From left to right: Jamie Cook, Alex Turner, Matt Helders, Andy Nicholson.
Arctic Monkeys are a British indie post-punk revival rock band from Sheffield, England. The band is best known for their first two singles, "I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor" and "When the Sun Goes Down", both of which went straight to number one in the UK Singles Chart while the band's debut album, Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not, sold 360,000 copies in its first week alone, setting the record for the largest first week sales of a debut album in UK history.
The Arctic Monkeys formed in 2002, and currently has four members: Alex Turner, lead vocalist and guitarist; James Cook, rhythm guitar; drummer & backing vocalist Matt Helders and Nick O'Malley on bass guitar, replacing Andy Nicholson indefinitely.
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Turner (born 10 Jan 1986) is the band's lead vocalist and plays lead guitar. Along with Andy Nicholson & Matt Helders, Turner attended at Stocksbridge High School , & received his first guitar as a Christmas present in 2001 . While at a gig one night, Turner saw Australian rock band The Vines play, with Craig Nicholls going crazy onstage. 'I thought, "That's what being a singer is all about,"'. 'When we play, I'll do what Craig Nicholls does, be all spaced out.' Turner used to work at the bar in local concert venues, saying "it really annoyed me when bands would come on and say 'We've got CDs at the back for sale - three pounds each'... you'd think 'Fuck off, who do you think you are?'" . On this basis, Arctic Monkeys gave away free demo CDs at their gigs, which finally led their rise to stardom. Turner has been compared to Jarvis Cocker by many for the lyrics that he has written about his own life and the things that have happened to others around him. They have other similarities like the fact that they both come from Sheffield. NME hailed Turner as "A master lyricist, just like Cocker" .
Turner has maintained a very private life, and shunned media publicity when declared the Coolest Man On The Planet by NME magazine in Dec 2005. He has distanced himself from the celebrity lifestyle, he & the band are oftentimes spotted around Sheffield, supporting local bands, returning to clubs such as 'The Leadmill' and watching their football team Sheffield Wednesday. Like the other members, he rarely comments on his personal relationships, though a photo of him kissing his girlfriend was published in an issue of The Rolling Stone . Blender magazine have described him as "the least talkative member of the group, chewing over his answers for so long that he ends up doubting his own words" . He was known to play a Fender Stratocaster, the colour of which is Arctic White, any relation between the band name and Turner's guitar colour is as of yet uncomfirmed. However, more recently, he has been playing a black Fender Stratocaster. .
Jamie "Cookie" CookCook (born 8 Jul 1985) is the band's rhythm guitarist and also provides backing vocals. Cook & Turner are neighbours in High Green , & like Turner, Cook asked for a musical instrument as a Christmas present in 2001, receiving his first electric guitar . Cook has been the band's most outspoken member, going on record as saying he "fucking hates the [print] news" and defending the band's numerous successive records by saying "I couldn't see us being like Coldplay, it'd just be fucking boring. You tour your album for three years and play the same fucking gig night after night. It must really be depressing. Some people might enjoy doing that, but we couldn't." . He is known for playing a red Fender Telecaster, which he smashed into an amp on live television when the band appeared on "Saturday Night Live.". Now Jamie plays a red Gibson Ec-330TD.
Like most of the band, Cook continues to live in Sheffield with his parents , and has been described as "the bullishly confident blue-collar lad [of the group]" Jamie recently bought his first house in Sheffield, nearby his parents'house, he got his mother to choose a four bedroom detached house & offered the £210,000 asking price. A source said: “He's still very young so he took his mum to help him. “She told him the house was a sound investment and a fantastic first home.” .Jamie is said to be the 'sexy' one in the band.
Nick O'MalleyBorn 5 Jul, 1985. After Nicholson announced he would not make the band's North America tour, O'Malley, "a friend of the band" and bassist for The Dodgems, was Drafted in as temporary replacement. His first appearance with the band came on 25 May, when the band played a secret gig at the "Old Blue Last" pub in east London . The 120 capacity venue was seen as an opportunity for O'Malley to have a test run before the band's first North American gig in Vancouver on 27 May.
O'Malley broke his hand following some Drunken antics with his former Dodgems bandmates only a week after agreeing to fill in for Nicholson - "As we were walking home from the pub, our roadie grabbed him (O'Malley) and pulled him over our neighbour's wall. It's quite high & he landed on his right hand" Dodgems singer Phil Goddwin was quoted as saying on the music website Angry Ape. However, despite being his plectrum-hand he was still able to play the bass & joined the band in the successful tour.
Although O'Malley was only expected to continue until Nicholson has fully recovered, Nicholson's departure from the band saw the announcement that O'Malley will become a full member of the band.
