#strokescol

Is This It:

Before any other song in the album, I knew I liked this one. A lot of folk hyped Is This It as THE Strokes album and while pre-2020 I could see why, when I first listened to it I really didn't get it. Now with my frankly ludicrous amount of Strokes lore knowledge I've gotten quite the fondness for this album, especially as their debut. I wanted this piece to carry that sense of initial camaraderie the band had, while also sort of foreshadowing both the direction of the band and reflecting what the song's about.

On the surface I wanted a fun way to incorporate the spirit of both the original album art and alt art into a piece. Julian's the way he is here because 1) the general attitude of the song Is This It he affects, 2) at the end of the day he's still the most focused on as the frontman. While they want to think they're all equals in this there is still the sense that everyone's still sort of following him?

The rest I didn't put in that much thought. Albert is directly behind Julian because. They were roommates. But you could argue Nikolai was closer, but hey, turned out the way it did. For me there's a sense that Albert, while not exactly in Julian's shadow, chases the fame and regard Julian has, even til now. In that sense he's wrapped the closest. That's simultaneously also how I feel about why Albert doesn't exactly have bands like his bandmates in solo work, but I digress. He's really only a small part here 😭😭😭

Nick and Fab and Nikolai are really just chilling. I think it's fun to have friends sitting around, smoking, drinking, as they did in the old days. I like to think this is backstage, after a performance. That's really all there is to the rest of this piece. Fun to do overall!

Hard To Explain:

For a piece with as much drive as this song had I wanted something that encapsulated the theme the MV brought of forward momentum, and constant buzz. In that way vehicles were put into play. Travel really played a big part in how The Strokes got where they are now, be it the initial touring around different cities and states, or their big trip and tour to the UK that brought them their initial international hype.

Again, another composition with Julian still as the conductor of this train, but I added nods like Nikolai looking at Albert, Fab recording (hearkening back to In Transit) (Even though in hindsight Nick should be recording) and Nick commenting on it. I still want that sense of how everyone still looks out for each other in the midst of their first craze.

Stars outside the window's another callback to the alt album cover, and the arrows on Hard To Explain is a reference to the clip of arrows originating out of Singapore in the MV (yes I'm biased!) The arrows coming out of Julian is in reference to how he was the link to a lot of them meeting each other (Julian and Albert meeting, Julian and Nikolai's bestie status, Julian and Nick meeting in school etc. I think Fab met him through Nick though) and how, again, they're really following him at this point, especially since he has sole songwriting credit for Is This It.

The Modern Age:

Short and sweet, this is in reference to the music video. The base of the mic stand is in reference to their first EP of the same name. Fun!

This song's here because it really did make the appeal of them as a live band click for me (which is funny since it's a year after I Actually saw them live). Like yea, these guys were here to blast your socks off in a live setting and here to bring good ass music to the people. I did a sort of POV of someone in front row, not really looking at them, just jamming. Nick's pose was one he struck during one of his solos I think, thought it was cute. I like how obvious Albert is from his shoes. I really do believe he owns 19 pairs of shoes back then.

Overall colours, addition of the red is thanks to the EP. That's about it!

Last Nite:

Here's a disclaimer - I don't really care about this song in particular. But I think it's a little too iconic to their phenomenon to leave out.

I'm not part of the generation that catches The Strokes on MTV or any TV or anything, just part of the one that found them through the internet and fell in love. In that sense I kind of did a monitor of dubious origin. Whether it's TV or PC Monitor, I don't know, I just drew a screen.

Rest of the scene is dark to literally be night. A beer bottle I drew in because I found it cute how Julian in the video drank, and probably the folk watching were too. I drew a speaker behind it, but I don't think that's immediately obvious... But it's more to reference all the accounts of people in Meet Me In The Bathroom (the book) about how they played The Strokes on their speakers, and just enjoyed the music.

I could've reproduced any scene from the MV, but I got drawn to the initial start of it. Of when the lights on stage were just slowly coming on but the band itself isn't lit yet. It's fun anticipation, and it sorta fits the mood here.