The Black Crowes are worried there’s “no humanity” in music anymore.
The “Hard to Handle” hitmakers love to hear chaos and the imperfection that can be detected on old records and they are concerned that editing tools are being overused to make tracks sound flawless, because that leaves the songs with something missing.
Rich Robinson told The Sun newspaper: “The problem with a lot of music today is that there’s no humanity in it. There’s a pursuit of perfection and a use of these tools that sucks all human qualities out of it.”
“Listen to a Beatles record,” he continued. “They’re all over the place. Same with Led Zeppelin and the Stones. That’s why their records are exciting.”
“Some of my favorite moments on my favorite records have [slip] ups in them. You listen to Zeppelin’s ‘Since I’ve Been Loving You’ and you hear John Bonham’s squeaky kick-drum. That’s so cool,” he explained. “You hear about the Stones and the chaos that went into making Exile On Main St in this moldy French villa and it’s 100 degrees.”
“It’s amazing and it’s dangerous and can fall off the rails at any time but it’s brilliant and it never does. That’s the human element,” concludes the guitarist.
But the group think there is still a genuine desire for rock and roll in the world today.
Rich’s brother and bandmate, Chris Robinson, said: “A few months ago, we saw AC/DC, Guns N’ Roses and Metallica at Power Trip [Indio, California] in front of 100,000 people. I also watched Queens Of The Stone Age recently at the LA Forum. They were rocking out, playing beautiful riffs.”
After going on a “contractual obligation” tour in 2014, the group went their separate ways and the brothers didn’t speak for five years.
READ MORE: Chris Robinson Recalls ‘Most Violent’ Black Crowes Concerts
Chris admitted, “We had to take it off the heat. From the day that tour was over, I didn’t speak to Rich until 2019.”
Father-of-five Rich added, “Two of my guys were still really little at the time and they had never met Chris. But my older guys would always ask, ‘How come you never talk to him?’”
After a chance meeting, the pair got their relationship, and the band, back on track – but didn’t speak about their break.
Chris said, “When we eventually did get back together, believe it or not — we’re very funny and strange in our own way — we didn’t talk about our break from each other.”
“My wife and I ran into Rich and his family in the lobby of The Bowery Hotel in New York,” he recalled. “That day, we committed to giving it another go. Our dynamic is brotherly and it is very deep.”
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Gallery Credit: Lauryn Schaffner
