Six weeks before the October release of Phrazes for the Young, Julian Casablancas' wonderfully familiar (that voice!) and far-out (those synths!) solo debut, the erstwhile Strokes frontman is sitting in his publicist's downtown Manhattan office, gently disagreeing with the notion that he's been keeping a low profile.

In our November 2009 issue, Tyler Gray explores how the economic downturn has impacted white collar Americans who work in the financial industry and moonlight in rock bands. But Wall Streeters aren't the only folks who do some weekend axe-wielding. Here are a few more bands that sprouted from various industries.

ENGINEERS

It was 4 P.M. on July 26, 2007, and the markets had just closed. Credit Suisse, the billion-dollar Zurich-based bank, had shut down the block in front of its digs at Madison Avenue and 24th Street in Manhattan. Beer and soda chilled in giant tubs. food stations slung burgers, hot dogs, and gourmet barbecue from restaurateur Danny Meyer's Blue Smoke.

Wale is sitting quietly at a table in ESPN Zone, a grotesque Times Square tourist-trap restaurant. Dressed in black jeans and a T-shirt, with his trademark fitted Washington Nationals cap, he nods his head nervously. Servers gawk at the rapper, nearly tipping over plates of soggy Buffalo wings as they pass by, but dejection covers his face. "Look at this, it's on the blogs already," he says.

The term "supergroup" tends to get thrown around a lot, but often the tag just doesn't sit right. Consider Damn Yankees. Or Zwan. Or more recently, Chickenfoot. While these groups technically fit the definition -- a band whose members are already famous from having performed individually or in other groups -- does anyone truly believe that they're super?

There's a scene in Alex Cox's 1986 film Sid & Nancy that foreshadows the end for the star-crossed punk lovers: One of their cohorts shows up in a trilby hat, shiny tonic suit, and skinny tie, having ditched his safety pins and leather. "I don't wanna be a punk anymore," he explains. "I wanna be a rude boy, like my dad."