Stroik

In November of 2022 the music world tragically and unknowingly lost one of its most special and unique voices, Stroik. At only 35 years old, he left behind a catalog of over 100 unreleased songs when he passed away, all the while privately struggling with poverty, loneliness, and substance abuse in the notoriously dangerous city of Pueblo, Colorado.

True brilliance is often accompanied by a touch of eccentricity. This was the case – in spades – for Stroik (born Drew Stroik). Had he been given a different mind, he might have been able to self-promote and release the uncontrollable waterfall of music that never stopped pouring-out of him. But sadly, this was not the case. Stroik was incompatible with the facade and technical expectations of the modern music world. He was too self-effacing, too real and uninterested in social media and, ultimately, it was his mind – and thoughts – that both made him a creative genius and got in the way. Now, Stroik’s music is all that remains, yet it offers us a mesmerizing gateway into his singular, beautiful and complex creative brain.

Stroik’s songs are melodic, pop masterpieces, imbued with heavy doses of relatable human imperfection and emotion. Imperfectly perfect. He referred to them as “generic pop,” but to the world at large they are far from that.

Stroik created hundreds of songs, every single one of them using the same main tools – a guitar he got for his twelfth birthday and a Yamaha keyboard made of plastic, meant for children or beginners. Those were the instruments he chose and much the way Picasso used common housepaint, Stroik made real art with what he could figure out by himself. The combination of the strange synth textures, the uncorrected finger-played drum sounds and patterns, fused with his soft, warm, honest voice, adds up to something that is specifically ‘Stroik.’

Life began happily and carefree for Stroik, raised by his loving mother, he was the center of her world. Born in a suburb of Chicago, they had moved there to live with his Grandmother and her boyfriend who owned several funeral homes. Initially, they lived above one of the funeral homes. As luck would have it, the Grandmother’s boyfriend happened to be the father of Steve Lack, founder of ‘90s rock band, Veruca Salt. Veruca Salt would often rehearse in the basement of the funeral home filling Stroik’s ears with their stylized take on indie rock music. Lack also kept a drum kit there. These were the first beginnings of Stroik becoming mesmerized by music and he would frequently sneak down and bang on the drums.

His 23-year-old mother had just broken up with his father, a wealthy, foreigner who she feared would use his power to take Drew away if he knew about the pregnancy. She thought he’d be okay with just her as long as he was loved, and loved he was, however Stroik would later confide that never knowing his father was a major source for his sadness.

From an early age, Stroik displayed an innate connection with music. He captivated everyone in his sphere with his infectious, quirky sense of rhythm and his intense love for melodies that always seemed to stretch his modest vocal abilities to the very limit. Stroik possessed a rare ability to perceive music in the most mundane, everyday moments, head bopping and snapping his fingers excitedly to the tunes that others often overlooked. With toy guitars and his electric piano, he would play along to his favorite soundtracks of 90s Disney movies until, enchanted and exhausted, he fell asleep.

Stroik and his mother relocated frequently. After the funeral home there was a brief stay in Florida, where they’d frequent the mansion featured in the iconic film Scarface, that was, until his mother’s boyfriend died in a jet ski accident in front of the home. Next, there were a few years in the West Hollywood neighborhood of Los Angeles, then Las Vegas, before ultimately winding up in Cary, North Carolina. His mother and now, step-father, had relocated there because of its reputation as a good, wholesome spot to raise a family. Ironically, it was there that his demeanor would change and he would begin to feel like an outcast.

At twelve years old, Stroik’s family welcomed a new child and his mother pinpoints this as the moment things began derailing. Up until that point he’d had the full focus and adoration from his mother and grandmother, and the change came to him as a sudden shock. Despite their love and efforts to ease the transition, in the coming years Stroik began secretly stealing drinks, then filling the alcohol bottles in the home with water. They stopped buying alcohol but his troubles continued. After being kicked out of the local Cary high school in his junior year for smoking pot, Stroik never went back. He never finished his high-school education.

By the age of 17, and recognizing his true calling (but with no connections in the music industry) Stroik used e-mail as his gateway to reaching his musical heroes, sending a nonstop barrage of mp3s of his demos to everyone who inspired him. One of the few, yet important responses came from Ivy’s Andy Chase whose NYC label Unfiltered Records had released college radio darlings The Postmarks, a band Stroik loved.

Chase saw immediate promise in Stroik’s raw, esoteric and mesmerizing tracks, and asked Stroik for the master files so that he could spend time polishing the songs further. However, to Chase’s horror, Stroik – unaware that external hard drives could be used to back up his work – had made a habit of deleting his songs from his old computer as soon as they were finished and he had made an mp3. So the master files of the songs which first captivated Chase did not exist anymore. Undeterred, and smitten with Stroik’s unique and undeniable genius, Chase signed Stroik, then only 23 years old. It was clear that in order to make an album, Stroik would have to start recording his songs again, from scratch. So Chase introduced Stroik to his longtime friend and musical collaborator, Bruce Driscoll (Freedom Fry, Blondfire, Ivy, Camera2), and over the subsequent frigid winter months of 2010, Stroik began weekend treks away from the North Carolina town and factory where he worked up to NYC, where he began recreating and polishing his original demos in Driscoll’s tiny Upper East Side studio apartment.

With Chase involved in the production and mixing the process, an album began to emerge that encompassed both the innocent, unprofessional charm of Stroik’s earlier efforts with the impressive credentials that Driscoll and Chase were known for. Photos and music videos were shot, artwork was completed, and even a publicist was brought on board surrounding Stroik’s impending debut album. However, within months, Stroik’s personal struggles got the best of him, and the label was ultimately forced to sever ties – derailing what could have been his breakthrough moment. In his last effort to recognize the talent that Stroik truly was, Chase gave Stroik all his newly finished Unfiltered Records songs back to him… but for reasons no one will ever know, Stroik never released that music. He never released ANY music! Perhaps it was the pervasive self doubt and a defeatist attitude which always seemed to follow him like a dark cloud that kept him from giving the world a view. Perhaps it was the ever-increasing depression and mental instability that took his focus away from his art. It all remains a mystery. In the decade following Stroik’s sudden departure from Unfiltered Records there was almost no visible proof that Stroik even existed.

Despite the post-Unfiltered Records years, Stroik actually never stopped writing and recording his strange and beautiful music. Eventually his path led him to the gritty Pueblo, Colorado where he lived with his uncle until his uncle’s premature death in 2021. Stroik remained in Pueblo, struggling to make ends meet and all the while keeping his mounting addictions and depression a secret from the rest of his family. Sadly, Stroik lost his battle with substance abuse to one, tiny fentanyl-laced pill. All that was and would be the unique musical voice of Drew Stroik, was no more.

To know Stroik was a wonderful whirlwind experience of chaos and grace and awe. And listening to his music is much the same. He had a playful side and a relatable, dark sense of humor. Life’s joys and sadness’s are always precariously intertwined, and this Yin and Yang was ever-apparent when inside Stroik’s world. And though he is gone, we can revel in his songs and dream about his many creations.

Stroik’s album, 65th and York, will be available from Unfiltered Records and Caveman Arts Society in October 2025.