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Fabrizio Moretti
Fabrizio Moretti
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Fabrizio Moretti (born June 2, 1980) also known as Fab Moretti,[1] is a Brazilian-American musician and visual artist best known as the drummer for American rock band The Strokes, with whom he has released six studio albums since 2001. A collaborative artist, he has been part of a series of groups since the mid-2000s, most notably the Brazilian-American band Little Joy, which released one album in 2008, and the experimental pop collective machinegum, which he has led since 2018. Throughout his career, Moretti has worked on a variety of art projects which span the mediums of drawing, sculpture, and installation and performance art.

Key Information

Early life

[edit]

Moretti was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil to Stefano, an Italian nuclear engineer, and Ana Moretti, a Brazilian.[2][3][4][5] He was raised with his older brother, Leo Moretti.[3] Moretti and his family moved to New York City when he was three years old for his father's career;[6] they planned to live there for only three years, but ended up staying for seventeen before returning to Brazil.[3] Speaking on identity during his young adulthood in New York, Moretti said, "I didn't feel like a Brazilian, I didn't feel like an Italian, and I certainly didn't feel like an American. So I was walking around trying to find my identity through New York City."[7]

He began playing the drums at age five, playing in a soundproofed closet in his family's Midtown Manhattan apartment, and became more serious during high school.[8][9] As an adolescent, Moretti attended the Anglo American International School,[10] which later merged with the Dwight School and is where he met fellow band members Nick Valensi and Julian Casablancas.[11] Upon graduating high school, Moretti studied sculpture at SUNY New Paltz before dropping out to focus on his music career with The Strokes.[12]

Career

[edit]

The Strokes

[edit]

Moretti began drumming in an informal band with vocalist Casablancas and guitarist Valensi in high school, and continued after the two left Dwight.[13][14] Later, Nikolai Fraiture joined as the bassist and the band was formed when guitarist Albert Hammond Jr. joined in fall 1998. Their first show as The Strokes was at the Spiral in New York City on September 14, 1999.[15] The band released The Modern Age EP in 2001 under Rough Trade Records[16] and was signed for a five-album record deal by RCA Records.[17] The band released six LPs including Is This It, Room on Fire, First Impressions of Earth, Angles, Comedown Machine and The New Abnormal with tours and festival sets in the North America, Europe, South America, East Asia and Australia. Following the completion of their album contract deal with RCA Records in 2013,[18] the band has continued to release new music through Casablancas' Cult Records.[19]

Moretti's drumming style has been called crisp and clean,[8] and having a mature elegance.[9] He has said that he wants to provide a steady, driving force with his playing which resulted in him simplifying his drum kit to a four-piece set up with a hi-hat and ride cymbals. He commonly uses a Ludwig Classic Maple drum kit with Zildjian cymbals and Ahead sticks.[20] Early on, he was known for drumming very hard, often breaking his drumsticks.[8] Early records convey a more simplistic and 'punk' style of playing and recording, while later records feature more compressed drums in the style of industrial and dance music.[21]

Little Joy

[edit]
Moretti in 2013

In 2007, Moretti joined with Los Hermanos guitarist, singer, songwriter Rodrigo Amarante and Binki Shapiro to form the trio Little Joy, a Los Angeles-based Brazilian/American rock supergroup.[22] Amarante and Moretti had met in 2006, at a festival in Lisbon where both their bands were performing, and the idea came up to start a new musical project unrelated to their respective bands.[23] Little Joy was signed to Rough Trade Records label. Their debut album, produced by Noah Georgeson, was released in 2008.[24]

Machinegum

[edit]

Since 2018,[25] Moretti has led the New York synth pop band and artist collective Machinegum (stylized machinegum) which both performs and records music and presents gallery installations.[26] The group is composed of Moretti and Ian Devaney (vocalist of Nation of Language), Delicate Steve, Chris Egan, Martin Bonventre, and Erin Victoria Axtel. The group has also collaborated with architect Joseph Vescio and actor/director Justin Bartha in the past.[27]

Machinegum released their debut album Conduit in December 2019.[27] Released on Frenchkiss Records, the group later signed to the record label in February 2020.[28]

Other projects

[edit]

Music

[edit]

Outside of his more traditional musical work, Moretti's output often blends musical, performance, and visual art. He has frequently collaborated with musicians Devendra Banhart, Rodrigo Amarante, and New York City contemporaries including his Strokes bandmates. He has contributed songwriting and remixes to other artists and, throughout his career, has deejayed events.[29][30]

