Julian Casablancas their last album under the contract with long-time label RCA, for which they did no promotion. The band released an EP, "Future Present Past", on Casablancas' own label Cult Records in 2016. As a solo artist, Casablancas set out with an intention to say what was on his mind, both musically and lyrically. Speaking on his experience as a solo artist versus releasing music with The Strokes, the singer has put it simply, “it’s like touring with me or with five of me,” meaning that each member has their own opinionated state of mind. While such statements raised much concern
Is This It Julian Casablancas, guitarist Nick Valensi, bassist Nikolai Fraiture, and drummer Fabrizio Moretti. Casablancas's stepfather and Moretti's and Fraiture's older brothers introduced the quartet to the music of reggae artist Bob Marley, protopunk group the Velvet Underground, and alternative rock band Jane's Addiction. Discussing the formative stages of the group, Moretti noted, "Our music was, like, [the Doors'], but trying to be classical. We all took music classes and tried writing songs, and when we put them together they were this crazy amalgam of insane ideas that we thought was really cool." In 1998, Albert Hammond, Jr., who Casablancas knew from