Black Keys Talk Arena Tour, El Camino Follow-Up

Next month, the Black Keys will kick off their first-ever North American arena tour, an accomplishment the dynamic duo never thought possible 10 years ago, when they were mowing lawns (and working the buffet circuit) in their hometown of Akron, Ohio.

And, truth be told, they're still trying to wrap their heads around playing such massive venues, though, thanks to the success of their Brothers and El Camino albums, they're slowly beginning to realize that things have changed — for the best, of course.

"Things are obviously different; we're playing arenas everywhere, and it's crazy," frontman Dan Auerbach told. "I don't know; it's all very new for us. I think we're still trying to get used to the idea of playing such big shows wherever we go."

"[When we first started], I'd never even been to a concert that was larger than maybe 2,000 people, so I never thought we'd be able to play places this big," drummer Patrick Carney added. "I do know things have changed a little bit, because we've been touring for a very long time, and every single show, I sweat through an entire shirt and pair of pants, and after almost every show, I ask our tour manager if I could have some laundry done; and yesterday, my laundry was done for the first time."

Clean pants are very important. And while the Keys are still very firmly in the eye of the El Camino storm, they've already laid out a list of goals they'd like to accomplish in 2012 ("We just want to make it through without getting some pneumonia or something like that," Auerbach joked), which, as they told following the premiere of their "Gold on the Ceiling" video, also includes plans for a new album — if they find the time, of course.

"We actually just talked about it a couple days ago,[but] we can't really [write on the road]," Auerbach said. "It's kind of impossible, because we're both so insecure that we don't like messing up in front of people, and that's all we do when we try to write songs, is mess up over and over again. [But] Maybe [by the] end of this year, who knows?"

What are you expecting from the Keys' next album? Let us know in the comments!