Moretti was part of a project, Megapuss, with Devendra Banhart, Gregory Rogove and Noah Georgeson in 2008.[31][32] The group released one album, Surfing. The following year, Moretti and Banhart collaborated on a project called Permanent Adventure.[33] Moretti played drums for Neon Neon, on their track "Dream Cars", from 2008's Stainless Style. Moretti also played on Kesha's 2012 song "Only Wanna Dance With You", together with bandmate Julian Casablancas.[34][35] He co-wrote "Prisoner," from Har Mar Superstar's 2013 album Bye Bye 17, with Banhart and Amarante. Moretti and Amarante also were part of Banhart's backing band during his 2013 tour which had dates in the US and Europe.[36][37] Moretti also contributed to Amarante's debut solo album in 2014.[38]

In 2015, Moretti remixed Spoon's 2014 track "Inside Out" for the band's remix EP.[39] In 2016, Moretti contributed an Eagles of Death Metal cover for the Play it Forward campaign, supporting aid for the victims of the 2015 Paris attacks; with Beck and Nick Valensi, he covered "I Love You All the Time."[40] Moretti sat-in as drummer for The 8G Band, the house band for Late Night with Seth Meyers, during the second weeks of April 2016 and January 2023.[41][42] Moretti played drums on the 2017 track "Indignities” by New York synth-pop band Nation Of Language; he also filled in as bassist on one of the band's tours.[43] In 2018, Moretti contributed the original instrumental song "In Case of Separation" to French conceptual artist Sophie Calle's "tribute" album, Souris Calle.

In 2007, it was announced that Moretti was to executive produce a VH1 series called Clash of the Music Videos with then-girlfriend Drew Barrymore.[44] However, the show was never produced.

Art

[edit]

Moretti is an enthusiastic visual artist and enjoys sculpture and drawing.[45] Since the mid-2000s, he has been contributing his work to various projects.[46][47] This includes a 2013 art installation for Rag + Bone and showcasing his drawings in New York.[48][49] He has also worked on artistic project FUZLAB with French cartoonist Luz in 2012;[50][51] he continued to collaborate with Luz later in the decade, at one point sharing a studio with him in Paris.[52] In 2017, a sculpture of his was included at a show in New York City's Elizabeth Street Garden.[53]

In December 2019, Moretti collaborated with Italian art dealer Fabrizio Moretti to present the exhibit Fabrizio Moretti x Fabrizio Moretti In Passing at Sotheby's in New York City. The latter Moretti curated a collection of Old Master paintings and the former conceptualized the interactive exhibit.[54]

In December 2021, Moretti designed and built, "Kube," a nine-foot tall installation made of one-way mirror, polished steel and fluorescent lights. Inspired by the work of Yayoi Kusama and Bruce Nauman, "Kube" was crafted by hand in Brooklyn with the help of welder Franco V. and artist girlfriend Gabriella Corey, and was designed to showcase the viewer and the object together as one being repeated ad infinitum.[55] Anish Kapoor's "Mirror (Pagan Gold to Organic Green)", a disc of polished and highly reflective aluminium, is placed inside the Kube. In an interview with Flaunt Magazine, Moretti describes the experience from within the Kube, "[t]he crux of this is that you become part of the art work when you’re in it, as you just experienced. When you’re inside, you can’t see out. It’s almost like the viewer becomes this nebulous being—but outside the box, you can be seen very clearly.”[56] Speaking to the LA Times on the concept of the work, Moretti describes, "[t]he mirror can be a source of vanity... But it can also be a point of self-reflection, you kind of see yourself outside yourself, one of many perhaps. And being able to see yourself and the relationship you have with the artwork kind of sanctifies that moment—I’m hoping."[55]

Personal life

[edit]

He was born in Brazil and has lived in the United States from a young age, having recently become a citizen of the United States in addition to holding citizenship with his father's country of origin, Italy.[57][6] Moretti speaks English, Portuguese, Italian and French.[52]

From 2002 to 2007, Moretti was in a highly publicized relationship with actress Drew Barrymore.[58][59] In 2007, he briefly dated actress Kirsten Dunst.[60] He was later in a four-year relationship with Little Joy bandmate Binki Shapiro.[29] From late 2011 to 2013, he dated actress Kristen Wiig.[61][62] In August 2020, he started dating art historian Gabriella Corey. The two were engaged in 2023 and married in 2024.[citation needed]

