front to back . And fans pay to see it .

of our bands , all of the people . We ’ re getting near the end it , the culture that we grew up with and loved – punk , ‘ 60s , ‘ 70s , and ‘ 80s music – because everyone ’ s going to die in the next 20 years . There ’ s a whole new set of humans every 100 years , So I ’ m waiting for a new voice to turn me on , instead of an old voice that used to turn me on . But we go onstage to a Mose Allison song , so nothing against the old dogs at all . I mean , I ’ m glad I have an audience . All I ’ m saying is , I ’ m excited about what ’ s coming more than what ’ s been .

CH : Well I could take my clothes off and people would pay me to see it . There ’ s a lot of things I could do to make money . There ’ s a huge market out there , and you can sell just about anything . And that ’ s fine – fair enough if people want to see that . Obviously , if you love an album , and your favorite band is going to play it , you ’ re going to go see it . But I ’ m holding my breath now , waiting for some new bands . Regardless of their age – I don ’ t care if it ’ s a band of 16-year-olds . But a new band with something to say that strikes a chord for now . Because what we ’ re living through now is what I call the end of an era . Everything we grew up with is going to be gone in the next 20 years – all

IE : How was it working with Auerbach ? And there ’ s a cool Akron connection . CH : I don ’ t think Akron played into it at all . I didn ’ t know him from Akron . I was a big fan of The Black Keys , and we met briefly a couple of times . So it was more of a musical connection . But the guy ’ s on a fucking roll . He really is . I didn ’ t really listen to all the stuff he ’ d produced to decide that I wanted to work with him . I just like someone ’ s vibe , and then I think , “ Well , let ’ s try something .” And I was quite surprised that he wanted to do something , and we did it really quickly – we finished it in two weeks , and then he embellished it a bit after I left . But when I was in the studio with Dan , I felt like I was with an elder statesman , because he ’ s very traditional ,

The Pretenders : 1979

and he sees everything in terms of a vinyl album , with a Side One and a Side Two . He really has retained all the good stuff , without being nostalgic about it – he just recognizes what ’ s good , and the kind of timelessness about it . Which is what I love in anything – I like to get a sense of timelessness , because I like tapping into those eternal

feelings . And I think Dan does that very , very well .

IE : It seems like you put a lot of your personal philosophy into the record . Like in the title track , where you claim to function better off in solitude .