Julian Casablancas Informations

Julian Fernando Casablancas (born August 23, 1978) is an American singer, musician, songwriter, and record producer. He is best known as the lead singer of the American rock bands The Strokes since 1998 and The Voidz since 2013.

In the midst of The Strokes' hiatus between the release of their third and fourth albums, Casablancas embarked on his solo career, during which the album Phrazes for the Young was released in November 2009, as well as a multitude of collaborations with several other artists on their work, such as The Lonely Island's Incredibad and Daft Punk's Random Access Memories.

In conjunction with the release of his solo album, Casablancas founded the independent record label Cult Records in 2009. In June 2014, Cult Records entered a label services agreement with Kobalt, and currently represents artists such as The Growlers, Rey Pila, Karen O, and several others.

Julian Fernando Casablancas was born in New York City on August 23, 1978, the son of American business mogul John Casablancas, best known as the founder of Elite Model Management, and Danish former model Jeanette Christiansen, who was crowned the 1965 Miss Denmark. He has Catalan ancestry on his father's side. When Casablancas was eight, his parents divorced. He once stated that he wanted to be closer to his father, and this "translated into teenage rebelliousness". His mother subsequently married painter Sam Adoquei. Adoquei helped shape Casablancas' early musical taste by exposing him to music such as The Doors, which was markedly different from the mostly Phil Collins-influenced music he listened to as a child.

Casablancas has known the bassist of The Strokes, Nikolai Fraiture, since they were six, while both were attending Lycée Français de New York. When he was 13, Casablancas' father sent him to Institut Le Rosey, a boarding school in Switzerland, where he met future Strokes member Albert Hammond Jr. Casablancas later returned to New York and attended Dwight School with two other future Strokes, Nick Valensi and Fabrizio Moretti. Casablancas never finished high school, but took a GED and continued to take music classes at Five Towns College, where he says he first enjoyed himself in class.

Upon meeting future guitarist Nick Valensi and drummer Fab Moretti at Dwight School in Manhattan, the three began to play music together. He reconnected with guitarist Albert Hammond Jr. when the latter moved to New York. The band was formed in 1998 when Hammond was accepted into the band, with Casablancas as the lead vocalist and main songwriter and Nikolai Fraiture on bass.

The band began rehearsing a fourteen-song set which included "Alone, Together", "Barely Legal", "Last Nite", "The Modern Age", "New York City Cops", "Soma", "Someday", "Take It or Leave It" and "This Life" (an early version of "Trying Your Luck"). Most of these songs now feature different lyrics. A demo sent to the newly reformed Rough Trade Records in the UK sparked interest there, leading to their first release via the website of the UK magazine, NME, who gave away a free mp3 download of "Last Nite" a week prior to the physical release as part of The Modern Age EP in 2001. The EP sparked a bidding war among record labels, the largest for a rock and roll band in years. Shortly after, The Strokes' critically acclaimed debut album Is This It was released.

The band has received the highest of praise for Is This It, and it set the stage for what people expected to “save rock” in the new millennium. Though some would argue that such statements left unreasonably sized shoes to fill, The Strokes are still highly recognized as one of the most influential garage rock bands of the early 2000s, paving the way for many new alternative bands to come.

Statistically, all albums released following their debut were not nearly as successful or well-received by fans and critics. In an excerpt from Lizzie Goodman's Meet Me in the Bathroom: Rebirth and Rock and Roll in New York City, 2001-2011- named after The Strokes' track- Strokes guitarist, Nick Valensi, comments, "With Room on Fire [2003], people were giving us shit because they said we were sounding too much the same. With the third album [First Impressions of Earth], we were getting shit that we don’t sound like Room on Fire. We got fucked by the same thing twice!"

After the release of the two other albums and several major tours, the band took a 5-year break before returning with their fourth album Angles in 2011. The five-year hiatus was said to be the result of conflicting solo projects, sobriety issues, and unspoken emotions.The Strokes' drummer Fab Moretti claimed the band struggled to process such "subconscious volcanic emotions", partly because they were still "children" at the time.

