Jack White has already conquered the hearts and minds of rock purists with The White Stripes, The Raconteurs, The Dead Weather and most recently, his first solo record; but now White has set his sights on a new frontier, the final frontier: space.
In a recent chat with Interview magazine, Jack White was appropriately paired with former astronaut Buzz Aldrin to discuss his current solo career. Aldrin queried White about his Third Man release featuring Carl Sagan and Stephen Hawking (on A Glorious Dawn, a composition by John Boswell released on 7”), to which White hinted at his ambitions to be the first man to play a record in space.
“We have a secret project at Third Man” revealed White, “where we want to have the first vinyl record played in outer space.”
Not just the record, but the turntable too.
“We want to launch a balloon that carries a vinyl record player, and possibly that Carl Sagan record, and figure out a way to drop the needle with all that turbulence up there and ensure that it will still play.”
Aldrin, the second ever man on the moon, encouraged White’s project offering a hook-up with “the guy who is CEO of Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic. Maybe you should talk to him. Richard is always interested in doing unusual things.”
White, who is out later this year, also spoke in the same interview about the demise of The White Stripes and how he couldn’t have made a solo record, like his debut Blunderbuss, concurrently with the Stripes.
“I thought that people would be too confused by the two ideas and a lot of people wouldn’t be able to get their head around it,” White responded, “so, in a sense, it was something that was bound to happen one day. But I’m sad about it all the time.”
Maybe having a release from his Third Man label out in the galaxy will put a smile on his dial, but when a needle hits the groove in outer space, does anyone hear it crackle?
You can listen to the Third Man single – and potential space soundtrack – A Glorious Dawn, below:
