Julian Casablancas has claimed that The Strokes were forced to can a music video because of its political content.

Speaking to Zane Lowe on his Beats 1 radio show, Casablancas said that the band were originally planning to release a music video for new song ‘OBLIVIUS’ before they were “shutdown”.

“Well we were going to do ‘OBLIVIUS’ first and we had all this kind of super heavy political content and then it kinda of through different indirect corridors got shutdown,” he said.


The Strokes frontman did not elaborate on who or what prevented them from putting out the video. ‘OBLIVIUS’, one of three new songs released as part of the band’s new EP ‘Future Present Past’, contains a passing reference to Wall Street and the line: “What side are you standing on?”

NME

Instead, the band have filmed a video for ‘Threat of Joy’.

Casablancas also talked about releasing music through his own label, Cult Records, and hinted that an album could follow the group’s latest effort.

“We hadn’t anything in a while and you almost want to do something a little light, three songs no big deal, kinda get back some of the mojo before a potential album,” he told Lowe.

Asked about playing bigger shows, Casablancas said that “98% of the musicians I talk to” don’t like playing festivals and that he prefer to “play surprise shows in half empty bars”.


Last week, The Strokes released ‘Future Present Past’, their first record since 2013’s ‘Comedown Machine’.