Jack White has admitted he doesn’t own a mobile device.
“For someone like me, who is one of the few who doesn’t own a cellphone, it is pretty funny to walk down the street and see everyone doing this,” White told Britian's Channel 4 News, putting his head down as if holding a device.
“I’ve never owned one, so when I’m out there I’m an anomaly and I’m looking at everybody. To me, everybody looks silly. And then you’re like, ‘Whatever, it’s their lives.’”
White made headlines last year when he banned phones at his concerts. A statement from his tour managers read: “We think you’ll enjoy looking up from your gadgets for a little while and experience music and our shared love of it IN PERSON.”
The musician said he was surprised that the prohibition was so positively received.
“I thought it was a big art project at first, to see if people would think it was funny or cool or just a new experience,” said White. “Almost like an escape room or something like that, where like ‘Hey, wouldn’t it be funny if we had this arena show and everyone who showed up were told they couldn’t use their phones?’
“We thought maybe at first people would be mad enough to demand their money back, and it might be that something interesting would happen. To my surprise, and to everyone else’s surprise, everyone loved it.”
White said it’s “sad” that people will only put their phones away when they’re told to do so.
"Again, coming from someone who isn’t part of it, it’s easy for me to say because I don’t have that addiction.”
“If you can’t just put that [mobile phone] down for an hour and experience life in a real way, that’s sad.”
— Channel 4 News (@Channel4News) June 19, 2019
Musician Jack White talks about why he doesn’t own a mobile phone and why he’s banned mobiles from his concerts, in the latest Ways to Change the World podcast. pic.twitter.com/hFkSQI9hTr