Julian Casablancas is known as the lead singer of the Indie alternative rock band known as The Strokes and also known for being a solo artist. The band was formed in New York City in 1998, but during the next couple of years, the members have embarked on a variety of side projects. Julian Casablancas is currently preparing to release new songs with his new band during April. Also he has informed the public that The Strokes will be returning in June and will perform at the Governors Ball Festival in New York City. The following is a narrative of the history of the decision of becoming a solo artist and the status of his band The Strokes.
I put my life into The Strokes. I was trying to pull back as much as possible to make other people bring songs to the band. If someone wrote a song they would be more likely to just put it on their own solo record than ever try to even bring it to the band. I mean I have written all The Strokes’ guitar solos and a lot of the stuff back in the days. I was pretty involved on all levels, but for the future Strokes I’m trying really hard to pull away from maintaining all the credibility. But anyway, this is all stuff in the past that we have worked out. These are not issues anymore, I’m just taking you back three or four years ago. We started working on songs and people did not seem that into it at first, and then I found out that people were doing solo records. I decided to tell the guys that it was not time to collaborate just yet, so I told them, ‘Why don’t you guys do what you got to do?’
At first I was not sure about going into the solo career, but when I was doing my solo record, I was like, ‘Okay, there’s zero compromise.’ I then realized that I could do whatever I wanted to do and enjoyed doing that a lot. I think if anything it made me realize that I like being a solo artist and collaborating with The Strokes. The main thing I learned from my experience was that whatever album I ever want to make in the future, I definitely want to work with live musicians in a room to hear stuff. I try to keep it simple. If I think it’s amazing I’m not going to mess with it too much. If I listen to it honestly and I try to put on my hardest critic hat and it does not like blow me away, I try ways to make the music sound better. I think if you’re happy with the music that’s the main thing and the creative thing you do with it is more of a fun way to communicate with fans. Like everything in music that I do, I can relate to when I was a kid or when I was a music fan.
At first I was not sure about going into the solo career, but when I was doing my solo record, I was like, ‘Okay, there’s zero compromise.’ I then realized that I could do whatever I wanted to do and enjoyed doing that a lot. I think if anything it made me realize that I like being a solo artist and collaborating with The Strokes. The main thing I learned from my experience was that whatever album I ever want to make in the future, I definitely want to work with live musicians in a room to hear stuff. I try to keep it simple. If I think it’s amazing I’m not going to mess with it too much. If I listen to it honestly and I try to put on my hardest critic hat and it does not like blow me away, I try ways to make the music sound better. I think if you’re happy with the music that’s the main thing and the creative thing you do with it is more of a fun way to communicate with fans. Like everything in music that I do, I can relate to when I was a kid or when I was a music fan.
Pedro Jimenez is currently a student attending California State University Northridge. He loves communicating through music with others and enjoys playing his guitar.