Jack White Wants to Play a Record in Space

If aliens still use turntables, Jack White could wind up being mankind's first ambassador to the universe.

The ubiquitous former White Stripes frontman recently took a break from frowning at baseball games and covering songs by seemingly every musician on earth to talk to the Tennessean about everything from his creative freedom to his relationship with former bandmate Meg White.

But he also reveals a very lofty goal: "One of the big projects we've been working on for a while is the first record in space," he said. "That's been a long-going project. And we're coming close to it."

White didn't unveil any of the specifics, but there's a decent chance the recording would be on vinyl. Two years ago, NME reported that White told astronaut Buzz Aldrin in Interview that he was working on a "secret project" to have one of the songs on his Third Man Records label be the first vinyl record played in outer space. His plan back then was to "launch a balloon that carries a vinyl record player" and "figure out a way to drop the needle with all that turbulence up there and ensure that it will still play."

Although White hasn't set any sort of timetable, he hinted that it probably won't be happening anytime soon. "For some reason, it seems like it's a nice long term goal to attach to," he said. "Because it sort of means everything and means nothing at the same time."

Still, White isn't one to give up on ambitious projects. Check out this video about how he created the world's fastest released album in April by recording and pressing a seven-inch version of his song 'Lazaretto' in an old-fashioned recording booth at his Nashville studio: