Stroik
Stroik
Stroik
"Hailing from the hills of North Carolina, Drew Stroik specializes in dreamy soundscapes of lush, lo-fi, extremely melodic tunes he lovingly characterizes as "generic pop." The lyrics are sometimes literal, often oblique, but always honest. Let's put it this way; Stroik's songs could provide the perfect soundtrack for a long road trip or for a plush, debauchery-drenched, nightclub setting.
There is a lot he has been through in his short 23 years, and that's putting it mildly. He was born in Chicago, where he actually lived with his young single mother in a funeral home with the bassist and drummer of alt-rock group, Veruca Salt. From the Windy City, he moved to Miami where his mother briefly dated the owner of Al Pacino's palatial drug mansion in the gangster flick, Scarface - no lie. He spent some time in Los Angeles, transplanted to Las Vegas for about five years, and finally settled in North Carolina with his mom and new stepdad. His first introduction to music came at the age of seven when he was given a bunch of movie soundtracks as a Christmas present. "One of them was the Lion King CD," he recalls, "I was a normal kid at that time - or so my parents thought, I became obsessed." In North Carolina, he was given a guitar as a gift at the age of 14, and he self-taught himself until he got "really good." Stroik was kicked out of high school prior to his senior year (the details surrounding said expulsion remain fuzzy), and thus he was forced to find a full-time job to make ends meet. During this turbulent period, it was his music that kept him afloat. He saved enough cash to get himself a cheap computer and a Yamaha keyboard and started laying down his own tracks at home.
Ultimately when it comes down to it, the music reflects its maker. Speaking to Stroik is a whirlwind experience of human awareness and curiosity. One frenzied minute, he'll be extolling the vibrant, dance-heavy video for the song "Cat Daddy" (featuring Chris Brown) by The Rej3ctz, and the next, he'll be explaining the many duties (including forklift operation) he executes at his 9-to-5 factory job. It's the same urgency, honesty and transparency you see in his music. "Basically what I try to address in my music is the fact that people think they have all the answers but they really don't," he emotes. "I'm just tired of all the facades and smoke screens that exist everywhere, so I just make music that's real to me." Well said.