Albert Hammond Jr. almost ruined The Strokes because he was a 'total f***ing junkie'

The Strokes guitarist admits his substance abuse problem contributed towards some of the tensions in the band which led to their hiatus at the end of their 'First Impressions of Earth' tour in 2006 and further spiralled out of control when he was working on his solo projects.

He said: "I became a drug weirdo because of my own anger and when you're angry with yourself and you're ingesting a lot of drugs, it doesn't help any sense of dialogue and you just feel isolated.

"At that point (the end of the tour), I was a year into doing pretty hard drugs, but I still wasn't that crazy yet.

"Super craziness came at the end of my first solo record and the beginning of my second one. I was full-on junkie by the second solo record.

"I was a total f***ing junkie. I came close to some pretty heavy s**t. I never thought I'd do that, but I've definitely seen the dark part of my soul."

Albert insists his problems are now behind him, which he thinks made it possible for The Strokes to reunite to record their latest album 'Angles'.

He told Q magazine: "The only reason I'm able to talk about it with such insight is that I've gone 180 degrees the other way. I'm living in a different place and that's why I can speak about it.

"In my f**ed-up-ness I didn't notice all the other people in the group saying how much they waned to be in it. Me being sober and present has definitely helped."

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