Nick Valensi
Encyclopedia
Nick Valensi is a guitarist
for the American Indie rock
band The Strokes
, in which he primarily plays lead guitar and occasionally rhythm guitar.
, until the age of 16. He has an older sister and a younger sister. He was once quoted as saying, "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."
Nick attended Hunter College
with Nikolai Fraiture
.
Riviera with Gibson
P-94 pick-ups. In a 2004 interview with Epiphone, he called it "the greatest guitar never made" because Gibson had never produced a semi-hollow with P-94 style pickups, except for the fully hollow ES-330
and the Epiphone Casino
. He has several models in different colours (all with P-94s), including multiple naturals, one in vintage sunburst, one in red, and a 12-string elite in red. In 2005, Epiphone released a signature model of his guitar, the Elitist Nick Valensi Riviera P-94, and followed it up with a standard model Nick Valensi Riviera P-94 in 2007. Back-up/warm-up guitars include an Epiphone Dot fitted with 2 P-94s, an Epiphone Casino, an Epiphone Sheraton, and a Gibson Faded Special Double Cutaway with 2 P-90
s. Valensi often borrows fellow Strokes guitarist Albert Hammond, Jr.'s backup guitars, which include a Gibson Les Paul
Jr. and a Les Paul Special. New guitars used for the First Impressions of Earth tour include a Les Paul Custom in black, a Fender Telecaster
Custom (which he can be seen using in the music video for Under Cover of Darkness
, and a Duesenberg semi-hollow. Valensi's main amplifier is a 2x12" Fender Hot Rod DeVille
, used with Fender 4x12" extension cabinets during live shows. He also recently purchased a Carr amplifier to use on the last few stops of the First Impressions tour. His pedalboard consists of a Visual Sound Jekyll & Hyde Ultimate Overdrive pedal, Boss TR-2 Tremolo, Vox
Cooltron Bulldog Distortion
, MXR
Micro Amp (2) and a Boss
TU-2 Chromatic Tuner. He has also been seen with an Electro Harmonix Memory Man and a Boss Blues Driver.
His recent pedalboard consists of a Fulltone GT-500 Distortion/Booster, a Korg Pitchblack Tuner, A Visual Sound Visual Volume Pedal, a Visual Sound Double Trouble dual overdrive, a Maxon Distortion Master, an Electro-Harmonix XO Holy Grail Reverb, an Electro-Harmonix Deluxe Memory Man, and an MXR Micro Amp Boost. He uses a Fender Super-Sonic 100-watt head into two Fender 2x12" cabinets.
He cites his influences as The Velvet Underground
, The Cars
, George Harrison
, Slash
, Bob Marley
, Blondie
and Jimi Hendrix
.
. De Cadenet published a book of photographs entitled Rare Birds in 2005, which includes several pictures of Valensi, whom she refers to as her "muse" on her website.
Valensi has described his wife as "The coolest person I know."
Amanda de Cadenet gave birth to their fraternal twins, Silvan and Ella, on October 19, 2006.
's song "Shabop Shalom" on the 2007 album Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon
. Furthermore, he contributed backing vocals on the self-titled debut album of his bandmate Fab Moretti's band, Little Joy
.
He also played guitar for Regina Spektor
's song "Better
", which was released on her album Begin to Hope
and also published as a single in a slightly different version on which the guitar parts are rearranged.
He appears in the video for "Adam & Steve", a song by Devendra Banhart
's side project Megapuss
.
He appears in the video for "No One's Better Sake" by Little Joy as drummer.
He plays guitar on Sia
's album We Are Born
and has also written several hooks and melodies on it. Sia has also stated that she and Valensi are planning to write songs together for other artists.
Guitarist
A guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :The guitarist controls an extremely...
for the American Indie rock
Indie rock
Indie rock is a genre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom and the United States in the 1980s. Indie rock is extremely diverse, with sub-genres that include lo-fi, post-rock, math rock, indie pop, dream pop, noise rock, space rock, sadcore, riot grrrl and emo, among others...
band The Strokes
The Strokes
The Strokes are an American indie rock band formed in 1999 in New York City. Consisting of Julian Casablancas , Nick Valensi , Albert Hammond, Jr. , Nikolai Fraiture and Fabrizio Moretti ....
