A Rock Band Is Inspiring Me To Be The Best Version Of Myself

Fun fact: As of late, indie rock band, The Strokes has been a major influence in my life.

They make REALLY GOOD music.

Apart from making really good music, the 'WHY' they do what they do resonated so well with me.

I've been watching their interviews and reading material about them. Below are some insights that I would like to share about The Strokes and frontman, Julian Casablancas.


Insight #1: On what inspires The Strokes

"It’s that feeling when you hear your favourite song. That feeling, whether you’re in a car, at a party or alone at home or in bed and you hear this song and it just hits you so strong – that’s what we aim for"
- Julian Casablancas, Lead Singer & Songwriter:


Insight #2: On the process of song writing

"Writing is a mysterious thing and always has been. I think you just kinda have to throw yourself into it constantly. An ocean of mediocrity with moments of something special"
- Julian Casablancas


Insight #3: On Perfectionism

"I thought I was a perfectionist until I met Julian," says Voidz bass player Jake Bercovici. "I think we spent 20 days looking for one keyboard tone."
- Taken from an article from the Rolling Stones magazine


Insight #4: On writing the lyrics for 'Instant Crush', a single off Daft Punk album, Random Access Memories which won a Grammy for Album of the Year in 2014

"I wrote down specific lyrics. It didn't work. It was somehow - flat. And so we did the opposite and made stuff up. And whatever that sounded good, kinda became lyrics. And that actually, weirdly, gave that more feeling"
- Julian Casablancas


So how does all this relate to me?


#1: I'm inspired by the fact that these boys aim to evoke powerful emotions within their listeners through their music.

This is exactly what I wish to achieve through #SENIbyfitrebel as well.

I want to spread happiness.

Come on, it's impossible to NOT feel happy when you are wearing cheerful yellow leggings with dragonflies on them! Really!

Also, the main purpose, which has been the driving force for me to produce this line of leggings is to create leggings so beautiful to encourage women to work out more often. This has already been covered by the media quite extensively. For those who are not familiar, you can read an article that was published by The Star here: http://www.thestar.com.my/metro/smebiz/focus/2016/10/03/gettin-jiggy-with-batik/


 #2: An ocean of mediocrity with moments of something special.

My takeaway from this is that we all need to throw ourselves into our craft and work hard without expecting brilliant results in the beginning. It will come eventually.


#3: On Perfectionism.

I always thought that perfectionism was over-rated. That 'good enough' was ok.
That was until I heard The Strokes debut album "Is This It".

It's perfect. Julian Casablancas' tendencies for perfection (to the point where he and his band mates spent 20 days looking for one keyboard tone) was probably the reason behind why that album was so good and went on to become a commercial success, eventually earning a spot in the Rolling Stone's "Top 100 Debut Albums of all time" list.

In an interview, Chris Martin from Coldplay describes that album as follows, "It is perfect and so well put together, it’s wonderful".

Music by The Strokes is so good that I listen to it everyday.

Similarly, this has inspired me to consciously start thinking about how I can make my leggings better and better to the point where women absolutely love them, and want to wear them every day, just like how I listen to The Strokes every day.

To sum it all up, my opinion on perfectionism has changed completely. It is worth the effort to create something that is perfect, or as close to perfect as it can ever get, because things like these WILL go noticed.

#4: Sometimes the straight way may not necessarily be the best way.

This also resonated with me. I suppose it is the meaning that I derived from what he said.
That life works in mysterious ways.

That the solution which may not make any sense, is the one that creates magic :)


I'll stop here before I get accused of sounding too much like a teenage groupie... or maybe it's already too late for that! LOL.

In anycase, do allow yourself a moment to observe one of my personal favorite songs from The Strokes (and the video is really fun to watch too!) and hopefully all of you will have a better idea and understanding of my current musical obsession.

I am slowly but surely striving for perfection in everything I do.
When products and service keep getting better and better, we have The Strokes to thank you for.

Thanks for reading, ya'll.
x