Albert Hammond, Jr.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Albert Hammond, Jr. | ||
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 Albert Hammond, Jr. (left) with fellow Strokes band member Nick Valensi (right).
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| Background information | ||
| Born | April 9, 1980 (age 26) Los Angeles, California |
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| Genre(s) | Indie rock | |
| Instrument(s) | Guitar Vocal |
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| Label(s) | Rough Trade Records Scratchie/New Line Records(US) | |
| Associated acts |
The Strokes | |
Albert Hammond, Jr. (Born 9 April 1980, in Los Angeles) is a musician and member of the indie rock band The Strokes. He plays lead and rhythm guitar.
The son of Gibraltarian musician Albert Hammond and Argentinian Mother Claudia, Albert Jr. was sent to the elite boarding school Institut Le Rosey in Switzerland at the age of 13. While there, he met Julian Casablancas, who would go on to be a fellow band member.
In 1998, Hammond met up with Casablancas in New York City and together they formed The Strokes with Casablancas's former schoolmates Nick Valensi, Nikolai Fraiture, and Fabrizio Moretti.
Hammond was once engaged to Catherine Pierce, one-half of the folk singing group The Pierces, but is currently single. His trademark is wearing formal three-piece suits, and has been said to be the most influential on the band's style. Albert is usually seen playing an 1970's Olympic White Fender Stratocaster with its bullet rod sticking out of the headstock just above the nut, or a Les Paul Jr. that is sometimes used by bandmate Nick Valensi. On the majority of The Strokes' songs he plays rhythm guitar, and solos are played by Valensi. The songs in which Hammond does play solos are "Last Nite," "Trying Your Luck," "Take It or Leave It," "Under Control," "The End Has No End," "Ize of the World," and "Vision of Division." His solos tend to focus largely on more emotional, "bluesy"-type melodical work, and the guitar tends to have a cleaner, softer tone in comparison to Valensi's (with a notable exception found in "Vision of Division"). He often holds his guitar in a high horizontal position, similar to Buddy Holly, which he says is so that he can dance better.
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[edit] Songwriting and Solo Work
Although vocalist Julian Casablancas is the major contributor to the songwriting process for The Strokes' music, Hammond has been known to write a few pieces of his own. He co-wrote the track "Automatic Stop" with Casablancas for the group's second album, Room on Fire. He has also been credited with writing three mostly instrumental songs ("Swiss Beats", "Holland", and "By The Way") for the band's 2001 tour video entitled "In Transit". These songs were then slightly reworked to appear on his later solo album, under different titles ("Everyone Gets A Star", "Bright Young Thing", and "In Transit", respectively). He had also written a song called "Elephant Song," which Albert used when he was required to record a song for his Sound 101 class in freshman year, using the school's recording equipment. The song was played at a few shows before the release of their first album. The Strokes later re-recorded the song as a special giveaway for fanclub members.
Hammond released a solo album entitled "Yours To Keep" in the U.K. through Rough Trade Records on October 9, 2006. Produced by Thin Lizard Dawn vocalist Greg Lattimer and recorded at the Electric Ladyland Studios in New York City, the album features several musical guests, such as Sean Lennon, Ben Kweller, The Strokes' manager Ryan Gentles, Jody Porter of Fountains of Wayne, Chris Feinstein, Mikki James, Sammy James Jr. (The Moony Suzuki) and The Strokes' lead singer Julian Casablancas. Bassist Josh Lattanzi and drummer Matt Romano serve as the backing band, with Hammond on guitar and vocals. The first single taken from the album, "Everyone Gets A Star", was released exclusively through iTunes on September 4, 2006.
He has said to have been "waiting to make a record like this for years". [1] Early support from his fellow bandmates in the Strokes was only evident after Julian Casablancas' role playing bass and back-up vocals on the track "Scared", though all of the members (with the exclusion of Nick Valensi who was busy taking care of his new-born children) attended his shows in and around New York.
"Back To The 101" will be the follow up single to "Everyone Gets A Star". The music video debuted online in March of 2007[2]. This will be available in general music stores, unlike "Everyone Gets A Star" which was only available through UK iTunes Music Store. This is scheduled for release on 27 November 2006
In November 2006, Albert Hammond, Jr. was announced to be joining Incubus on tour during their North American tour for their new album "Light Grenades".
According to his MySpace page, the album is due out for a North American release on March 6, 2007, coinciding with his announcement to join Bloc Party on their world tour before making stops at Montreal's Metropolis and Toronto's Kool Haus.
[edit] Discography
[edit] Singles
| Year | Title | Chart Positions | Album | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Hot 100 | US Modern Rock | UK Singles Chart | |||
| 2006 | "Everyone Gets A Star" | - | - | - | Yours to Keep |
| 2006 | "Back to the 101" ("101" in the U.S.)" | - | - | - | Yours to Keep |
[edit] References
- ^ The Evening Standard (London) - "Albert is so neat"
- ^ Albert Hammond Jr.: 101, Blender Online, March 2007, retrieved on March 16, 2007.
3. Spin Magazine Feature October 2003, Retrieved March 25, 2007[1]
[edit] External links
- The Strokes official website
- Albert Hammond, Jr. official myspace
- Yours To Keep - A Fansite For Albert Hammond, Jr.
| The Strokes |
|---|
| Julian Casablancas | Nikolai Fraiture | Albert Hammond, Jr. | Fabrizio Moretti | Nick Valensi |
| Discography |
| Albums and extended plays: The Modern Age | Is This It | Room on Fire | First Impressions of Earth |
| Singles: "Hard to Explain" | "Last Nite" | "Someday" | "12:51" | "Reptilia" | "The End Has No End" | "Juicebox" | "Heart in a Cage" | "You Only Live Once" |
