Julian Casablancas opens up about emotionless relationship with Strokes

Julian Casablancas has revealed that he does not “feel anything” when he performs with the Strokes. As the band continue alongside Casablancas’s solo career, the singer admitted that he no longer enjoys playing any of their famous songs.

“It’s still fun to see people react [to the songs]. But do I emotionally feel anything from it? No,” Casablancas told Rolling Stone. “A little while ago, I saw someone perform a cover of some top 40 song in an empty bar, like he probably just learned it two days ago. He was probably enjoying playing that more than I enjoy playing Last Nite.”

Although the Strokes did “some things right”, Casablancas insists that their commercial success conceals a quality problem. “It’s the same thing with an actor,” he said. “If a movie does really well at the box office, they make 10 of those afterward because that’s what they think people like ... [But] if something has commercial value, it doesn’t mean it’s good.”

For the Strokes’ last two albums, 2011’s Angles and 2013’s Comedown Machine, Casablancas said he ceded songwriting control just to “keep the peace”. “I was like, ‘You like it better that way? Fine.’” He is using his new solo album, Tyranny, to express something nearer to his current interests: “[I’m] hungry to try to inspire something as big if not bigger [than the Strokes],” he said, “but with more meaning.”

Tyranny, which is credited to Julian Casablancas + the Voidz, is out now.