Nikolai Fraiture tells NME: *I watched the election at home with my wife, Regina Spektor and her cousin Anna. I don’t have a TV so we huddled around my computer every now and then during dinner. When the cheering outside was lasting longer than usual, I went to the computer, looked up at everyone and in a fit of joy announced the crushing victory. We could not believe how fast it happened, as opposed to four years ago when I stayed up alone until 5am as, in the confusion, a decision had strangely not yet been reached. Outside my window we could see people with huge American flags racing against traffic in the middle of the streets. Afterwards, we went to my local bar where we watched the victory speech on a big screen. It felt like watching a John F. Kennedy speech in real time. Later, I ended up at another bar with Mark Ronson who had just voted for the first time, as he recently became a US citizen. At 5am, feeling more than a bit tipsy, I thought to myself, ‘This is definitely better than four years ago’. Immediately after the result, it was a feeling of elation for America as everyone jumped for joy in the streets and in the bars. I just hope that the next four years are not going to feel like the inevitable hangover.* Visit The Strokes on MySpace. MP3 at bottom.
