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Julian Fernando Casablancas Life & Biography
Julian Fernando Casablancas was born August 23, 1978, an American singer-songwriter and frontman of The Strokes. Casablancas pursued a solo career during The Strokes' hiatus, releasing the album Phrazes for the Young on November 3, 2009.Julian Casablancas was born in New York, New York, to Spanish-American business mogul John Casablancas, the founder of Elite Model Management, and Jeanette Christiansen, a former model and Miss Denmark. His paternal grandfather, Fernando Casablancas, was a well-known textile businessman. His parents divorced and his mother subsequently married painter Sam Adoquei. Adoquei helped shape Casablancas' early musical taste by exposing him to music such as The Doors which was markedly different from the mostly Phil Collins-influenced music he originally listened to.
The first member of The Strokes Casablancas met was Nikolai Fraiture, who attended Lycée Français de New York with him (Fraiture graduated in 1997, Casablancas in 1996). When he was 14, Casablancas' father sent him to Institut Le Rosey, an elite boarding school in Switzerland. It was during Julian's brief stay in Switzerland that he met future Strokes member Albert Hammond, Jr. Casablancas attended The Dwight School with two other future Strokes, Nick Valensi and Fabrizio Moretti. Casablancas never finished school, but continued to take music classes where he says he first enjoyed himself in class. Casablancas is an alcoholic.
His first solo album, Phrazes for the Young (inspired by the Oscar Wilde book "Phrases and Philosophies for the Use of the Young"), was released on November 2 in the UK and November 3, 2009, in the United States. Recorded in Omaha, Nebraska, and Casablancas' home city New York, the album was produced by Jason Lader, with additional production from Bright Eyes' Mike Mogis. The album was strongly influenced by new wave and electronica, with Casablancas utilizing synthesizers for many songs. He discussed his new influences by saying "I would've gone weirder with the music, but I wanted to be smart. I didn't want people to say, 'Okay, this is his weird abstract thing,' and dismiss the album. I worked too hard on it for that to happen...I wanted to be crazy original and bridge the gap between traditional music and modern music."