It may seem strange for a former member of Guns N’ Roses to hang out with Jack White, but Duff McKagan is a true fan. The bassist recently interviewed the indie icon for his column at Seattle Weekly, which he has been writing for several years, and the duo formed a mutual admiration society.

In the introduction, McKagan praises White for being endlessly creative and willing to take chances while following his muse, comparing him to such legends as John Lennon and Prince. But it’s during the interview that White opens up about his writing process for ‘Blunderbuss.’

“Each song was a new way of writing that I had never tried before,” White told McKagan. “I was writing backwards and writing with people in the room … One time I had all the session musicians in and they were all waiting for me, and I sat down at the piano and I absolutely had no song at all.”

As for lyrics, White said that he doesn’t like to write autobiographically, but acknowledges that a piece of himself always finds its way in there.

“[W]hatever happens to you, if you’ve gone through anything — sort of a literal train wreck in your life, for example — you have to have that inside of you in some way, ” he continued. “Even if you choose not to write about being involved in a train wreck, it would come out of you no matter what choice you have. So whatever characters I was writing about during the record, I’m giving them these problems. But the problems are only things that I probably have seen or experienced some time along the way.”

To read McKagan’s article in full, check it out here.

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