Back in 2001, The Strokes’ arrival gave rock ’n’ roll a much-needed jolt. Their invigorating debut, Is This It, became a treasured must-own album globally. It’s hard to believe that a scant few months prior to its barnstorming success, the New York five-piece were playing to tiny crowds in the city’s bars and dingier venues, with nothing but vague hopes of making it into the big leagues.
However their determination to become the best band on the scene instilled in them a rigorous work ethic.
Producer Gordon Raphael, who we interviewed at length this month, told us that when he first laid eyes on the scrappy young indie outfit, he wasn’t massively blown away – instead he was more captivated by the other act on the bill.
“When I first saw the Strokes performing in New York, I was much more interested in the band that opened up for them,” Gordon told us. “Then a couple of days after I handed the Strokes my business card, Albert [Hammond Jr. – the Strokes’ guitarist] came over to my studio to suss me out.”
Hammond Jr was overawed by the aesthetics of Raphael’s studio, Transporterraum, which Gordon described to us as having “silver walls, dark lights, old antique equipment and strange dolls hanging from the ceiling”.
Albert raced back to the other members, telling them that Gordon – and his outlandish studio – was perfect for the band. And so, in November of 2000, the young Strokes came down to Gordon’s studio to cut their first EP.
“I gave the Strokes a three-day, three-song deal,” Gordon says of his initial connection with the band. “So come in on Friday, leave on Sunday night with three songs in your hands – and that was it. It was the music from that weekend that turned into The Modern Age EP. I thought it was just going to be a little demo and never even expected it would be heard by the public.”
Gordon was impressed at the professionalism demonstrated by the band’s members; Julian Casablancas, Hammond Jr., Nick Valensi, Nikolai Fraiture and Fab Moretti.
“When the Strokes came in to record, I was so impressed by them, how seriously they were taking the music and how they let zero mistakes go by.”
With Gordon, the band cut the title track – The Modern Age – an early version of the soon to be omnipresent Last Nite and future debut album highlight Barely Legal.
Despite Gordon’s fears that it might never be actually heard, the EP’s eventual January 2001 release in the UK (via Rough Trade records) revealed to all the obvious brilliance of The Strokes. Once the labels caught wind, a highly publicised bidding war began.
RCA was victorious in the US, while early birds Rough Trade continued to serve as the band’s label in the UK ahead of the recording of their first studio LP.
The response paved the way for Gordon to helm their debut album proper.
“Rough Trade and the band came back to me and we went on to make their debut album,” Gordon says. “My personal favourites from the record have changed over the years. When I heard Take it or Leave It during recording, I was sure that it was a masterpiece and we’d captured something unbelievable in terms of its impact and aggression. Now I like Trying Your Luck, which is more subtle but magical in its rhythm.”
Is This It, of course, became phenomenally popular – and is still regarded as one of the greatest rock records of the 21st century. Its success put Gordon’s name in the spotlight. Leading him to relocate to London…
“Everywhere I went in London, I was being asked to produce so many acts,” he recalls. “Then a big difference was every studio I was using, one of the ones was called The Garden in Shoreditch. It was a phenomenal studio with these giant SSL boards, they had great microphone collections and tape machines. Every band that came through, I recorded to tape.”
