Short Biography

Nikolai Fraiture (born November 13, 1978, New York City) is the bass player for the American alternative rock band, The Strokes. Fraiture grew up in New York City with his Russian mother and French father, and speaks fluent French. Nikolai has an older brother named Pierre, and a younger sister named Elizabeth. He met future bandmate Julian Casablancas while attending the Lycée Français de New York. Fraiture received his first bass at 18, when his grandfather gave it to him as a graduation present, but Fraiture gave it to Casablancas. It was a year later, when he contracted Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever at a New Orleans youth hostel, that he picked it up and began to play it seriously.

Nikolai plays a variety of basses, but is usually seen playing either a Fender Jazz bass or a Rickenbacker. However, in recent appearances, he has been seen playing a Fender Precision Bass and a Music Man StingRay.
Fraiture`s side project, Nickel Eye, enlists the help of South (a UK band introduced to him by a friend) as his backing band. Nickel Eye recorded some demos at South Studios in Hackney, London. With some guest appearances by Nick Zinner of the New York City-based band Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Regina Spektor, The Time of the Assassins was completed a few months later in New York. The album is musically inspired by some of Nikolai`s favorite artists, such as Neil Young, Frank Black, Leonard Cohen, and The Kinks. The Time of the Assassins is scheduled to be released on January 27, 2009 on Rykodisc.

Nickel Eye’s first performance was on October 15, 2008 at London’s Borderline venue

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