Julian Casablancas

Julian Casablancas

Julian Fernando Casablancas (born August 23, 1978) is the vocalist and songwriter of the alternative rock band The Strokes.

Early life and education

Julian Casablancas is the son of John Casablancas, a Spanish-American, the son of Catalonian immigrants from Sabadell in Spain and the founder of Elite Model Management, and Jeanette Christiansen, a Danish model who was Miss Denmark in 1965, and brother of Cecile Casablancas. His paternal grandfather Ferran Casablancas was a textile businessman. His parents were divorced when Casablancas was very young and he lived with his mother and Sam Adoquei.

The first original member of The Strokes who Casablancas met was Nikolai Fraiture. The two attended the same kindergarten. When he was 14, Casablancas was caught drinking before school and consequently forced twice a week to attend a rehabilitation program called Phoenix House. Soon afterwards, his father sent him to Institut Le Rosey, a boarding school in Switzerland. It was here that he encountered Albert Hammond, Jr.. Though the two were not friends at the time, they would later become room-mates and finally band-mates.

When Casablancas returned to New York after six months at Le Rosey, he continued his education at Dwight School in Manhattan, where he befriended Fabrizio Moretti and Nick Valensi, who later also became fellow band members. He dropped out in 11th grade and attended Five Towns College on Long Island for one year, receiving a scholarship after writing a classical composition. He worked as a bartender before going into music professionally.

Music

Julian Casablancas' vocals feature a distinct delivery as well as a wide range in pitch. His signiture vocal style combines elements of sing-speak and soul, drawing influences most notably from Lou Reed and Ian Curtis. Also, his range is far reaching on both ends of the pitch spectrum. While his normal range would be classified as baritone, recently he has extended into bass as well as tenor notes; he sings very low notes (Heart in a Cage, Ask Me Anything) as well higher ones (You Only Live Once, Razorblade). However, his more recent melodies tend to utilize full range rather than dwell in a specific area. For example, songs like Vision of Division, Reptilia, or Juicebox start with softer, more soulful, lower pitched tones, then move into stronger, near shouted, higher pitched notes in the chorus. This however is not true of all his compositions, particularly his earlier songs. 12:51, The Modern Age, Barely Legal, etc. tend to remain in relatively the same vocal range to either create more subtle melodies or to emphasize on sing-speak delivery. All in all, his vocals emphasize two things: melody and soul.

As The Strokes' principal songwriter, he has the greatest impact on their sound and has been known to be extremely meticulous with it. While Casablancas composes on a variety of instruments, perhaps his greatest and most underappreciated innovation is his use of the keyboard to write complex arrangements that he later transposes to fit the Strokes' guitar-driven lineup. For an example of this technique, refer to the similar "I'll Try Anything Once," an unreleased demo, and "You Only Live Once," which appears on First Impressions of Earth. The former is typical of Casablancas' nascent compositions; the latter is the finished, full-band product. All his compostions for the band feature intricute arrangements strictly tailored for 2 guitars, Bass, Drumset, and 1 Vocal. This formula is critical to the Strokes' signiture sound and has remained unchanged for 3 albums (the only exception being the Mellotron driven track, Ask Me Anything). Also, his songs feauture typical pop song structures and time frames; the Strokes rarely exceed past 4 minutes in their songs, the longest song "On the Other Side" clocking in at 4:40.

Another recent change has come in the recording of his vocals, which is significantly clearer and louder than their first two albums. However, Casablancas says this was adjusted only because it fit the songs more, and not because he was any less self-critical about his voice.

Known to not play much in Strokes' recordings, Julian has proved himself an able multi-instrumentalist through guest appearances. He's played guitar on "Sick, Sick, Sick" by Queens of the Stone Age, bass guitar on Albert Hammond, Jr.'s "Scared," and the second set of drums on the Strokes' "Evening Sun."

He has also served as inspiration for several other musicians. For instance, Courtney Love's song "But Julian, I'm a Little Bit Older Than You", from her debut solo album America's Sweetheart (2004), was written about Julian Casablancas.

In 2008, Julian recorded a song with Santogold and Pharrell of N*E*R*D called "My Drive Thru" for Converse. He also appears in the ad campaign.

Personal life

Julian (or 'Jules' as he is known by his friends and family) is an avid baseball fan, particularly of the New York Mets, and has said that "if I could go back in time I'd be a minor league pitcher" . He also likes the New York Jets football team.

On February 5, 2005, Julian Casablancas married Juliet Joslin, The Strokes' assistant manager, in a private ceremony in New York. He announced the engagement at several shows including Central Park, where prior to playing their song "Hard to Explain," he said, "I'm getting married and it's hard to explain!"