News

Feature: Jimmy Page and Jack White talk "It Might Get Loud"

"I think Jimmy [Page] needs to practice a lot more," jokes Jack White.

From that remark, it's clear that during the making of It Might Get Loud the film's three subjects—Jimmy Page [Led Zeppelin], Jack White [The White Stripes, The Raconteurs, The Dead Weather] and The Edge [U2]—got close, extremely close. This brand new documentary shows each guitar god's origins and journey, while attempting to unlock the power and mystery inherent in the electric guitar. Plus, there's priceless footage of these three jamming together. It doesn't get any cooler than that!

About meeting his co-subjects, Jimmy says, "I'd met Jack before because we'd done an interview together. I was obviously really aware of his work. We're all self-taught guitarists so we have real interesting characteristics. It's not like we're part of an orchestra where everyone's talking the same way. I do really believe that all guitarists have a different character that comes through. I really enjoyed doing this film because of that."

White was also thrilled to be a part of it. He outlines the importance of it though. "We're all coming from the similar spots of where the music is generated. I'd love for people to take away a sense of how things are made from watching this documentary," he says. "Maybe they'll see a little bit of what the songwriter's actually doing. We're trying to get to an emotion or an idea across, and the by-product ends up being a rock song, punk song or a ballad. It's nice to let people dig deeper. That's what this film does. It lets them dig deeper into the music and the personalities."

In this case, the "by-product" of Jimmy Page, Jack White or The Edge picking up a guitar is typically a classic song. The tune always affects the musician penning it—if not the entire world. Jimmy continues, "I think music can always be a life-changing experience for musicians. It depends on what degree. Music can affect people in their lives, and they'll always relate to that point from when they heard it and experienced it. That's the key to whether you're playing it or you're receptive as an audience member."

The audience will no doubt be very receptive to It Might Get Loud. It truly dissects the creative process behind three of the most visionary axe men of all time, and it also puts them in the same room—plugged in. It does get loud at that point too, really loud in the best way possible.

Times are a'changing though with Guitar Hero, iTunes downloads and, of course, MySpace. White laughs, "I gave up trying to understand the Guitar Hero phenomenon. It's depressing to have a label come and tell you this is how kids are learning about music. You have to put your song in a video game to get it in front of them. That's almost sad. Other than that, I don't really know. I don't like to tell people what format to get music in, but I will say there's a loss of romance."

Luckily, there are films like It Might Get Loud.

—Rick Florino
08.10.09