But for a band renowned as a touring act, on latest outing Arabia Mountain they decided they needed to focus a little more on the recorded output.
"The album that preceded this one was really rushed. I like that record but we gave ourselves two weeks, then we had five months of tours right after that. With this one we just worked on it until we were happy with it, and we've never really done that before."
While they haven't exactly mellowed, Black Lips have decided to settle down in one sense: they're working with a producer for the first time. Though Swilley says they're not abandoning all the old ways yet.
"I think on this record we only used one mic for the drums on a lot of tracks and just had it placed well. All the early Sun Records' records that you heard like Elvis or Johnny Cash that sound real good - that was just one microphone in the middle of the room. And if you had to turn down the drums, you'd just move the drums further away from the microphone."
Normally the person who decided exactly where to move those drums would simply have been a member of Black Lips. Swilley says their label had "always wanted us to work with a producer, but we weren't so keen on that". But when the issue presented itself again, they drew up a half-joking list of big-name producers.
"We ended up making this list of really famous high-end producers and gave that to them, and were like, 'well, we'll work with these people'. And somehow Mark Ronson heard about that, and I guess he was a fan and got in touch with us."
It was Ronson's work on Amy Winehouse's Stax-flavoured Back to Black that caught their eye.
"As far as top 10 stuff and records that are getting Grammys, like huge albums, that album was really cool. I don't really like many super-famous records that come out anymore, and they used to come out all the time. But that one was done really well - the production was awesome, the arrangements sound really good. It was just a classic sounding record so I knew he had the production taste that we had."
That Black Lips taste is developing quite nicely, but it sounds like it'll stay free of much modern influence for now. Swilley innocently talks about recently having learned how to download music off the internet. It's surprising, but it fits in with their analogue approach.
"I was pretty late in the game in finding out about [downloading music], but once I knew how to do it, it was rad. There's not too much new stuff I like, though a lot of hip hop excites me. A lot of the stuff I get excited about has already been recorded and forgotten about and found again," he says.
They might have their heads in yesteryear, but now he searches for those kindred musical spirits in the mode of the day.
"I love buying records and digging through record stores for hours, but I can do that sitting on my couch, find tons of crazy shit and not have to go all over the place."
Black Lips plays The Powerstation in Auckland on Tuesday 28 February.
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