BIOGRAPHICAL DETAILS
Description: Guitariist, USA
Known For: Member of rock band The Strokes.
Instruments: Guitar, Keyboard
Music Styles: Alternative rock, indie rock, Post-punk revival, garage rock
Location: United States of America
Date Born: 16th January 1981
Location Born: New York City, New York, United States of America
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BIOGRAPHICAL PROFILE
Nick Valensi
Nick Valensi (born Nicholas Valensi; January 16, 1981) is an American musician, guitarist of the American rock band The Strokes, in which he primarily plays lead guitar and occasionally rhythm guitar.
Valensi was born in New York City. From French and Jewish origins, his father is a Tunisia native and his mother, Danielle, is of French descent. Growing up, he had spent every summer at his grandfather’s place, near Bordeaux, until the age of 16. He has two sisters, Céline and Alessandra. 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.
Nick is a member of The Strokes formed in 1998 in New York City. They rose to fame in the early 2000s as leaders in the garage rock revival.
Upon the release of their debut album Is This It in 2001, the group was met with much critical acclaim.
Lead singer-songwriter Julian Casablancas, guitarist Nick Valensi, and drummer Fab Moretti started playing together while attending Dwight School in Manhattan.
He cites his influences as The Velvet Underground, The Cars, George Harrison, Slash, Bob Marley, Blondie and Jimi Hendrix.
Valensi’s main guitar, which he uses for nearly every live show and recorded song, is a 1990s Epiphone 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-90 style pickups, except for the fully-hollow ES-330 and the Epiphone Casino.