazine and hinted that the new record was going to be a double-album, featuring several collaborations including Beck and Noel Gallagher.

"We were kind of thinking we should just put it all out," Carney said on Loudwire Nights before mentioning they had about 29 songs completed and ready to go.

"It's such an impressive amount of stuff. And then I heard a couple of records that came out recently, they were like 30 tracks long and sucked."

Rather than cram all of the new material into a massive double-album, the Black Keys decided to trim the tracklist. Some of the songs that didn't make the cut will likely see the light of day soon enough, though, including one featuring Alice Cooper.

"There is a song with Alice coming out this year," Carney revealed.

READ MORE: Jay Bentley Reflects on Bad Religion's First-Ever Live Show

As he explained, he and his neighbor are golfing buddies and this neighbor happened to have been Cooper's agent for a long time. So, once in awhile, the neighbor would bring Cooper along to golf with Carney.

"The Alice Cooper song is different. It's like a Halloween song. It's called 'Stay In Your Grave.'"

As Chuck shared his excitement for this new song, Carney wasn't shy about his own enthusiasm for it, too.

"It doesn't get more Halloween than that."

What Else Did the Black Keys' Patrick Carney Discuss on Loudwire Nights?

• Why he never wants to play late-night TV shows again: "I don't see the point."
• What the Black Keys plan to do with the other songs that didn't make Ohio Players: "We are going to have a few more songs to put out throughout the year, but there's a lot of songs that just weren't Viking on the record."
• What it was like working with Noel Gallagher and how that same neighbor who hooked the Black Keys up with Alice Cooper played a part in this collaboration

Listen to the Full Interview in the Podcast Player Below

Patrick Carney joined Loudwire Nights on Friday, April 5; the show replays online here, and you can tune in live every weeknight at 7PM ET or on the Loudwire app; you can also see if the show is available on your local radio station and listen to interviews on-demand.