Moretti resides in New York City,[63] where he maintains an apartment near Union Square in the East Village, which he purchased in 2003.[64][65] During the late 2010s, he lived in Paris for some time.[52]

Discography

[edit]

Solo discography (as remix artist)

  • "Inside Out" (2015) (originally by Spoon)
  • "Oblivius" (2016) (originally by The Strokes)

The Strokes discography

Little Joy discography

  • Little Joy (2008)

Other studio albums

  • Surfing (2008) (as part of Megapuss)
  • Conduit (2019) (as part of machinegum)

References

[edit]
[edit]
Revisions and contributorsEdit on WikipediaRead on Wikipedia
from Grokipedia
Fabrizio Moretti is a Brazilian-American musician and visual artist best known as the drummer and founding member of the band , with whom he has recorded six studio albums since 2001. Born in Rio de Janeiro, , in 1980 to an Italian father and a Brazilian mother, Moretti moved to as a child and was raised there, developing an early interest in both music and . He attended the in , where he met future bandmates and , and later studied sculpture at an art school while beginning his musical career. Moretti co-founded in 1998, contributing to their signature revival sound through his minimalist, groove-oriented drumming style, which drew influences from genres like , dub , and . The band's debut album, (2001), propelled them to international fame, and Moretti has remained a core member through subsequent releases, including (2020), which earned a Grammy Award for Best Rock Album. Beyond , Moretti has pursued collaborative and experimental projects, notably co-forming the Brazilian-American supergroup in 2007 with and Binki Shapiro, releasing a self-titled album in 2008 that blended and elements. In 2019, he launched the art collective machinegum, a multi-sensory endeavor involving music, visual installations, and community interaction, with their debut album Conduit emphasizing collaborative creativity over traditional band structures. As a visual artist, Moretti has explored , , and curatorial work, including a collaboration with Fabrizio Moretti on the Sotheby's exhibition "Fabrizio Moretti x Fabrizio Moretti: In Passing," which paired artworks with his immersive installations. His multidisciplinary approach reflects a lifelong integration of artistic disciplines, rooted in his Brazilian heritage and New York upbringing.

Early life

Family background and birth

Fabrizio Moretti was born on June 2, 1980, in Rio de Janeiro, , to Stefano Moretti, an Italian nuclear , and Ana Moretti, a Brazilian. He was raised with his older brother, Leo Moretti. The family's decision to emigrate was driven by professional opportunities for his father.

Education in New York

At the age of three, around 1983, Moretti relocated with his family from to , where they settled in due to his father's professional opportunities. This move marked the beginning of his adaptation to American urban life, immersing him in the cultural vibrancy of the city from an early age. Moretti attended the , a private institution on the , during his teenage years. It was there in the mid-1990s that he first met future bandmates and , forming lasting friendships that would later shape his musical path. The school's environment, blending diverse influences, provided a formative backdrop for his social and creative development. During high school, Moretti developed a keen interest in music, particularly drumming, which he had begun practicing as a child. He played in informal school bands and became exposed to punk and through shared listening and jamming sessions with peers, including Casablancas and Valensi, who bonded over these genres. He graduated from Dwight in 1998, having honed these early musical inclinations amid the burgeoning New York scene. Following graduation, Moretti briefly pursued informal studies in at the at New Paltz, exploring his artistic side before shifting his focus entirely to music. This short-lived academic endeavor reflected his multifaceted interests but ultimately gave way to his commitment to drumming and band life.

Career

The Strokes

Fabrizio Moretti served as the drummer for all of ' studio albums, contributing to their rhythm sections and occasionally co-writing tracks. The band's debut album, , was released in 2001 and featured Moretti's drumming on all eleven tracks, helping define their garage rock revival sound. This was followed by Room on Fire in 2003, where Moretti again provided full drumming credits across the record. (2006) marked another full drumming contribution from Moretti, emphasizing his role in the band's evolving influences. The Strokes continued with Angles in 2011, on which Moretti co-wrote the track "Under Cover of Darkness" with his bandmates , , Albert Hammond Jr., and , and drummed on every song. Comedown Machine (2013) saw Moretti handling percussion duties throughout, including on experimental tracks like "80s Comedown Machine." Their sixth album, (2020), included Moretti's co-writing credit on "" and his drumming on all eleven songs, blending retro and modern elements. Key singles from these albums highlight Moretti's rhythmic foundations, such as "Last Nite" from (2001), which peaked at number five on the UK Singles Chart; "Someday" from the same album (2002); "You Only Live Once" from (2006); "Under Cover of Darkness" from Angles (2011); and "The Adults Are Talking" from (2020). In addition to studio work, Moretti performed on live and compilation releases, including the 2002 live recordings from early tours documented on platforms like , and the EP (2016), where he drummed on tracks like "Drag Queen" and provided a remix of "Oblivius." No official tour-related recordings from 2025 have been released as of November 2025. The Strokes' discography earned recognition with a Grammy Award for Best Rock Album for The New Abnormal in 2021, acknowledging Moretti's contributions to the production and performance.

