Biography
Julian Casablancas, best recognized as the frontman and chief songwriter for the Strokes, entered the world on August 23, 1978, the offspring of John Casablancas, who established the Elite Model Agency Group, and Jeanette Christiansen, a onetime model and Miss Denmark. Christiansen's next spouse, the painter Sam Adoquei, influenced Casablancas' budding musical leanings by supplying a Doors album that stood apart from the Phil Collins and mainstream pop sounds dominating his listening at the time. Part of his adolescence unfolded at the Swiss boarding school Institut Le Rosey, where he crossed paths with future Strokes guitarist Albert Hammond, Jr., followed by New York's Lycee Français high school, where he connected with Fabrizio Moretti and Nick Valensi.
He started playing alongside Moretti, Valensi, Hammond, and bassist Nikolai Fraiture in 1998, christening the ensemble the Strokes the year after. Their debut album, Is This It, arrived in 2001 and achieved both critical and commercial success while restoring back-to-basics, garage-rooted rock to prominence alongside groups such as the White Stripes and Yeah Yeah Yeahs. The new wave-inflected Room on Fire came next in 2003, succeeded by the more ambitious First Impressions of Earth in 2006, after which the Strokes embarked on an extended hiatus once touring for the latter concluded. Most of Casablancas' bandmates issued recordings through separate ventures or solo: Albert Hammond, Jr. released two solo albums, Yours to Keep in 2006 and ¿Como Te Llama? in 2008; Moretti's band Little Joy delivered their self-titled debut late in 2008; and Time of the Assassins, the first album from Fraiture's Nickel Eye project, surfaced in early 2009. Throughout this period Casablancas joined forces with additional artists, supplying Casio guitar on "Sick, Sick, Sick" from Queens of the Stone Age's 2007 album Era Vulgaris and teaming with Santigold and Pharrell for the track "My Drive Thru" tied to a 2008 Converse Shoes advertising effort, while also recording alongside the Lonely Island, Danger Mouse, and Sparklehorse.
Casablancas launched sessions for his solo debut in 2008 with producer Jason Lader and Bright Eyes' Mike Mogis; Phrazes for the Young, containing denser and more free-flowing material than the Strokes' records, appeared in fall 2009. After rejoining the Strokes for 2011's Angles and 2013's Comedown Machine, he assembled Julian Casablancas + the Voidz to expand the songs he had stockpiled. The outcome was 2014's Tyranny, a dense, sprawling effort shaped by Casablancas' admiration for '80s punk such as Black Flag together with his political outrage. Three years later they transferred to RCA and shortened their name to the Voidz, whose second album, Virtue, arrived in March 2018 with production by Shawn Everett.
He started playing alongside Moretti, Valensi, Hammond, and bassist Nikolai Fraiture in 1998, christening the ensemble the Strokes the year after. Their debut album, Is This It, arrived in 2001 and achieved both critical and commercial success while restoring back-to-basics, garage-rooted rock to prominence alongside groups such as the White Stripes and Yeah Yeah Yeahs. The new wave-inflected Room on Fire came next in 2003, succeeded by the more ambitious First Impressions of Earth in 2006, after which the Strokes embarked on an extended hiatus once touring for the latter concluded. Most of Casablancas' bandmates issued recordings through separate ventures or solo: Albert Hammond, Jr. released two solo albums, Yours to Keep in 2006 and ¿Como Te Llama? in 2008; Moretti's band Little Joy delivered their self-titled debut late in 2008; and Time of the Assassins, the first album from Fraiture's Nickel Eye project, surfaced in early 2009. Throughout this period Casablancas joined forces with additional artists, supplying Casio guitar on "Sick, Sick, Sick" from Queens of the Stone Age's 2007 album Era Vulgaris and teaming with Santigold and Pharrell for the track "My Drive Thru" tied to a 2008 Converse Shoes advertising effort, while also recording alongside the Lonely Island, Danger Mouse, and Sparklehorse.
Casablancas launched sessions for his solo debut in 2008 with producer Jason Lader and Bright Eyes' Mike Mogis; Phrazes for the Young, containing denser and more free-flowing material than the Strokes' records, appeared in fall 2009. After rejoining the Strokes for 2011's Angles and 2013's Comedown Machine, he assembled Julian Casablancas + the Voidz to expand the songs he had stockpiled. The outcome was 2014's Tyranny, a dense, sprawling effort shaped by Casablancas' admiration for '80s punk such as Black Flag together with his political outrage. Three years later they transferred to RCA and shortened their name to the Voidz, whose second album, Virtue, arrived in March 2018 with production by Shawn Everett.
Albums
Singles