, in which he primarily plays lead guitar and occasionally rhythm guitar.
Early life
Valensi was born in New York City. From French and Jewish origins, his father is a New York native and his mother, Danielle, is of French descent. Growing up, he had spent every summer at his grandfather's place, near BordeauxBordeaux
Bordeaux is a port city on the Garonne River in the Gironde department in southwestern France.The Bordeaux-Arcachon-Libourne metropolitan area, has a population of 1,010,000 and constitutes the sixth-largest urban area in France. It is the capital of the Aquitaine region, as well as the prefecture...
, until the age of 16. He has an older sister and a younger sister. He was once quoted as saying, "I always thought I wanted to be able to play any song you could name. But once I started playing with Julian
Julian Casablancas
Julian Fernando Casablancas is an American singer-songwriter and musician of The Strokes. Casablancas pursued a solo career during The Strokes' hiatus, releasing the album Phrazes for the Young on November 3, 2009....
, that's when I really started to understand music."
Nick attended Hunter College
Hunter College
Hunter College, established in 1870, is a public university and one of the constituent colleges of the City University of New York, located on Manhattan's Upper East Side. Hunter grants undergraduate, graduate, and post-graduate degrees in more than one hundred fields of study, and is recognized...
with Nikolai Fraiture
Nikolai Fraiture
Nikolai Philippe Fraiture is the bass player for the American indie rock band, The Strokes. Fraiture grew up in New York City with his Russian mother and French father and speaks fluent French. Nikolai has an older brother named Pierre and a younger sister named Elizabeth...
.
Instruments and influences
Valensi's main guitar, which he uses for nearly every live show and recorded song, is a 1990s EpiphoneEpiphone
The Epiphone Company is a musical instrument manufacturer founded in 1873 by Anastasios Stathopoulos. Epiphone was bought by Chicago Musical Instrument Company, which also owned Gibson Guitar Corporation, in 1957. Epiphone was Gibson's main rival in the archtop market...
Riviera with Gibson
Gibson Guitar Corporation
The Gibson Guitar Corporation, formerly of Kalamazoo, Michigan and currently of Nashville, Tennessee, manufactures guitars and other instruments which sell under a variety of brand names...
P-94 pick-ups. In a 2004 interview with Epiphone, he called it "the greatest guitar never made" because Gibson had never produced a semi-hollow with P-94 style pickups, except for the fully hollow ES-330
Gibson ES-330
The Gibson ES-330 is a thinline hollowbody electric guitar model produced by the Gibson Guitar Corporation.Though similar in appearance to the popular Gibson ES-335 semi-hollow guitar, the ES-330 was a fairly different guitar in construction and sound...
and the Epiphone Casino
Epiphone Casino
The Epiphone Casino is a thinline hollow body electric guitar manufactured by Epiphone, a branch of Gibson. It is essentially Epiphone's version of the Gibson ES-330...
. He has several models in different colours (all with P-94s), including multiple naturals, one in vintage sunburst, one in red, and a 12-string elite in red. In 2005, Epiphone released a signature model of his guitar, the Elitist Nick Valensi Riviera P-94, and followed it up with a standard model Nick Valensi Riviera P-94 in 2007. Back-up/warm-up guitars include an Epiphone Dot fitted with 2 P-94s, an Epiphone Casino, an Epiphone Sheraton, and a Gibson Faded Special Double Cutaway with 2 P-90
P-90
The P-90 is a single coil electric guitar pickup produced by Gibson since 1946. Having a more complex architecture and larger dimensions than Fender's single coils, it is occasionally mistaken for a humbucker.- History :...
s. Valensi often borrows fellow Strokes guitarist Albert Hammond, Jr.'s backup guitars, which include a Gibson Les Paul
Gibson Les Paul
The Gibson Les Paul was the result of a design collaboration between Gibson Guitar Corporation and the late jazz guitarist and electronics inventor Les Paul. In 1950, with the introduction of the Fender Telecaster to the musical market, electric guitars became a public craze. In reaction, Gibson...
