Albert Hammond Jr.
Albert Hammond Jr. is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter and music producer. He is most famous for his role as rhythm and lead guitarist, as well as occasional keyboard player and backing vocalist, in the American rock band The Strokes. He is the son of singer-songwriter Albert Hammond. Hammond Jr. released his debut album Yours to Keep in 2006 and followed up with ¿Cómo Te Llama? in 2008, an EP, AHJ, in 2013, and a third album, Momentary Masters, released in 2015. He released his fourth solo album, Francis Trouble, through Red Bull Records on March 9, 2018.
Early life
Hammond was born in Los Angeles, California. He is the son of British-Gibraltarian singer-songwriter Albert Hammond, best known for his 1972 hit single "It Never Rains in Southern California", and Argentine former model and beauty pageant winner Claudia Fernández. Hammond was a championship-winning roller skater as a child. At the age of 13, Hammond Jr. was sent to boarding school Institut Le Rosey in Switzerland. While there, he met Julian Casablancas, who would go on to be a fellow band member. Hammond moved back to Los Angeles where he completed his high school education at the Buckley School.The Strokes
In 1998, Hammond moved from Los Angeles to New York City to study film-making at the Tisch School of the Arts and met up with Casablancas. He joined The Strokes as the last member with Casablancas' former schoolmates Nikolai Fraiture, Nick Valensi, and Fabrizio Moretti. Hammond is usually seen playing a 1985 '70s reissue Olympic White Fender Stratocaster or Gibson Les Paul Jr. that is sometimes used by bandmate Nick Valensi. On the majority of The Strokes' songs he plays rhythm guitar, and solos are played by Valensi. The songs in which Hammond does play solos are "Last Nite", "Trying Your Luck", "Take It or Leave It", "Under Control", "The End Has No End", "Ize of the World", "Threat of Joy", "Vision of Division", and "Drag Queen". His solos tend to focus largely on more emotional, "bluesy"-type melodical work, and the guitar tends to have a cleaner, softer tone in comparison to Valensi's. He often holds his guitar in a high horizontal position, similar to Buddy Holly, which he says is so that he can dance better.Songwriting and solo work
, The Beach Boys, Buddy Holly, Frank Black, John Lennon, Matthew Sweet and The Velvet Underground are cited as Hammond's musical influences.Alhough vocalist Julian Casablancas is the primary songwriter in The Strokes, Hammond co-wrote the track "Automatic Stop" with Casablancas for the group's second album Room on Fire. He has been credited with writing three mostly instrumental songs for the band's 2001 tour video titled In Transit. These songs were reworked for his later solo album and have different titles. He wrote "Elephant Song" when he was required to record a song for his Sound 101 class during his freshman year and used the school's recording equipment. The song was played at a few shows before the release of The Strokes' debut album. They later re-recorded the song as a special giveaway for fan club members.
In October 2005, Hammond and Ben Kweller released a version of "Wait" on This Bird Has Flown – A 40th Anniversary Tribute to the Beatles' Rubber Soul.
''Yours to Keep'' (2006–2007)
Hammond released a solo album titled Yours to Keep in the U.K. through Rough Trade Records on October 9, 2006 and in North America through New Line Records/Scratchie Records on March 6, 2007. Produced by Thin Lizard Dawn vocalist Lattimer and recorded at the Electric Lady Studios in New York City, the album features several musical guests, such as Sean Lennon, Ben Kweller, The Strokes' manager Ryan Gentles, Jody Porter of Fountains of Wayne, Chris Feinstein, Mikki James, Sammy James Jr. and The Strokes' lead singer, Casablancas. Bassist Josh Lattanzi and drummer Matt Romano serve as the backing band, with Hammond on guitar and vocals. The first single taken from the album 101 was released exclusively through iTunes on September 4, 2006. The music video to "In Transit" was directed by Joaquin Phoenix.Hammond has said to have been "waiting to make a record like this for years". Early support from his bandmates in the Strokes was only evident after Casablancas' role playing bass and back-up vocals on the track "Scared", though all of the members attended his shows in and around New York.
"101" was the follow-up single to "Everyone Gets a Star". The music video debuted online in March 2007. It was going to be available in general music stores, unlike "Everyone Gets A Star" which was only available through UK iTunes Music Store. It was released on November 27, 2006.
In November 2006, Hammond was announced to be joining Incubus on tour during their North American tour for their new album Light Grenades.
On March 16, 2007 at the South by Southwest festival, Hammond performed a 12-song set including covers of Frank Black's "Old Black Dawning" and Guided By Voices' "Postal Blowfish". Hammond also regularly covered The Cars' "Don't Cha Stop" in live performances.
