Biography of The Strokes

The Strokes have been called the second-coming of the Velvet Underground. Their major label debut, Is This It? (RCA), in 2001 fueled the hype about the band well beyond its home base in New York City. The Strokes formed in 1999 and debuted at the Spiral in New York City on September 14 of that year. They spent most of their time rehearsing new songs in the Music Building in New York City. On the strength of word-of-mouth hype, the rising rock stars began playing at Under the Acme, then at Lower East Side clubs, such as Arlene Grocery, Baby Jupiter, and Luna, in New York City. After Ryan Gentles (now the band's manager) booked them at the Mercury Lounge and later at the Bowery Ballroom in New York City, Jeff Travis at Rough Trade Records picked up the group's demo in November 2000 and released it as a three-song EP called The Modern Age in January 2001. That set off a label bidding war to claim the Strokes and A&R guy Steve Rabowski wooed the group to RCA. Both the CD and the initial three-song EP were recorded under the guidance of producer Gordon Raphael at Transporter Raum Studio in the East Village in New York City. While songwriter and lead singer Julian Casablancas' vocals sound like Lou Reed, the rest of the band splits their identity between the Velvet Undergound, Television, John Lennon, Roy Orbison, and Buddy Holly. Casablancas came up with the band's name. Guitarist Nick Valensi, guitarist Albert Hammond, bassist Nikolai Fraiture, and drummer Fabrizio Moretti round out the group. All dropped out of college in 2000. Casablancas, Valensi, and Moretti first met at Manhattan's private prep school Dwight School and began playing together informally in 1998. Soon they met Fraiture, who was attending Le Cest Francais on the Upper East Side in New York City. Hammond came to New York from his home in Los Angeles to attend film school at New York University and eventually was invited into the band by his former boarding school friend and bandmate Casablancas. Valensi and Fraiture went to Hunter College, Fabrizio entered SUNY-Paltz, and Casablancas enrolled at Five Towns on Long Island before all were steered away from academic studies by the promise of rock stardom. Fabrizio began playing drums at age five and studied privately in New York City. The other bandmates discovered music in their teens. Hammond caught the music bug after visiting England, where he saw a show about the life of Buddy Holly. The Strokes completed its first U.S. tour with Doves in 2001 and then toured the East Coast with Guided By Voices. That was followed by a U.K. tour with Traildead. In support of its debut CD, Is This It?, the Strokes toured America and Europe in 2001. ~ Robert Hicks