The Strokes instinctively know about R’n’R and are learning how to handle fame

Of all the bands that have sprouted upon our conscientiousness over the past year, it is The New York’s Strokes that have got all the right ingredients. There is music that recalls the best days of the NYC’s vintage punks that predate the birth of the Strokes’ members; the five boys have the looks, an air of mystery about them and yet they are as American as street-vending pretzels and the Chrysler Building at night. When they speak, Manhattan drips from their tongues…

But there are some concepts that really go above their heads and we discover it as soon as we face Julian Casablancas and bassist Nikolai Fraiture. Having seen the band the previous evening I mention that they inspired my rebirth of trust in music and in particular that of R’n’R being the soul music of white folk. Julian is speechless for an instant but then starts ‘mmm-ing’ while bassie is looking at him, and the two really have no idea how to handle the remark.

“Well, that’s cool but a tall order,” Casablancas replies like he’s just ingested a mood-suppressant, “but if that’s what you think… erm, that’s cool, man… It’s great when people appreciate what we do because there are so many others who complain about the show. We’ve been told so many times that our shows are short (45 mins sans encores), which only tells us that these are people who don’t understand what we are trying to do and the way we are doing it.”

Jagged juxtaposition

The band has really become firm favourite with Brit-fans – aside Julian and Nikolai, drummer Fab Moretti, Nick Valensi (guitar) and Albert Hammond Jr (guitar) – and their lives have become a tad complicated. They plan to work with Badly Drawn Boy (whose gig they attended in London), another surprising Award winner. The Strokes members found themselves with a clutch of trophies (1 Brit and 3 NME Awards), as the Best Newcomer, Best international Band and for the Best Album.

The two members, acting cool-cum-bored, really play down the importance of awards. Having spoken pre-show with drummer Fabrizio (to name him fully), he told me how pleased their really were. But then again, being of the Italian-South American origin, Moretti is more than excitable by nature. The members present are much more restrained in expressing their feelings.

“I agree with you that Rock can be soul music of white folk,” Casablancas states suddenly, “but not totally and not just yet in our case. We are hopefully working toward that goal and it all depends on writing as well. Our music is very instinctive, and I have no idea where songs come from, and if it touches people’s souls, there is nothing more we can ask. All we ever wanted is for people to hear and listen to our music.”

The next gen

The band’s debut album ‘Is This It’ (probably inspired by Bob Geldof’s autobiography, ‘Is That It?’, a remark he overheard a couple of attendees make after the continent-straddling history-making-event in 1986, Live Aid) leaves one with a feeling of – too short. The feeling of ‘we-want-more’ is slightly less show-wise because The Strokes perform two new songs; one is simply known as ‘Ze Newie’ (due to being introduced first in Germany in a Clauseu-sque style) and ‘Meet Me In The Bathroom’. The latter one is paced at about the same tempo as debut album’s title song, the chorus going “Meet me in the bathroom/That’s what she said/I don’t mind… if it’s you.”

“We’ll have to slow down a bit,” Casablancas continues with Fraiture there for moral support, “and play less shows. I stand by our songs as much as I‘ve ever did, we enjoy playing live but there is a danger of our songs becoming too over-familiar to the fans. We need rest, from touring and from each other if we are to keep it interesting and fresh, for us.”

Casablancas then suggests that they might be absent up to a year but all present somehow know that is not going to be the case. They’ll need to get out sooner for their own sake, if not their fans’. Still, he denies feeling any pressure.

“The pressure I put upon myself,” JC counters, “is greater than what other people might imagine. The band itself, we have a quality control and it works. I feel that the responsibility toward the second album would’ve been the same if this were a failure. But, I need to be in New York to relax, to get the attention off my back and focus on songwriting. Anyway, the only pressure I can imagine is to make our songs as good as they can be.”

Before we part Casablancas let slip a little private nugget about being a ‘Trekker’; he used to love ‘Star Trek: The Next Generation’. Not surprisingly Captain Jean-Luc Picard was his favourite character.
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Stop press: ‘Ze Newie’ song has acquired a title of ‘When It Started’ by the time the band completed the continental part of Euro-tour.

Tour dates:

22 March – Barrowlands, Glasgow
23 March – Corn Exchange, Edinburgh
25 March – Apollo, Manchester
26 March – Corn Exchange, Cambridge
28 & 29 March – Brixton Academy, London
31 March – Olympia, Dublin