Julian Casablancas: 'The Voidz is me alone, and The Strokes was like me filtered through other people'

Julian Casablancas joins Matt Wilkinson on Apple Music 1 to discuss The Voidz’s new album ‘Like All Before You’, the process of releasing the album, the band’s unique sound and where he gets inspiration from for their songs. Julian Casablancas also talks about the difference between writing songs for The Voidz and The Strokes, performing with The Voidz and using voice effects.

Julian Casblancas talks only releasing singles until they have an album ready…
I think our idea was that we were just going to do singles for a while and have a couple of songs in the tank and record it. And if ever it was time to put out an album, we would, and so I guess now is that time, phase two. I think you work on an album and it's such an intense, long process. Then you put it out and in the internet age, people can forget 40 hours later. The thinking was maybe one song at a time, and we can build things around singles. So the album, I guess we decided people would probably pay more attention, so we put them all together.

Julian Casablancas talks inspirations for songs…
I get ideas all the time. They can happen without an instrument, but generally developing the harmonic structure of things is with an instrument. So I think traditionally, I would write with an instrument, but over the years, it's just sometimes I've had dreams or maybe it was some other famous person or someone that I was a fan of that played a song in my dream and I would wake up and think, "Wow, that was a cool song." And I'd be like, "Oh wait, wait a second. That doesn't exist. I made it up."

Julian Casablancas talks The Voidz’s unique sound…
We are trying to do something. It's got elements that are a jazz improv thing. It's not like a cookie cutter pop song, I think it's got new things, but it's also classically trained with new technology. It's just a mixture of a lot of things and I think we're still honing it in, and exploring it, and trying to make it catchy and palpable, not just experimental, weirdo art for art's sake.

Julian Casablancas talks the difference in writing songs for The Strokes and The Voidz…
In one sense you could be in the room with five other people throwing around ideas, and in another you could be completely on your own, nobody else saying, "This is good stuff.”

But the irony is that with The Strokes songs, I was on my own. Those demos I did all by myself. They sound very close to the record. And then The Voidz, my dream has always been to just work on harmony, melody, and then someone else writing the drum beats, because someone should be better at the drums than I am. And someone else doing complicated chord structure. The frustration that you're feeling is not in the reality of doing both but the perception that I'm always fighting that The Voidz is me alone, and The Strokes was like me filtered through other people, when actually it's the other way around.

Julian Casablancas talks performing with The Voidz…
Matt Wilkinson: I feel like with The Voidz you are very relaxed. I've never seen a Voidz show or seen footage of a Voidz show where you have seemed tense particularly.

Julian Casablancas: I think that's an act. I've heard some people say, "I feel natural on stage." That's not me. Well, you're being judged, even walking across a stage. I'm just saying the analogy for just walking. You walk down the street, you don't think about it. But you're walking on stage and you're like, "The legs and my muscles." It's like I've never done this before. And there's that element, in general.

Julian Casablancas talks using voice effects…
When it comes to certain melodies, they are benefited. For example, "Hit me with the old rhythm stick," If you put autotune on that, it'll sound like garbage because the personality, it's almost not a note. But on the flip side of that, I noticed years ago when it started, they wouldn't even be that good, but then somehow Broadwaying them, auto-tuning them was just like, whoa, that actually has its own thing. So I kind of run every melody almost through the test. And some are good without, and some are good with.