1. Nicholas Valensi was born on January 16,1981 and is an American musician, best known for his role as lead and rhythm guitarist in the American rock band The Strokes.
31 Facts About Nick Valensi
1. 2.
Since 2001, the band has released six studio albums, some of which Nick Valensi has contributed keyboards and backing vocals to.
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In 2013, Nick Valensi founded the band CRX, for which he acts as singer, songwriter, and lead and rhythm guitarist.
4.
Nick Valensi has worked as a songwriter and session guitarist with various artists, including Sia, Regina Spektor, Kate Pierson, Kesha and Ringo Starr.
5.
Nick Valensi was born in New York City, to a Tunisian father and a French mother, Danielle.
6.
Nick Valensi's mother was from a Catholic family in South Western France, near Bordeaux, and his father was a Tunisian Jew.
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Nick Valensi's mother had moved to Boston as a teenager and met his father in New York; his mother converted to Judaism to marry his father.
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Nick Valensi was raised on the Upper East Side of Manhattan with two sisters, Celine and Alessandra.
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Until the age of 16, Nick Valensi spent summers at his grandfather's home near Bordeaux.
10.
Nick Valensi began learning guitar at the age of five, following an impromptu strum on one of his father's guitars.
11.
Nick Valensi's father described him as a natural guitarist, due to his quickness at picking up the ability to strum along with the rhythm of songs at a young age.
12.
Nick Valensi was arrested at age 11 and was assigned a probation officer for a year.
13.
Nick Valensi attended New York City public schools while growing up.
14.
Nick Valensi began attending The Dwight School at age 13, where he met Julian Casablancas on the first day of the school's orientation program.
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In 2013, Nick Valensi co-founded the Los Angeles-based rock band CRX.
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Nick Valensi is the frontman of the group, and is backed by drummer Ralph Alexander, multi-instrumentalist Brad Oberhofer, bassist Jon Safley, and guitarist Darian Zahedi.
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Nick Valensi has described the band's sound as a mix of power pop and heavy metal, and has named The Cars, Cheap Trick and Elvis Costello as influences.
18.
Nick Valensi has collaborated with artists Devendra Banhart, The Stroke's Moretti, and Sia on multiple occasions.
19.
Nick Valensi sang backing vocals and played guitar for Devendra Banhart's song "Shabop Shalom" on the 2007 album Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon.
20.
Nick Valensi appears in the video for "No One's Better Sake" by Little Joy as drummer.
21.
Nick Valensi plays guitar on Sia's album 2010 We Are Born and has written several hooks and melodies on it.
22.
Sia has stated that she and Nick Valensi are planning to write songs together for other artists.
23.
Nick Valensi co-wrote the track "Hostage" on Sia's 2014 album 1000 Forms of Fear.
24.
Nick Valensi's main guitar, which he uses for nearly every live show and recorded song, is a 1995 Epiphone Riviera with Gibson P-94 pick-ups, which was given to him by friend and fellow Strokes guitarist Albert Hammond Jr.
25.
Nick Valensi has several models in different colours, including multiple naturals, one in vintage sunburst, one in red, and a 12-string elite in red.
26.
Nick Valensi's main amplifier is a 2x12" Fender Hot Rod DeVille, used with Fender 4x12" extension cabinets during live shows.
27.
Nick Valensi recently purchased a Carr amplifier to use on the last few stops of the First Impressions tour.
28.
Nick Valensi cites his influences as The Velvet Underground, The Cars, George Harrison, Slash, Bob Marley, and Blondie.
29.
In summer 2006, Nick Valensi married his girlfriend of five years, English photographer and television personality Amanda de Cadenet.
30.
Nick Valensi has a step-daughter, Atlanta, through de Cadenet's first marriage.
31.
Nick Valensi has lived with his family in Los Angeles since the mid-2000s.