Though their creative processes has been critiqued by outside observers as “a democracy under a dictator”, Casablancas has encouraged each band member to contribute their own ideas and collectively sort through which ones will potentially turn into something more. Commenting on the meticulous nature of Julian's creative process, guitarist, Nick Valensi, has said, “his ear is so sharp. He’s the one with the ear for detail in this band. Creatively, he is a force to be reckoned with.” The 2011 release, Angles, is said to reflect the beginning of the more collaborative nature of the band's creative process.

The album release was followed by several headlining appearances at musical festivals, including Reading, Coachella, Lollapalooza and Austin City Limits. The band released Comedown Machine in 2013, as their last album under the contract with long-time label RCA, for which they did no promotion. The band released an EP, Future Present Past, on Casablancas' own label Cult Records in 2016.

In December 2018, it was announced that the band would headline at Bilbao BBK Live in 2019, kicking off their global comeback. Numerous dates for festivals and shows have been announced afterwards, including a show at the Governors Ball Music Festival, marking the band's return to New York City.

As a solo artist, Casablancas set out with an intention to say what was on his mind, both musically and lyrically. Speaking on his experience as a solo artist versus releasing music with The Strokes, the singer has put it simply, “it’s like touring with me or with five of me,” meaning that each member has their own opinionated state of mind. While such statements raised much concern for the relations between the band members, Casablancas claims that in pursuit of a solo career, he is protecting the integrity of the [Strokes] vibe. In having a musical project separate from The Strokes, he is able to “chase down any idea [he] wants”, which he would refrain from doing with the band.

His first solo album, Phrazes for the Young (inspired by the Oscar Wilde book "Phrases and Philosophies for the Use of the Young"), was released on November 2 in the UK and November 3, 2009, in the United States. Recorded in Omaha, Nebraska, and Casablancas' home city New York, the album was produced by Jason Lader, with additional production from Bright Eyes' Mike Mogis. The album was strongly influenced by new wave and electronica, with Casablancas utilizing synthesizers for many songs. He discussed his new influences by saying "I would've gone weirder with the music, but I wanted to be smart. I didn't want people to say, 'Okay, this is his weird abstract thing,' and dismiss the album. I worked too hard on it for that to happen...I wanted to be crazy original and bridge the gap between traditional music and modern music."

Julian Casablancas made his live solo debut for a private party for fashion brand Opening Ceremony in Tokyo, Japan. To celebrate the release of the EP, Casablancas performed a series of shows in October 2009 at The Downtown Palace Theatre in Los Angeles with his live show band, The Sick Six. Members of The Sick Six include Jeff Kite (keyboard), Nelson London (synthesizer), JP Bowersock (guitar), Danielle Haim (percussion) and Alex Carapetis (drums). Casablancas then toured with The Sick Six in Europe, United States, Australia and Japan from November 2009 until July 2010.

Casablancas composed an original song, "I Like The Night", as part of his endorsement deal to represent Azzaro's new men's fragrance, Decibel, dB. The Azzaro Decibel television commercial featuring Julian aired in France on September 1, 2011.

Casablancas also hosted a monthly music show Culture Void on Sirius XMU between May 2016 and February 2017, where the singer curated and shared some music across genres.

Casablancas’ most recent project of focus, The Voidz, formerly known as Julian Casablancas + The Voidz, was formed in 2013. Along with Casablancas as lead vocalist, the band consists of Jeramy "Beardo" Gritter and Amir Yaghmai on guitar, Jacob "Jake" Bercovici on bass (as well as synthesizer), Alex Carapetis on drums and percussion, and Jeff Kite on keyboard. Wanting to earn a greater sense of respect as a band, rather than be perceived as a “side-project” of Julian's, the band officially changed their name from "Julian Casablancas + The Voidz" to simply "The Voidz" during an 'initiation' video on the band's YouTube page on December 8, 2017. Julian performed with Carapetis and Kite throughout the tour for his solo album, Phrazes for the Young. Through Carapetis, Casablancas met Gritter and Bercovici. Bercovici, having played music with Yaghmai for several of years, then connected him to Casablancas, forming what is now known as The Voidz.

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