CRX PHOTOGRAPHY Darian Zahedi FASHION Hala Matar WORDS Paige Vreede Special thanks to Vivienne Westwood Despite being the only member in The Strokes without a side project, guitarist Nick Valensi never enthusiastically entertained the idea of starting something of his own.. Until now. Valensi has teamed up with Ralph Alexander (The Dose), Richie Follin (Guards), Darian Zahedi, Jon Safley (The Reflections), and Josh Homme on production to form CRX. The new project is a cocktail of fast and aggressive songs, yet still maintains its pop elements as well. Although still gaining recognition, the band has already managed to play a few live shows and opened for Beck on parts of his US tour. The highly anticipated debut album, New Skin, will be available October 28th via Columbia Records. We had a brief chat with Valensi and discussed what it’s like playing intimate shows again, why pizza never disappoints, and a potential endorsement with Head and Shoulders. Paige Vreede: Nick, I have got to ask you why there’s Paige: How does it feel being the frontman of a band? all this chicken talk on your Twitter. Why is a chicken Is it intimidating at all? your spirit animal? Nick: It’s fun. To be honest with you before we did any Nick Valensi: Ha! That’s a funny opening question. I shows I thought that it would be a lot different than just don’t know. My grandparents had chickens. I always being a guitar player. I thought it would be a lot harder gravitated towards them. I’ve always liked chickens. I like and I thought I would feel a lot more self-conscious, but picking them up. I like petting them. I like cuddling with as it turns out it really doesn’t feel all that different. I’m them. It’s weird to say that I also eat them so I’m not, like, kind of just doing my thing as always. It’s just been really that compassionate I guess. I don’t know, man. People on great to finally get this thing on stage and on tour especially Twitter asked me what my favorite animal was so I just considering that was the catalyst for it in the first place. I answered and as people on Twitter do they started feel like I finally achieved the modest goal of getting on criticizing my choice of favorite animal and basically stage and doing it and now it seems like it’s set to surpass started talking shit on chickens. I don’t know how or why that goal and go further than I ever thought it could, which that started. is really exciting. Paige: Well, in regards to CRX, was there anything Paige: Apparently the name “CRX” stems from some that really inspired you to start your own solo project? sort of inside joke between you guys. Is there a story Nick: Mainly sitting at home and wishing that I was on behind that? stage playing in front of people somewhere. That was kind Nick: Well, when you say joke that denotes a kind of of the start of it - just wanting to play. And yeah, I got to a funniness and it’s not really a funny story. I guess when we place where I missed that a lot because we don’t do that were recording the album we would use the term “CRX” a many shows anymore with The Strokes. I guess when we lot and it started out as a kind of shorthand to describe this do it’s usually big festival shows with tens of thousands of kind of more mechanical sound we would go to when we people and I guess I was just yearning for a balance from were recording drums. It came from this drum machine that kind of performing and really just had an urge to play we were using called the CR-78 and then I think because in front of some smaller crowds on smaller stages in some of that Josh Homme, who produced the record, started clubs. I see my friends come to town and play at a club or talking about CRX’s. He got this visual in his head of this a theater and it seemed like fun and I got to a place where punk rocker dude driving a CRX and shredding through I wanted to do it again. Also seeing the other guys in The the deserted highways of Tokyo and shit. I guess he had Strokes go through the process of starting something new a music video going in his head as we were recording this from scratch and introducing it to the world and having song and CRX just sort of became this term. On other to win some people over again. It seemed exciting to me songs we’d be like ‘We should do that CRX shit on this and I finally got to a place where I wanted to do that on song!’ It just was sort of a term we threw around a lot when my own. we were recording so when it came time to pick a name that was on the shortlist of names. I guess because we said Paige: What do you find most exciting about it? that so much when we were recording, to me, in a weird Nick: I haven’t had the experience of introducing a new way, it sort of felt like it described our music more than project to the world since The Strokes came out so that’s any of the other names. It doesn’t really stand for any- just been really fun and really exciting and different from thing. It doesn’t really even mean anything so much. It just putting out a new album with an already established band. in a weird way sounds like our music and I can’t explain Doing the first album for the first time is an experience why. I’m having a lot of fun with. - CRX - Paige: What was it like working with Josh Homme? Paige: What was the first concert that you ever went Nick: It was great. He’s been a friend of mine for a long to? time, but I’ve never had the chance to work with him Nick: Pink Floyd. I think it was 1990 or ‘91 when David professionally before this and he just really blew me Gilmour fronted Pink Floyd. It was pretty awesome. My away at his capability to kind of be wherever I needed friend got bit on the arm by a police dog so I spent some him to be throughout the process. By that, I mean when of the concert in a medical tent. he felt like he needed to be really hands on, involved in arrangements and stuff, he could do that and other times Paige: Why did your friend get bit by a dog?! when things were already kind of flowing he was able to lay Nick: He went off somewhere to take a leak. I guess the back and be more of a big picture kind of producer. Also, lines at the porta potty were too long for him and he went his kind of certainty was something refreshing for me to pee against a tree somewhere and a dog attacked him because I’ve never worked with someone who would be so while he was peeing. He’s lucky he didn’t get his dick bit certain in the decisions they made. ‘Second guess’ is not in off. this guy’s vocabulary. When he makes his mind up about something he is just so fucking sure that he’s right, so it’s Paige: [laughs] That’s so hectic. cool to work with someone like that. Nick: Yeah, but it makes for good memories. Paige: Clearly. So, you always look pretty shnazy when Paige: Did you kind of just go with whatever he said you play. Do you have any go-to outfit for when you because of his certainty? I mean, I wouldn’t say whatever he said. We had perform live? Nick: No, I have go-to outfits just in life in general. I’m a some healthy disagreements. There were times where Nick: creature of habit type of person. I’ll put together an outfit maybe we didn’t see things exactly the same way and he’d and just get really in love with it and wear it for a couple of be like well humor me and lets just try this thing out and months straight and then I’ll retire it. For stage stuff there’s it’d be great. Or sometimes I would say humor me and no go–to. Although, I will say, I have made the mistake lets try this thing out and it would work out. It was more of wearing too much onstage. Leather jackets are hard collaborative than anything. onstage especially if you’re at summertime festivals. At summertime festivals you just want to wear a t-shirt. I Paige: So, I know you’ve played a couple of shows in L.A and a few in New York but you’ve only released remember it was Coachella 2004 and The Strokes were one single. How has the crowd reaction been so far? playing at 4 or 5 in the afternoon and it was like 100 Nick: It’s been really great actually. The first song, the degrees. I was committed to a shirt, a tie, and a leather first single from the album, just came out a couple days jacket.