Dan Auerbach is an American artist and producer from Akron, Ohio. His most notable role is as lead guitarist and vocalist for The Black Keys. As of mid-2016, the band has released eight studio albums, each one with growing critical acclaim. Their eighth album Turn Blue, reached the #1 spot in the U.S., Canada, and Australia after its release in 2014.

He also has a career as a solo artist, with both 2009’s Keep It Hid and 2017’s Waiting on a Song under his belt. The latter album’s June 2nd release coincided with the launch of Dan’s own label, Easy Eye Sound. In 2015, Auerbach announced a side project with his newly-formed band The Arcs, without the company of long-time musical companion and Black Keys band member Patrick Carney. The Arcs released their first studio album entitled Yours, Dreamily, later in 2015.

Auerbach has become a more prominent producer as he proved himself, first through his own music, but also through notable artists, such as Lana Del Rey, Patrick Sweany, Cage the Elephant, and more.

Throughout much of Auerbach’s work is his blues rock and psychedelic influence, which has become more prominent in recent works.

In an interview with iHeartRadio, Matt Schultz and Matthan Minster of Cage the Elephant capture Auerbach’s personality and musical expertise in an interview regarding Dan producing their album Tell Me I’m Pretty:

It was terrific. He has an incredible grasp on atmosphere, and sounds, and textures. Also, just a very deep knowledge of music. So he would be listening to the most obscure things while we were in the studio with him, and turning us on to new stuff. And then not tell us what it was. We were trying to Shazaam and figure out what he was playing. It was a really great experience for sure. He’s just no frills. Nick said this, and I really agree with him. Dan will sit there and listen to what’s going on, and sort of close his eyes and bob his head, and he’s sort of in the moment. And then he waits for the thing that throws him off, and as soon as something knocks him out of that moment, he’s like, ‘Change that. That’s what you need to fix.’ He’s very much into the first response, so a lot of the songs that are on the record are one take, and scratch vocals even, which was really difficult for me because I was like, ‘I think I can do better, guys.’ He’s great at keeping you from second-guessing yourself.

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