- Lots of bands with potential are just not devoted enough to drop everything else in their lives and be an amazing band. They're scared of losing their day jobs or they've got wives; there's something preventing them from devoting their lives to music, which is what we've done. We all dropped out of school, quit our jobs, pretty much sacrificed our social lives for a long time, cooping ourselves up in a rehearsal studio from eight at night till eight in the morning. We ate, slept, walked and talked music. We love it. That's the way it should be.
- [December 2003] I'm not interested in letting people get to know me. I'm just not. I'm the type of guy who has very few friends. I don't trust people with too many friends and acquaintances. I've always been a little wary of people.
- [After he claimed to never have made his bed in his whole life, a reporter asks if his mother did it for him] No, it just never got done. It still isn't. I tidy it up a bit right before I go to bed, but that's it.
- Always respect people but never really trust them. If I need something done I try my best to go about it completely independently. Because I've learned throughout my short life that people are not to be trusted. Plain and simple.
- [Do you realize some of your fans will hate the synths part?] You can't make everyone happy. I've always liked the fun swing of Last Nite, Someday and Under Cover of Darkness but we have to grow too. It's impossible to make every fan happy. The other members are my barometer. We've thought this way since the very first record.
- I always thought I wanted to be able to play any song you could name. But once I started playing with Julian, that's when I really started to understand music.
- In Bordeaux, my 88-year old grandfather is a Strokes fan. He's very proud of me. He keeps telling me 'If you play rock'n'roll, you've got to move on stage. And add back singers. And a brass section!' [laughs] Can you imagine the Strokes with all that?
- [Can a member of The Strokes be replaced?] It will never happen. It's in our contract : if one member leaves, the band is over. It's a sacred clause. We're tied by it.
- [Julian's advertising for Azzaro fragrances...] Yes I know. I wouldn't have made the same choice. That being said, I'm sure he's going to live in a nicer apartment than mine. [laughs] And also that he will send his kids in a better school than mine.
- [Regrets?] I ate sushi this morning. I regret it...
- [Is it hard to have 2 guitarists in a band?] There's no competition but it's not always easy. I do all the solos on Angles. We used to share them, but Albert didn't want to do it on this record.
- [2003] I get the impression that you already [five minutes into the interview] know what you're going to write about the Strokes. My quotes will just kind of be filler to reinforce your point. I haven't read a lot of innovative things written about the Strokes. People never take a cool stance. It's usually pretty typical.
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