The Strokes

Band History and Career

Early years and Modern Age EP

The Strokes formed at a young age, with most of the members connected in some way with lead singer/songwriter Julian Casablancas. Bassist Nikolai Fraiture and Casablancas have been friends since childhood. Guitarist Nick Valensi and drummer Fabrizio Moretti started playing together while attending Manhattan's Dwight School. Later on, Casablancas was sent to Le Rosey, a boarding school in Switzerland. He was sent in order to straighten up his behavior, as it was said that he developed drinking problems at a young age. At Le Rosey, Casablancas became acquainted with Albert Hammond, Jr., since they were both Americans, although they were not particularly friends. It was years later, when Casablancas bumped into Hammond, Jr. on the street in New York. Incidentally, the two lived in apartments across the street from each other, as Hammond came to New York to attend New York University's (NYU) Tisch School of the Arts. Albert and Julian began sharing an apartment together, and, in 1999, they became an official band. Their popularity increased quickly, especially on the Lower East Side of New York. They began to perform at Manhattan's ultra-hip Mercury Lounge, where Ryan Gentles was in charge of booking. Gentles was so impressed by the band that he quit his job in order to become their manager.

The Strokes begun rehearsing strongly for days, keeping their day jobs (Casablancas is said to be a former bartender, while Hammond worked at Kim's Video) and forming a 10 to 12 song set list which listed songs such as "Last Nite", "Modern Age", "This Life" (currently named "Trying Your Luck"), "New York City Cops", "Soma" and "Someday" among others. Most of these songs now feature different lyrics. Songs that never made the final cut of any album include "Sagganuts," "In Her Prime," "Rhythm Song", "A Minor 4-4", "Clear Skies", "Babies", and one song with an unknown title.

Gordon Raphael, a small time rock producer of New York's underground rock scene, attended one of the Strokes early concerts, having stated years later that he actually went to watch the other band that played that night. Raphael gave Albert his telephone number, saying he could record a demo for them. After calling him a couple of days later, the band and Raphael finally met.

The Modern Age (EP) was released in 2001 and sparked a bidding war among record labels, the largest for a rock and roll band in years. Subsequently, The Strokes became the subject of enormous hype, causing a great divide amongst rock fans, albeit mostly hipsters and independent magazines, as to whether they were the saviors of rock and roll or simply a bunch of rich kids, with cool names, ripping off the Velvet Underground.

Is This It

The Strokes released their debut album Is This It in the U.S. in October 2001 on RCA , after delays due to the album's graphic European cover (a photo of a gloved hand and a woman's naked backside in profile, changed to a photo of particle collisions in America), and the removal of the song "New York City Cops". "New York City Cops" contains the refrain "New York City Cops, they ain't too smart" in the chorus, which RCA dubbed politically incorrect so soon after the September 11th attacks. The album received very good reviews from both mainstream and independent publications, including 4 stars from Rolling Stone Magazine, and a 9.3 from Pitchfork Media; it made many critics' top ten lists, and was named the best album of the year by Entertainment Weekly. NME, in an article previewing summer concerts, dubbed theirs the one to attend because The Strokes were touring on the strength of some of the "best pop songs ever". The influence of Seventies CBGB stalwarts Television was noted by many reviewers.

After the release of Is This It, the band toured exhaustively all around the world, featuring dates in Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Europe, Canada and North America, staging for the Rolling Stones. The band headlined UK's Reading Festival in 2002. This tour was largely chronicled by a relatively hard-to-find mini-documentary entitled "In Transit," which was released to members of the now-defunct "Alone, Together" fan club. In August 2002, the band played at New York's Radio City Music Hall with the White Stripes as supporting act. In that gig, Jack White joined the Strokes on stage to perform the guitar solo in the song "New York City Cops". Julian performed while sitting on a chair as a result of an injury suffered in his knee. Fans later reported this was one of Casablancas's most boring performances due to this fact.

During that period, the band also appeared as musical guest on Saturday Night Live (performing Last Nite and Hard to Explain), Jay Leno, Conan O'Brien and David Letterman.

Is This It featured several singles as well as video clips, all of which were directed by the song of Francis Ford Coppola, Roman Coppola (who is also the sister of Sofia Coppola). Albert, during the live "Last Nite" video, can be seen accidentally stumbling into the drum's microphones. He then stops playing for a few seconds to redress the mic.

The group began recording their followup in 2002 with famed producer Nigel Godrich (most well known for his work with Radiohead), but later split with him in favor of Gordon Raphael, the producer of Is This It. Recordings with Godrich were never revealed.

In August 2003 the band toured Japan, playing a couple of the upcomings songs: "Reptilia", "Meet Me In The Bathroom", "The Way It Is", "Between Love & Hate" (formerly known as "Ze Newie") and "12:51" (also called "Supernova"). The band also played Paul Anka's "My Way" with Japanese lyrics.

Room On Fire

They released their sophomore album Room on Fire in October 2003, to good reviews but was unloved by the public. The album's sound maintained the Strokes' familiar reference points, while also evoking groups such as The Cars. In the process, they made the cover of Spin Magazine for the second time, each now receiving his own individual cover. They also made the cover of Rolling Stone Magazine for the first time. Additional media coverage of the band has come from the relationship between Moretti and actress Drew Barrymore.

Their first single off Room on Fire was the song "12:51" which features keyboard-like sounds produced by Valensi's guitar. The video was also directed by Roman Coppola and is inspired by the futuristic look of Tron.

In November of 2003, The Strokes performed each Tuesday night on the show "Late Night with Conan O'Brien."

During the 2003/2004 "Room on Fire Tour", the band played with Kings of Leon as support act and Regina Spektor. While on tour, Spektor and the Strokes recorded the song "Modern Girls & Old Fashioned Men", released as a b-side featured in the "Reptilia" Single. Also during the tour, the band included The Clash's "Clampdown" as a cover, having Julian presenting it to the crowds as "a Clash song, called 'Clampdown'". "Clampdown" was released as a b-side in the single "The End Has No End".

In late 2004, The Strokes revealed plans to release a live album. The Live in London LP was planned for release in October, 2004, but was abandoned, reportedly due to recording quality problems. The chosen gig was one held at the legendary Alexandra Palace in north London.

In early February 2005, Julian Casablancas wed longtime friend and assistant band manager, Juliet Joslin. Around this time, Nikolai Fraiture fathered a daughter.

The Strokes had a three concert South American tour in October 2005, featuring dates at Brazil, Chile and Argentina. They are also planning a 2006 United States and United Kingdom tour.

First Impressions of Earth

In late September 2005, the first single from the later released album First Impressions of Earth was "Juicebox", which was leaked online and forced the single's release date to be pushed up. The single was then released as an iTunes Music Store exclusive. "Juicebox" became The Strokes' second UK Top 10 hit, as well as their second US Modern Rock Top 10 success.

Their third album, First Impressions of Earth, was released in January 2006 and debuted at Number 4 in the US Album charts, and scored them their first UK Number 1 album. The Strokes revealed that in order to record their third album, they built their own studio in New York. When asked to comment on the third album, Julian said: "It's like a seedless watermelon. I like it." The song "Heart in a Cage" is touted to be the album's second single release in early 2006.

 

 

Quick Links

Latest Comment