Dead Weather Alison's risky writing method

The Dead Weather singer Alison Mosshart says most of her ideas for lyrics come to her while she’s driving.

And rather than risk forgetting them, she whips out a notepad and jots them down behind the wheel. In a video directed by bandmate Jack White, Mosshart says: “I don’t remember the first time I wrote in the car, I just notice that when I’m driving – especially on the highway – I just get ideas.

“There’s something about that monotony and the speed and that weird level of concentration you have when you’re driving that leaves a part of your brain open to that sort of stuff. I guess you’re sort of amusing yourself because it’s pretty boring.”

As for why she doesn’t record her ideas rather than risk running foul of the law, or having a crash, she says: “Here’s the thing about tape recording yourself while talking – you never want to listen to it back. So it’s better to write stuff down, it’s a lot easier to look at.”

But she doesn’t recommend her method to anyone else, adding: “Writing while driving on the highway is one of the most dangerous things you can do. It’s sort of like texting and driving, but it’s harder. I’m not telling you that you should do this, I don’t want you to get in an accident.”

The video ends with a band performance of the track Lose The Right, taken from latest album Dodge & Burn, which was issued last month.

Stef wrote close to 5,000 stories during his time as assistant online news editor and later as online news editor between 2014-2016. An accomplished reporter and journalist, Stef has written extensively for a number of UK newspapers and also played bass with UK rock favourites Logan. His favourite bands are Pixies and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. Stef left the world of rock'n'roll news behind when he moved to his beloved Canada in 2016, but he started on his next 5000 stories in 2022.