The youngest and — in a strangely converse, poetic sort of way — also the tallest, Nick is, infamously, the Pretty Stroke and quite a hit with the ladies if the gossip is to be believed. Either way, he's a damned fine guitarist. Possessed of a sarcastic, sometimes acerbic wit, he brings a sort of eccentric and patently goofy elegance to the group. In interviews, he has a tendency towards verbosity. He also has a tendency to say "like" a lot. Luckily, what he has to share is usually insightful as well as entertaining (despite the verbal filler). He also has an apparent gift for zingy one-liners. "We're extremely close. And what we do together now is what we've always done in terms of drinking, getting high, doing drugs, looking for girls. We're not totally whacked out, though. We like to party, but we like work, too. Every once in a while we like to be serious. But we usually like to do it together. Ever since I met them, there's never been another group of people I'd rather hang out with ... Unless it involved an orgy."

Before his high school musical epiphany (from which eventually would spring The Strokes), Nick would hang out in Central Park with his elder sister picking out favorite songs on the guitar — songs always by other people. "I always thought I wanted to be able to play any song you could name," he says. "But once I started playing with Julian, that's when I really started to understand music." With the awakening, he became much more diligent in his practice, his interest in the guitar accelerated by the concept of playing their own music. [G]

• Seems particularly fond of hugs.
• Has two sisters. Hooray!
• Mother owns a restaurant. If you're ever on the Upper East Side of New York and happen to find it, make sure to pop in. And bring me back something. I'm hungry.