The Black Keys' Patrick Carney "didn't even realise" when he'd chopped his finger off.

The 42-year-old drummer was chopping vegetables at his teenage job in a health food store when he was distracted by a friend and accidentally sliced through his digit - and his pal then tried to tape it back together.

He recalled to MOJO magazine: “I was 16, but I was able to use the knife because I lied about my age.

“They thought I was older than I really was.

“This guy walks up and shows me this little catalogue of people going at it. What the hell?

“I kept chopping with the knife and cut my f****** pinky off! I didn’t even realise I’d done it.

“So the guy grabs some duct tape and tapes my finger back. Of course he does. He’s a punk rock dude. They fix everything with duct tape.”

Fortunately, doctors were able to reattach Patrick’s finger, but he lost some sensation and had to stop playing guitar, leading to him taking up the drums.”

Meanwhile, Patrick and his bandmate, Dan Auerbach, have been busy working on their 11th studio album, 'Dropout Boogie', and though they've worked together for years, they've never had a better time than they did making the new LP.

Patrick said: "I definitely had the most funmaking ‘Dropout Boogie’ over any other record.

“It was the easiest to make not because we’re phoning it in at this point but because we’re able to communicate better with each other.”

The pair have never officially expanded from their two-piece line-up and are happier that way.

Patrick said: "We don't put restrictions on ourselves and we're not forcing ourselves to play as a two-piece. This is just how we naturally want to play."