Like many troubled artists who reside in their very own inventive zip code, Drew Stroik deserved higher than an obscure drug-related loss of life at age 35. Dust poor, battling substance abuse and despair and dwelling in Pueblo, Colo., he handed away in 2022 after taking a fentanyl-laced capsule, abandoning greater than 100 unreleased songs, together with “Wash And Repeat.”
Stroik was keenly conscious of his expertise, and but he nonetheless referred to his music as “generic.” Actually, it’s something however. The Chicago native’s intimate lo-fi pop is masterful in the best way it makes its imperfections an enthralling conduit for humanity’s myriad flaws. Working solely with a low-end Yamaha keyboard and a guitar, Stroik started cranking out demos and emailing them to everybody who impressed him.
Ivy’s Andy Chase was one of many few who responded—and he was impressed. He signed a 23-year-old Stroik to his Unfiltered label, setting him up with longtime good friend and collaborator Bruce Driscoll. Over the winter of 2010, Stroik spent weekends re-creating and honing his demos in Driscoll’s tiny studio condominium on New York’s Higher East Aspect. With Chase serving to with manufacturing and mixing, a debut album started to take form.
Inside months, nevertheless, Stroik’s private points derailed the undertaking, and the label severed ties with him. Chase did return the unfinished tracks to Stroik, however nothing was ever launched. For the following decade, Stroik primarily vanished.
“When Drew handed away, this track risked being misplaced to time on a tough drive—however Andy and I couldn’t let that occur,” says Driscoll of “Wash And Repeat,” the most recent focus monitor from the posthumous LP, sixty fifth And York. “Drew was a layered, insanely proficient man who generally had his darkish moments, however this monitor is nothing however pleasure to me.”
The video for “Wash And Repeat” was shot at a laundromat simply down the road from Driscoll’s condominium. “With solely the gear I had on the time, we went there with my good friend Leah and filmed it,” says Driscoll. “Individuals have been coming in to scrub their garments and have been completely unfazed, which solely added to its attraction. Drew could possibly be shy, however I feel the outcome displays the music completely. It seems like one thing you’d stumble throughout on MTV within the Nineties.”
We’re proud to premiere Stroik’s “Wash And Repeat.” Search for sixty fifth And York (Unfiltered/Caveman Arts Society) on October 24. The quick movie Drew Stroik: Unknown Pop Wizard is about for launch someday subsequent 12 months.
—Hobart Rowland