Jr. and a Les Paul Special. New guitars used for the First Impressions of Earth tour include a Les Paul Custom in black, a Fender Telecaster
Fender Telecaster
The Fender Telecaster, colloquially known as the Tele , is typically a dual-pickup, solid-body electric guitar made by Fender.Its simple yet effective design and revolutionary sound broke ground and set trends in electric guitar manufacturing and popular music...
Custom (which he can be seen using in the music video for Under Cover of Darkness
Under Cover of Darkness
"Under Cover of Darkness" is a song by American rock band The Strokes. The single served as the lead single for their fourth studio album, Angles and was released online on 9 February 2011 as a free download for 48 hours exclusively. It is the first single release from the band in five years,...
, and a Duesenberg semi-hollow. Valensi's main amplifier is a 2x12" Fender Hot Rod DeVille
Fender Hot Rod DeVille
The Fender Hot Rod DeVille is a combo tube guitar amplifier manufactured and sold by Fender. It was introduced in 1996 as part of Fender's Hot Rod line of amplifiers, and since then has been in continuous production...
, used with Fender 4x12" extension cabinets during live shows. He also recently purchased a Carr amplifier to use on the last few stops of the First Impressions tour. His pedalboard consists of a Visual Sound Jekyll & Hyde Ultimate Overdrive pedal, Boss TR-2 Tremolo, Vox
Vox (musical equipment)
Vox is a musical equipment manufacturer which is most famous for making the Vox AC30 guitar amplifier, the Vox Continental electric organ, and a series of innovative but commercially unsuccessful electric guitars and bass guitars...
Cooltron Bulldog Distortion
Distortion
A distortion is the alteration of the original shape of an object, image, sound, waveform or other form of information or representation. Distortion is usually unwanted, and often many methods are employed to minimize it in practice...
, MXR
MXR
MXR, also known as MXR Innovations, was a manufacturer of guitar effects units, co-founded in 1973 by Keith Barr and Terry Sherwood . MXR was based in the United States in Rochester, New York. MXR Innovations, Inc. was incorporated in 1974...
Micro Amp (2) and a Boss
Boss Corporation
Boss is a manufacturer of effects pedals for electric guitar and bass guitar. It is a division of the Roland Corporation, a Japanese manufacturer that specializes in musical equipment and accessories...
TU-2 Chromatic Tuner. He has also been seen with an Electro Harmonix Memory Man and a Boss Blues Driver.
His recent pedalboard consists of a Fulltone GT-500 Distortion/Booster, a Korg Pitchblack Tuner, A Visual Sound Visual Volume Pedal, a Visual Sound Double Trouble dual overdrive, a Maxon Distortion Master, an Electro-Harmonix XO Holy Grail Reverb, an Electro-Harmonix Deluxe Memory Man, and an MXR Micro Amp Boost. He uses a Fender Super-Sonic 100-watt head into two Fender 2x12" cabinets.
He cites his influences as The Velvet Underground
The Velvet Underground
The Velvet Underground was an American rock band formed in New York City. First active from 1964 to 1973, their best-known members were Lou Reed and John Cale, who both went on to find success as solo artists. Although experiencing little commercial success while together, the band is often cited...
, The Cars
The Cars
The Cars are an American rock band that emerged from the early New Wave music scene in the late 1970s. The band consisted of lead singer and rhythm guitarist Ric Ocasek, lead singer and bassist Benjamin Orr, guitarist Elliot Easton, keyboardist Greg Hawkes and drummer David Robinson...
, George Harrison
George Harrison
George Harrison, MBE was an English musician, guitarist, singer-songwriter, actor and film producer who achieved international fame as lead guitarist of The Beatles. Often referred to as "the quiet Beatle", Harrison became over time an admirer of Indian mysticism, and introduced it to the other...
, Slash
Slash (musician)
Saul Hudson , known by his stage name Slash, is a British-American musician and songwriter. He is best known as the former lead guitarist of the American hard rock band Guns N' Roses, with whom he achieved worldwide success in the late 1980s and early 1990s. During his later years with Guns N'...
, Bob Marley
Bob Marley
Robert Nesta "Bob" Marley, OM was a Jamaican singer-songwriter and musician. He was the rhythm guitarist and lead singer for the ska, rocksteady and reggae band Bob Marley & The Wailers...
