New York musician Albert Hammond Jr has proven himself to be a class act who owns the stage like the true rock star he is.

It became clear that he did not need The Strokes in order to shine as a musician. But The Strokes certainly does need him.

It is his riffs that really define The Strokes’ sound, as his excellent interplaying chemistry with lead guitarist Nick Valensi made hits “Reptilia” and “Someday” or deep cuts “Automatic Stop” and “Ize of the World” as eternal as they should be.

But with the band’s future and status in limbo, and the fact that it seems all five members are more interested in pursuing other projects rather than going back to the band, this is where the creative desires of each member start to really flourish, free from the burden of keeping up The Strokes’ legacy, which itself has already been set in stone.

In the course of 12 years, Hammond Jr has put out more releases under his own name than he has with The Strokes, each of which sound distinctively different while still retaining his signature sound.

His debut, 2006’s Yours to Keep, has a softer, indie rock sound compared to his later releases, such as 2013’s AHJ or his most recent album Francis Trouble, both of which up the noise and adopt a fuller garage-rock sound.

Hammond Jr has spent the better part of his solo run aiming to develop a sound unique from his old band, and succeeded.

Bringing part of his Francis Trouble tour to Jakarta as part of We The Fest, Hammond Jr put on a dazzling and energetic set that most rock bands only dream of pulling off recently.

Opening with a fitting recording of the late Jim Morrison’s legendary “Petition The Lord with Prayer” speech, he and his band started off the set with the Strokesian “DVSN”. He struted around the stage and jumped with full glee as he frequently went down to crowd level to sing and interacted with the
audience.

It was not until the second song, “Rude Customer”, that Hammond Jr finally picked up his white Stratocaster and started playing sounds that have played a part in shaping the sound of indie rock.

He did this for several songs in his 15-song set, with a Guided by Voices cover cheekily slipped in. He is so far the only true rock act to have ever graced a We The Fest lineup.

For a person that seems so incredibly focused on his craft, Hammond Jr, however, underlines the importance of pursuing an interest in things outside of what one does best, in order to keep in check with reality.

One of the non-music things he has gotten into is motorcycling. He races motorcycles on a track for leisure, but admits that he only sometimes uses them on the open road, and hopes to do some amateur racing in the future.

Activities such as this, and other outdoorsy pursuits as scuba diving are what help him keep his feet on the ground when the demands and thoughts about music become too flighty. And in a way, it helps him sustain the desire for music.

“I find that it’s important to find other things to fulfill you because you aren’t just the things you do, and the more you do those things, the better you become at what you mainly do, and therefore you don’t lose your worth. You get stuck when you feel you can only do one thing,” Hammond Jr admits.

“It’s great to have an outlet outside of music that you can project yourself toward, like television, films or just being out in nature […] basically forgetting what I do for a living for a moment.”

Music-wise, Hammond Jr feels rather indifferent acknowledging the impact of The Strokes in the formation of the influential New York indie rock scene of the 2000s, and admits that when he scopes out music, he does so only according to his own taste and feeling, usually starting with having one song from a certain artist often on repeat and then taking the discoveries from there.

Often the music that he chooses to listen to are songs that cool down his many thoughts, most of which stray sometimes into the realm of disillusionment with life.

“West Germany” by Californian post-punk band Minutemen is one example of a song that Hammond Jr said helped him “bring back his soul” when he became too exhausted with the business side of music.

Even if music is what he chooses to do for a living, he is aware that he needs to keep on exploring things outside of music in order to keep his love for his craft intact. Beneficial distractions help him sustain his consistency and creativity.  

“One of the most important things I’ve done for myself is like I said, doing a lot of different things and make it become part of your life. From there, you begin to connect these factors together into your life. It’s a matter of not putting all your eggs in one basket,” Hammond Jr says.

“Before, I would let my emotions take me left and right so fast, and now I’ve learned to ground myself because of these bridges I’ve built. I know, it sounds emotionless and cold, but it’s not actually. There’s nothing romantic about torturing yourself. The real romance lies in being present and existing.”

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