Albert Hammond Jr
Albert Hammond Jr (born
9 April 1979, in
Los Angeles) is a
musician and member of the
rock band The Strokes. He plays lead and
rhythm guitar.
The son of songwriter
Albert Hammond, Albert Jr. was sent to the elite boarding school
Institut Le Rosey 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 a The Strokes with Casablancas's former schoolmates
Nick Valensi,
Nikolai Fraiture, and
Fabrizio Moretti.
Hammond is currently engaged to Catherine Pierce, one-half of the folk singing group
The Pierces. His trademark is wearing formal suits, usually a different one for each show. Albert is usually seen playing an olympian white
Fender Stratocaster, or bandmate
Nick Valensi's Les Paul Jr. He is usually associated with the "rhythm" guitar portion of the majority of Strokes songs, and most solos are played by Valensi. The solos in which Hammond does play 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 the guitar in a high horizontal position, similar to
Buddy Holly.
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 has been credited to 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. 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 has plans to release a solo album, featuring 10 songs. Entitled "
Yours to Keep," the album features musical guests such as
Sean Lennon,
Ben Kweller, and even The Strokes' manager
Ryan Gentles and lead singer Julian Casablancas. Bassist
Josh Lattanzi and drummer
Matt Romano serve as the backing band, with Albert the main singer and guitarist. It was produced by former
Thin Lizard Dawn vocalist
Greg Lattimer at the
Electric Ladyland Studios, and is set to be released on October 9th, 2006 in the UK. Gentles told Billboard.com that live performances are a possibility in the United Kingdom.
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The Strokes Official Website
