After watching ABC News’ interview with Julian Casablancas late last night, I was delighted at how candidly the Strokes frontman described his personal shortcomings, the fact that he is recording his vocals separately from the band, and their, um, interesting motivations for booking headlining festival slots this summer. This thing is pull-quote city, for sure (NME beat me to the punch in that respect), but I think one exchange needs to be fleshed out a bit…
ABC Reporter Dan Harris: What was the impetus behind getting together to play these shows this summer?
Julian Casablancas: Just like… the thing that goes through my mind [is]: should I say the truth? Or should I say what…
DH: I would vote for the truth.
JC: Money.
DH: Really?
JC: Yeah.
DH: The band needs money to record the album or the band needs money to…
JC: No, just the offers were so crazy that we had to say yes.
Not a surprising motivation, per se, but I do respect the honesty! Besides, Black Francis knows exactly what he’s talking about.