Julian Casablancas has revealed that The Strokes are continuing to work on new material – without him.
The Strokes kickstarted the whole indie revival which dominated music through the past decade. Putting guitars back on the Christmas list for thousands of kids, the New York dons have been silent for much, much too long.
Working on a series of solo projects, The Strokes re-convened last year to begin work on a new album. Progress have been at a snail’s pace, with the New Yorkers seemingly finding it difficult to get back in the recording mindset.
Singer Julian Casablancas has been acting as the spokesperson for the group, and recently revealed that The Strokes have been working on new material – except he hasn’t been involved.
“I think they (the other band members) did a good job,” he told ABC News. “Just tracking the songs. It’s been nice to get my hands on it.”
Continuing, Casablancas explained that he removed himself from recording sessions to allow the group to become more democratic. “I thought honestly it would be a good chance for them to kind of…”
“I’m pretty opinionated. Nothing pushy to the point of it’s my way or no way, but I’ll hear a song and be like, ‘Hmmm, it feels like the bass should be like something different’. Whereas if I feel like I wasn’t in the room then they could just kind of spread their wings.”
The singer explained that The Strokes material suggested the New Yorkers might “funk it up a little”.
The Strokes are set to play RockNess this summer, alongside an appearance at the Isle Of Wight. Asked about these performances the singer suggested that money was the main motivation.
“Should I say the truth? Money,” he said. “Yeah. The offers were so crazy that we had to say yes.”
