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The Strokes.
My conversation with Julian Casablancas didn't get off to what one would consider a 'good start'. "Sorry, what?" Casablancas replied to my first question. "Sorry, I was distracted, someone was telling me weird stuff. So, sorry, let's start again."
I can't say I wasn't half expecting a tough one, after all, Casablancas and his Strokes have been treading the media mill for nigh on six years now, speaking to journalists from all corners of the world. Hence the situation was slightly surreal, given that Julian Casablancas, lead singer of The Strokes, was now talking to me, Cassie Hilditch, as I lay in bed in my flannelette pyjamas (hey, it was an early interview). And, bad starts aside, he was surprisingly unpretentious and garrulous.
The Strokes are currently doing a brief tour in South America, playing their first live shows in almost a year having taken time off to work on their new album. "I'm actually a little nervous because we haven't played for so long," Casablancas admits. "I've got to work on my moves! You know, the David Lee Roth split, also known as the Bon Jovi. It's not just the moves, singing wise I just want to make sure..." he trails off, finding the right words. "The new songs are a lot harder for me. They've definitely pushed this time. You know, I would say 'I can't hit that note' and they'd say 'you just did' so I was like 'damn you!'" he laughs. "But in the end it's for the best - it's just a little more intense. I have to do stuff that I always hated and thought was stupid like warming up and all that. Well, it's not stupid but I just never needed to; I always thought I was kind of cool. And I'm still mildly not into it," he says sheepishly, then adds quickly. "But we'll see how it goes, maybe once I'm in the swing of it it'll be okay. I'm getting way too specific about random details, sorry about that!"
The new album that has given Casablancas such a hard time is currently under the strict lock and key of SonyBMG. The military style operation presently underway to prevent any potential leaks on the Internet was news to Casablancas. When I explain that I had to attend a special listening session in the SonyBMG office a day or so before the interview, he's genuinely surprised. "Oh God, I'm sorry. It's tough; you do music for people to hear and to enjoy, so you don't want to keep it hushed up. Maybe we're just old-fashioned. I mean, we understand people eventually are going to download it and that's fine, I don't give a shit. Sometimes the only place you can find a song is on the net for free, it's that or spend half an hour in a record store and pay money. But in other ways we still hold on to that feeling of going the day it comes out if you're excited about it, standing in line with friends, having the artwork and just having it in your hands. It's something we want to preserve if we can, without pissing too many people off."
The only track currently released from the as yet untitled album
is Juicebox, a bass-heavy single with a definite Strokes
feel but with enough of a twist to keep fans guessing as to
the direction of the new album. "It's such a mystical thing
this whole 'single' business. Everyone has their own opinion
and knows what's going to be good and it gets ugly when they're
saying 'oh yeah, that's got a hook' and all that bullshit. We
all like the song, we don't have strong feelings against or
for it - like all the songs; it wasn't a huge thing, we didn't
really care. We thought it would be a fine ambassador and wouldn't
represent us in a bad way."
I mention that in Australia a 'juice box' is often referred to as a 'fruit box' or 'popper' (in Eastern states). "Maybe we should change the name for Australia," he suggests. "We're doing the artwork with an Australian dude and after a few months his speech has now been slightly Americanised but at first I was like 'what the fuck are you talking about?' He would say a long sentence and it would make no sense to me. I can't guess Australian expressions, they're such curve balls."
Casablancas promises a quick 'hello and we'll be back' tour (no prizes for guessing that it doesn't include Adelaide) before a proper tour next year to promote the new album. He also hopes to stop by in Hawaii again on the way out here. "Well, I really loved Hawaii. We stopped there on our way to Australia or Japan when we were traveling across the pond, the Pacific pond. It was like paradise on Earth but had American TV and you could just go to an American style mall - it has the best of both worlds. So Casablancas' idea of paradise? "Humidity, beaches, amazing weather, water, cable and shopping malls."
Cassie Hilditch
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'First Imperssions Of Earth' is out Sun 18 Dec through SonyBMG.
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