Julian Casablancas' Pets

Julian Fernando Casablancas is an American rock singer and songwriter. He’s most well-known for being the lead vocalist and songwriter of indie rock band The Strokes. He’s also the founder of Cult Records, an independent record label. After forming The Strokes in 1998, they released their first EP, The Modern Age, in 2011. This EP gained instant and major attention from record labels and indie rock fans. Later that year, their iconic album Is This It, was released. With plenty of hype from their EP, The Strokes started a world tour as the album was released across various countries. Is This It went on to go platinum in several countries and is considered one of the best albums of the 2000s. The band went on to release the following albums: Room on Fire (2003), First Impressions of Earth (2005), Angles (2011), Comedown Machine (2013), and The New Abnormal (2020). Casablancas also released a solo album in 2009 called Phrazes for the Young. In 2013 he lead the experimental rock band The Voidz and released two albums: Tyrany (2014) and Virtue (2018).

In 2003, Casablancas joined forces with The White Stripes’ Jack White, featuring in “Little Girl,” a track from the latter’s side project, The Dead Weather. This venture with White opened up new avenues of music creation for Casablancas, and he began exploring different sounds outside of The Strokes. In 2009, he had a significant collaboration with Pharrell Williams and Santigold, together creating “My Drive Thru” for Converse’s centennial celebration. His deepening fascination with electronic music became evident when he collaborated with Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo of the electronic band, Daft Punk in 2013, lending his vocals to the track “Instant Crush” from the duo’s chart-topping album “Random Access Memories”. A year later, Casablancas was drawn to another alternative musical venture, this time with Jehnny Beth from the band Savages, resulting in a cover of “Boy/Girl,” originally by Danish punk band Sort Sol and singer Lydia Lunch. Lastly, Casablancas’s 2019 collaboration with The Voidz, a band he formed himself, demonstrates his continual search for fresh creative avenues, leading to the production of the edgy album, “Virtue”.

His first notable distinction came in 2002 when The Strokes’ debut album “Is This It” won the NME Album of The Year, cementing their place in the industry. Then, the year 2006 saw Julian and The Strokes’ album “First Impressions of Earth” hit number one on the UK Albums Chart, marking a pivotal moment in his career. His collaboration with Daft Punk on “Instant Crush” in 2013 also gained considerable attention, with the song peaking at number 58 on the UK Singles Chart and the album “Random Access Memories” winning the Grammy for Album of The Year in 2014. In the same year, his cover of “Boy/Girl” with Jehnny Beth was nominated for the NME Award for Best Music Video. More recently, in 2020, The Strokes won the Grammy for Best Rock Album for their album “The New Abnormal”.