, Blondie
Blondie (band)
Blondie is an American rock band, founded by singer Deborah Harry and guitarist Chris Stein. The band was a pioneer in the early American New Wave and punk scenes of the mid-1970s...
and Jimi Hendrix
Jimi Hendrix
James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix was an American guitarist and singer-songwriter...
.
Personal life
In Summer 2006, Nick married his girlfriend of five years, Amanda de CadenetAmanda de Cadenet
-Biography:De Cadenet is the daughter of racing car driver Alain de Cadenet. She began her career as a co-presenter for The Word, a late-night Channel 4 magazine show. She also co-hosted The Big Breakfast....
. De Cadenet published a book of photographs entitled Rare Birds in 2005, which includes several pictures of Valensi, whom she refers to as her "muse" on her website.
Valensi has described his wife as "The coolest person I know."
Amanda de Cadenet gave birth to their fraternal twins, Silvan and Ella, on October 19, 2006.
Collaborations
Nick Valensi sung backing vocals and played guitar for Devendra BanhartDevendra Banhart
Devendra Obi Banhart is a singer-songwriter and visual artist. Banhart was born in Houston, Texas and was raised by his mother in Venezuela, until he moved to California as a teenager. He began to study at the San Francisco Art Institute in 1998, but dropped out to perform music in Europe, San...
's song "Shabop Shalom" on the 2007 album Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon
Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon
Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon is a Devendra Banhart album released September 25, 2007. This album features more instrumentation than the previous records, as well as more genre experimentation...
. Furthermore, he contributed backing vocals on the self-titled debut album of his bandmate Fab Moretti's band, Little Joy
Little Joy
Little Joy is a Brazilian/American rock band formed in 2007 by Los Hermanos singer/guitarist Rodrigo Amarante, The Strokes drummer Fabrizio Moretti and Binki Shapiro. Amarante and Moretti met in 2006, at a festival in Lisbon where both their bands were performing, and the idea came up to start a...
.
He also played guitar for Regina Spektor
Regina Spektor
Regina Ilyinichna Spektor is a Russian American singer-songwriter and pianist. Her music is associated with the anti-folk scene centered in New York City's East Village.-Early life:...
's song "Better
Better (Regina Spektor song)
"Better" is a song by Regina Spektor. Three versions of this song are known. The first version appears on her 2006 album Begin to Hope. The second version is a re-recorded radio re-cut, and third version is called "Better ," which is simply the re-cut version, only with the piano and Regina's...
", which was released on her album Begin to Hope
Begin to Hope
Begin to Hope is the fourth album by Russian-American singer-songwriter, Regina Spektor. It was released June 13, 2006. The album debuted at number 70 on the Billboard 200, but due to the popularity of the single "Fidelity", it peaked at number 20 and was labeled a "pace setter" by Billboard....
and also published as a single in a slightly different version on which the guitar parts are rearranged.
He appears in the video for "Adam & Steve", a song by Devendra Banhart
Devendra Banhart
Devendra Obi Banhart is a singer-songwriter and visual artist. Banhart was born in Houston, Texas and was raised by his mother in Venezuela, until he moved to California as a teenager. He began to study at the San Francisco Art Institute in 1998, but dropped out to perform music in Europe, San...
's side project Megapuss
Megapuss
Megapuss is a band with the following members: Devendra Banhart, Gregory Rogove , Fabrizio Moretti , and Noah Georgeson...
.
He appears in the video for "No One's Better Sake" by Little Joy as drummer.
He plays guitar on Sia
Sia Furler
Sia Kate Isobelle Furler or simply Sia, is an Australian pop, downtempo, and jazz singer and songwriter. In 2000, her single, "Taken for Granted" was a top 10 hit in the United Kingdom. Her 2008 album, Some People Have Real Problems peaked in the top 30 on the Billboard 200...
's album We Are Born
We Are Born
-Track listing:-Personnel:Credits for We Are Born adapted from Sia's official website.* Henry Binns – composer* Felix Bloxsom – drums, additional vocals* Dan Carey – composer* Madonna Ciccone – composer* Pierre de Reeder – engineer...
and has also written several hooks and melodies on it. Sia has also stated that she and Valensi are planning to write songs together for other artists.