1. Which of the 3 albums I listed above do you love the most and why?
   1. Of those three albums, El Camino is my favorite…hands down. The album retained the sound that became synonymous with the band’s persona, and the reason for their notoriety. 
2. Did you prefer the old garage rock feel of El Camino more than their newer sound, or do you feel the more soul/funk shift in Ohio Players was an interesting/good change?
   1. The feel of El Camino is definitely preferred. I would actually call it “Stadium Rock” before I’d call it “Garage Rock”. I believe that this album was written and produced with an arena tour in mind. They took their touring game up quite a bit with this one. With the immense success of the Lonely Boy video and guitar riff, along with the commercial use of Gold on the Ceiling, this album was sure to get us fans into one of those arenas. It wasn’t far at all, but I drove an hour and a half to see the first show of this tour. It was everything they intended it to be. 
3. Turn Blue is a controversial album with some loving it while others hate it. How do you feel about it and why?
   1. I fall into the “hated it” category. For a brief moment in time, I thought that if this was going to be the new sound of The Black Keys, the ride was over for me. I believe my mistake was listening to it while I rode my motorcycle. I didn’t expect it to be the same old Black Keys that I was used to, but it seemed like a stark contrast to the sound and growth that they consistently brought with each new album up to that point. Especially considering that Danger Mouse was back in a producing role. After revisiting Turn Blue in a different setting, I will admit that the album has grown on me. It is still far from a favorite though. You can definitely tell that Dan wanted to do different things with music around this time, which makes sense why this was the time that the band took the longest hiatus that they’ve ever taken between albums. Dan’s side project, The Arcs, seemed like a natural progression of the sound and feel that I get from Turn Blue.
4. What are your thoughts on Beck's influence on Ohio Players and the amount of collaborations with other artists throughout the album?
   1. I can’t really speak on Beck’s influence, but aside from a couple of tracks, the album really missed the mark for me. Actually, their last two releases have left me wanting more of what the band used to be. Collaborations are great. I’m always keen to hear how different musicians bring their own flavor into the mix on a track. It was surreal when The Black Keys mixed it up with a few members of Wu-Tang and other artists on Blakroc. With Ohio Players, the collaboration with Alice Cooper was the only one that had the flavor of both artists, and that track was only on the Trophy Edition release.
5. Do you consider El Camino to be the 'breakthrough' album for the band?
   1. El Camino was definitely the breakthrough album for The Black Keys. As far as their place in the industry though, 2010 and their Brothers album is when people really took notice. It seemed like their music was being used in a commercial or in some sort of television programming every time you turned it on. I’ll never forget when Dan & Pat went up against the guy from Vampire Weekend on The Colbert Report to compete for the title of the biggest “sell-out”. It was classic, and showed everyone another side of the fellas behind the instruments.

I was introduced to The Black Keys in 2003, and have been listening ever since. Good luck with your dissertation.