Other musical projects

In 2007, Fabrizio Moretti co-founded the indie rock trio in with Brazilian musician of Los Hermanos and American singer Binki Shapiro, following their meeting at a festival in . The band drew on Moretti's Brazilian heritage through influences, blending them with , , and calypso elements in their self-titled debut , released in November 2008 by . Moretti contributed drums, guitar, , bass, percussion, , and backing vocals, expanding his role beyond percussion to include songwriting and multi-instrumentalism. Moretti launched Machinegum in 2019 as a New York-based band and art collective, serving as its leader and emphasizing collaborative, community-driven creation. The project fused experimental electronic sounds with rock, incorporating new-wave synths, rhythms, and dream-pop textures in its debut album Conduit, released in December 2019 via Frenchkiss Records. Moretti handled drumming, vocals on select tracks, and production alongside Jake Aron, while singles like "Atomized" (2019) and "Kubes" (2020) highlighted the collective's innovative, boundary-pushing approach. Throughout the 2010s, during periods of hiatus from , Moretti pursued guest appearances and collaborations that allowed him to explore songwriting and diverse genres within indie and pop scenes. He provided drums for Neon Neon's "Dream Cars" on the 2008 album Stainless Style, contributing to its electro-pop narrative. In 2012, Moretti drummed on Kesha's "Only Wanna Dance With You," a track co-produced by his Strokes bandmate , blending rock edges with pop accessibility. He also co-wrote and appeared on Har Mar Superstar's "" in 2013, infusing the song with raw, energetic indie . These endeavors enabled Moretti to step into production and compositional roles, broadening his musical palette. As of 2025, Moretti has not launched major new musical projects beyond Machinegum, redirecting his energies toward ' touring and related commitments.

Visual arts career

Moretti's interest in emerged during his teenage years in , where he began exploring creative expression alongside his musical pursuits. After graduating high school, he enrolled in sculpture classes at the at New Paltz in the late 1990s, focusing on assemblage works constructed from discarded materials to create elegant, found-object constructions. He left the program early to dedicate himself to his rising music career with but maintained an ongoing practice of drawing and sculpting, often sketching his bandmates during tours as a way to capture fleeting moments. Throughout the and , Moretti's work spanned , , installation, and , with themes centered on , urban , and abstracted personal narratives. His frequently incorporated recycled elements to evoke the chaos of city life, while served as intimate, portable explorations of identity and transience. In 2013, he debuted an interactive public installation outside a store in , inviting passersby to engage directly with sculptural elements, marking an early shift toward forms. A pivotal moment came in 2019 with the collaborative exhibition "Fabrizio Moretti x Fabrizio Moretti: In Passing" at New York, where Moretti designed an immersive environment that recontextualized paintings and s through dynamic lighting and spatial interventions, blending historical art with contemporary performance. This project extended into light-based works and interactive s displayed in New York galleries. From 2019 onward, Moretti integrated his visual practice with the origins of his project Machinegum, producing collaborative installations that fused , sound, and community engagement across venues. In 2021, Moretti presented a major immersive sculptural installation at Beverly Hills gallery, featuring elements that encouraged viewer immersion, as part of a broader on perceptual ; this work highlighted his evolution toward experiential installations blending visual and performative aspects. His practice remains active as of 2025, with pieces entering private collections and serving as a vital creative outlet during periods of downtime from his music commitments.

