Gordon Raphael, the producer of The Strokes‘ seminal debut ‘Is This It’, has announced details of a new book about his time with the band and his part in the ’00s indie scene. Check out the cover exclusively on NME below, along with our interview with the famed producer.
Raphael, who produced the NYC icons’ seminal 2001 debut, first teased the book to NME back in February of this year – but now he’s signed a deal with Wordville publishers to release The World Is Going To Love This: Up From The Basement With Strokes in 2022.
Speaking to NME this week about how the book came about, Raphael explained how he felt the need to document his life and career during lockdown from his new life in Hebden Bridge in the UK.
“I always go around the world producing bands, telling these stories and everybody said, ‘You should write this down, you should write a book’,” said Raphael. “I really wanted to, but I never like to sit still. I like to move.
“A month into lockdown I went, ‘What am I going to do?’ I tried to write songs, but then a little voice inside me said, ‘What about the book?’ It was a great joy to finally be able to write it.”
The book was written entirely from Raphael’s memoir, with only some light internet research into the order of events and some colour provided by one of The Strokes.
“I had one phone call with [guitarist] Albert Hammond Jr. at the beginning of writing the book,” said Raphael. “I wanted to know things like, ‘Why did you wear a tie and a suit jacket?’ No one in rock’n’roll was doing that – and certainly no young people in New York. I also had a couple questions about which shows and songs came first, and the lovely Albert gave me a little bit of help.”
“The rest is all just lovely songs that I’ve been carrying round since that period of time. I’ve been telling them to band after band, and this is just my recollections. I have a great long-term memory and can remember a lot of details.”
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