The Strokes guitarist Albert Hammond Jr. has candidly talked through his recent drug problems, casting a light on one of the major reasons for the long wait for a new album from the New York band.
Hammond Jr. told Spin how he returned to recording with The Strokes just one month after a long stint in rehab, something which shocked his friends.
“People can’t believe I did that,” he said. “I wasn’t on any chemicals. It was hard, you have two good years of post-acute withdrawal. I was nervous and couldn’t remember things. It’s like having a stroke, no pun intended.”
“You always do the crazy-rock-star thing, of course, but I’d rather be left with music from someone I admire than their funny stories of all the fucked up shit they did.”
Later, bandmate Nick Valensi told of how the problems had begun to have a negative affect on the group in the studio. “We all saw something was broken, certain people getting into drugs,” he admitted. “There was a lot of nodding off and passing out in the studio, like, ‘Jesus, you’re not awake to record your part, we have to wait four hours so you can nap’.”
The Strokes’ new album, ‘Angles‘, was finally released earlier this month after delays had continually put back the issue date since last summer.