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With The Strokes, you can tell that being cool just sorta comes off of them. They don't do it purposely - they just are. With their rumpled hair and attire and their stoned expressions, tight pants, slurred speech, and sly grins, it's no wonder they've got girls swooning and guys feeling jealous. The Strokes are talented and they know it. It hadn't always been an easy road to success. They had met each other in school (check out individual bios for detail) and they decided they really wanted to make a band. They played underground clubs in New York using the name "The Strokes" and "The Stinky Beatles" and played some songs that never made it to the "Is This It" album. (off the topic, the songs they played then that made it to the Is This It album were New York City Cops, Soma, This Life [Trying Your Luck]) Julian began writing songs and the other guys perfected playing their instruments.

Ryan Gentles (who later became their manager and "the 6th Stroke") discovered them while they were playing at a club (Mercury Lounge), talked to them, and became their manager. They decided to come up with a band name. It was hard to agree on one but ultimately, they chose The Strokes since the others they came up with sucked. They recorded a demo and caught the attention of Rough Trade Records (Home of The Smiths). They were signed and recorded a 3 track CD with them called "The Modern Age" and so began the hype. The rest, as they say, is history.

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The Strokes are a band who, like all the best, have known each other from a young age. Five young spirits with a shared passion for all thing Rock, and all things Roll, it was Julian Casablancas and Nikolai Fraiture who were first to meet at a boarding school in Switzerland, and upon Casablancas' return to his home town of New York he would meet the other Strokes at Manhattan's Dwight School.

Casablancas put the basis of the Strokes together with his friends from school, Fabrizio Moretti, Nick Valensi, and Albert Hammond Jnr, and the group was completed when Hammond moved to New York to join the New York University film school in September 1998.

The band's rise to stardom was both fast and deserved. The group began playing gigs in downtown New York at venues such as the Luna Lounge and the Spiral Club, and as their reputation grew they managed to move up to other venues, including the Mercury Lounge. It was here they were to meet their manager Ryan Gentles, and in doing so had their first major stroke of luck. Gentles has been able to create a big name for the band, and has made all the right moves to help establish the Strokes, and get their music heard.

They had decided to record a 3 track demo to help them try and find more gigs in a wider area, and so went into a local studio and came out with what was to become the 'The Modern Age EP'. Gentles' managerial skills ensured that the demo found it's way into the hands of Rough Trade Records who were so impressed that they released the demo as it was in the UK in January 2001, and the CD reached number 78 in the charts.

The EP was to attract attention from the UK music press, most notably highly respected music weekly the NME. The paper championed the band and ensured that their February tour of the UK was well attended and a big success.

Rough Trade Records extended the bands recording contract, who also signed to RCA records for the rest of the world and the band went back into the studio to record their debut album, eventually emerging with the recently released, 'Is this it'.

The Strokes have released one other single, 'Hard to explain' which was to reach number 16 in the UK charts. They have become the most talked about new band of their time, and are regarded as the 'savours of Indie' by many camps.

Fans can rest assured that the Strokes are here to stay, with the official website claiming they intend to 'tour and record for the rest of their lives'. Whilst they're willing to create, I'm sure we will all be happy to listen!

Credit: Genting.com.my