Personal life

Relationships and marriage

Moretti's first high-profile relationship was with actress , which began in 2002 after they met backstage at a in the New York social scene. The couple dated for five years, ending in early 2007, and their romance often drew media attention due to Barrymore's celebrity status. Following the breakup, Moretti briefly dated actress in early 2007. The short-lived pairing ended after a few months, with Dunst moving on to another shortly thereafter. From 2008 to 2010, Moretti was in a relationship with Binki Shapiro, his bandmate in the side project , which overlapped with the band's formation and debut. Their partnership blended personal and professional elements within the indie music community. Moretti then dated actress and comedian from late 2011 until their split in mid-2013. The low-key couple kept much of their relationship out of the spotlight, though it occasionally surfaced in entertainment news. Since at least 2021, Moretti has been dating artist and art historian Gabriella Corey, with their relationship intersecting his pursuits. Moretti has maintained a high degree of privacy regarding his , rarely discussing romantic matters publicly, though his partnerships have frequently connected the worlds of music, , and art.

Residence and lifestyle

Fabrizio Moretti maintains his primary residence in , where he has owned an apartment in the East Village neighborhood of since purchasing it in 2003. His daily life revolves around creative endeavors, including visual art and , often conducted in a home studio setup that allows for experimental and immersive projects. Beyond his professional commitments, Moretti has made occasional forays into , appearing in cameo roles such as in the 2009 film Whip It, directed by , and the 2015 romantic drama . In recent years, Moretti has emphasized a grounded, wellness-oriented approach to life, reflecting the band's evolution toward maturity following periods of personal and collective challenges.

Discography

The Strokes

Fabrizio Moretti served as the drummer for all of ' studio albums, contributing to their rhythm sections and occasionally co-writing tracks. The band's debut album, , was released in 2001 and featured Moretti's drumming on all eleven tracks, helping define their revival sound. This was followed by in 2003, where Moretti again provided full drumming credits across the record. (2006) marked another full drumming contribution from Moretti, emphasizing his role in the band's evolving influences. The Strokes continued with Angles in 2011, on which Moretti co-wrote the track "Under Cover of Darkness" alongside bandmates Julian Casablancas, Nick Valensi, and Albert Hammond Jr., and drummed on every song. Comedown Machine (2013) saw Moretti handling percussion duties throughout, including on experimental tracks like "80s Comedown Machine." Their sixth album, The New Abnormal (2020), included Moretti's co-writing credit on "Ode to the Mets" and his drumming on all eleven songs, blending retro and modern elements. Key singles from these albums highlight Moretti's rhythmic foundations, such as "Last Nite" from (2001), which peaked at number 14 on the UK Singles Chart; "Someday" from the same album (2002); "You Only Live Once" from (2006); "Under Cover of Darkness" from Angles (2011); and "The Adults Are Talking" from (2020). In addition to studio work, Moretti performed on live and compilation releases, including the 2002 live recordings from early tours documented on platforms like , and the EP (2016), where he drummed on tracks like "Drag Queen" and provided a remix of "Oblivius." No official tour-related recordings from 2025 have been released as of November 2025. The Strokes' discography earned recognition with a Grammy Award for Best Rock Album for The New Abnormal in 2021, acknowledging Moretti's contributions to the production and performance.

Little Joy

Little Joy was a collaborative side project formed by Fabrizio Moretti alongside of Los Hermanos and Binki Shapiro, with whom Moretti shared a romantic relationship during the band's formation. The trio's self-titled debut album, , was released on November 4, 2008, by , marking the band's sole full-length output. Recorded in and produced by , the album blends with Brazilian influences across 11 tracks, including "The Next Time Around," "Brand New Start," and "Evaporar." Moretti handled multiple instruments, performing on guitar, , , , drums, percussion, , and providing backing vocals, while also contributing lead vocals on select songs. He co-wrote several tracks, notably "No One's Better Sake" with Shapiro and Amarante, and "With Strangers' Eyes" with Shapiro. The album spawned at least one single, "No One's Better Sake," released in December 2008 with an accompanying directed by , featuring cameos from Devendra Banhart and Strokes guitarist . Another track, "Impossibilidade No. 2 (For the Stars)," received some promotional attention as a closer but was not formally issued as a commercial single. The band toured briefly to support the release but produced no additional material, establishing as a one-off endeavor.

Machinegum

Machinegum, an experimental art collective led by Moretti, released its debut full-length album Conduit on December 8, 2019, through Frenchkiss Records. The 11-track and indietronica record, later reissued on vinyl in July 2020, features Moretti on drums, production, and co-writing, alongside collaborators including Ian Devaney and . Key tracks include "Atomized" (initially released as a single earlier in 2019) and "Kubes" (promoted as a single in 2020). As of November 2025, Machinegum has issued no additional full-length albums, with musical output serving as an extension of its installations and interactive performances.

References

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