November 11, 2009 16:20

The Strokes' Julian Casablancas: 'I never planned to make a solo album'

Singer says he wanted to keep himself busy during Strokes downtime

Photo: Pieter M Vah Hattem

The Strokes' Julian Casablancas has said that he never originally planned to release a solo album - he only embarked on the project to kill boredom.

The singer explained that the main reason he came to record 'Phrazes For The Young', which was released on November 2, was because he didn't want to get bored during the New York band's downtime.

"I never wanted to do it," Casablancas told The Orange County Register. "But I feel like I was kind of forced a little, to be quite honest. The band wanted to go do their own thing, and that's cool – I respect that they need to go do that. But I didn't want to sit around."

Casablancas added that he is now concentrating on his solo show, which tours the UK in December. "Hopefully people [will] see something that they don't usually see, and that excites and inspires, and hopefully gets the word going around so that we can do this crazy show in other places, too," he commented.

Speaking about The Strokes' future, the frontman stressed that his solo project won't interfere with the band's new album plans.

"Whether it takes off or not, I'll still do Strokes stuff," he stated, adding: "I think [recording] is going to start in January, but I'm free for them whenever."