Matthew "Matt" HeldersBorn 7 May 1986. Helders is the band's Drummer who also lives in the High Green district and attended Stocksbridge High School alongside Turner and Nicholson . He is the most comprehensive backing vocalist, appearing in the tracks "You Probably Couldn't See For the Lights But You Were Looking Straight at Me" and "I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor". He is seen as the band's "quietly amiable diplomat" .
Helders has said that he ended up playing Drums as "that was the only thing left. When we started the band none of us played anything. We just put it together. They all had guitars & I bought a Drum kit after a bit" .
However, Helders has stated the influence rap music has had on the band, saying "We were rap fans at school more than now...it still influences us in some ways, like for me, it's the Drummin'. The groove element, like foon-keh music" . Helders also explained the band's insistence on using their native Sheffield accent, saying, "when you talk between the songs at a gig and you're speakin' English in our normal accent, it seems a bit strange when you burst into song like you're from California or summat...it looks a bit daft" .
In an interview with Prefix Magazine in Nov 2005, Helders mentioned that he is currently the only member of the band to be in a relationship, although pointing out that "the person I'm going out with, we've been going out since before we were signed."
On 21 Jul 2006, Helders made a surprise guest appearance at Sheffield's Leadmill nightclub/music venue when he guest starred on the Drums during a Milburn gig, playing the final part of "What You Could Have Won".
Temporary and former members Andy NicholsonAn attendee of Stocksbridge High School, Andy was the only member of the original four to not live in the High Green district, residing in nearby Hillsborough , & this fact is featured in lyrics to the song "Red Light Indicates Doors Are Secured" - "I said it's High Green mate – via Hillsborough - please". Nicholson played bass guitar, and was seen as "the band wit, reliably swift with a self-deprecating quip" , Nicholson emphasised that the band are just normal people, saying "We don't look like superstars...I think people look at us and think, 'They're just normal people making good music. I'm sure I could do it.' Anyone can do it. We're living proof of that." Nicholson's style was known to be poppy and original, & was oftentimes featured in a song with either no backing or guitar chords in the background. When this wasn't the case, the bass usually followed the lead guitar with slight or no variation.
The band announced in May 2006 that Nicholson would miss the band's forthcoming North America tour as he was suffering from "fatigue following an intensive period of touring", & would be temporarily replaced by Nick O'Malley of The Dodgems while Nicholson recovered . However, on 19 Jun 2006, the official website of the band announced that he was no longer part of the band. . Now Nicholson has been said not to leave his house, other than doing DJ sets or going to see Milburn and Reverend and The Makers gigs.
Glyn JonesAn article in Blender Magazine in May 2006 suggested that Alex Turner was not the original vocalist of the band - "When their first vocalist, Glyn Jones, left after a few months, Turner cautiously stepped up to the microphone" . This was soon followed by a more detailed article in UK tabloid The Sun, who reported that in the very early days of the band - before they had played a gig - Glyn Jones, another attendee of Stocksbridge High School, used to be the band's singer. Jones said that he & Turner "were bored [after our GCSE exams] so we started writing a song about a geek in our year...". Glyn says that he was lead singer only because "Alex was really humble and didn't realise how great his own voice was... he was happy just playing his guitar." However, Glyn says that he "did not have the dedication to take it any further... to me we were just a gang of kids messing around because we were bored."
References for this article- ^ "Arctic Monkeys make chart history", BBC News Online, 2006-01-29. Retrieved on 2006-06-05.
- ^ "Arctic donkey", The Sun, Retrieved 9 Jun 2006.
- ^ "Brits go bananas", Hour.ca, 16 Mar 2006.
- ^ "Artist Profile - Arctic Monkeys", EMI, Retrieved 7 Jun 2006.
- ^ "The Lads Are Alright", Blender, May 2006.
- ^ "Who the fuck are Arctic Monkeys?", Daily Vanguard, 2 Jun 2006.
- ^ "Young Brains", San Diego CityBeat, 31 May 2006.
- ^ "Arctic Monkeys play gig in tiny pub", NME, 25 May 2006.
- ^ "Bring on the backlash", The Village Voice, 8 Jun 2006.
- ^ "Arctic Monkeys aren't fooling around (Part II)", Prefix Magazine, 22 Nov 2005.
- ^ "Arctic Monkeys lose a member", NME, 22 May 2006.
- ^ "Official site of Arctic Monkeys", 19 April 2006.
| Alex Turner • Jamie Cook • Matthew Helders • Nick O'Malley |
| Andy Nicholson • Glyn Jones |
| Albums & EPs: Five mins with Arctic Monkeys • Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not • Who the Fuck Are Arctic Monkeys |
| Compilations: Beneath the Boardwalk |
| Singles: "I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor" • "When the Sun Goes Down" • "Leave Before the Lights Come On" • "Fake Tales of San Francisco" |
| Related articles |
| Arctic Monkeys tour history • Scummy Man • Domino Records |
Related articles - Articles with unsourced statements, Arctic Monkeys
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