The dressing room at the Olympia is plunged into bluish darkness on the scorching July 18. Jack White, the former guitarist and singer of the White Stripes and forerunner of the garage rock revival of the 2000s, was performing in the Paris venue three nights in a row, a few days before releasing Entering Heaven Alive, his fifth solo album. He offered a frank, friendly handshake before he turned on the lights. The imposing man with peroxide blue hair looked in vain for a fresh can of soda in the fridge.
"Vinyl records are not like plastic bottles thrown away like litter. They are valuable objects," Jack White
Born John Anthony Gillis, in Detroit (Michigan) in 1975, he's particularly fond of this venue. It's "my favorite place in the world to play," he said. The day before, he visited friends Warren Ellis (Nick Cave's close associate) in his house in Ivry-sur-Seine (Val-de-Marne), as well as director Michel Gondry for a filmed barge ride on the Seine. When asked if he was going to visit the capital during his stay, he admitted that he isn't the type to visit the Eiffel Tower. But he added that he always references Atlas Obscura, which describes itself as "the definitive guide to the world's hidden wonders." He also searches out LPs in record stores, "although I now buy more for gifts than for myself."
Having started Third Man Records in 2009, Jack White is one of the most fervent defenders of vinyl's return. Located in Nashville, Tennessee, the record label's set-up includes a recording studio, offices, a concert hall, a vinyl pressing plant and a record store. (Another store opened in London in 2021.) In 2003, when vinyl records were only of interest to certain DJs and the internet was beginning to turn the music industry upside down, Jack White, along with Whites Stripe bandmate Meg White, stood out by the way they promoted the group's fourth album, Elephant. Industry media outlets were surprised to receive the album in their mailboxes in vinyl format, as the duo believed that every music critic should have a vinyl turntable. "Everyone thought I was crazy," he remembered. "But it was the right time to do it. The White Stripes had enough notoriety to afford it." That first breakthrough was amplified by the worldwide success of the single "Seven Nation Army" and its stadium-ready guitar riff.
Smashing return
Nearly two decades later, vinyl records have endured against all odds: 41.7 million were sold in the United States in 2021, compared to 40.5 million CDs. On the flip side, some detractors are starting to point to its harmful environmental effects. "I think it's so low on the list compared to the real monsters responsible for destroying the environment," said Jack White. "What I like about our vinyl pressing plant is that it only uses hot steam. There are no toxic chemicals used. Vinyl records are not like plastic bottles that are just thrown away like litter. They are valuable items that are stored carefully on a shelf and then perhaps bought back or passed on to someone in the family or a loved one."
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