The Yours to Keep album was released in North America on March 6, 2007; he also supported Bloc Party on their world tour before making stops at Montreal's Metropolis and Toronto's Kool Haus. After this, Hammond headlined two North American tours along with a European tour. The North American tour featured his friends, The Mooney Suzuki.
Hammond announced that "In Transit" would be his next solo single, featuring a cover of Frank Black's "Old Black Dawning" as the b-side. It was recorded live from the Bowery Ballroom.
''¿Cómo Te Llama?'' (2007–2013)
On August 29, 2007, Hammond announced on MySpace that he was going back into the studio to record his second album in October 2007 for five weeks.On March 20, 2008, Hammond posted a blog entry on MySpace in which he revealed the title of his second album: ¿Cómo Te Llama?. He wrote that it contained 13 songs with a total length of 46 minutes and 30 seconds. He stated he hoped to be touring with the new album until the end of 2008. The album was released on July 7, 2008.
Hammond also produced the new track "123 Stop" by New York band The Postelles.
On May 27, 2008, Hammond released "GfC", the first single off ¿Cómo Te Llama?, on iTunes in the U.S. The song was played extensively live on his 2007 tour. A non-album song titled "& So It Goes" was released as a B-side along with the single.
On May 29, 2008, Hammond was Myspace's featured artist and exclusively premiered his new album ¿Cómo Te Llama? uploading all the tracks of the album on his official Myspace page.
On July 8, 2008, Hammond played a small show at the Virgin Megastore, Union Square, in New York City to celebrate the release of his new album. A noted absence from Hammond's band was recording bassist Josh Latzanni. Steve Schiltz of the band Longwave, who toured with Hammond on his first album also was missing. Although Hammond was supposed to play only two or three songs, he ended up playing almost 10, with a selection that included both new and old tracks.
On July 11, 2008, Hammond began his worldwide tour in support of ¿Cómo Te Llama? with a sold-out show at the landmark venue Spaceland in the Silverlake neighborhood of Los Angeles with a capacity of 260 people. This was his only appearance on the West Coast.
On August 23, 2008, Hammond's website officially announced that Hammond would be the support act of the British band Coldplay during their European Tour, which kicked off on September 1 in Strasbourg, France.
''AHJ'' EP (2013–2014)
In an interview with Har Mar Superstar in July 2013, Hammond revealed that he had recorded a five-song EP to be released via Julian Casablancas' Cult Records. Titled AHJ, it was released on October 8, 2013.Hammond stated in an interview promoting the EP on December 5, 2013, that he would be interested in playing solo as an opening act if The Strokes announced another tour: "I would definitely ask the guys if I could open for them. That'd be amazing."
''Momentary Masters'' (2014–2017)
On June 22, 2014, a photo was posted to Hammond's official Facebook page of himself in a room with other musicians and the caption "the start of something new; LP 3," suggesting that he is working on a third full-length album.Hammond released his third LP Momentary Masters on July 31, 2015 in the U.S. via Vagrant Records. The first single, "Born Slippy", was made instantly available for streaming and download via YouTube and iTunes respectively.
Albert Hammond Jr. covered "The Little Boy That Santa Claus Forgot" by Vera Lynn mixed with the chorus from George Harrison's "My Sweet Lord" as part of Amazon's annual music series titled Indie for the Holidays. The song was released on December 1, 2017.
''Francis Trouble'' (2018–present)
Hammond Jr.'s fourth solo album Francis Trouble was released via Red Bull Records on March 9, 2018. The first single "Muted Beatings" was released on February 2, 2018.Prior to a brief Western USA tour, on 2/22/19 Hammond released the song ''Fast Times
On May 30, 2019, he released the single "More to Life".
Fashion
Hammond's trademark is wearing formal three-piece suits, and has been said by bandmate Julian Casablancas to be the most influential on the band's style, most recently collaborating with Amber Doyle for their 2019 European tour. In a 2018 interview he stated that he'd had a passion for style from an early age, and has always combined his own designs with retail favorites. While Hammond has been best known for his formal wear, he launched his own range of Francis Trouble t-shirts as well as sporting classic vintage tees.Hammond released his own line of men's suits which he co-designed along with stylist Ilaria Urbinati. The suits were at first only be available at the soon-to-open Confederacy store in Los Angeles which Urbinati co-owns with actor/DJ Danny Masterson. Speaking about the designing endeavor Hammond Jr. told New York magazine "I want to make suits that I'm going to have for myself. They're for the person who needs his one suit for a wedding. He'd rather get something like this than go to Men's Wearhouse, pay the same amount, and look like an out-of-date parent." Hammond also collaborated with Elliot Aronow of for a collection of ties in 2015.