Jack White relishes side-project freedom

Jack White has said that he has more freedom to branch out in his side projects than older bands did.

The musician has released albums with The Raconteurs and The Dead Weather alongside his work with The White Stripes.

White told The Daily Telegraph: "They didn't have that kind of freedom back in the '60s.

"If Paul McCartney had wanted to stop in 1968 and start another band, I'm sure everyone would've said, 'Whoa, what the hell are you doing?'. If Jimmy Page had done it in 1975, [Led Zeppelin manager] Peter Grant wouldn't have been very happy about that."

He added: "Maybe because of the environment I'm from, the way I've handled the business of what got me into the mainstream, or got The White Stripes into the public eye, I have the ability to say, 'Well, I can stop this whenever I want to, and totally jump into a different river'.

"I'm very fortunate that I can do that. I'm also fortunate that I don't care. I'm told it's not good business, but I just don't care.

"It's more important to challenge yourself and see what works and try new paths. A lot of them are going to be dead ends, but that doesn't matter to me - at least I tried. I could sit home and just do nothing."