Strokes frontman Julian Casablancas has taken to social media to announce his refusal to vote in the 2024 US election and explaining his reasoning for doing so.
Taking to Instagram on Tuesday (November 5), the singer shared an image of a sticker that read 'I protested' instead of the standard 'I voted' illustration. In the caption, Casablancas explained that his post was prefaced by a conversation with his mother, who expressed her disagreement with his decision to abstain from the democratic process.
“My beautiful sweet amazing mom just said to me 'I agree with you, but right now at least vote so Trump doesn't win. Think of your children,” he wrote. “I understand and respect this view of marginal incremental improvement, but I respectfully don't think it's the way to go…
“Like I told her, I'm thinking about my kids. The 2 parties are a joke… a freaking lie,” he continued. “The military and the oil companies and the banks are the ones we vote for – and the media is their propaganda/entertainment wing. [And] the way they conned bernie i see no point in choosing between these puppets… They want you to think it matters. In this way nothing will change, but it must change.”
Casablancas' post was met with widespread criticism in the comments, with fans on sites like Reddit noting that they were “super disappointed” with his decision. Fans on the same site were quick to point out that Casablanca band bassist Nikolai Fraiture had shared his own sticker from his early experiences at the poll on October 31.
Casablancas also caught the attention of music fans earlier in the week when she spoke out The Guardian for the “Honest Playlist” feature supporting The Voidz's new album, Like everyone before you. In the conversation, Casablancas reflected on The Strokes' discography, noting that their breakthrough single “Last Nite” (which reached No. 5 on the Alternative Airplay chart in 2002) is a song he “can't listen to anymore.”
“The Strokes' 'Last Nite' is too dead for me. I'm not sure why,” he said. “There are some others like 'Reptilia', 'Hard to Explain', 'Someday', 'Take It or Leave it', 'New York City Cops' that are comparable in terms of crowd reaction that I'm not that sick of. If I heard it on the radio, I'd probably turn it off.”
